Dick Cheney on Principles & Values
The Joe who attends Hollywood fundraisers isn’t the old Joe
CHENEY: I liked the old Joe Lieberman better. Joe established an outstanding record in his work on violence in the media. There is the view that the depth of conviction isn’t quite as strong as it was. On one hand, he criticizes the activities of the
industry, and at the same time, he participates in fund-raising events with some of the people responsible. LIEBERMAN: Al Gore and I have felt for a long time that we cannot let America’s parents stand alone in this competition that they feel they’re
in with Hollywood to raise their own kids. John McCain and I requested the report that proved conclusively that the entertainment industry is marketing adult-rated products to our children. When that report came out, Al Gore and I said to the
industry, “Stop it. And if you don’t stop it in six months, we’re going to ask the FTC to take action against you.” Al Gore and I agree on most everything. We disagree on some things, and I have not changed a single position since Al Gore nominated me.
Source: Vice-Presidential debate
Oct 5, 2000
Media distracts public with focus on trivia
The need to produce for a growing number of news sites may be partially responsible for changing the way journalists cover campaigns. “So you end up with absolutely trivial issues dominating an entire (news) cycle or maybe two cycles -- an entire 24 or
48 hours -- that really have nothing to do with the election or the fate of America or how the campaign ought to be decided. The way that works serves to distract everybody and to take the focus off the basic issues that we ought to be concerned about.”
Source: AP Story, NY Times
Sep 13, 2000
Personal charity is private and not a policy matter
Dick Cheney defended his charitable contributions as “appropriate” and insisted he should be given credit for speaking fees he directed to charity and for corporate gifts that matched his own donations. Neither is a charitable contribution under
the federal tax laws. “I think giving is a choice that individuals have to make in terms of what they want to do with their resources. It’s not a policy question. It’s a private matter. It’s a matter of private choice.”
Source: Adam Clymer, NY Times
Sep 6, 2000
Defends Halliburton’s success and retirement package
Dick Cheney defended his work in the oil services business. “We went from being a second-tier, second-rank energy services company to being the biggest in the world. By any measure you want to use, Halliburton has been a great success story over the last
few years.” And he said that he would find a way to handle his retirement package. “There is no conflict until I’m sworn in, and by the time I’m sworn in I’ll have done whatever’s necessary to make sure there isn’t.”
Source: Michael Cooper, NY Times
Aug 25, 2000
Cheney’s retirement package could be a conflict of interest
The energy services company that Dick Cheney served has agreed to let the Republican vice-presidential candidate, retire with a package worth an estimated $20 million. Mr. Cheney’s retirement package solidifies and expands his
personal stake in the oil industry in general, and Halliburton in particular, while he is on the campaign trail confronting energy policy issues that will affect Halliburton’s performance.
Source: Diana B. Henriques, NY Times
Aug 12, 2000
Praises Bush for decency, integrity, and honor
Cheney spoke to a convention with soaring hopes for the November election as the delegates prepared to nominate George W. Bush for president, formally ratifying a decision that was made months ago by a party that sees the Texas governor
as its best hope of regaining the White House. Calling Bush a “man without pretense and without cynicism, a man of principle, a man of honor,” Cheney said that “on the first hour of the first day, he will restore decency and integrity to the Oval Office.
Source: Edward Walsh, Washington Post
Aug 3, 2000
Opportunity to serve led to acceptance of nomination
In his prepared speech, Cheney told the delegates why he overcame his initial reluctance to accept the vice presidential nomination. “I have been in the company of leaders. I know what it takes.
And I see in our nominee qualities of mind and spirit our nation needs and our history demands. Big changes are coming to Washington. To serve this man, in this cause, is a chance I would not miss.”
Source: Edward Walsh, Washington Post
Aug 3, 2000
Bush will restore decency & integrity to Oval Office
George W. Bush is a man without pretense and without cynicism. A man of principle, a man of honor. On the first hour of the first day he will restore decency and integrity to the Oval Office. He will show us that national leaders can be true to their
word and that they can get things done by reaching across the partisan aisle, and working with political opponents in good faith and common purpose. I know he’ll do these things, because for the last five years I’ve watched him do them in Texas.
Source: Speech accepting nomination for Vice Presidency
Aug 2, 2000
Would vote differently today on ERA, Head Start, not Mandela
Cheney also said he would no longer vote against funding the Head Start preschool program or tuberculosis vaccinations for children. He also said he no longer opposes funding the Department of Education.
On the Equal Rights Amendment, Cheney said he’d support it if the Pentagon was not required to draft women. One former stance Cheney said he would not change was his 1986 vote against a nonbinding House resolution on Nelson Mandela.
Source: Michael Finnegan, LA Times
Jul 31, 2000
One of the most conservative voting records in Congress
As a top Republican in the US House, Dick Cheney outdid the NRA in his opposition to gun control. He was an impassioned backer of aid to the Nicaraguan contras but declined to join a call for South Africa to free Nelson Mandela. And he made no exceptions
in his opposition to federal funding for abortions, even in cases of rape or incest.Cheney, in short, compiled one of the most conservative voting records of any member of Congress in the 1980s. Yet the civility of his personal style and his earlier
service as chief of staff to President Ford lent him moderate credentials that softened his image over the years.
While in the House from 1979 to 1989, Cheney sided with one of the most conservative Washington watchdogs, the American Conservative
Union, 91% of the time. That is 10 to 20 points higher than the average Republican during the period. Moreover, Cheney’s voting record became more conservative the longer he served in Congress, reflecting his rise in the House leadership.
Source: Michael Kranish, Boston Globe, p. A13
Jul 26, 2000
Voting record in Congress consistently conservative
In ten years in the house, Cheney compiled a voting record that was anything but moderate. Elected to the house the same year as a fiery young Republican from Georgia named Newt Gingrich, Cheney repeatedly received higher votes from the
American Conservative Union. Cheney was against the Panama Canal treaties and creation of the Education Department. He opposed abortion and the Equal Rights Amendment, and favored a constitutional amendment to
balance the budget. He voted for virtually all military weapons systems and to cut education spending. He opposed sanctions against the apartheid government of South Africa and in 1986
voted against a resolution calling for the release of Nelson Mandela and other political prisoners.
Source: Edward Walsh, Amy Goldstein in Washington Post
Jul 26, 2000
Persuaded by Bush’s “unique vision” to be his V.P.
Cheney most likely had to be convinced to take the job by Bush, saying that one of Cheney’s preconditions to heading Bush’s V.P. search was that he not be among those considered. Even Cheney admitted he did not expect to be standing on a podium as Bush’s
vice presidential selection. Cheney said, “I heard Gov. Bush talk about his unique vision for our party and for our nation. I saw sincerity as I watched him make decisions, always firm, always fair. In the end, I learned how persuasive he can be.”
Source: Ian Christopher McCaleb, CNN.com
Jul 25, 2000
Lynne Cheney fights political correctness
Cheney argued for changes in standards. She supported teaching a more Western centrist view, believing it allowed Americans to have a more common culture. “Fifth and sixth graders will learn about the devastation of Hiroshima
on children of their age, without ever recommending books that would tell them about why it might have well been a rational decision to use atomic weapons to end the war,” she said during one appropriations committee hearing.
Source: Pat Neal, CNN.com
Jul 25, 2000
Accepts nomination help change tone in Washington
Three months ago, when Governor Bush asked me to head up his search team I honestly did not expect that I would be standing here today. Governor, I’m honored and proud to join your team and I enthusiastically accept the challenge
for this reason: I believe you have the vision and the courage to be a great president.
Governor Bush is seeking not only to win an election, but also to lead our nation. He’s confronting the tough issues: strengthening Social Security and Medicare,
reforming our public schools, cutting taxes and rebuilding America’s military.
I look forward to working with you, governor, to change the tone in Washington, to restore a spirit of civility and respect and cooperation. It’s
time for America’s leaders to stop pointing the finger of blame and to begin sharing the credit for success. Big changes are coming to Washington, and I want to be a part of them.
Source: Statement on Vice Presidential selection
Jul 25, 2000
Exert leadership toward post-nuclear world
The demise of the Soviet Union gives us an unprecedented opportunity to move toward a safer world in which freedom, not tyranny, is the dominant system. But to do it is essential that we actively influence the shape and the
direction of events to come. We must exert leadership when it’s in our interest, where it’s appropriate for the U.S. to lead. There is no one else who can do it.
Source: Speech at Lawrence Technical University
Sep 14, 1992
Prosperity & security go hand in hand
Some critics are calling for cuts in our armed forces that would surely gut our military capability, all in the name of meeting domestic needs. They say that we cannot afford a strong leadership role, that we have to choose between
national security and economic security. That’s a dangerous call based on a false premise. Prosperity and security go hand in hand. A nation that is not secure will not prosper, and America cannot be weak abroad and strong at home.
Source: Speech at Lawrence Technical University
Sep 14, 1992
Constructive personal style belies hard-line voting
Cheney’s voting record places him among the most unyielding members of the Republican right, but many of his colleagues would be surprised to hear that. They know him as a man eager to hear both sides of an issue, constrructive in his suggestions, and
patient in looking for solutions. That personal style has given him a broad following even though he votes as a hard-liner. In 1986, Cheney did not oppose the “conservative coalition” on a single one of the 50 votes in which the bloc coalesced.
Source: Poltics in America, Alan Ehrenhalt, ed., 1987, p. 1682
Jan 1, 1987
Pragmatic conservation insider image in Congress
Cheney has managed to build an image as a pragmatic conservative, one who votes Wyoming’s anti-government sentiments but negotiates with the other side on a friendly basis.
Cheney’s two years as Ford’s White House chief of staff made him something more than an ordinary freshman in 1979, and he took advantage of his reputation to play an insider’s role among House Republicans throughout his first term.
Source: Poltics in America, Alan Ehrenhalt, ed., 1982, p. 1326
Jan 1, 1981
Dick Cheney on Florida Recount
Bush not necessarily doomed to one-term weak presidency
Q: Three times in our history, we’ve had presidents who lost the popular vote but won the Electoral College. All three were one-term presidents. A: I can recall some other presidents, Thomas Jefferson, who emerged from a very complicated, convoluted
process, [to become] an enormously successful president. So I think there’s evidence on both sides. It will be up to what we do with it. It’ll be obviously a challenge in part to how well we govern, to our ability to build bridges to the opposition,
whether the country will come together.
I think the prognosis is pretty good, because I don’t believe the country is deeply divided. I think this is a time of relative peace and prosperity in America, that we should be able to pull together. We are
united as a people. It’s going to be hard, but I think the notion that somehow it’s doomed, or that the next administration is bound to be only a one-term administration, I don’t think that’s a valid judgment. I don’t think anybody can make that forecast
Source: Dick Cheney interview on NBC’s “Meet the Press.”
Dec 3, 2000
It’s time for Gore to concede
Q: Do you think Al Gore is a sore loser? A: I don’t want to get personal about Al Gore. I think all of us understand how difficult this is for him. With the enormous investment he made in the campaign, it would be hard for anybody to go through
that process. I do think it’s time for him to concede. So far he’s chosen not to do that, and clearly that’s his prerogative. But I think history would regard him in a better light if he were to bring this to a close in the very near future.
Source: Dick Cheney interview on NBC’s “Meet the Press.”
Dec 3, 2000
Back to work full time after very mild heart attack
Q: What about your health?A: I’m back to work full time.
Q: What about stress in the future?
A: I was under considerably more stress during the Gulf War. It was a very mild heart attack. The definition of a heart attack
has been changed.
Q: What if you can’t handle the job due to health?
A: We made a great deal of information available, [more than in] the history of Vice Presidential candidates. People looked at my health before I signed onto the
ticket. It was a major consideration, and doctors gave me a clean bill of health. If I ever reach the point where I do have serious health problems, then obviously I’d step down. But I don’t think I’m going to reach that point.
Source: Cheney Interview on Today Show
Nov 28, 2000
TX manual recount law has standards; FL’s is divination
Q: What about Florida?A: We’ve had a count and a recount - it’s time to wrap this up. Gore will challenge, for the first time in history, a presidential election in the courts.
Q: What about Gore’s charge that thousands of votes
haven’t been counted?
A: All these votes have been counted. They’re asking the courts to intervene to count [more votes] in Democratic counties. They’ve already been counted twice by machine.
Q: Bush agreed with a Texas
law that said manual recounts are valid.
A: There’s a big difference. In Texas, the law defines the standards under which a manual recount will be recounted. Trying to divine the intent of voters is no way to decide a president.
Source: Cheney Interview on Today Show
Nov 28, 2000