Lynne Cheney
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Lynne Cheney
Lynne Cheney
Lynne Ann Vincent Cheney (born August 14, 1941) is the wife of Vice President Richard B. Cheney. They dated in high school and married in 1964.
Within the George W. Bush administration, Lynne Cheney is regarded as being quite politically involved and is a vocal supporter of Republican party politics and politicians. In this respect she is somewhat of a contrast to First Lady Laura Bush who has largely distanced herself from overt partisanship.
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Education
Born in Casper, Wyoming, she obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree from Colorado College, Master of Arts from the University of Colorado, and a Ph.D. in 19th century British literature from the University of Wisconsin at Madison.
Career
Lynne Cheney has had her own career in public service, having served as chair of the National Endowment for the Humanities from 1986 to 1993. In 1995 she founded American Council of Trustees and Alumni a conservative watchdog group that monitors American colleges and academia.
After Cheney left the organization, the American Council of Trustees and Alumni released a report following 9/11, entitled Defending Civilization: How Our Universities are Failing America and What Should Be Done About It, the report states: "College and university faculty have been the weak link in America's response to the attack [of 9/11]." The report, an effort to politically disempower or intimidate the academic community, takes professors to task for being "short on patriotism and long on self-flagellation."
More recently, she has been senior fellow in education and culture at the American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research. She also serves as a director of the ideologically conservative Reader's Digest Association.
In 2000 she was mentioned as a possible conservative female pick for Republican Vice Presidential nominee on the George W. Bush ticket. Her husband, however, was the eventual choice for running mate.
Family
Dick and Lynne Cheney have two children, daughters Elizabeth and Mary, and three granddaughters (Kate, Elizabeth and Grace) and one grandson Philip.
Elizabeth was born in 1966 and is married with four children. She graduated from the University of Chicago Law School in 1996 and has worked as an international law attorney, consultant, and now for the State Department's Near East Affairs Bureau.
Their daughter Mary is an out of the closet lesbian. Until May of 2000 she was the lesbian/gay corporate relations manager for the once-notoriously anti-gay Coors Brewing Company. However in July of 2000 when Lynne was asked by ABC's Cokie Roberts about having a daughter who has "declared she's openly gay," Lynne responded: "Mary has never declared such a thing. ...I have two wonderful daughters. I love them very much. They are bright; they are hard-working; they are decent." The comment immediately drew fire from a number of gay rights activists. Human Rights Campaign spokesman David Smith said about Lynne Cheney's comments: "They were horrible. She said she is proud of both her daughters, but there was definitely a sense this was one aspect of who her daughter is that she was not proud of. That came through loud and clear." During the Third Presidential Debate, John Kerry mentioned that Mary was a lesbian. Afterwards, Lynne called the remark a "cheap and tawdry political trick" and said she was "indignant" about the matter. Liz Edwards, the wife of Kerry's running mate John Edwards, said she thought Lynne's comment showed Lynne was ashamed of Mary's sexuality.
Books
Lynne Cheney is the author or co-author of several books:
- When Washington Crossed the Delaware : A Wintertime Story for Young Patriots (2004) (ISBN 0689870434)
- A is for Abigail : An Almanac of Amazing American Women (2003) (ISBN 0689858191)
- America: A Patriotic Primer (2002) (ISBN 0689851928)
- The Body Politic: A Novel (2000) (ISBN 0312979630)
- Kings of the Hill: How Nine Powerful Men Changed the Course of American History (1996) (ISBN 0756758645)
- Telling the Truth (1995) (ISBN 0684825341)
- Academic Freedom (1992) (ISBN 1878802135)
- American Memory: A Report on the Humanities in the Nations Public Schools (1987) (ISBN 0160042844)
- Sisters (1981; New American Library, Penguin Group[1] (http://whitehouse.org/administration/sisters.asp))
- Executive Privilege (1979) (ISBN 0671240609)
External links
- White House's Lynne Cheney Page (http://www.whitehouse.gov/mrscheney/)
- George W. Bush's Campaign Website's Lynne Cheney Bio (http://www.georgewbush.com/Bios/LynneCheney.aspx)
- The Path of the Culture Warrior (http://alternet.org/story/18587/)
- Gays blast Lynne Cheney's denial about her daughter (http://dir.salon.com/politics/feature/2000/08/01/mary/index.html?sid=929933)
- All in the family (http://dir.salon.com/politics/feature/2000/07/29/mary/index.html): Dick Cheney's lesbian daughter, Mary, is expected to stump for the GOP ticket. As the gay corporate relations manager for Coors, she knows all about the hard sell.
- 'MCCARTHYISM': RIGHTWINGERS TARGET VOICES OF DISSENT - On Campus Conservatives Denounce Dissent (http://www.mapcruzin.com/news/rtk111401a.htm)
- Dubya's angels (http://www.salon.com/books/int/2004/04/12/flanders/index.html)
- Sweet dreams, honey (http://dir.salon.com/books/feature/2000/11/28/cheney/index.html?sid=999853)
- Hollywood attacked! (http://dir.salon.com/politics/feature/2000/09/14/ftc/index.html?sid=980037)
Sources
- Joe Mandak. "Lynn Cheney Upset With Kerry Over Remark" Associated Press. October 14, 2004.
- Ian Bishop and Deborah Orin. "Veep to Kerry: How Dare You! - 'Angry Dad' Hits Foe for Naming Gay Daughter" New York Post. October 15, 2004.
| Preceded by: Mary Elizabeth Gore | Second Lady of the United States 2001- | Succeeded by: Incumbent |