Plot summary

The political life of Dick Cheney, culminating with his Vice-Presidency in the George W. Bush administration from 2000 to 2008, is presented, that political life largely supported by his equally ambitious wife, Lynne Cheney. Their political ambitions were generally hindered by his less than charismatic demeanor which most politicians require to succeed. Those politics drifted into the right side of the spectrum rather than moving to the right by a deliberately ideological choice. But being elected the sole House Representative from their home state of Wyoming under the Republican banner led to ultimate thoughts of the top job in the White House. A number of factors kiboshed those thoughts, including how to protect his daughter Mary Cheney, who had just come out as lesbian, from public scrutiny while reconciling his support for her against the strong social conservative base of the Republican Party. The Cheneys' political fortunes changed when Dick, in the private sector as CEO of Halliburton, was asked by relatively-inexperienced George W. Bush to be his running mate. In this process, Dick began a manipulation of the system to his benefit where in his position of eventual VP he was able to be a more powerful politician working quietly and clandestinely behind the scenes than if he was actual president in the constant spotlight.—Huggo