Lynne Ann Cheney ( ; ; born August 14, 1941) is an American author, scholar, and former

talk show A talk show (or chat show in British English) is a television programming or radio programming genre structured around the act of spontaneous conversation.Bernard M. Timberg, Robert J. Erler'' (2010Television Talk: A History of the TV Talk S ...

host. She is married to the 46th

vice president of the United States The vice president of the United States (VPOTUS) is the second-highest officer in the executive branch of the U.S. federal government, after the president of the United States, and ranks first in the presidential line of succession. The vice p ...

Dick Cheney Richard Bruce Cheney ( ; born January 30, 1941) is an American politician and businessman who served as the 46th vice president of the United States from 2001 to 2009 under President George W. Bush. He is currently the oldest living former ...

, and served as the second lady of the United States from 2001 to 2009.

Childhood and education

Lynne Ann Vincent was born on August 14, 1941, in

Casper, Wyoming Casper is a city in, and the county seat of, Natrona County, Wyoming, United States. Casper is the second-largest city in the state, with the population at 59,038 as of the 2020 census. Only Cheyenne, the state capital, is larger. Casper is ni ...

. Her mother, Edna Lolita (''née'' Lybyer, 1919–1973), became a deputy

sheriff A sheriff is a government official, with varying duties, existing in some countries with historical ties to England where the office originated. There is an analogous, although independently developed, office in Iceland that is commonly transla ...

, and her father, Wayne Edwin Vincent, was an engineer. A descendant of

Mormon pioneers The Mormon pioneers were members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church), also known as Latter Day Saints, who migrated beginning in the mid-1840s until the late-1860s across the United States from the Midwest to the ...

, and with roots in Denmark, Sweden, England, Ireland, and Wales, she was raised

Presbyterian Presbyterianism is a part of the Reformed tradition within Protestantism that broke from the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland by John Knox, who was a priest at St. Giles Cathedral (Church of Scotland). Presbyterian churches derive their na ...

and became

Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related Christian denomination, denominations of Protestantism, Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John W ...

upon her marriage to Dick Cheney. Cheney received her

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four yea ...

degree in English literature with highest honors from

Colorado College Colorado College is a private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Colorado Springs, Colorado. It was founded in 1874 by Thomas Nelson Haskell in his daughter's memory. The college enrolls approxi ...

. She continued her education with a

Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. ...

degree from the

University of Colorado The University of Colorado (CU) is a system of public universities in Colorado. It consists of four institutions: University of Colorado Boulder, University of Colorado Colorado Springs, University of Colorado Denver, and the University o ...

in Boulder, and a

PhD PHD or PhD may refer to: * Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), an academic qualification Entertainment * '' PhD: Phantasy Degree'', a Korean comic series * ''Piled Higher and Deeper'', a web comic * Ph.D. (band), a 1980s British group ** Ph.D. (Ph.D. albu ...

19th-century British literature The 19th (nineteenth) century began on 1 January 1801 ( MDCCCI), and ended on 31 December 1900 ( MCM). The 19th century was the ninth century of the 2nd millennium. The 19th century was characterized by vast social upheaval. Slavery was abolish ...

from the

University of Wisconsin–Madison A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase ''universitas magistrorum et scholarium'', which ...

. Her dissertation was entitled "

Matthew Arnold Matthew Arnold (24 December 1822 – 15 April 1888) was an English poet and cultural critic who worked as an inspector of schools. He was the son of Thomas Arnold, the celebrated headmaster of Rugby School, and brother to both Tom Arnold, li ...

's Possible Perfection: A Study of the Kantian Strain in Arnold's Poetry".Stuck In The Sixties: Conservatives and the Legacies of the 1960s – George Rising
/ref>

Early career

Cheney served as the sixth

chair of the National Endowment for the Humanities The Chair of the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) is the executive leader of the National Endowment for the Humanities, an independent federal agency created in 1965. The Chair directs the NEH and is the sole position in the agency wit ...

(NEH) from 1986 to 1993. In 1995, she founded the American Council of Trustees and Alumni, a think tank devoted to reforming higher education. She is a senior fellow in education and culture at the American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research. She also serves as a director of

Reader's Digest Association, Inc Trusted Media Brands, Inc. (TMBI), formerly known as the Reader's Digest Association, Inc. (RDA), is an American multi-platform media and publishing company that is co-headquartered in New York City and White Plains, New York. The company was ...

. From 1995 to 1998, Cheney served as the co-host of the Sunday edition of CNN's '' Crossfire'', replacing Tony Snow. Cheney served on

Lockheed Corporation The Lockheed Corporation was an American aerospace manufacturer. Lockheed was founded in 1926 and later merged with Martin Marietta to form Lockheed Martin in 1995. Its founder, Allan Lockheed, had earlier founded the similarly named but ...

's board of directors from 1994 to 2001. She gave up the $120,000-a-year position shortly before her husband's inauguration. She had served on the Lockheed board's finance, and nominating and corporate governance committees. In 2000, she was mentioned as a possible conservative female pick for Republican vice presidential nominee on the George W. Bush ticket. The appointed head of the nominating committee was her husband, Dick Cheney, then the CEO of

Halliburton Halliburton Company is an American multinational corporation responsible for most of the world's hydraulic fracturing operations. In 2009, it was the world's second largest list of oilfield service companies, oil field service company. It has o ...

, who eventually emerged as Bush's choice.

National history standards

In the early 1990s when heading the NEH, Cheney advocated voluntary national history standards for the nation's high school students and announced plans to create them. In 1994 shortly before the standards were to be released, Cheney, who was aghast at the results, wrote an opinion for ''

The Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' is an American business-focused, international daily newspaper based in New York City, with international editions also available in Chinese and Japanese. The ''Journal'', along with its Asian editions, is published ...

'' she titled ''The End of History,'' where she "set off a firestorm," according to

Gary B. Nash Gary Baring Nash (July 27, 1933 – July 29, 2021) was an American historian. He concentrated on the Revolutionary period, slavery and race, as well as the formation of political communities in Philadelphia and other cities. Life and education N ...

who headed the standards effort. Cheney followed with another opinion, ''The End of History, Part II'' in 2015. As of the early 2020s, her reversal is still cited in the discussion and controversy surrounding The 1619 Project.

Later career

As second lady, she repeatedly spoke out against violent and sexually explicit lyrics in popular music, including those of rapper

Eminem Marshall Bruce Mathers III (born October 17, 1972), known professionally as Eminem (; often stylized as EMINƎM), is an American rapper and record producer. He is credited with popularizing hip hop in middle America and is critically acclai ...

, picking up on an issue that was originally made famous by former vice president Al Gore and his wife

Tipper Tipper can refer to: People * Alfred Tipper (1867–1944), Australian showman, competitive and endurance cyclist and outsider artist * Benjamin Tipper (1896–1970), English cricketer * Constance Tipper (1894–1995), English metallurgist and crys ...

. She also criticized video game developers for similar content. On an October 10, 2007, episode of ''

The Daily Show ''The Daily Show'' is an American late-night talk and satirical news television program. It airs each Monday through Thursday on Comedy Central with release shortly after on Paramount+. ''The Daily Show'' draws its comedy and satire form fr ...

'', Cheney stated her opposition to a

constitutional amendment A constitutional amendment is a modification of the constitution of a polity, organization or other type of entity. Amendments are often interwoven into the relevant sections of an existing constitution, directly altering the text. Conversely, t ...

banning

same-sex marriage Same-sex marriage, also known as gay marriage, is the marriage of two people of the same sex or gender. marriage between same-sex couples is legally performed and recognized in 33 countries, with the most recent being Mexico, constituting ...

. Her daughter Mary identifies as lesbian and both Lynne Cheney and her husband Dick have publicly supported same-sex marriage during and after his vice presidency.

Family

Lynne Cheney married Richard Cheney in 1964. They have two daughters and seven grandchildren. Their daughters are Elizabeth Cheney (born July 28, 1966), and Mary Cheney (born on March 14, 1969). Lynne Cheney has one brother, Mark Vincent, who lives in Wyoming with his wife, Linda.

Wyoming U.S. Senate seat vacancy

Cheney was considered a possible contender to complete the term of Craig L. Thomas as

U.S. senator The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and powe ...

from Wyoming following his death in 2007. A spokesman stated that she was considering the post but she never signed an application to become a candidate. Cheney herself acknowledged in a 2015 interview that she had considered running for the senate seat. If she had won the seat, she would have become the first former second lady to be a member of the Senate since

Muriel Humphrey Muriel Fay Humphrey Brown (née Buck; February 20, 1912September 20, 1998) was an American politician who served as the second lady of the United States from 1965 to 1969, and as a U.S. Senator from Minnesota in 1978. She was married to the 38t ...

was appointed Senator from Minnesota after her husband's death in 1978.

In popular culture

Cheney criticized

in September 2000 for his promotion of "violence of the most degrading kind against women", in response to which he mockingly referenced Lynne and Dick Cheney (and his recurring heart problems) in the 2002 song " Without Me". Cheney was portrayed by Amy Adams in the 2018 film ''

Vice A vice is a practice, behaviour, or Habit (psychology), habit generally considered immorality, immoral, sinful, crime, criminal, rude, taboo, depraved, degrading, deviant or perverted in the associated society. In more minor usage, vice can refe ...

'', a biopic about

. In this political satire, she is portrayed as a sly driving force and a source of inspiration and support behind her husband's political career .

Books

Lynne Cheney is the author or co-author of several books.

Fiction

* ''Executive Privilege: A Washington Novel'' (1979) () * '' Sisters'' (1981). New American Library (now part of

Penguin Random House Penguin Random House LLC is an Anglo-American multinational conglomerate publishing company formed on July 1, 2013, from the merger of Penguin Group and Random House. On April 2, 2020, Bertelsmann announced the completion of its purchase o ...

). () * ''The Body Politic: A Novel'' (2000), co-authored with Victor Gold ()

Non-Fiction

* ''Kings of the Hill: Power and Personality in the House of Representatives'' (1983), co-authored with her husband and future vice-president of the United States, Richard M. "Dick" Cheney. New York City: Continuum. () * ''American Memory: A Report on the Humanities in the Nation's Public Schools'' (1987) () * ''Academic Freedom'' (1992) () * ''Telling the Truth: Why Our Country and Our Culture Have Stopped Making Sense—and What We Can Do About It'' (1995) () * ''Kings of the Hill: How Nine Powerful Men Changed the Course of American History'' (1996), co-authored with Dick Cheney. Revised edition of ''Kings of the Hill'' published in 1983 by Continuum. The major difference is an added chapter on Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich. New York City: Touchstone/Simon & Schuster () * ''America: A Patriotic Primer'' (2002) () * ''A is for Abigail: An Almanac of Amazing American Women'' (2003) () * ''When Washington Crossed the Delaware: A Wintertime Story for Young Patriots'' (2004) () * ''A Time for Freedom: What Happened When in America'' (2005) () * ''Our 50 States: A Family Adventure Across America'' (2006) () * ''Blue Skies, No Fences: A Memoir of Childhood and Family'' (2007) () * ''We the People: The Story of Our Constitution'' (2008) () * ''James Madison: A Life Reconsidered'' (2014) () * ''The Virginia Dynasty: Four Presidents and the Creation of the American Nation'' (2020) ()

References

Additional 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.

External links

White House's Lynne Cheney Page
''archived'' * * Se

TIME Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, t ...

(September 20, 2007) * , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Cheney, Lynne 1941 births 20th-century American novelists 21st-century American writers 20th-century American women writers 21st-century American women writers American Enterprise Institute American people of Danish descent American people of English descent American people of Irish descent American people of Welsh descent American people of Swedish descent American television talk show hosts American women novelists American Presbyterians Chairpersons of the National Endowment for the Humanities Lynne Colorado College alumni Converts to Methodism Former Presbyterians Living people People from Casper, Wyoming People from Jackson, Wyoming Second Ladies of the United States University of Colorado Boulder alumni University of Wisconsin–Madison alumni Writers from Wyoming Wyoming Republicans American United Methodists Lockheed Martin people