Richard Bruce "Dick" Cheney (born January 30, 1941), is the forty-sixth and current Vice President of the United States. As Vice President, Cheney is also the President of the United States Senate.
Cheney was born in Lincoln, Nebraska but soon relocated to Casper, Wyoming where he grew up. He began his political career as an intern for Congressman William A. Steiger, eventually working his way into the White House during the Ford administration where he served as White House Chief of Staff. In 1978, Cheney was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives from Wyoming; he was reelected five times, eventually becoming House Minority Whip. Cheney was selected to be the Secretary of Defense during the presidency of George H.W. Bush, a position he held for all but two months of Bush's term. During this time, Cheney oversaw the 1991 Operation Desert Storm, among other actions.
Out of office during the Clinton presidency, Cheney was Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Halliburton Company from 1995 to 2000.
Cheney joined the presidential campaign of George W. Bush in 2000, who selected him as his running mate. As Vice President, Cheney remains a very public and controversial figure. He continues to assert that the Iraq War and War on Terror must be won by the United States, and many of his other policy recommendations initially drew strong approval, but in his second-term disapproval of his performance has outweighed approval, as measured by national polls. Cheney is generally acknowledged to be one of the most powerful and influential Vice Presidents in U.S. history.
