But with Mr. Cheney's selection, Mr. Bush also summoned the shadow of his father, and was sure to rekindle debates in the coming days over just how firmly his political fortunes were tied to his patrimony. Additionally, Mr. Bush, who has used his status as a governor to style himself as a candidate who would bring an outsider's perspective to Washington, ultimately cast his lot with the ultimate insider, someone who spent more years inside the Beltway than perhaps anyone else on Mr. Bush's list of vice-presidential prospects. Nearly a quarter century ago, Mr. Cheney served as chief of staff for President Gerald R. Ford, and that was when he caught the eye of Mr. Bush's father, who was the director of Central Intelligence, according to the former president's friends. Mr. Cheney, who was in only his mid-30's then, was obviously a rising Republican star. President Bush collects people.
Smart people do that.
Smart people collect people.'' After Mr. Cheney was elected to Congress from Wyoming in 1978, he quickly became one of the leading Republican voices in the House, something Mr. Bush would surely have noticed. As vice president from 1981 to 1989, Mr. Bush played a role as President Ronald Reagan's liaison to Republicans in Congress. He wasn't really close to the dad until after the 1988 election, when he joined the Cabinet,'' said one of Mr. Cheney's associates. What finally sealed their bond, friends and associates said, was the Persian Gulf war. Mr. Bush's friends and associates said that he considered the challenge of managing that conflict to be a defining moment not just in his political career but in his life.