page_title: Dick Cheney
section_title: Second term (2005–2009)
hierarchical_section_title: Dick Cheney / Vice presidency (2001–2009) / Second term (2005–2009)
caption_attribution_description: Vice President Dick Cheney listens to Lithuanian President Valdas Adamkus during a bilateral meeting held at the Presidential Palace in Vilnius, Lithuania, May 3, 2006. Presidential Palace.
context_page_description: Richard Bruce Cheney is an American politician and businessman who served as the 46th vice president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. He has been cited as the most powerful vice president in American history. He is also one of the most unpopular politicians in the history of the US, holding an approval rating of just 13% at the time of leaving office.
  Born in Lincoln, Nebraska, Cheney grew up there and later in Casper, Wyoming. He attended Yale and then the University of Wyoming, at the latter of which he earned a BA and an MA in Political Science. He began his political career as an intern for Congressman William A. Steiger, eventually working his way into the White House during the Nixon and Ford administrations. He served as White House chief of staff from 1975 to 1977. In 1978, Cheney was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives. He represented Wyoming's at-large congressional district from 1979 to 1989, briefly serving as House minority whip in 1989. Cheney was selected to be the secretary of defense during the presidency of George H. W. Bush, holding the position for the majority of Bush's term from 1989 to 1993.
context_section_description: Bush and Cheney were re-elected in the 2004 presidential election, running against John Kerry and his running mate, John Edwards. During the election, the pregnancy of his daughter Mary and her sexual orientation as a lesbian became a source of public attention for Cheney in light of the same-sex marriage debate. Cheney has stated that he is in favor of gay marriages personally, but that each individual U.S. state should decide whether to permit it or not.
  Cheney's former chief legal counsel, David Addington, became his chief of staff and remained in that office until Cheney's departure from office. John P. Hannah served as Cheney's national security adviser.
  Until his indictment and resignation in 2005, I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, Jr. served in both roles.
  On the morning of July 21, 2007, Cheney once again served as acting president, from 7:16 am to 9:21 am. Bush transferred the power of the presidency prior to undergoing a medical procedure, requiring sedation, and later resumed his powers and duties that same day.
  After his term began in 2001, Cheney was occasionally asked if he was interested in the Republican nomination for the 2008 elections. However, he always maintained that he wished to retire upon the expiration of his term and he did not run in the 2008 presidential primaries. The Republicans nominated Arizona Senator John McCain.
caption: President of Lithuania Valdas Adamkus (right) meets with Vice President Cheney in Vilnius, May 2006
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