Lynne Cheney | |
|---|---|
 Official portrait, 2005 | |
| Second Lady of the United States | |
| In role January 20, 2001 – January 20, 2009 | |
| Vice President | Dick Cheney |
| Preceded by | Tipper Gore |
| Succeeded by | Jill Biden |
| Chair of the National Endowment for the Humanities | |
| In office May 21, 1986 – January 20, 1993 | |
| President | Ronald Reagan George H. W. Bush |
| Preceded by | John Agresto (acting) |
| Succeeded by | Jerry L. Martin (acting) |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Lynne Ann Vincent August 14, 1941 Casper, Wyoming, U.S. |
| Political party | Republican |
| Spouse | |
| Children | |
| Education | Colorado College (BA) University of Colorado Boulder (MA) University of Wisconsin–Madison (PhD) |
Lynne Ann Cheney (/ˈtʃeɪni/ CHAY-nee; née Vincent; born August 14, 1941) is an American author, scholar, and former talk show host. She is married to the 46th vice president of the United States, Dick Cheney, and served as the second lady of the United States from 2001 to 2009. She is the oldest living former Second Lady, following the death of Barbara Bush in 2018.
Lynne Ann Vincent was born on August 14, 1941, in Casper, Wyoming. Her mother, Edna Lolita (née Lybyer, 1919–1973),[1] became a deputy sheriff, and her father, Wayne Edwin Vincent, was an engineer. A descendant of Mormon pioneers, and with roots in Denmark, Sweden, England, Ireland, and Wales,[2][3] she was raised Presbyterian and became Methodist upon her marriage to Dick Cheney.[2]
Cheney received her Bachelor of Arts degree in English literature with highest honors from Colorado College. She continued her education with a Master of Arts degree from the University of Colorado Boulder, and a PhD in 19th-century British literature from the University of Wisconsin–Madison.[4][5] Her dissertation was entitled "Matthew Arnold's Possible Perfection: A Study of the Kantian Strain in Arnold's Poetry".[5]
Cheney served as the sixth chair of the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) from 1986 to 1993.[6] In 1995, she founded the American Council of Trustees and Alumni, a think tank devoted to reforming higher education.[7]
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. From 1995 to 1998, Cheney served as the co-host of the Sunday edition of CNN's Crossfire, replacing Tony Snow.[8]
Cheney served on Lockheed Corporation'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.[9][10]
In 2000, she was mentioned as a possible conservative female pick for Republican vice presidential nominee on the George W. Bush ticket.[citation needed] The appointed head of the nominating committee was her husband, Dick Cheney, then the CEO of Halliburton, who eventually emerged as Bush's choice.
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.[11] 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 she titled The End of History,[12] where she "set off a firestorm," according to Gary B. Nash who headed the standards effort.[11] Cheney followed with another opinion, The End of History, Part II in 2015.[13] As of the early 2020s, her reversal is still cited in the discussion and controversy surrounding The 1619 Project.[14]
As second lady, she repeatedly spoke out against violent and sexually explicit lyrics in popular music, including those of rapper Eminem, picking up on an issue that was originally made famous by former vice president Al Gore and his wife Tipper. She also criticized video game developers for similar content.[15]
On an October 10, 2007, episode of The Daily Show, Cheney stated her opposition to a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage. 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.
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.
Cheney was considered a possible contender to complete the term of Craig L. Thomas as U.S. senator from Wyoming following his death in 2007.[16] A spokesman stated[when?] 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.[17] 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 was appointed Senator from Minnesota after her husband's death in 1978.
Cheney criticized Eminem in September 2000 for his promotion of "violence of the most degrading kind against women",[18] in response to which he mockingly referenced Lynne and Dick Cheney (and his recurring heart problems) in the 2002 song "Without Me".[19][20] Cheney was portrayed by Amy Adams in the 2018 film Vice, a biopic about Dick Cheney. 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.[21]
Lynne Cheney is the author or co-author of several books.
