Lynne Cheney, the wife of Vice President Dick
Cheney, has been a supporter of rightist causes for decades, including from her current perch
at the American Enterprise Institute (AEI).
A former chair of the National Endowment for the Humanities, Cheney specializes in culture and education
at AEI and was an early favorite for the post of education secretary during the lead up to the election
of George W. Bush in 2000 (Nation, September 27, 2000). Although largely inactive in recent
years (her most recent writings on the AEI web site date back to 2004), Cheney has remained an influential
and controversial voice on education policy and the "war on terror."
In late 2001, shortly after the 9/11 attacks, Cheney received media attention for her support, along
with Sen. Joe Lieberman (D-CT), of the American
Council of Trustees and Alumni (ACTA), whose 2001 report "Defending Civilization: How Our Universities
Are Failing America," was harshly criticized by observers for its alleged "blacklisting" of
professors who were accused of making supposed anti-American statements such as, "It is from the
desperate, angry, and bereaved that these suicide pilots came" (San Jose Mercury News,
December 13, 2001). Criticism of the report led Senator Lieberman to distance himself from the group,
saying in a letter to ACTA: "If I had been given an advanced copy, I would have objected to its
content and methodology and asked you either to revise it or make clear that I had no involvement with
it" (Nation, December 18, 2001).
Cheney also has a history of criticizing colleges for shifting the focus of courses to global culture
and history. Reported one journalist: "The American experience, she argues, was the high point
of world history: 'I find it hard to imagine that there's a story more wonderful than being driven
by the desire to worship freely, to set off across that ocean, to make a home out of this wild, inhospitable
land'" (Nation, September 27, 2000).
Cheney often defends controversial Bush administration policies in the "war on terror." In
October 2006, she went on the attack in an interview with CNN's Wolf Blitzer, accusing CNN (her former
employer) of left-wing bias: "[An earlier CNN special on America's 'Broken Government'] seemed
straight out of Democratic talking points using phrasing like 'domestic surveillance' when it's not
domestic surveillance that anyone has talked about or ever done. It's surveillance of terrorists. It's
people who have al-Qaida connections calling into the United States. So I think we're in the season
of distortion, and this is just one more." When Blitzer asked if there had been innocent people
who had been scrutinized by the surveillance program, Cheney shot back, "Well, are you sure these
people are innocent?" Referring to a CNN broadcast of images depicting Iraqi insurgents attacking
U.S. troops, Cheney accused CNN of running "terrorist propaganda," asking Blitzer if he "want[s]
us to win" in Iraq ("Lynne Cheney Unhinged On CNN," Think Progress, October
27, 2006).
Cheney also defended I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby,
who was convicted in connection with investigation of the leaking of CIA agent Valerie Plame's identity,
as "a man who spent a great deal of his life as a dedicated public servant who's done an awful
lot of good." Cheney said that Libby's trial did "not reflect well on our judicial system" (Judd
Legum, Think Progress, December 24, 2006). Speaking on NPR's "Diane Rehm Show," Cheney
denied that her husband connected Saddam Hussein to 9/11: "I've seen Dick specifically say 'no'
to the question asked 'is there a connection between Saddam Hussein and 9/11' because there isn't a
connection between Saddam Hussein and 9/11" ("Lynne Cheney Unhinged: Insists Her Husband
Never Connected Saddam to 9/11," Think Progress, December 1, 2005).
Pre-9/11, Cheney's hardline views focused mainly on countries like China. According to the Atlantic's
James Fallows, while Cheney served on the Hart-Rudman Commission on National Security in the 21st Century,
she repeatedly insisted that a military showdown with the Chinese was unavoidable ("Gary Hart,
Lynne Cheney, and War with China," TheAtlantic.com, July 5, 2007).
Several of Cheney's former colleagues were involved in U.S. reconstruction efforts following the invasion
of Iraq. John Agresto, who worked under Cheney at the National Endowment for the Humanities and who
had previously presided over a private liberal arts college of only 400 students, found himself in
charge of rebuilding the entire Iraqi education system with the Coalition Provisional Authority. Prior
to arriving in Iraq, Agresto reportedly did not read a single book on Iraq, preferring to "come
here [Iraq] with as open a mind as I could have. ... I'd much rather learn firsthand than have it filtered
to me by an author" (Rajiv Chandraskaran, Imperial Life in the Emerald City: Inside Iraq's
Green Zone, Knopf, 2006).
The Independent Women's Forum (IWF), a
right-wing group opposed to "radical feminism," government sponsored childcare, and equal
pay for equal work quotas for women in government service, was selected by the State Department to
carry out, in part, the Iraqi Women's Democracy Initiative to train Iraqi women for political participation
in upcoming Iraqi democracy. Cheney still serves as an IWF director emerita (Jim Lobe, "Foe of
'Radical Feminism,' to Train Iraqi Women," Inter Press Service, October 5, 2004).
Cheney's projects typically receive large donations from a plank of right-wing foundations. Both IWF
and ACTA have received money from the Sarah Scaife
Foundation, the Lynde and Harry Bradley
Foundation, Carthage, and the John Olin Foundation (MediaTransparency.org).
Cheney's children have also risen in the conservative ranks. Daughter Elizabeth is
currently working on the Fred Thompson campaign for the 2008 presidential election (Stephen F. Hayes, "Hawks
for Thompson," Weekly Standard,
June 12, 2007). Previously, Elizabeth served as deputy assistant secretary of state for Near East affairs,
where she oversaw the Iran-Syria Operations Group which sought "to plot a strategy to democratize
those two 'rogue' states'" (Craig Unger, "From the Wonderful Folks Who Brought You Iraq," Vanity
Fair, March 2007). Daughter Mary was formerly a board member of the Republican Unity Coalition,
and she also served as director of vice-presidential operations for the Bush-Cheney 2004 reelection campaign.
She is currently a vice president for consumer advocacy at AOL (Washington Post, December 6,
2006).
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Affiliations
American Enterprise Institute: Scholar
American Council of Trustees and Alumni: Cofounder, with Joe Lieberman
Independent Women's Forum: Director Emerita
CNN Crossfire Sunday: Co-Host, 1995-1998
Washingtonian: Editor, 1983-1986
Government Service
National Endowment for the Humanities: Chairperson, 1986-1993
Hart-Rudman Commission on National Security in the 21st Century: Commissioner
Private Sector
AXP Mutual (American Express): Director
Lockheed Martin: Board of Directors, 1994-2001
Union Pacific Resources Group: Board of Directors
American Express-IDS Funds: Director, Mutual Fund Branch of Financial Services Division
Education
University of Wisconsin: Ph.D., 19th Century British Literature
University of Colorado: M.A.
Colorado College: B.A.
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