Experience, Loyalty Hallmarks of Cheney’s Career

— -- Best known for serving as defense secretary under President Bush, where he won praise for his handling of the Gulf War in 1991, Richard Bruce Cheney, now Gov. George Bush’s official choice to be his vice-presidential running mate, brings a wealth of political experience to the job.

ABCNEWS.comJuly 24—

Richard Bruce Cheney has a wealth of political experience, as a White House official, congressman, and Cabinet official.

Cheney, 59, is best known for serving as defense secretary under President Bush, where he earned widespread praise for his handling of the Gulf War in 1991.

But he also has an unusually diverse political background, having seen the White House from the inside as President Ford’s chief of staff — at the young age of 34 — and having served in Congress for a decade as the sole representative from Wyoming.

Since 1995, Cheney has worked in the private sector, serving as chief executive officer of Halliburton Co., a Texas-based Fortune 500 energy services company specializing in the development of oil and gas production around the world.

A Young Chief of Staff

Born in Nebraska in 1941, Cheney grew up in Casper, Wyo., then headed East to attend the Bush family alma mater, Yale University. But he dropped out during his sophomore year, and eventually earned a political science degree at the University of Wyoming in 1965.

After winning a postgraduate fellowship that took him to Washington, Cheney took a job in the Nixon administration as a special assistant to Donald Rumsfeld, who was first director of the Office of Economic Opportunity, then White House counsel.

In August 1974, after President Nixon resigned from office, Rumsfeld was called to join the White House staff as an assistant to President Gerald Ford, and Cheney moved along with Rumsfeld.

Hard-working, loyal, and good-natured, Cheney made a good impression and became Ford’s chief of staff from 1975 to 1977.