Bush Officially Chooses Cheney As His Running Mate

— -- GOP presidential candidate George W. Bush has selected former Defense Secretary Richard Cheney as his running mate, a top Republican source tells ABCNEWS.

ABCNEWS.comJuly 24

— Republican presidential candidate George W. Bush plans to ask former

Defense Secretary Richard Cheney to be his running mate, ABCNEWS has learned.

Top Republican sources say the Texas governor will call Cheney later today to offer him the coveted post. Bush is expected to formally announce his choice at a news conference Tuesday in Austin, Texas.

The former congressman and Cabinet secretary was tapped in April to lead Bush’s vice-presidential selection process, a move that was initially thought to lessen the odds that he would be chosen to fill the slot.

But Cheney and the Bush camp recently took several key steps to clear the way for Cheney to join the governor on the Republican ticket.

On Thursday, Cheney warned the board of Halliburton Co., a Texas-based engineering and construction firm, that he would need to step down as chief executive officer if tapped to run for vice president. Last month, Cheney sold half of his interest in the company’s stock.

On Friday, Cheney traveled from Texas to Wyoming, where he served as a congressman for 10 years, to personally change his voter registration in order to remove a possible constitutional barrier to a Bush-Cheney ticket. It is not clear whether a president and vice vice president can be registered to vote in the same state.

The Bush camp also took steps to evaluate Cheney’s health, a potential area of concern given that he has suffered three heart attacks and, in 1988, underwent quadruple bypass surgery.

Cheney was given a medical exam last week and Dr. Denton A. Cooley, a prominent Houston cardiologist and a Bush family friend, spoke to Cheney’s physician in Washington, Dr. Jonathan Reiner, and subsequently concluded that Cheney was fit to run and serve.