Cheney Joins Bush on GOP Ticket

July 25, 2000 -- Former Defense Secretary Dick Cheney has joined presidential candidate George W. Bush on the Republican ticket.

The Texas governor formally named Cheney as his running mate at a campaign rally this afternoon at the University of Texas in Austin.

“I believe you’re looking at the next vice president of the United States,” Bush told an enthusiastic crowd of supporters as he stood side-by-side with the former Cabinet secretary, who ran the Pentagon during the Gulf War, under Bush’s father’s administration. “I’m proud to announce that Dick Cheney, a man of great integrity, sound judgment and experience is my choice to be the next vice president of the United States.”

Cheney, a former congressman, White House chief of staff and secretary of defense, had been heading up Bush’s search for running mate.

“Gradually, I realized the person that was best qualified to be the vice presidential nominee was working by my side,” Bush explained.

“I’m honored and proud to join your team,” Cheney told the governor, “and I enthusiastically accept the challenge.”

“Big changes are coming to Washington,” he added, “and I want to be a part of them.”

Gore, Dems Pan Cheney

Bush described his new running mate as a man “who is respected by Republicans and Democrats alike.”

“Even my opponent, Vice President [Al] Gore, once said Dick Cheney is a good man who iswell liked and respected by his colleagues,” he said.

But Gore and his Democratic allies wasted no times in criticizing Bush’s choice, portraying Cheney as an out-of-the-mainstream ultra-conservative.

“Governor Bush has now chosen his running mate,” Gore told a meeting of the Independent Living Council in Washington. “And there’s no question now that the American people will have a choice between two very different tickets and visions for our future.”

“He is probably as far-right as anybody in the Republican Party,” said Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle, who highlighted Cheney’s opposition to abortion rights during his tenure in the House.

“It really represents, I think, the extreme side of the Republican Party,” the South Dakota senator insisted. “And that is something that the Republicans are going to have to contend with.”

Even before the official announcement, Capitol Hill Democrats staged a rally at the Supreme Court, where they accused Bush of caving in to the conservative wing of his party by not selecting a running mate who supports abortion rights.

Shared Experience

When Cheney was tapped in April to lead Bush’s vice-presidential search team, the move was thought to lessen the likelihood that he would be chosen to fill the slot.

“When Governor Bush asked me to head-up the search team,” Cheney said this afternoon, “I honestly did not expect that I would be standing here today.”

But both men insisted that it was the experience of working together to evaluate other prospective vice-presidential candidates that convinced them Cheney was right for the job.

“I saw firsthand Dick Cheney’s outstanding judgment,” Bush said. “I was impressed by the thoughtful and thorough way he approached his mission.”

“I worked alongside Governor Bush,” added Cheney, who initially refused to be considered as a possible running mate. “I saw his sincerity, I watched him make decisions — always firm and always fair. And in the end, I learned how persuasive he can be.”

Steps to the Ticket

In the days leading up to today’s announcement, the Bush camp took several notable steps to clear the way for Cheney to join the governor on the ticket.

Last 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.

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.

How It Happened

It was revealed Monday that Bush had indeed selected Cheney to be his running mate. Today at 7:22 a.m. ET, the governor called Cheney at his home in Dallas to formally ask him to join him on the ticket, and he accepted.

Shortly thereafter, Bush began phoning those who had previously been under consideration to notify them of his decision. That list, ABCNEWS has learned, included Oklahoma Gov. Frank Keating, who received a call from the governor an hour later, Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Ridge, Nebraska Sen. Chuck Hagel, Tennessee Sens. Fred Thompson and Bill Frist and Ohio Rep. John Kasich.

Cheney and his wife Lynne flew to Austin this morning to join Bush and his wife Laura at the governor’s mansion. Hours later, the choice became official as Cheney made his first campaign appearance as a vice-presidential candidate.

Cheney and Bush will begin campaigning together in effort to build enthusiasm for the full ticket in advance of the Republican National Convention, which is set to begin in Philadelphia next Monday. Their next stop on the campaign trail will be a rally Wednesday in Wyoming, Cheney’s home state.

Ridge Revelation

From the outset, the Bush campaign placed a premium on not revealing whom the governor was or was not giving serious consideration for the coveted spot. But today, Ridge revealed he had agreed to hide the fact that he had removed himself from consideration, even as a joint campaign appearance with Bush stoked already furious speculation that the Pennsylvania governor was high atop Bush’s short list.

Ridge told reporters today that he personally asked Bush not to consider him on July 5. A week later, however, the Texas governor maintained publicly that a Bush-Ridge ticket was still a possibility.

“He’s a good friend,” Bush said at a news conference with Ridge in Pittsburgh on July 13. “Tom’s under consideration.

“[It] would be an added bonus,” Bush also said, “if the [vice-presidential] candidate could help win a big state such as Pennsylvania.”

Ridge said there was no attempt to be devious. “It was never an intent to do anything other than to reveal it when we thought it was a more appropriate time,” he insisted today.

ABCNEWS’ Mark Halperin and John Berman contributed to this report.