Cheney Emerges as Leading V.P. Candidate

July 24, 2000 -- With GOP presidential candidate George W. Bush expected to name his running mate in less than 36 hours, former Defense Secretary Richard Cheney remains a leading prospect to fill the post.

Cheney 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 join Bush on the Republican ticket. But a number of recent revelations suggest that the former congressman and cabinet secretary may now be atop Bush’s short list, as the Texas governor nears what may be the most important decision of his presidential campaign.

On Friday, Cheney traveled from Texas to Wyoming, where he served as a congressman for 10 years, to personally change his voter registration. That development, which removed a possible constitutional barrier to a Bush-Cheney ticket, stoked already furious speculation that Cheney was being considered.

ABCNEWS also has learned that 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.

The Bush camp has also recently taken 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, told ABCNEWS that he spoke to Cheney’s physician in Washington, Dr. Jonathon Reiner, and subsequently concluded that Cheney is fit to run and serve.

Denton made the call at the request of the governor and former President Bush — a further indication that Cheney is under serious consideration.

ABCNEWS has also learned that the elder Bush, who was instrumental in tapping Cheney to head the selection process, has been recommending for weeks that Cheney join his son on the GOP ticket.

Vice Presidential Credentials

Cheney, 59, served as a White House chief of staff under President Ford and secretary of defense under President Bush. Governor Bush has said often that the two most important qualifications for the person he’ll ask to run with him are a willingness to work as a loyal No. 2 and the ability to serve as president. A highly respected party elder with vast experience in both the executive and legislative branches, Cheney would fit the bill on both counts. He would also bring some much-needed foreign policy expertise to the ticket.

One potential drawback is that Cheney does not hail from a battleground state, as a number of other prospective vice presidential candidates do. Wyoming, the state Cheney represented in the House, with its three electoral votes is unlikely to play a significant role in the general election.

On Sunday, the Bush camp publicly defended Cheney against potential avenues of political attack, such as his conservative voting record in the House — another indication that Bush may be preparing to name Cheney as his running mate.

“Maybe the Gore campaign will try to distort his record and attack him,” said Karl Rove, chief strategist for the Bush campaign, on CBS News ’ Face the Nation, “but I don’t think it will pay off very well.”

When asked whether or not Cheney’s lucrative position as CEO of an energy company was an area of vulnerability, Rove replied: “I don’t see Dick Cheney’s leadership in running a construction and oil service company to be a problem at all, when compared to this administration’s failure to have a comprehensive energy policy.”

Rove also downplayed concerns about Cheney’s history of heart trouble.

“[Cheney] served as secretary of defense in President Bush ’s administration and presided over Desert Storm,” he said. “I don’t know of a more stressful situation than being secretary of defense during armed combat, and he seemed to do just fine.”

Meanwhile, Democrats and their political allies have already begun bashing Cheney. The Sierra Club — a leading environmentalist group that on Saturday endorsed Bush’s Democratic rival, Vice President Al Gore — has accused Cheney of having a “strong anti-environmental record.”

“Adding Cheney to Bush’s ticket would make a bad situation for the environment worse,” Dr. Robert Cox, the group’s president, said in a statement this afternoon. “[Bush and Cheney] have consistently opposed efforts to protect the health and safety of our environment.” “We’re disappointed that Governor Bush may ignore [the] national consensus by selecting a running mate with a dirty record,” he added.

Cheney, having returned to his Dallas-area home, refused comment to reporters as he left for work this morning.

Powell Rules Out Run

ABCNEWS has learned that Bush recently explored the possibility of retired Gen. Colin Powell joining him on the ticket. Within the last two weeks, Bush personally approached someone close to the popular former joint chiefs chairman to ask whether or not Powell — who has repeatedly ruled out running for any elective office — had reconsidered. The person, a source tells ABCNEWS, assured the governor that Powell had not changed his mind.

Powell’s office denied a radio report by CBS News anchor Dan Rather that Bush and the general were recently in direct discussions about the vice presidency.

“There is absolutely no substance to Mr. Rather’s report,” said a statement released by the general’s office this afternoon. “General Powell’s position remains unchanged. There have been no conversations of the kind suggested by Mr. Rather.”

Danforth Reluctant

Former Missouri Sen. John Danforth, who is also on Bush’s final short list of possible running mates, signaled Sunday that he would join the governor on the ticket if asked, but said that he did not expect to get the call.

“It would be pretty tough to turn down,” he told ABCNEWS Sunday morning. “But that’s not going to happen. I think it’s Cheney.”

Last Tuesday, Bush and Cheney staged a secret meeting with Danforth and his wife Sally in a Chicago hotel suite to discuss the vice presidency. Danforth, 63, retired from the Senate in 1995, after representing Missouri — a crucial battleground state for the general election — for three terms.

Last September, Danforth, was appointed special counsel by Attorney General Janet Reno to head up an investigation into the 1993 siege of the Branch Davidian compound near Waco, Texas. As he announced the results of his probe on Friday, he conceded that the timing of his report was indeed related to “an unexpected political possibility.”

But even as he signaled a willingness to become his party’s vice presidential nominee, Danforth insisted that he is reluctant to re-enter elective politics.

“I am very, very reluctant to get back in public life,” he said on FOX News Sunday. “If it were a matter of duty, that’s a different question, but I think that there are other people out there … who would be very, very good vice presidents.”

Announcement Expected Tuesday

Bush, who spent Sunday with aides at his ranch in Crawford, Texas, had pledged to make the much-anticipated decision by the end of the weekend.

“The days of speculation are over,” he told reporters on Friday.

Rove said Sunday on ABCNEWS’ This Week that the candidates on Bush’s final short list are “a group of people he’s very comfortable with.”

Others thought to have been under consideration include Oklahoma Gov. Frank Keating, Nebraska Sen. Chuck Hagel, New York Gov. George Pataki, Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Ridge, Tennessee Sen. Fred Thompson and Ohio Rep. John Kasich.

Bush said he would first call the person he has chosen to join him on the ticket and then contact other candidates to notify them of his decision. He is expected to announce his running mate Tuesday in Austin, Texas, in an effort to build enthusiasm for the ticket just prior to the start of the Republican National Convention, which is set to begin in Philadelphia at the end of the month.

Mark Halperin, John Berman and Carter M. Yang contributed to this report.