Lynne Cheney
Lynne Cheney
Lynne Ann Vincent Cheney (born August 14, 1941) is the wife of Vice President Richard B. Cheney. They dated in secondary school and married in 1964.
Born in Casper, Wyoming, she obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree from Colorado College, Master of Arts from the University of Colorado, and a Ph.D. in 19th century British literature from the University of Wisconsin.
Lynne Cheney has had her own career in public service, having served as chair of the National Endowment for the Humanities from 1986 to 1993. In 1995 she founded American Council of Trustees and Alumni a conservative watchdog group that monitors American colleges and academia.
After Cheney left the organization, the Amercian Council of Trustees and Alumni released a report following 9/11, entitled "Defending Civilization: How Our Universities are Failing America and What Should Be Done About It," the report states: "College and university faculty have been the weak link in America's response to the attack [of 9/11]." The report also takes professors to task for being "short on patriotism and long on self-flagellation."
More recently, she has been senior fellow in education and culture at the American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research. She also serves as a director of the Reader's Digest Association.
She is author or co-author of several books:
Dick and Lynne Cheney have two children, daughters Elizabeth and Mary, and three granddaughters.
Their daughter Mary is an out of the closet lesbian. Until May of 2000 she was the lesbian/gay corporate relations manager for the once-notoriously anti-gay Coors Brewing Company However in July of 2000 when Lynne was asked by ABC's Cokie Roberts about having a daughter who has "declared she's openly gay," Lynne responded: "Mary has never declared such a thing. ...I have two wonderful daughters. I love them very much. They are bright; they are hard-working; they are decent."
The comment immediately drew fire from a number of gay rights activists. Human Rights Campaign spokesman David Smith said about Lynne Cheney's comments: "They were horrible. She said she is proud of both her daughters, but there was definitely a sense this was one aspect of who her daughter is that she was not proud of. That came through loud and clear."
