# Does Dick Cheney actually DO anything? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 11, 2003, 10:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-dick-cheney-actually-do-anything/168001 "2003-04-11T10:15:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Cubsfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Cubsfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cubsfan)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2003, 10:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-dick-cheney-actually-do-anything/168001/1 "2003-04-11T10:15:33Z")
This guy has been the most “behind the scenes” VP that I can remember in my short life (1976). I almost NEVER hear his name mentioned on TV. I NEVER hear of him actually having done anything. I NEVER read articles that even mention his presence as a person of any authority. I don’t think I have even heard his name mentioned in the same breath as the current war. Do VPs just not have any power or duties or are they just “there” in case the P gets waxed? I understand his roll in congress, but I never even hear about him there! ---
**Author:** ![Early\_Out](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Early\_Out](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Early_Out)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2003, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-dick-cheney-actually-do-anything/168001/2 "2003-04-11T13:59:24Z")
I, for one, certainly hope that Cheney isn’t doing much of anything. On the scariness scale, I find him more scary than GWB, though less scary than Ashcroft. ---
**Author:** ![woolly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ebca7d/32.png) [@woolly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/woolly)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2003, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-dick-cheney-actually-do-anything/168001/3 "2003-04-11T14:09:44Z")
Well I’m wooshed … over here it was less than a month ago that we had a couple of our broadsheets running stories extolling "Dick Cheney… is now the most powerful vice-president in history. " ---
**Author:** ![ShadiRoxan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/59ef9b/32.png) [@ShadiRoxan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShadiRoxan)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2003, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-dick-cheney-actually-do-anything/168001/4 "2003-04-11T14:12:18Z")
i think the only official role that he has is to place bush if something happens to him and to cast a vote in the senate if they are tied. i’m not really recalling anything else that he would officially have to do. is he even alive? i haven’t seen him in the news at all. of course that could be because i don’t have a tv. still there are tvs around campus and he’s never on it. ---
**Author:** ![Jerrybear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/8c91f0/32.png) [@Jerrybear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jerrybear)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2003, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-dick-cheney-actually-do-anything/168001/5 "2003-04-11T15:30:44Z")
Cheney appears to be the “grown up” who makes the real decisions, because of course Little Georgie Dubbya cannot be expected to be much more than an “empty suit” figurehead. Sigh…maybe some day we will have a real President and Vice President. People who are really worthy of the positions, like Ralph Nader and Winona LaDuke. ---
**Author:** ![Knowed\_Out](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/knowed_out/32/7380_2.png) [@Knowed\_Out](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knowed_Out)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2003, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-dick-cheney-actually-do-anything/168001/6 "2003-04-11T15:39:30Z")
Dick Cheney is the quiet manipulating power behind the throne. He doesn’t get in the stoplight and create any controversy for himself. He’s the efficiency expert who has everybody’s ear when he speaks. I remember when he was Sec’y of Defense during Persian Gulf, holding a press conference, and a reporter asked him what he thought about the 7 Iraqi jet fighters who flew into Iran. He said as matter of factly as possible, “I’d say that the Iranian air force has just increased by 7.” ---
**Author:** ![Payton\_s\_Servant](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3da27b/32.png) [@Payton\_s\_Servant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Payton_s_Servant)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2003, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-dick-cheney-actually-do-anything/168001/7 "2003-04-11T15:56:03Z")
**wooly** is correct, Cheney is the most powerful Vice-President in history. He has manuevered and played the infighting game in the Bush White House very well, well enough so that Condoleeza Rice has little or no say on issues of national security. Same goes for Colin Powell, who Cheney sees as nothing more then a mouthpiece for the message that he wants Shrub’s administration to have. Cheney has also been behind the admin’s push to get drilling started up in ANWAR and to roll back all the environemental laws that have been passed in the last 40 years. ---
**Author:** ![occ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8c91f0/32.png) [@occ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/occ)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2003, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-dick-cheney-actually-do-anything/168001/8 "2003-04-11T20:25:59Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Jerrybear \* > \*\*Cheney appears to be the “grown up” who makes the real decisions, because of course Little Georgie Dubbya cannot be expected to be much more than an “empty suit” figurehead. > > Sigh…maybe some day we will have a real President and Vice President. People who are really worthy of the positions, like Ralph Nader and Winona LaDuke. \*\* Hey, as long as people keep name-calling and hijacking threads, there’s no way for Nader to lose! ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Hand](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c68b51/32.png) [@Mr.Hand](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Hand)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2003, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-dick-cheney-actually-do-anything/168001/9 "2003-04-12T01:58:45Z")
James Garner may have said that the vice presidency wasn’t worth a bucket of spit, but that was a long time ago. Today’s VPs actually have real responsibilities. They participate in lots of state functions and international conferences. Obviously, Cheney in particular has participated in policy development to a relatively greater degree than some past VPs. The VP sits in on all cabinet meetings; he’s a member of the National Security Council. IIRC, the VP also heads of OIRA – the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, an organization internal to the white house that coordinates regulatory action by all executive bodies. ---
**Author:** ![Governor\_Quinn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/d26b3c/32.png) [@Governor\_Quinn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Governor_Quinn)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2003, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-dick-cheney-actually-do-anything/168001/10 "2003-04-12T02:35:24Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Jerrybear \* > \*\* > Sigh…maybe some day we will have a real President and Vice President. People who are really worthy of the positions, like Ralph Nader and Winona LaDuke. \*\* This is a joke, right? Nader, I understand the logic for wanting as a President, but LaDuke? I fail to see how she has any sort of credentials for the office of President, and, since there’s a good chance of the VP becoming President, she (and, for that matter, seemingly everyone a third-party runs for VP) shouldn’t be in the office. I’m sorry for the hijack, I just felt like saying this. ---
**Author:** ![Hermann\_Cheruscan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b782af/32.png) [@Hermann\_Cheruscan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hermann_Cheruscan)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2003, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-dick-cheney-actually-do-anything/168001/11 "2003-04-12T03:02:24Z")
I like Cheney a lot. He’s somewhat conservative, very intelligent, modest and soft spoken. In a true debate, he’d kick most any liberals ass. I think he must have won a lot of speech and debate contests in high school and college. He had the good sense to marry a woman like Lynn, who I believe should be Bush’s VP choice for a second term, if Dick doesnt want it. He also doesn’t go to churches to raise money for his political campaign, like Algore illegally did when he broke the law by accepting money at that Buddist temple. Nor would he say that there was “no controlling legal authority” like Algore said when he was caught breaking that law. And how about when Algore led that parade on the White House lawn, defending Clinton after Clinton had just been impeached. ---
**Author:** ![widdershins](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f0a364/32.png) [@widdershins](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/widdershins)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2003, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-dick-cheney-actually-do-anything/168001/12 "2003-04-12T03:12:43Z")
Things Dick Cheney Does: Goes on _Meet The Press_ and stymie Tim Russert by giving the same answer to every question. Drinks martinis, eats steaks, and smokes cigars with Karl Rove in “the undisclosed location” and laughs hysterically while listening to “Big Money” by Rush. Occasionally one of them spits out the word “hippies” with as much contempt as he can muster. Tries to keep a straight face while telling his wife, Lynn, “Yes, honey, that’s another masterpiece you’ve written there. A bestseller for sure!” Ponders when it will be politically the most advantagious to rename Iraq as “The Independent Republic of Haliburton”. Makes phone calls to US Senators, demanding to know why Lee Atwater’s birthday isn’t a federal holiday yet like they planned. Fusses at his maid for doing a subpar job making his bed with the new caribou pelt bedspreads. He tells her “You’ll have to spend another night in the box!” She weeps quietly as two Secret Service agents drag her away, her spirit broken. Enjoys the gentle gurgling of his petroleum fountain provided by the kind sponsorship of ExxonMobil. He wonders to himself how the reflecting pool on the National Mall would look with crude oil instead of water. The resulting grin stays on his face for a long time. Throws another dart at his SEC regulations dartboard. A fine replacement for the EPA dartboard that he wore out. Washes down a Viagra with bourbon and watches his _Fox And Friends: Best of E.D. Hill - Real American Babe_ highlight tape. He fastforwards to his favorite part, where E.D. interviews Monica Crowley. Thank God for that pacemaker. ---
**Author:** ![joshmaker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a587f6/32.png) [@joshmaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/joshmaker)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2003, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-dick-cheney-actually-do-anything/168001/13 "2003-04-12T03:26:41Z")
Official power of the Vice President: > [@](#): > > _USA Constitution, Article I. Section 3_ > The Vice President of the United States shall be President of the Senate, but shall have no Vote, unless they be equally divided. So, Dick Cheney is tiebreaker. ---
**Author:** ![joshmaker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a587f6/32.png) [@joshmaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/joshmaker)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2003, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-dick-cheney-actually-do-anything/168001/14 "2003-04-12T03:37:59Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Stinkpalm \* > I understand his roll in congress Oh. Sorry, I guess you already knew that… As for the allegations that Dick Cheney is the real power behind the throne, does anyone have any evidence that this is the case or are you guys just taking an educated guess? ---
**Author:** ![kniz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/c37758/32.png) [@kniz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kniz)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2003, 4:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-dick-cheney-actually-do-anything/168001/15 "2003-04-12T04:35:12Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by joshmaker \* > \*\*As for the allegations that Dick Cheney is the real power behind the throne, does anyone have any evidence that this is the case or are you guys just taking an educated guess? \*\* [ul]😃 [sup] **You’re kidding, right?** [/sup] 😉 [sup] **Loved your post, widdershins, I bet you’d be even funnier if Al had got the job.** [/sup][/ul] ---
**Author:** ![ElwoodCuse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/edb3f5/32.png) [@ElwoodCuse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElwoodCuse)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2003, 4:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-dick-cheney-actually-do-anything/168001/16 "2003-04-12T04:44:11Z")
Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain… Seriously though, shouldn’t he have at least been to some public functions that GWB couldn’t get to himself? ---
**Author:** ![Blalron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/35a633/32.png) [@Blalron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blalron)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2003, 5:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-dick-cheney-actually-do-anything/168001/17 "2003-04-12T05:33:34Z")
Dick Cheney is the man behind the curtain. The Evil Mastermind who spends all his time in an Undisclosed Location thinking up plots that Bush will rubber stamp for him. ---
**Author:** ![Satisfying\_Andy\_Licious](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/50afbb/32.png) [@Satisfying\_Andy\_Licious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Satisfying_Andy_Licious)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2003, 6:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-dick-cheney-actually-do-anything/168001/18 "2003-04-12T06:05:49Z")
Well, the House just passed an energy bill that was heavily based on Cheney’s energy panel of two years ago. The House would approve drilling in the Alaska National Wildlife Refuge, among other things in the bill. So I’d say that having a major impact on our energy policy counts as doing something. ---
**Author:** ![Payton\_s\_Servant](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3da27b/32.png) [@Payton\_s\_Servant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Payton_s_Servant)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2003, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-dick-cheney-actually-do-anything/168001/19 "2003-04-12T14:14:11Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Hermann Cheruscan \* > \*\*I like Cheney a lot. He’s somewhat conservative, very intelligent, modest and soft spoken. In a true debate, he’d kick most any liberals ass. I think he must have won a lot of speech and debate contests in high school and college. He had the good sense to marry a woman like Lynn, who I believe should be Bush’s VP choice for a second term, if Dick doesnt want it. > > He also doesn’t go to churches to raise money for his political campaign, like Algore illegally did when he broke the law by accepting money at that Buddist temple. Nor would he say that there was “no controlling legal authority” like Algore said when he was caught breaking that law. And how about when Algore led that parade on the White House lawn, defending Clinton after Clinton had just been impeached. \*\* Look, “ **Dittohead** ,” it’s Al Gore. Al Gore. Al Gore. M’kay?:wally ---
**Author:** ![galen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ecc23a/32.png) [@galen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/galen)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2003, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-dick-cheney-actually-do-anything/168001/20 "2003-04-12T15:05:06Z")
Here’s how powerful Chaney is: You recall that after Dubya had cinched the nomination, Chaney was in charge of finding a suitable running mate. He decided it should be Chaney, therefore becoming the first Vice Presidental candidate to select himself!! Later he and Dubya became the first President and Vice President to be selected by people appointed by Reagan and Dubya’s father!! [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-dick-cheney-actually-do-anything/168001.md?page=2)