American Attorney and Politician

Liz Cheney | Biography

United States Representative for Wyoming's at-large congressional district since 2017

• By Chetana
• Update : September 15, 2021

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Liz Cheney is the representative for Wyoming in the US House and the former chair of the House Republic Conference.

Who is Liz Cheney? ­

Liz Cheney was born into a political family. Her father was Dick Cheney, the 46th vice president of America who served under President Bush from 2001 to 2009. As a result, she grew up learning about contemporary political situations and watched her father run for elections.

After graduating from college, she joined the public services and started working at the United States Agency for International Development, then in the Department of State. She also practiced law at the International Finance Corporation. Then, during the middle east conflict, she was the deputy assistant secretary and the principal deputy assistant secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs.

Then in 2016, she ran for Congress for Wyoming and won the election. She served on the Natural Resources Committee and Armed Services Committee in the house. In 2018, she was re-elected, and in 2019, she was elected for the 116th Congress, Chair of the House Republican Conference. She was the third-highest member of the Republican Party and the highest-ranking woman of the party.

Cheney served the position until 2021. She was removed after making an anti-Trump statement. She voted for the impeachment of former US President Trump during the second impeachment after the Capitol riot. She also wrote an article in the Washington Post op-ed condemning the presidential operations of Trump and affirmed that the 2020 election was fair and square. Her political party did not accept her actions, subsequently outing her from the position of chair. Followed by her ousted former president made a statement calling her a "bitter, horrible human being."

Early Age and Education

Elizabeth Lynne Cheney was born on 28 July 1966 in Madison, Dane County, Wisconsin. Her father was Richard Bruce Cheney, also known as Dick Cheney. He served as the 46th vice-president of America under Former US President George W. Bush from 2001 to 2009. Her mother was Lynne Cheney, who served alongside her father as the second lady of the house.

Cheney spent her time growing up in Virginia and also some time in Wyoming. Her father was running for the congress election from their homeland, Wyoming, so she or her sister Mary traveled with him back and forth between Virginia and Wyoming. She graduated from McLean High School, Virginia, in 1984. Subsequently, she joined Colorado Springs and graduated with an arts degree in 1988. Then, in 1996, she completed her Juris Doctorate (JD) from the University of Chicago Law School, Illinois.

Career

After graduating from Colorado, she started working at the United States Agency for International Development in 1989. She continued working there for three years before transferring to the United States Department of State in 1992. While working there, she also practiced law privately in White & Case at the International Finance Corporation from 1999 to 2002. Then she was promoted as the deputy assistant secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs at the Department in 2002 and worked till 2004. 

Cheney was actively involved in the Bush campaign in both the 2000 and 2004 elections. Her father was running alongside Bush for the vice presidency, and she was in charge of the debate preparations during both elections.

For the 2004 election, Cheney took a break from her departmental responsibilities and actively followed the campaign trails and the preparations. And she resumed the following year in 2005 as the principal deputy assistant secretary of State for the Middle East. She occupied the position till 2009.

Further, Cheney has advised campaigns of several candidates as the national security and foreign policy specialist. Along with that, she worked as the Fox News Analyst and co-wrote her father's memoir, 'In My Time: A Personal and Political Memoir.' 

House of Representatives

In 2016, Cheney announced her consideration to run for Wyoming in the house of the Representatives election after the previous candidate retired. She won the election with the promise of restoring America's political power in the world, creating sustainable employment, managing taxes, and expanding America's mining and agricultural industry. She also worked on the Armed Services Committee and Natural Resources Committee of the House.

In 2018, she was re-elected for the house. The next year, she was also elected as the Chair of the House Republican Conference for the 116th Congress. She was the third-ranking Republican of the chamber but the highest-ranking women Republican while she served till 2021.

During her time in the house, she introduced an act that would prevent future coal lease moratoriums without congressional approval, titled Preventing Future Coal Lease Moratoriums Act. Following that, she was the cosponsor of the Federal Lands Freedom Act, which transferred the permitting authority of oil and gas regulation on federal lands from the central government to the state government. She also aided in ending the practice of funding frivolous lawsuits with the taxpayer's money; it was introduced as an act titled Open Book on Equal Justice Act.

Forwarding to 2021, during one session in the Republican house, she condemned former US President Trump's acts during his presidency. She also mentioned that the 2020 election where present President Joe Biden won was fair and square. She added, "We cannot let the former president drag us backward and make us complicit in his efforts to unravel our democracy." After this, the house had voice-voted for her removal from the position of Chair of the Conference. After the result, Cheney made a succeeding speech, quoting, "Remaining silent and ignoring the lie emboldens the liar."

Cheney was among the ten members of the Republican House who had voted for the impeachment of former President Trump after the Capitol riots. She had then sided with the Democratic candidates of the house but was not outed from her post. However, she constructed an anti-Trump article for the Washington Post op-ed, which fueled her session statement, and the house eventually took action against her on 13 May 2021.

Following her removal, former president Trump made a statement citing her as a "bitter, horrible human being and a talking point for democrats. I watched her yesterday and realized how bad she is for the Republican Party. She has no personality or anything good having to do with politics or our country." While her following statement to the press upon removal was, "I will do everything I can to ensure that the former president never again gets anywhere near the Oval Office."

Personal Life

Cheney married Philip Perry in 1993 in Wyoming. They have five children, and the children accompanied her while she was working for her father's campaign from time to time.