Dick Cheney, in full Richard Bruce Cheney, (born January 30, 1941, Lincoln, Nebraska, U.S.), 46th vice president of the United States (2001–09) in the Republican administration of Pres. George W. Bush and secretary of defense (1989–93) in the administration of Pres. George H.W. Bush. Cheney was the son of Richard Herbert Cheney, a soil-conservation agent, and Marjorie Lauraine Dickey Cheney. He was born in Nebraska and grew up in Casper, Wyoming. He entered Yale University in 1959 but failed to graduate. Cheney earned bachelor’s (1965) and master’s (1966) degrees in political science from the University of Wyoming and was a