Zincwarrior
Diamond Member
Dick Cheney
Cheney's political career began in 1969, as an intern for Congressman William A. Steiger during the Richard Nixon Administration. He then joined the staff of Donald Rumsfeld, who was then Director of the Office of Economic Opportunity from 1969 to 1970.[25] He held several positions in the years that followed: White House Staff Assistant in 1971, Assistant Director of the Cost of Living Council from 1971 to 1973, and Deputy Assistant to the president from 1974 to 1975.
Cheney was Assistant to the President and White House Deputy Chief of Staff under Gerald Ford from December 1974 to November 1975.[33][34][35] When Rumsfeld was named Secretary of Defense, Cheney became White House Chief of Staff, succeeding Rumsfeld.[25] He later was campaign manager for Ford's 1976 presidential campaign.[36]
In 1978, Cheney was elected to represent Wyoming in the U.S. House of Representatives and succeeded retiring Democratic Congressman Teno Roncalio, having defeated his Democratic opponent, Bill Bagley. Cheney was re-elected five times, serving until 1989.[citation needed]
In 1987, he was elected Chairman of the House Republican Conference. The following year, he was elected House Minority Whip.[37] He served for two and a half months before he was appointed Secretary of Defense instead of former U.S. Senator John G. Tower, whose nomination had been rejected by the U.S. Senate in March 1989.[38]
In comparison
Upon his return from Iraq, Hegseth worked briefly at the Manhattan Institute for Policy Research. According to his LinkedIn page, Hegseth left the conservative think tank in 2007 to work as executive director at Vets For Freedom (VFF). The organization advocated a greater troop presence in Iraq and Afghanistan.[21] His job included responding to the Federal Election Commission as treasurer of the organization.[22][23] By 2008, VFF was unable to pay its creditors, who became concerned that money was being wasted on organization parties. A 2009 forensic accountant report by creditors led to Hegseth admitting that the organization was about half a million dollars in debt. VFF's backers decided to merge its core functions with another veterans group, Military Families United, and reduce Hegseth's role. By 2011, Hegseth was demoted from executive director and president with a $45,000 salary to an officer with a $5,000 salary. In 2012, in Hegseth's final year at VFF, he was paid $8,000 while the organization received just $81 in grants.[10]
