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Vice presidents are selected for many reasons. They may balance the ticket, helping the top man in a region or a section of the electorate where he is not strong, just as Lyndon Johnson helped John F Kennedy in 1960 to win his home state of Texas (and with it, the White House).

Or they may reinforce a candidate’s appeal, just as Al Gore underlined Bill Clinton’s message of youth, energy and new ideas in 1992.

In 2000, Dick Cheney fit neither model. His home state of Wyoming was a negligible electoral prize, while in contrast to George W. Bush’s promises of change, he seemed the incarnation of eternal, bureaucratic Washington — so much so that some feared he would lose, not win, votes for his boss.

Yet, from this unpromising start, he turned himself into the most influential vice president in modern U.S. history, transforming a job once famously described as “not worth a bucket of warm spit” into a U.S. version of the office of prime minister, subordinate to, but almost coequal of, the presidency itself.

That summer, Cheney was not the obvious first choice for running mate. But four years in charge of the Pentagon under the elder George Bush had sealed his place as “one of us” for the fiercely protective Bush family clan, which prizes loyalty above all else.

open image in gallery Dick Cheney attending a primary election night gathering for his daughter, Rep. Liz Cheney in 2022 ( AP )

After securing the Republican nomination, the younger Bush named Cheney to lead his search team for a vice president. A few weeks later, he concluded that the head he really wanted belonged to none other than the head-hunter himself.

In fact, the choice made eminent sense.