Elizabeth Cheney - Public Appearances and Publications

Public Appearances and Publications

In the years following her second departure from the State Department, Liz Cheney played an increasingly public role as a spokeswoman for conservative Republican issues, making numerous appearances on cable news shows. In October 2009, Cheney became a regular "Fox News Contributor" for the Fox News Network, appearing with shows hosted by Sean Hannity, Greta Van Susteren, and Chris Wallace.

• In late January 2007, Cheney penned an editorial in The Washington Post criticizing Senator Hillary Clinton's position on the Iraq war.

• On September 18, 2007, in a debate on the motion "Spreading Democracy in the Middle East is a Bad Idea," sponsored by the Rosenkranz Foundation and Intelligence Squared U.S., Liz Cheney, Natan Sharansky and Danielle Pletka argued against the motion. Flynt Leverett, Dimitri Simes and foreign policy analyst Shibley Telhami argued for the motion.

• In August 2008, the New York Times reported that Liz Cheney was encouraging her father to write a book on his political career, and that she was indexing her father's pre-vice-presidential papers housed in various libraries across the country, "drafting timetables and outlines for his review." The Times cited Liz Cheney on April 24, 2009, as the source of information that Dick Cheney had requested that the National Archives declassify two documents that would prove the efficacy of "enhanced interrogation techniques" in handling of U.S. detainees.

• In the time following her departure from the State Department, Cheney became more outspoken in her criticisms of the Bush administration's foreign policy, particularly of the State Department's renewed efforts to conduct Palestinian-Israeli peace talks and efforts to enlist Iran's aid in stabilizing Iraq.

• In 2008, Cheney was listed on the speakers roster of Leading Authorities, Inc., a talent management and booking agent. Cheney gives paid public lectures on international relations and the role of women in emerging democracies.

• On April 23, 2009, days after the release of memos from the Bush administration about the authorization of enhanced interrogation techniques in interrogations of U.S. captives, Liz Cheney appeared on a morning news program on MSNBC defending “enhanced interrogation techniques,” the Justice Department attorneys who argued the methods were legal, and her father's record as vice-president.

• In May, 2009, the Washington Monthly's Steve Benen counted "12 appearances, in nine and a half days, spanning four networks" by Liz Cheney, defending her father's high-profile attacks on Obama administration national security decisions.

• Liz Cheney was asked to nominate and write an entry for Time's 100 most influential people special issue in spring 2009. Cheney wrote of Norah al-Faiz, Saudi Arabia's Deputy Minister for Women's Education, "The appointment of al-Faiz, in her early 50s was the most significant sign yet of the quiet revolution under way since King Abdullah ascended the throne in 2005."

• On May 12, 2009, in a debate of the motion "Diplomacy With Iran Is Going Nowhere," sponsored by the Rosenkranz Foundation and Intelligence Squared U.S., Liz Cheney and Dan Senor argued in favor of the motion. R. Nicholas Burns and foreign policy analyst Kenneth Pollack argued that diplomacy has produced results.

• On July 13, 2009, CNN reported that Liz Cheney had announced she was "open" to the idea of running for future political office.

• On July 14, 2009, The Associated Press reported that Liz Cheney, in response to whether her father, then Vice-President Dick Cheney, had broken any laws in instructing the CIA not to inform Congress of certain clandestine anti-terrorism programs recently terminated by Obama-appointed CIA Director Leon Panetta, said "There's no evidence of that." Cheney also stated that "I was not in every meeting that my father had. I was not in most meetings that my father had" in regard to her father's role in allegedly concealing information from Congress.

• On July 21, 2009, Liz Cheney appeared on CNN's Larry King Live and stated in a discussion of the "birther" movement that "one of the reasons you see people so concerned about this, I think this issue is, people are uncomfortable with having for the first time ever, I think, a president who seems so reluctant to defend the nation overseas ..." Asked directly by King if she thought Obama was born in Kenya, Cheney responded, "No, I'm not saying that. I'm saying that people are fundamentally uncomfortable and fundamentally I think increasingly uncomfortable with an American president who seems to be afraid to defend America, stand up for what we believe in."

• On September 28, 2009, The New York Times profiled Liz Cheney on its front page, describing her popularity among conservatives such as Michelle Malkin, Dan Senor, and Elliot Abrams at the "Smart Girl Summit" held in Nashville, Tennessee by Smart Girl Politics. In that article, Cheney's sister Mary Cheney is quoted as saying, "I think you'd be hard-pressed to find any daylight at all between Liz's and my father's views. It's not because she's been indoctrinated. It's because he's right."

• On February 18, 2010, Liz introduced her father as a surprise, unannounced speaker at the Conservative Political Action Conference.

• Liz Cheney has been criticized for accusing President Obama of abandoning the nation of Czechoslovakia even though that country has not existed since 1992. The moment came on the political round table talk show called "This Week with George Stephanopoulos" broadcast Sept. 16, 2012 on ABC. Specifically, Ms. Cheney said this: "He's (Obama) abandoned some of our key allies like Israel, Poland, Czechoslovakia. He's attempted to appease our enemies. The Iranians, for example. The Russians..."