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About
Elizabeth Lynne Cheney Perry, commonly known as Liz Cheney, is an American attorney, former politician, and political commentator born on July 28, 1966, in Madison, Wisconsin. The daughter of former Vice President Dick Cheney and Lynne Vincent Cheney, she grew up in a politically influential family. Cheney earned a bachelor's degree from Colorado College in 1988 and a Juris Doctor from the University of Chicago Law School in 1996. Before law school, she worked for the U.S. State Department and USAID in Eastern Europe, including positions in Poland, Hungary, Russia, and Ukraine. After law school, she held roles such as Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs and served as a senior foreign policy advisor on Mitt Romney's 2012 presidential campaign. In 2009, she co-founded the nonprofit Keep America Safe, focusing on national security issues.
Cheney entered elected politics in 2017 when she was elected as the U.S. Representative for Wyoming's at-large congressional district, serving until 2023. A Republican known for her hawkish conservatism, she rose to become Chair of the House Republican Conference from 2019 to 2021, the third-highest leadership position in the House GOP. She gained national prominence as an outspoken critic of former President Donald Trump within the Republican Party, particularly regarding the January 6, 2021, Capitol attack. She served as vice chair of the House Select Committee investigating the event (commonly known as the January 6 Committee). This stance resulted in her ouster from GOP leadership in 2021 and her primary defeat in 2022 by a Trump-endorsed challenger, Harriet Hageman. Post-Congress, Cheney has become a prominent pundit and critic of Trump, authoring the book 'Oath and Honor: A Memoir and a Warning' in 2023 and teaching at the University of Virginia.