Lynne Cheney: As Conservative as the VP Hopeful

Lynne Cheney has her own conservative record to back feminists' concerns about a possible Bush-Cheney White House. In today's New York Times, Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott called her "fantastic," and some top Republicans feel she deserves a cabinet appointment in a G.W. Bush presidency. Cheney served as Chairwoman of the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) in the Reagan and Bush administrations, pushing an increasingly conservative ideology. Cheney was accused of pushing multicultural projects aside for more "traditional" ones, and chides so-called "cultural relativists" for "taking over American art, literature and education." While at the NEH, Cheney supported funding a film about the civil war, but barred funding a film about Christopher Columbus's violent treatment of Native Americans. She also supports teaching a Western centrist view of history and culture. Lynne Cheney serves as a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, where her husband is a trustee, promoting conservative values in American culture and education. Her educational stance includes support of school vouchers, which would greatly endanger the public school system and further blur the separation of church and state. She also serves on the Board of Directors of the Independent Women's Forum, an ultra-conservative organization that takes an anti-woman, anti-choice, anti-affirmative action stance and promotes modesty for women as a way to combat discrimination and sexual assault.

Media Resources: NY Times 26 July 2000 "One Last Observation" (cheney's article) "Old-Style Decorum, Decency Sound Good" (amy holmes article) CNN 25 July 2000

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