Lynne V. Cheney
1941-
Author, chairperson of the national endowment for the humanities
NEH
Lynne Cheney served as head of the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) for seven years under Presidents Ronald Reagan and George Bush while facing several highly public and controversial issues, not the least of which was the debate surrounding the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) support of a controversial exhibit by artist Robert Mapplethorpe. Her background as an avid champion of education at all levels led the NEH, however, to expand its mission beyond that of supporting scholarly research to include supporting excellence in both elementary and secondary schools. Several annual reports generated by the NEH during Cheney's tenure focused on the place of humanities in education.
Early Career
Cheney, who earned a doctorate in nineteenth-century British literature at the University of Wisconsin, began her career as an instructor at the collegiate level. Her marriage to Dick Cheney (Chief of Staff for President Gerald Ford and Secretary of Defense for President Bush) influenced her decision to start freelance writing. The author or coauthor of several political/thriller novels, Cheney also coauthored with her husband a biographical work on several of the Speakers of the House. It was the role of senior editor at the Washingtonian magazine that she relinquished to become head of the NEH, however. When asked about the projects at the NEH of which she was proudest, Cheney frequently pointed to a program funded in partnership with Reader's Digest that gave outstanding teachers across the nation opportunities to study further the subjects they taught.
Political Correctness
Cheney's concern about the "rewriting of history" first surfaced while she was at the NEH. It was a crusade she continued long after she left. Cheney came under fire from some academics after the publication of her third annual report at the NEH proposing a core curriculum for college students that emphasized Western civilization. Cheney dismissed the comments in light of her ignored recommendation that a full year of study of the cultures of China, Japan, or Islam be included. Nonetheless, as the battle over appropriate core subject matter continued across the country, Cheney became a leader in the media and in the lecture circuit on the potential dangers of multicultural education. Focusing on what separates us rather than what binds people together, Cheney theorized, would tear the country apart. In speaking out against political correctness, Cheney said, "Our colleges and universities should be about pursuing truth, not about pursuing political agendas."
Life After the NEH
Cheney continued to write and speak actively on issues of politics, public policy, and education throughout the 1990s. A cohost on CNN's Crossfire Sunday, and Fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, Cheney also frequently appeared on national news broadcasts on ABC and PBS expressing opinions on a variety of public issues. Known as a persuasive advocate for improving American education, she championed school choice for parents, alternative certification for teachers, and national standards to measure student achievement. Her 1995 book, Telling the Truth: Why Our Culture and Our Country Have Stopped Making Sense, And What We Can Do About It, forcefully argued for her view-point and analysis of the state of American culture.
Source:
Current Biography Yearbook, 1992 (New York: H.W. Wilson, 1992).
