Why didn't Dick Cheney run for the republican nomination in 2008 and 2012?

[buritobr]

Dick Cheney running in 2008 would be like Nixon in 1960, Humphrey in 1968, Bush in 1988, Gore in 2000.
Dick Cheney running in 2012 would be like Joe Biden in 2020.

[brucejoel99]

Aside from the fact that he would've gotten beaten by an even worse margin than McCain did on account of his direct affiliation with the Bush administration (& from the fact that he'd already been President for 8 years by that point ), a big presumed reason that Cheney never ran for president himself is because he hated the idea of his lesbian daughter, Mary, being scrutinized & having it used against his family, considering how Republicans were notoriously anti-gay marriage at the time. Cheney & his family are notoriously very private individuals.

[Redban]

I think his health wasn’t so good. He had serious heart problems back in 1999-2000; he had had 3 heart attacks already at that time. Bush’s people even tried to get him pick someone else cause they were  concerned about Cheney’s health..

Additionally, I think he never had aspirations for the White House, which is one of the reasons Bush picked him. Dubya  thought his father and Dan Quayle had tension because people sensed that Quayle wanted the White House eventually. Hence, Dubya picked Cheney specifically because he knew Cheney didn’t want the presidency. Bush had to do some convincing to get him to accept the VP in 2000, in fact.

Finally - the Bush administration in 2008 was extremely unpopular. The popularity wasn’t so good in 2012 either. So I’m sure Cheney knew he wouldn’t have won.

[darklordoftech]

(the fact that he'd already been President for 8 years by that point )

Obama called Cheney, “The worst President in my lifetime.”

[darklordoftech]

Bush had to do some convincing to get him to accept the VP in 2000, in fact.

Cheney pretended to need convincing while convincing Bush that there something wrong with everyone else that was being considered.

[MIKESOWELL]

Two reasons.
1. He was even less popular than George W. Bush and would have lost in an Eisenhower like Electoral College rout.
2. His heart disease was worsening. If I recall correctly, his shoe size had increased by two sizes by 2008-2009 which is an indication of congestive heart failure.

 

[here2view]

He was in a wheelchair at Obama's inauguration, so his health was not good.

He would have lost by more than McCain did. The end result would have been at least the 2008 IRL map, plus Missouri and Montana for 379-159 victory.

[Orser67]

People have covered a lot of important aspects already, but I'd add that Cheney and Bush had an unspoken agreement that Cheney wouldn't seek the presidency. This was part of what made Cheney so influential with the Bush White House; he was a prominent public figure who couldn't be removed (unlike everyone else in the executive branch), but Bush trusted him implicitly (at least until late 2006) because he didn't have his own electoral agenda.

[President Johnson]

1. Health reasons
2. He would have been clobbered on election day. If he even won the primary, which is far from certain.

[The Mikado]

(the fact that he'd already been President for 8 years by that point )

Obama called Cheney, “The worst President in my lifetime.”

He actually technically was the president for 2 days when Bush used the 25th amendment.

But in all seriousness, he really didn't want to run anyway.

Amazingly enough, both occasions Cheney was only Acting President for 2 hours each. Somehow, neither Obama nor Trump have used this power a single time, so neither Biden nor Pence have ever been Acting President.

[Agonized-Statism]

Same reason he hitched onto Bush in the first place: he knew he had no chance of winning in electoral politics. Conventional wisdom is that Bush was the face he used to win, so we got two presidents for the price of one. Also, he knew Republicans' chances of winning in 2008 were slim.

That said...

Vice President Dick Cheney (R-WY) / Fmr. Governor Mike Huckabee (R-AR)
Senator Barack Obama (D-IL) / Senator Joe Biden (D-DE)

[OSR stands with Israel]

Same reason he hitched onto Bush in the first place: he knew he had no chance of winning in electoral politics. Conventional wisdom is that Bush was the face he used to win, so we got two presidents for the price of one. Also, he knew Republicans' chances of winning in 2008 were slim.

That said...

Vice President Dick Cheney (R-WY) / Fmr. Governor Mike Huckabee (R-AR)
Senator Barack Obama (D-IL) / Senator Joe Biden (D-DE)

Alaska, West Virginia would have probably been won by Obama as well .

[538Electoral]

If he was the Republican nominee in 2008, He'd likely get under 100 electoral votes. In 2012, He'd probably get 142. (2012-NC, IN, MO, GA, AZ, NE-02)

[Agonized-Statism]

Alaska, West Virginia would have probably been won by Obama as well .

Maybe on a really good night, but in all 21st century elections, the Democrats' environmentalism has been anathema to oil and coal country. Cheney's fine in West Virginia with an evangelical southerner on the ticket and I seriously doubt Palin helped that much in Alaska.

[OSR stands with Israel]

Alaska, West Virginia would have probably been won by Obama as well .

Maybe on a really good night, but in all 21st century elections, the Democrats' environmentalism has been anathema to oil and coal country. Cheney's fine in West Virginia with an evangelical southerner on the ticket and I seriously doubt Palin helped that much in Alaska.

It would be a really good night maybe even better . Obama would win nationally by around the same margin FDR did in 1932 with this matchup

[Agonized-Statism]

Alaska, West Virginia would have probably been won by Obama as well .

Maybe on a really good night, but in all 21st century elections, the Democrats' environmentalism has been anathema to oil and coal country. Cheney's fine in West Virginia with an evangelical southerner on the ticket and I seriously doubt Palin helped that much in Alaska.

It would be a really good night maybe even better . Obama would win nationally by around the same margin FDR did in 1932 with this matchup

Doubt. Polarization was already strong at that point.

[EastAnglianLefty]

Let's be honest, there's no way Cheney would have made it out of the primary. Bush's approvals were in the 20s and Cheney's were in the teens. He was about as popular as dysentery.

[brucejoel99]

Let's be honest, there's no way Cheney would have made it out of the primary. Bush's approvals were in the 20s and Cheney's were in the teens. He was about as popular as dysentery.

Hey hey hey, give dysentery some credit. At least it could probably win a Republican primary.

[dw93]

Didn't Cheney flirt with running in 1996?

[brucejoel99]

Didn't Cheney flirt with running in 1996?

I believe so, yeah.

[All Along The Watchtower]

Didn't Cheney flirt with running in 1996?

Yes, and he ultimately chose not to for several of the reasons mentioned in this thread, along with Cheney having only ever served in an elected position as the at-large Congressman for the least populated state in America.

In terms of Gulf War people, Cheney was arguably less well-known to the public than Colin Powell or Stormin' Norman Schwarzkopf - certainly less talked about than Powell as a presidential prospect in the 90s. And Cheney's instinct is to keep a low profile. Running for President does not help you keep a low profile.

Fun fact: Cheney told Bush that he was willing to be taken off the ticket in 2004.