Bush had initially chosen Dick Cheney to lead the search for his vice presidential running mate. In 1992, Bush had supported Cheney as a replacement for
Dan Quayle on
his father's ultimately unsuccessful national ticket. After more than three months of extensive research, Cheney recommended
John Danforth to be the nominee, as the other choices' strengths were offset by liberal stances. Bush heavily considered Danforth. However, Danforth, who wanted to continue living mainly in Missouri, formally declined to run as vice president on July 11, 2000; nevertheless Danforth would eventually be appointed to the Bush Administration as a special envoy to Sudan on September 6, 2001. Bush ultimately asked Cheney himself to be the nominee. It was acknowledged in a July 28, 2000
New York Times article that the decision to select Cheney as Bush's Vice Presidential nominee was in fact secretly made "weeks" before it was formally announced on July 25, 2000. According to the
Twelfth Amendment to the United States Constitution, the presidential electors from Texas (in the
United States Electoral College) could not vote for candidates for president and vice president who were both from Texas. On July 21, 2000, Cheney changed his voter registration from Texas to
Teton County, Wyoming, which, combined with other actions, ultimately allowed the Texas electors to vote for both Bush and Cheney. There was a short-lived movement to draft
Elizabeth Dole, but that effort did not move forward.
Shortlist File: Dick Cheney (cropped).jpg| File:John danforth (cropped).JPG| File:McCain2 (1).jpg| File:George Pataki 2004 (cropped).jpg| File:Tom Ridge (cropped).jpg|
Media speculation on possible running mates File: Colin Powell official Secretary of State photo (cropped).jpg| File:Elizabeth Dole official photo.jpg| File:Christine Todd Whitman 412-APD-A5-EPA13a (cropped).jpg| File:Kasich 00.gif| File:George Voinovich official portrait (1).jpg| File:J. C. Watts (3x4 cropped).JPG| File:C.C. Cox.jpg| File:John Engler (cropped).jpg| File:Frank Keating at a conference, Oct 20, 2001 - cropped.jpg| File:Hagel BioGuide.jpg| File:Fred Thompson-cropped.jpg| File:Pete Domenici official portrait 2 (cropped).jpg| File:Dick Lugar official photo.jpg| File:Bill Frist official photo (3x4a).jpg| File:LamarAlexander (cropped).jpg| File:Rumsfeld1 (cropped).jpg| ==See also==