Dick Cheney Wrote Resignation Letter In 2001, According To Book ‘Heart’

Dick Cheney wrote a resignation letter in 2001 because of his serious heart problems. The revelation is made in the former Vice President’s new book, Heart.

Cheney said he drafted the letter in case he was incapacitated and unable to perform his duties.

During an interview with “60 Minutes”, which aired last Sunday on CBS, the 72-year-old said he presented the resignation to a shocked George W. Bush, just 67 days after taking office in 2001.

Dick Cheney says he did it as a precaution because there is no stipulation in the Constitution to replace a Vice President who is alive, but unable to do his job.

“[Bush] was a little surprised, but he thought it was a good idea.” Dick Cheney told CBS.

The Vice President has had a history of heart disease starting with a heart attack at age 37 and four subsequent ones as well as three open heart operations, before finally receiving a heart transplant in 2012 at 71-years-old.

“Heart” the new book by Dick Cheney chronicles the struggles the politician went through from a very early age.

Cheney says before he had the heart transplant last year, he sometimes had a hard time getting up and walking from one spot to another in the same room.

Prior to the life saving surgery, the VP was on the brink of dying, his heart had been through too much and was enlarged due to all the problems.

Three years ago, Dick Cheney underwent emergency surgery to implant a left ventricular assist device with an external battery, that kept him alive while he waited for a heart transplant.

Twenty months later a donated heart became available and as Dick Cheney had reached the top of the waiting list, he was given the okay to have the operation.

Dick Cheney also relates how advances in technology at the right time helped him gain his life back. Now he has enough energy to carry heavy loads and the only thing he cannot do is ski, due to bad knees.

When asked how he feels, Dick Cheney simply says, “fantastic.”