Former second lady, Lynne Cheney, is bringing her book tour to Barnes & Noble at Lake Sumter Landing.
She will be at the store from 1 to 3 p.m. Friday to promote her latest book: James Madison: A Life Reconsidered (Viking Press).
Former Vice President Dick Cheney will be here with his wife.
Wristbands will be required to obtain an autograph. Those wishing to obtain a wristband may show up at the time of the store’s opening at 10 a.m.
Mrs. Cheney caused a bit of a firestorm recently in the media suggesting that Bill and Hillary Clinton were behind Monica Lewinsky’s decision to open up to Vanity Fair magazine after her long silence.
“I really wonder if this isn’t an effort on the Clintons’ part to get that story out of the way,” Mrs. Cheney said during an interview on “The O’Reilly Factor” Tuesday night.
The book
James Madison served two four-year terms as President after his election in 1808 — a period of much international turmoil leading up to the War of 1812. The British invaded our country during that conflict and torched the White House. Ms. Cheney draws a parallel between that invasion and her experiences on Sept. 11, 2001, when she and her husband were evacuated via helicopter from the south lawn of the White House. “When we saw the smoke coming from the Pentagon,” she said, “both Dick and I thought about the War of 1812, and how that was the last time something like this had happened.”
Referring to Madison as an underrated and over-shadowed president, Ms. Cheney was quoted in recent television interviews as saying: “there seems to be a disjunction in the ideas we had of Madison and his actual accomplishments.” Madison was Secretary of State under President Thomas Jefferson. He also formed the first political party and helped create partisan politics.
“He was one of the most high ranking officials through some of the most perilous times in our history,” she said in a recent interview. “Although he was never as well known or appreciated as George Washington or Thomas Jefferson.”
Ms. Cheney also connects James Madison’s health problems with those of her husband. It was not well known that James Madison suffered from what he called ‘sudden seizures’ during his White House tenure. Physicians today theorize Madison suffered from complex partial epileptic seizures. “He dealt with his health problems quite well,” Ms. Cheney said, “and so has my husband.”
Vice President Cheney had five heart attacks, the first at age 38 and the last in 2010, before receiving a heart transplant two years ago. When asked how she would compare James Madison’s views with those of her husband, she said: “They were both limited government fellows.” Her next literary project is likely to be about Luisa Adams, wife of our 6th American president, John Quincy Adams.
The Cheneys have homes in Wyoming and Virginia. Lynne Cheney holds a doctoral degree in English and is the author and co-author of several books about American history for young people. These include: “America: A Patriotic Primer,” published in 2002; “A is for Abigail: An Almanac of Amazing American Women;” “Our 50 States: A Family Adventure Across America,” and “We the People: The Story of our Constitution.”
