Actually, he didn't tell her directly. He told Dick to do it.
Via Andrew Sullivan comes this tidbit from the forthcoming book, Cheney: The Untold Story of America's Most Powerful and Controversial Vice President
“My only ask was that if his daughter doubted my tolerance to her orientation that I would hope that he would help make it clear to Mary that this is a–I was just worried about–the reason I'd federalized the issue is because I was worried about the courts' defining the issue and that we'd end up with de facto marriage that was not traditionally defined, I guess is the best way to put it.”
Sullivan notes that this may be the first time we've ever heard Bush use the word “orientation” with regard to gays and lesbians.
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