May 4, 2006 | Read Time: 1 minute
President Bush and Vice President Cheney and their wives have released information about their contributions to charities last year.
President Bush and the first lady, Laura Bush, gave a total of $75,560 to churches and charitable organizations, some of which were involved in disaster-relief efforts following Hurricane Katrina. The Bush gifts represented 12 percent of their taxable income of $618,694.
Vice President Cheney and his wife, Lynne Cheney, donated $6,869,655 to three organizations from the exercise of stock options and from Mrs. Cheney’s book royalties.
The White House said that the organizations receiving gifts from President and Mrs. Bush included the American Red Cross (hurricane relief); the Archdiocese of New Orleans Catholic Charities; the Combined Federal Campaign, the federal government’s annual charity drive; Martha’s Table, a soup kitchen in Washington; the Mississippi Food Network; and the Salvation Army (hurricane relief and Pakistan earthquake relief).
The White House did not say how much money the Bushes contributed to specific organizations.
Mr. and Mrs. Cheney announced in 2001 that they had arranged gifts of stock options to be handled by an independent administrator (as well as gifts of money the Cheneys had received for corporate board service) that would eventually benefit three organizations.
Last year, the couple contributed $1.3-million to Capital Partners for Education, which provides educational help to needy high-school-age children in the Washington area.
The Cheneys also gave $2.7-million to George Washington University Medical Faculty Associates, in Washington, for a cardiovascular institute that is now named for them; and $2.7-million to the University of Wyoming, for the benefit of the University of Wyoming Foundation.
