In Washington and Beyond, Disclosing a Few of Cheney's Locations

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Seems famously secretive Vice President Cheney has been, for most of his tenure, at an undisclosed location, even if he's really just at his office, his residence, Camp David, his house in St. Michaels or the Paul Nelson hunting club in South Dakota.

His daily schedule most often says "no public events are scheduled." From May through September, for example, the Federal News Service Daybook listed about a dozen notices of his whereabouts. For August, the Reuters Daybook had him simply in Wyoming but noted that he would be at the dedication of the "Craig Thomas Discovery and Visitor Center at Grand Teton National Park."

Cheney declares he's in neither the executive nor the legislative branch of government -- therefore not subject to instructions from the archivist to preserve documents -- and makes sure there's no paper trail. "I learned early on that if you don't want your memos to get you in trouble someday, just don't write any," he said three weeks ago at the Ford presidential library in Grand Rapids, Mich.

Unlike arrangements for a press pool to always be with President Bush, Cheney only sometimes takes a pool with him when he travels. Since he often goes to closed events, there's not exactly a scramble for seats, and he occasionally might invite a press favorite to hop on board Air Force 2 for a little chat.

His office is pleasantly contemptuous of the media, hewing to the White House mantra when reporters call: "When we have something to announce, we'll announce it."

When he shot an acquaintance in a hunting accident last year, no one seemed to know that he was even down in Texas, and the shooting was kept under wraps for a day.

On the other hand, it could be that Cheney, save for hunting, fishing and fundraising, is pretty much a homebody, just going to his office every day, making sure that he attends the daily intelligence briefings he receives before Bush's, sometimes asking the briefer to make sure Bush hears this or that portion.

And it's not as if he isn't seen out and about in Washington. Wednesday night, for example, he was at a book-signing party for Justice Clarence Thomas at conservative radio talker Armstrong Williams's house on the Hill.

And last week he was at the Borders bookstore at 18th and L streets NW, buying a copy of the Washingtonian and a couple of books -- the late David Halberstam's book on the Korean War and the companion book to the Ken Burns PBS series on World War II, the Associated Press reported. He waited in line to pay.

When he takes off on his hunting trips and others, word sometimes gets out, albeit slowly, because folks out there spot the entourage or see the large jet at their small airport.

Loop Fans can help speed this up. Should you see the vice president in your town, anywhere in this country or even overseas, or if you spot a plane that looks like his, simply drop an e-mail to whereistheveep@washpost.com.

Snapshots, Yes; Testimony, No

In contrast to the vice president, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has been much more accessible to the media both here and abroad. And the buzz is she's even going to take a photographer from State's public affairs shop along next week on her trip to Moscow and the Middle East.