During his service in Congress, Dick Cheney built a reputation as a solid, all-around conservative. Here's how three leading conservative watchdog groups rated Mr. Cheney's voting record: American Conservative Union
90.8 percent average rating

• Mr. Cheney was a favorite of the ACU, which rates members of Congress according to their adherence to a broad conservative platform that includes economic, social, and foreign policy issues. Mr. Cheney earned a 100 percent ACU rating in three of his last four years in Congress; in his last year, for instance, he scored points by voting against a seven-day waiting period for gun purchases and in favor of aid to the anti-communist Contra rebels in Nicaragua. National Taxpayers Union
  62.5 percent average rating
  
• On most report cards, that would be a D, but 62.5 percent on NTU's curve is good. NTU rates members of Congress on their willingness to cut taxes and restrain spending, and Mr. Cheney consistently outscored his spendthrift colleagues. The average House NTU rating during Mr. Cheney's tenure was 36.8 percent, with the average Republican scoring 51.6 percent. Mr. Cheney earned NTU's "Taxpayers' Friend Award" in 8 of his 10 years in Congress. National Right to Life Committee
  100 percent rating
  
• The NRLC identified 27 pro-life roll calls during Mr. Cheney's tenure in Congress. According to the NRLC, Mr. Cheney was present for 23 of those roll calls and voted pro-life on all 23, including votes to ban federal funding of abortion and to amend a civil-rights bill to say, "the term 'person' shall include unborn children from the moment of conception."