Two American Kids Doin' The Best That They Can

By Melissa August, Val Castronovo, Rachel Dry, Daren Fonda, Michael Jackson, Ben Nugent, Michele Orecklin, Julie Rawe, John Rosenblatt, Josh Tyrangiel, Alexandra Wolfe

When Dick Cheney was introduced as the G.O.P. nominee for Vice President, it was to the strains of John Mellencamp's 1985 hit R.O.C.K. in the U.S.A.--a strange choice, given Mellencamp's well-known liberalism. Or was it?

BORN IN A "SMALL TOWN"

[Mellencamp] Seymour, Ind. [Cheney] Lincoln, Neb.

MARRIED HIS HIGH SCHOOL SWEETHEART

[Mellencamp] Priscilla Esterline in 1969 (divorced in 1981) [Cheney] The former Lynne Ann Vincent in 1964

EARLY EMPLOYMENT

[Mellencamp] Worked for a telephone company laying phone lines [Cheney] Worked for an electric company laying power lines

DIRECTED LARGE-SCALE POLITICAL-ACTION BROADCAST ON NATIONAL TV

[Mellencamp] Farm Aid [Cheney] Operation Desert Storm

HEART ATTACK VICTIM

[Mellencamp] At age 43 [Cheney] Three, before his 50th birthday

DUET WITH ME'SHELL NDEGE OCELLO

[Mellencamp] Wild Night, 1994 [Cheney] Not yet