Cheney Keeps His Speech Light

TALLAHASSEE — With a disarming blend of humor and inspiration, Vice President Dick Cheney advised graduates of Florida State University on Saturday to remain flexible in their futures.

“For all the plans we make in life, sometimes life has other plans for us,” Cheney told nearly 2,000 graduates and their guests in a civic center here.

“There are places in the world where failure is final, and only one misstep will decide your fate forever,” said Cheney, recalling how he flunked out of Yale University before earning a bachelor’s and master’s degree from the University of Wyoming. “But America still is the country of the second chance.”

Cheney’s 10-minute address included just one reference to the war in Iraq: “At this very hour, 25 FSU students are on active duty in the Middle East.”

As he spoke, a handful of protesters stood outside holding banners such as: “Bush-Cheney, Four More Wars.”

Cheney’s light-hearted address went far more smoothly than his appearance last week at Westminster College in Missouri, where he challenged Sen. John F. Kerry’s national security credentials in his bid for the White House. Westminster’s president, accusing Cheney of being overly partisan, invited the Democrat to give an equal-time speech Friday.

Cheney recounted starting his college education at Yale, the school that President Bush and Kerry graduated from.

“I dropped out after a few semesters,” the vice president said. “Well, actually dropped out isn’t quite accurate.... Asked to leave.... Twice.... The second time around, they said, ‘Don’t come back.’ ”