Dick Cheney is by no means alone in using his government experience as an entrance into corporate positions. For example, Senator Tom Daschle's (D-SD) wife Linda left the FAA (where she had been a high ranking official) to become a multi-million dollar lobbyist for the airline industry. She isn't the only wife of a congressman who works as a lobbyist. To me, that's a type of corruption. Sure, the company isn't giving millions of dollars to the politician, just to his wife. Yeah, right. That passes the smell test. /sarcasm

Countless retired or defeated politicians stay in Washington to work for lobbying firms or for corporations who do business with the government. It's very common for politicians, once they get a taste of the DC life, to never leave when their time in Congress is over. The same is true not only for military officers (and their DoD civilian officials) but for high ranking officials from other government agencies. They're hired, often to high positions, because of the people they know and the doors they can open.

The worst case that I can recall happened back in the 1980s when the general in charge of the electronic countermeasures systems for the B-1 bomber overruled his staff and directed that the multibillion dollar contract go to a specific company. He quickly retired and was immediately hired by the same company with a very lucrative contract. Following that incident, the laws were changed to prevent procurement officials from going to work for defense contractors for 2 years after they leave the service. Of course, Congress exempted themselves from similar restrictions.