GOP pollster Robert Teeter, June 13

( AP, file / June 15, 2004 )

Robert Teeter, an influential Republican pollster who worked in several presidential races and was a longtime member of former President Bush's campaign brain trust, died in Detroit on Sunday, June 13, 2004, after a battle with cancer. He was 65. He played an important role in American politics over the last 30 years, working with Republican presidents beginning with Richard Nixon and serving as national chairman for Bush's unsuccessful 1992 re-election campaign. He also handled polling for Bush in his 1980 presidential run and was a top adviser in the 1988 campaign that landed the elder Bush in the White House. More recently, Teeter was involved in the discussions that led to Dick Cheney becoming George W. Bush's running mate in 2000.