2 Ex-Presidents, 4 Ex-Vps Were at Cheney Service

They gathered at the Washington National Cathedral on Thursday—former presidents, vice presidents, sworn political foes, and newfound friends—in a show of respect and remembrance for Dick Cheney, the consequential and polarizing vice president who became an acidic scold of President Trump. Trump, who has been publicly silent about Cheney's Nov. 3 death, was not invited to the memorial service.

• Two ex-presidents came: Republican George W. Bush, who eulogized the man who served him as vice president, and Democrat Joe Biden, who once called Cheney "the most dangerous vice president we've had probably in American history" but now honors his commitment to his family and to his values, the AP reports.
• "Solid and rare and reliable," Bush said at the service of his vice president, praising a man whose "talent and restraint" exceeded his ego. "Smart and polished, without airs, courteous and approachable, seeing everyone as an equal, a gentleman by nature and a true man of the West."

• Bush and others noted the understated demeanor of a man who nevertheless wielded great influence in government. "Above all," Bush said, "I wanted someone with the ability to step into the presidency without getting distracted by the ambition to seek it."
• Among the eulogists, Liz Cheney, his eldest daughter, only obliquely addressed what amounted to a father-daughter feud with the president — a man her dad had called a "coward" for trying to overturn his loss in the 2020 election. She spoke of her father's conviction that when confronted with a choice between defending the country and a political party, the country must come first. "Though he was inspired to service by President Kennedy, Dick Cheney became a Republican," she said, per the Hill. "But he knew that bonds of party must always yield to the single bond we share as Americans." She spoke of seeing clouds in the shape of angels just before her father died.
• Moments before the service began, figures of recent but now receded power mingled: Bush and Biden and their wives sitting in a row together, former Vice Presidents Kamala Harris and Mike Pence chatting side by side in their pew with Al Gore and Dan Quayle together behind them.
• Biden greeted Republican Sen. Mitch McConnell, the former longtime Senate leader, and his wife, former labor and transportation secretary Elaine Chao. Behind them sat Democratic Rep. Nancy Pelosi, who spent time talking with another former House speaker, Republican John Boehner. All gathered among the soaring interior columns of the grand cathedral known as "a spiritual home for the nation."

• Others delivering tributes at Thursday's funeral were Cheney's longtime cardiologist, Dr. Jonathan Reiner; former NBC News correspondent Pete Williams, who was Cheney's spokesman at the Pentagon; and several of the former vice president's grandchildren. "I'm happy to report that I haven't given many eulogies," Reiner said in his remarks. "Nobody wants a doctor who is great at funerals."
• The Hill reports that other attendees included senators from both parties, Rachel Maddow, Anthony Fauci, John Bolton, Chief Justice John Roberts and three other Supreme Court justices: Brett Kavanaugh, Elena Kagan, and Clarence Thomas.
• After the service, Maddow said that Cheney had changed the country "in ways that I almost 100% disagree with" but that she admired the "heroic stand" he took in support of his daughter, the Washington Post reports. "You know, we contain multitudes," she said.
• Trump's vice president, JD Vance, onstage at another event in the morning, was asked about Cheney and said: "Obviously there's some political disagreements there but he was a guy who served his country. We certainly wish his family all the best in this moment of grieving."