Former presidents and vice presidents, members of Congress and other dignitaries mourned former Vice President Dick Cheney at a National Cathedral service that made news for who was invited and who wasn’t.
Mr. Cheney, who died on Nov. 3 at age 84, was a lifelong Republican from deep-red Wyoming whose disdain for President Trump led him to endorse Democrat Kamala Harris in the 2024 presidential election.
Neither Mr. Trump nor Vice President J.D. Vance was invited to the funeral. Plenty of prominent Democrats, however, were in attendance, among them the former Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Sen. Adam B. Schiff and other lawmakers who investigated and sought the prosecution of Mr. Trump following the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol.
Mr. Cheney served as the 46th vice president under President George W. Bush and was considered instrumental in pushing for the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. He was seen as the chief architect of the global war on terrorism.
Mr. Bush attended the funeral alongside Ms. Harris, former President Joseph R. Biden and former Vice Presidents Mike Pence, Al Gore and Dan Quayle.
Mr. Bush steered clear of referencing the GOP’s internal divisions in his eulogy. Mr. Bush described Mr. Cheney as a faithful public servant who lifted the standards of those around him with substance, character and remarkable physical endurance.
Mr. Cheney, who served two decades in Congress and as defense secretary under George H.W. Bush, led the younger Bush’s search for a running mate during the 2000 presidential campaign.
Mr. Bush ended up choosing Mr. Cheney for the job, despite his history of health problems that included several heart attacks.
“This was a vice president totally devoted to protecting the United States and its interests. There was never any agenda or angle beyond that,” Mr. Bush said.
Mr. Cheney’s elder daughter, former Rep. Liz Cheney, remains among the GOP’s most outspoken Trump opponents and was one of two Republicans to serve on the Democrat-led House Jan. 6 Committee that investigated Mr. Trump. Mr. Cheney was one of her key advisers during those years.
Ms. Cheney’s break with her party led to her failed reelection bid in Wyoming’s 2022 Republican primary.
She said at the funeral that her father was inspired to enter public service after listening to President John F. Kennedy, a Democrat, speak at the University of Wyoming.
Mr. Cheney became a Republican, she said, but did not put his party above the Constitution.
“He knew that the bonds of party must always yield to the single bond we share as Americans,” Ms. Cheney said. “For him, a choice between defense of the constitution and defense of your political party was no choice at all.”
Mr. Cheney was the highest-ranking Republican official to denounce Mr. Trump ahead of the 2024 election. In endorsing Ms. Harris, he called Mr. Trump “a threat to our republic.” His endorsement rankled Republicans who saw the move as disloyal to the party and Democrats who recoiled at any association with Mr. Cheney’s conservative politics or his role in prosecuting the war on terror.
Neither Mr. Trump nor Mr. Vance has commented on Mr. Cheney’s death. Flags were lowered to half-staff to honor Mr. Cheney, who, in addition to Ms. Cheney, is survived by his wife, Lynn, younger daughter Mary, and seven grandchildren.
A dozen senators and Supreme Court Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr., Justices Clarence Thomas, Elena Kagan and Brett M. Kavanaugh were among the dignitaries at the service. Liberal television talk show host Rachel Maddow and Mr. Biden’s COVID-19 adviser Anthony Fauci were also spotted in the cathedral.
In addition to Mr. Bush and Ms. Cheney, Mr. Cheney’s grandchildren, his heart doctor and his former Defense Department spokesman delivered eulogies.
Among the honorary pallbearers was Mr. Cheney’s chief of staff, I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby. Mr. Libby was convicted of lying and obstructing justice in the outing of a CIA officer, Valerie Plame. Mr. Cheney and Mr. Bush later had a falling-out over the president’s decision to commute the sentence but not pardon Mr. Libby.
Mr. Bush, like others who delivered eulogies, described how Mr. Cheney often understated his achievements.
“His abilities were self-evident without need of calculation or self-promotion. His talent and restraint exceeded his ego,” Mr. Bush said. “Even before the Cheney name reached the national stage, people always saw something in the man — solid, reliable and rare.”
