C-Span coverage of the 2009 luncheon

By Ken Dalecki

News of Dick Cheney's death last week sparked memories of encounters I had during my journalism career with perhaps the most influential and controversial vice president in U.S. history.  His remarkable career evoked admiration from some and disparagement from others.  Once the ultimate GOP insider, Cheney broke ranks in his waning days with MAGA Republicans by opposing President Donald Trump and supporting Liz Cheney, his anti-Trump daughter. 

The details of his long public service are well known and easily available elsewhere.  This is a brief recollection of personal encounters I had with him.

Journalists who knew Cheney far better than I described him as having an "inscrutable personality," in part because he rarely gave interviews and disparaged endearing small talk.  I had a one-on-one interview with him in 1983 in his Capitol Hill office during his 10-year stint as Wyoming's lone Representative.  As editor of Congressional Insight, a newsletter about the inside workings of Congress, I wanted Cheney's take on the differences between working in the legislature and his former job in the executive branch as Chief of Staff for President Gerald Ford.  Cheney subscribed to my newsletter and I think the topic appealed to his keen interest in the intricacies of governance.  As I recall, he gave a serious tutorial on his ability to get things done as an influential aide to a President from 1975 to 1977 and the frustrations of being one of 435 members of the House of Representatives.

I had a brief chat with him at our next meeting in 2008 when he spoke at the National Press Club as a stand-in for Ford at the ex-President's annual journalism awards luncheon.  I had arranged the luncheon for years.  In his declining years, Ford asked surrogates to present the awards.  Cheney rarely exposed himself so extensively to the media, but loyalty to Ford made him accept the assignment, as did former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger and other top Ford aides in subsequent years.   Although he had held elective office as a Congressman and Vice President, Cheney was not your typical politician.  He was not a warm and fuzzy glad-hander, he hated pointless chit-chat and did not indulge fools.  His tough, serious approach prompted the mainstream media to stereotype him as a dark and humorless Darth Vader-type character.  But as Fox News analyst Brit Hume noted in his recollection of Cheney, that was not an accurate portrayal.  As Cheney exited the dais from the Ford awards luncheon, he stopped to exchange a greeting with me and laughed about a mildly controversial joke he had made at the end of his speech. 

Cheney also presented the Ford awards in 2009 and this time I sat next to him for much of the luncheon.  Despite his reputation for being cold and officious, we had a pleasant, sometimes humorous conversation before he faced some 40 minutes of tough questioning from a critical press. What we talked about has long faded from my memory, but the overall impression he gave was of a serious, laser-focused, straight-forward leader unafraid to take on the most difficult issues of our time. And he could do it with a wry smile and an private quip.

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Ken Dalecki is an Executive Committee member in Legislative District 20. He can be reached at [email protected].