Wyoming’s Dick Cheney: ‘War Hawk,’ ‘Darth Vader’ And A Heck Of A Funny Guy

The nation is remembering Dick Cheney as the serious, steely-eyed, no-nonsense former secretary of defense and vice president who some dubbed a “war hawk” and others “Darth Vader.”

Cheney, who died Monday night at age 84 from complications of pneumonia and cardiac disease, has been credited with leading America’s strong and decisive response to the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks and the war on terror. 

He’s also been a running punchline since accidentally shooting a hunting buddy in Texas in February 2006.

In Wyoming where he grew up in Casper, Richard Bruce “Dick” Cheney was on the Natrona County High School football team, was senior class president, and married his high school sweetheart Lynne Vincent; he’s also remembered as a heck of a funny guy.

Throughout the 1980s, Wyoming’s powerhouse congressional delegation of U.S. Rep. Cheney (1979-1990), and Sens. Malcolm Wallop (1977-1995) and Al Simpson (1979-1997), was one of the most influential in the nation.

The trio also were notorious jokesters.

"When Dick Cheney, Malcolm Wallop and Al Simpson would travel together, it was a comedy show,” said Cowboy State Daily Executive Editor Jimmy Orr, who worked for Wallop, on Cheney’s vice-presidential campaign and later for the George W. Bush White House.

“It was a comedy show, and they were hilarious,” he said.

That carried over when Cheney was running for re-election, and he accidentally burst into a woman’s home in Riverton, recalled Bill Sniffin, longtime Wyoming newspaperman and now a columnist with Cowboy State Daily.

The radio station in Riverton, which had been set up in a house down by the river, had an interview scheduled with Cheney, said Sniffin on Tuesday’s “Cowboy State Daily Show” with Jake Nichols.

“Cheney was in a hurry to be on the radio,” Sniffin said, “and he always drove fast, and he was late.”

When he got to the house, he practically “busted in the door. And there was this gal in her nightgown vacuuming the floor (while holding) a baby.

“He says, ‘I'm here for the radio interview,’ and the gal says, ‘Well, the radio station moved six months ago. They're downtown.”

Not one to miss an opportunity to campaign, Cheney told the woman, “Well, I’m running for office.”

She tells him again that the radio station is downtown and he should go there.

“And as he's going out the door, she (asks), 'Well, who are you?’” Sniffin recalled. “And he says, ‘I'm Al Simpson, and I'd really appreciate your vote.’”

Cheney And 9/11

Cheney’s political career spanned decades and included high-ranking positions in multiple presidential administrations.

At age 34, he became White House chief of staff under President Gerald Ford; he was tapped as secretary of defense for President George H.W. Bush; and he was one of the most influential and powerful vice presidents in United States history in the George W. Bush administration.

It was as vice president that his leadership, courage and resolve helped lead the nation in the days, months and years after the 9/11 attacks, said former Wyoming Gov. Matt Mead on the "Cowboy State Daily Show."

“You know, on that day we lost about 3,000 lives,” Mead said, adding that he recalls trying to explain the attacks to his children, who “were so young when 9/11 happened.”

He said Cheney’s experience and ability to act without hesitation at that time can’t be underplayed.

“What we needed was serious leadership, serious people,” Mead said. “And you know, I still give great credit to President Bush and Vice President Cheney. 

“I mean, when you listen to Cheney talk post-9/11 I mean, at all times you knew we had a person that knew the facts, was serious and was dedicated to protecting our country.”

With the president in Florida at the time of the attacks, Cheney was in Washington, D.C., and used his experience as a former secretary of defense to provide calm during a crisis, the former governor said.

“You never doubted. I mean, people could agree or disagree with … the decisions he's made, but he was not there for performance to look like he's doing something,” Mead said. “He was there to actually do something and he did it.”

That’s also one of the things Wyoming Republican Sen. John Barrasso said he’ll remember about Cheney.

“He was there on 9/11, and the consequential role he played in focusing on American strength, American military,” Barrasso said, also on the "Cowboy State Daily Show."

“He should be remembered as a giant in politics and really focusing on keeping our country strong and safe,” he added. “And certainly after 9/11, his focus on making sure we had the military strength we needed, the might that we needed to keep our shores safe is truly part of his legacy, but it's a long, long legacy.”

He Can Hear You

One of the most memorable events in the aftermath of 9/11 was President Bush with a bullhorn at ground zero talking to the emergency responders, Orr said.

That’s when someone from the crowd shouted, “I can’t hear you,” and Bush responded with, “I can hear you. The rest of the world hears you, and the people who knocked these buildings down will hear all of us soon!”

Almost as powerful was Cheney’s example for the nation, Orr said.

“I will tell you … on Sunday morning, the vice president was on Tim Russert’s show, ‘Meet the Press,’” he said. “And what the vice president did was calm the nation, he instilled confidence in everyone.

“He knew exactly what he was saying, the sense of confidence that you got from watching him on ‘Meet the Press’ was incredible. I can't overstate it. What he did is he calmed the country so much.”

After that, there was concern in political circles that the president had been upstaged by the vice president, Orr said.

The Iraq War that followed, along with the war on terrorism, earned Cheney the reputation in some circles as a “war hawk,” but he didn’t care about those perceptions, Mead said.

“People could agree or disagree with … the decisions he's made, but he was not there for performance to look like he's doing something,” Mead said. “He was there to actually do something (and) he did it.”

For Wyoming

While Cheney is known nationally most for his time as vice president and secretary of defense, Wyoming has a lot more to remember him for, said former Assistant Interior Secretary Rob Wallace.

“We also don’t want to lose track of that he was one hell of a good congressman for Wyoming,” Wallace said on the "Cowboy State Daily Show.” With Wallop and Simpson, “those three fought above their weight on behalf of Wyoming.”

One crucial piece of legislation the trio championed was the 1983 Wyoming Wilderness Act, Wallace said.

“My background is in public lands. That's what I've been interested in most of my career," he said. “(They) created tens of millions of acres of wilderness that people in Wyoming and the rest of the country enjoy every weekend when they're out and about. 

“So, in addition to his defense and his foreign policy chops, he did consequential things just on behalf of Wyoming.”

For years, longtime Wyoming broadcaster Bob Beck reported on state politics and had a number of memorable interviews with Cheney. That disarming humor always came through, he told Cowboy State Daily.

"So, I was hosting a talk show at KOWB and Congressman Dick Cheney's on with me, and we were taking calls from listeners," Beck said about one of his favorite Cheney memories. "We had a call from a Laramie listener who called up and complained about how the streets are so bad in Laramie, there’s potholes — what are you going to do to fix it?

"And Cheney comes back and says, ‘Well, you know, that's really out of my jurisdiction. You need to contact your city council member or perhaps your city manager. That's not something that I can take care of.'"

The woman didn't want to hear that, even if it was true, Beck said.

“And she basically yells at him and says, ‘Oh, sure, that's what I expected. Just another politician passing the buck, and slams down the phone,'" he said. Then Cheney "just looks at me and says, ‘Bob, that's a glimpse into my world.’”

For Barrasso, the 2000 presidential race sums up what Dick Cheney meant to Wyoming, and Wyoming to him.

“The biggest homecoming was when he showed up at Natrona County High School in the gym with George W. Bush, and it was the first appearance of them as the president and vice president nominee (in) 2000,” he said. “The first rally they had together was on the gym floor at NCHS.”

The place was packed and “a very, very consequential day in Wyoming history,” Barrasso said, because, “For the first time ever, we had a nominee from our home state to be vice president of the United States.”

Greg Johnson can be reached at greg@cowboystatedaily.com.