President George W. Bush: Remembering His Vice President Dick Cheney

"Former President George W. Bush eulogized former Vice President Dick Cheney and opened up about the process that led him to pick Cheney to be his running mate." 

Source:CNN with a look at President George W. Bush (Republican, Texas) delivering his tribute to his Vice President, Richard Cheney.

From CNN   

President Bush's statement on the passing of his Vice President Dick Cheney: 

"The death of Richard B. Cheney is a loss to the nation and a sorrow to his friends. Laura and I will remember Dick Cheney for the decent, honorable man that he was. History will remember him as among the finest public servants of his generation – a patriot who brought integrity, high intelligence, and seriousness of purpose to every position he held... 

From the Bush Center

And here is part of President Bush's speech today: 

“Dick was a calm and steady presence in the White House amid great national challenges. I counted on him for his honest, forthright counsel, and he never failed to give his best,” Bush said in a statement. “He held to his convictions and prioritized the freedom and security of the American people.”

Cheney died Monday night due to complications of pneumonia and cardiac and vascular diseases, according to a statement from his family. He was 84.

In our long discussions about the qualities a vice president should have – deep experience, mature judgment, character, loyalty – I realized that Dick Cheney was the one I needed,” Bush said. “I’m still grateful that he was at my side for the eight years that followed...

From Texas Tribune

To start off on more of a negative point first and then I'll get into what I really want to say here:

The 2 worst president's in my lifetime, (I'm in my late 40s) are current President and George W. Bush. Even though I would pick President Bush 100% of the time over President Trump... if for no other reasons George Bush is an American patriot and a very good and honest man. 

As far as President Bush's speech today... not that difficult to see why he was elected President of the United States, twice. Of course he is 25-26 years older today than he was when he ran for President the first time back in 1999-2000 and he's now 79 years old. So he's obviously aged a lot since 2009 when he left The White House. 

But the G.W. Bush that you saw today give that speech, is the same man who was elected President of the United States in 2000. He's always been a very calm, folksy, humorous man, who is also a great storyteller. The old political phrase and test: 

"Is the candidate someone you want to have a beer with?" 

That could've been written for G.W. Bush. And the answer of course would've always been yes. He would be someone you would want to go to ballgames with, and drink a whole keg of beer with. (Especially during George's drinking days. Ha. ha) Because he's such a friendly and funny guy and someone you would want to get to know and be social with. Unlike a lot of other American politicians, even from his generation, where hanging out with that person, might be as exciting as being stuck in Washington traffic, driving a big wheel. 

The whole story about how Mr. Bush went about choosing his Vice President in the spring and summer of 2000 and he consulted his father George H.W. Bush about that and H.W. suggested that his son choose Dick Cheney to manage that process for him. And after a few weeks or months of this, G.W. tells Dick Cheney: 

"After all of this and the process, the best man for me to choose for Vice President, is you". (Close paraphrase) 

Dick Cheney's public service career goes back to the late 1960s, when Richard Nixon was President and Mr. Cheney got a job in the Nixon White House and worked his way up to becoming President Gerald Ford's Chief of Staff in 1974. So he comes from the Ronald Reagan/Tip O'Neal era when even partisans knew that the people from the other party, weren't bad people, or Un-American. They were just different politically, ideologically, perhaps even culturally as far as where they were from, how they grew up, etc. Which is my broader point here. 

The Bush's, the Cheney's, the Clinton's, and others, come from an era where you could beat the hell out of someone politically, without losing yourself and becoming worst than the person that you are saying is so bad for the country. And I miss that era of American politics. The smash mouth, take no prisoners, compromise is surrender style of American politics... I believe escalated during the Bush/Cheney years in the 2000s. And it's gotten worst the last 16 years. But they never viewed Democrats as the enemy, or as Un-American. But just as their political opponents. Which is why there was such bipartisan gathering of both Democrats and Republicans at the Vice President' funeral today. 

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