As Trump and other congressional Republicans have been silent on the Monday evening death of Dick Cheney, Sen. John Barrasso took to the Senate floor Thursday to honor the former vice president and Wyoming congressman.
Barrasso’s past with the former vice president is complex, spanning years of political history. The two longtime Wyoming politicians had a close relationship in Washington.
Cheney swore Barrasso into his U.S. Senate post in 2007.
When Cheney died Monday due to complications of pneumonia and cardiac and vascular disease, Barrasso was among the first of his peers to memorialize the man’s legacy, appearing on Cowboy State Daily’s Morning Show With Jake before sunrise.
Barrasso showed the same candor Thursday when, speaking from the Senate floor, he lauded Cheney as a towering figure in American politics.
“He was a political giant in my home state,” Barrasso said. “He was plainspoken, he was direct, and he was steady in purpose. Sen. Al Simpson once said that Dick was ‘big-time, make-things-work kind of a guy.’ And, that’s exactly right.”
Barrasso’s comments contrast with more measured reactions from his fellow Republican leaders, including Wyoming’s other two members of Congress and President Donald Trump.
Cheney in 2022 joined his daughter, then-U.S. Rep. Liz Cheney, as one of Trump’s most notable critics. In 2024, Cheney endorsed former Vice President Kamala Harris’ presidential election bid.
“In our nation’s 248-year history, there has never been an individual who is a greater threat to our republic than Donald Trump,” Dick Cheney said in a 2022 campaign ad for his daughter. “He tried to steal the last election using lies and violence to keep himself in power after the voters had rejected him.”
Honoring Cheney
Barrasso on Tuesday remembered Cheney as “giant in American politics and a great son of Wyoming.”
The senator said he, Barrasso, stands on the shoulders of Wyoming leaders who came before him, such as Cheney, and specifically recognized Cheney’s role in reassuring the nation in the wake of the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
Cheney, and the late former Sens. Al Simpson and Malcolm Wallop were “larger-than-life characters” who punched above their weight for Wyoming, he said.
“He always made us proud during his time as vice president,” Barrasso said. “[He was] a patriot committed to the country, committed to national strength and security and the principles of peace through strength.”
Being sworn in by Cheney was one of Barrasso’s most treasured memories throughout his time in Congress, he said.
“He was there on the Senate floor and I have a picture of it here,” he said. “We have great pictures and great memories and it’s hard to believe that was 18 years ago.”
Then Came Thursday
Barrasso on Thursday launched more accolades of his late friend, calling him “one of the most consequential vice presidents our nation ever had.”
He recalled how the Senate confirmed Cheney to serve as U.S. Secretary of Defense, in a unanimous vote, saying “(You) don’t see anything like that happening around this place today.”
Reflecting on a quip by Benjamin Franklin that the vice president should be referred to as “your superfluous excellency,” Barrasso said Cheney was anything but.
“Had Franklin met Dick Cheney, he would have changed his mind,” he said. “He shaped history. He steadied nations. He stood for a stronger, safer America and a freer world.”
“We remember Dick Cheney as he lived – steady in purpose, firm in conviction, loyal to his country, and unafraid to do what he believed was right,” he added.
Wyoming to Washington
When Cheney became the nation’s youngest presidential chief of staff at the age of 34, Barrasso had just graduated from Georgetown with a bachelor’s degree in biology. Their Washington careers wouldn’t overlap until 2007 when Barrasso was appointed to fill a vacancy left by the late Wyoming Sen. Craig Thomas, who had died in office of leukemia.
NBC News reported at the time that Barrasso, when sworn in, “appeared a bit nervous as he took the oath of office, stumbling over some of the words as he repeated after Cheney.”
Barrasso became a critical voice in the nation’s energy debate and earned a reputation as a hard worker on Capitol Hill.
Cheney went on to laud Barrasso’s performance in his first year, describing him in a 2008 statement as a “tireless advocate for the people of Wyoming.”
“As a colleague and constituent, I congratulate John on his exceptional year of service and look forward to continued work with him on the crucial issues facing the American people," Cheney wrote.
Barrasso’s eulogies this week indicate a home state bond transcending the political fray.
His posture toward Liz Cheney was less than flattering after she and her father worked against Trump following the events of Jan. 6, 2021.
He was initially late to join his Republican colleagues in condemning Liz Cheney’s efforts to investigate and impeach Trump, but said in January, “President Biden was either going to pardon Liz Cheney or give her an award.”
“She doesn’t deserve either,” he continued. “She represents partisanship and divisiveness — not Wyoming.”
Washington Condolences
President Trump’s press secretary, and Wyoming Republican congressional delegates Rep. Harriet Hageman and Sen. Cynthia Lummis delivered more measured public reactions this week.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said Thursday the White House is not involved yet in planning Cheney’s funeral. She added only that Trump is “aware” of the former vice president’s passing.
Hageman acknowledged Cheney’s passing in a brief statement but did not appear to take the same aggrandizing tone that Barrasso had.
“You couldn’t grow up in Wyoming and not know who Dick Cheney was,” Hageman’s statement reads. “He dedicated most of his life to serving his country, working across multiple administrations and finally capping his public career as an extremely consequential vice president.
“He was known as a meticulous, detail-oriented planner who prioritized his family,” she added. “Dick Cheney had an undeniable impact on American policy, both foreign and domestic, for decades, and will be studied and remembered for many years more than that.”
Lummis appeared to echo that tone in her own remarks.
“Dick Cheney’s life was one of service to his state and nation, as U.S. Vice President, U.S. Secretary of Defense, White House Chief of Staff, and Wyoming Congressman,” Lummis wrote. “For more than 10 years, he worked alongside Senators Malcolm Wallop and Al Simpson as the most formidable Congressional delegation in Washington.”
“As the first Wyoming citizen to be elected Vice President, he holds a defining place in our state’s history,” she added. “I send my condolences and prayers to Lynne, Liz, Mary, and the entire Cheney family.”
Jackson Walker can be reached at walker@cowboystatedaily.com.
