In My Time - Dick Cheney [162]
To my knowledge, no vice president before or since has had an office on the House side of the Capitol, and I used it for meetings with House members when we were working on key pieces of legislation. I also hosted buffet dinners there before presidential addresses to Congress, including the annual State of the Union. The tight security surrounding a presidential address means that most people who sit in the chamber have to arrive hours before the speech. Lynne and I invited the cabinet and Republican congressional leadership to join us for dinner on these occasions, then shortly before the speech was to start, they could file in to take their seats in the House chamber. This tradition ended in 2006 when the Democrats regained control of the House and Charlie Rangel became the new chairman of the Ways and Means Committee. He reclaimed the office—as I’d expected he would.
Beginning the first Tuesday I was in office, January 23, 2001, I was invited to attend the weekly Senate Republican policy lunch on the Hill, and throughout my eight years as vice president, I tried to make it to this lunch whenever I was in town. I was grateful for the senators’ hospitality since as an institution the Senate does not always take kindly to vice presidents, who have a foot in the executive branch as well as in the legislative. When Lyndon Johnson was about to become vice president, he laid out a plan to preside over Democratic caucus meetings in the Senate that infuriated many of his colleagues. “I don’t know of any right for a vice president to preside or even be here with senators,” one of them declared. In the end, Johnson did not preside—or even attend very often. Harry Reid made it clear that my successor, Senator Joe Biden, would not be welcome—which is too bad. I found these sessions to be important for building relationships and alliances and for getting things done.
With with members of the Senate on the North Portico of the White House. As president of the Senate, I worked hard to develop relationships with my senate colleagues, and with members of the House of Representatives, that would help us accomplish our legislative agenda. (Official White House Photo/David Bohrer)
I seldom spoke at the caucus lunches, though occasionally, if there was a particularly important issue on the agenda or if I’d been asked by the Republican Senate leadership, I would say a few words. For the most part, I preferred to listen, not to lobby for administration positions. I wanted the Republican senators to view me as an ally in the West Wing—and to continue to invite me to their weekly sessions.
The relationships I had in both houses of Congress meant I was often the first person in the White House to hear if there was a problem. I’d get a call from Speaker Denny Hastert or Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott, for example, giving me a heads-up if a piece of legislation was going off the rails. It was a very effective way, most of the time, to make sure the White House and Republicans on the Hill were on the same page.
Much has been written about my advocacy of a strong executive, and it is true that I am a firm believer in protecting the president’s prerogatives, especially when it comes to the conduct of national security policy. But I loved my time in Congress, and I will always consider myself a man of the House. My respect for that institution