During an interview with former Vice President Dick Cheney Monday morning to share remembrances of the late President George H.W. Bush, Today show co-host Savannah Guthrie reminded Cheney, who served as Bush 41's defense secretary, that the former president had once criticized him for being too “hardline.”
“Did you stay in touch with him in later years?,” she wondered, noting: “We all know that he had some kind of choice words about you in his – in the biography that was written about him, said you had gotten kind of hardline in those later years.” Cheney recalled the specific criticism: “Well, the allegation was that between my time working for him as secretary of defense and my time as vice president, working for his son, that I’d become a ‘hardass,’ I believe was the phrase that he used.”
He acknowledged that the characterization was “true,” but explained: “Partly because what happened was 9/11. And on 9/11 we lost 3,000 Americans, more than we lost at Pearl Harbor. And given my view of the world and where we were at that time, I was much more of a hard case during that period.”
Cheney fondly recalled how Bush sent him a personal letter to smooth things over afterward and a meeting they had later:
Interesting, after he was quoted saying I had gone over to the dark side – not that way, but basically that I was a hard case – I got a note from him, a handwritten note saying, “Dear, Dick, I did it.” And then, apologizing and saying nice things about me. And that year, when we held the annual Alfalfa Dinner here in Washington, I was invited by him to sit next to him at the head table and sort of patched up any wounds that were there.
Guthrie observed: “I’m sure that means a lot, especially now.”
On Saturday, just hours after the 41st president’s passing, the Today show was eager to use the occasion to criticize President Trump and conservatives.
Here is a transcript of the December 3 exchange between Guthrie and Cheney:
7:11 AM ET
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SAVANNAH GUTHRIE: Did you stay in touch with him in later years? We all know that he had some kind of choice words about you in his – in the biography that was written about him, said you had gotten kind of hardline in those later years.
DICK CHENEY: Well, the allegation was that between my time working for him as secretary of defense and my time as vice president, working for his son, that I’d become a “hardass,” I believe was the phrase that he used. And it’s true. Partly because what happened was 9/11. And on 9/11 we lost 3,000 Americans, more than we lost at Pearl Harbor. And given my view of the world and where we were at that time, I was much more of a hard case during that period.
Interesting, after he was quoted saying I had gone over to the dark side – not that way, but basically that I was a hard case – I got a note from him, a handwritten note saying, “Dear, Dick, I did it.” And then, apologizing and saying nice things about me. And that year, when we held the annual Alfalfa Dinner here in Washington, I was invited by him to sit next to him at the head table and sort of patched up any wounds that were there.
GUTHRIE: I’m sure that means a lot, especially now.
(...)
