Q&A: NBC News Correspondent Pete Williams reflects on working with Dick Cheney

I worked for him in the house, and then four years at the Pentagon as well. I guess it wasn’t unexpected. He’d been in declining health.

I had a couple of thoughts. One is that, you know, he lived a lot longer than anyone would have predicted 30 years ago because he had consistent heart problems, but it seemed like every time he developed a heart problem, there had just been some medical breakthrough that allowed him to continue on. So I think he was somebody who had a very full, rich life for which he was very grateful.

My second thought is that he was a great friend. He had a public image that was sort of tough and take-no-prisoners, but I knew him to be somebody who was extremely loyal to the people who worked for him, who was always there for us. And you know, that’s not the way it’s supposed to work in Washington, you’re always supposed to be serving the boss. You’re supposed to take the bullets for him. But that’s not the way he operated.

He was a very stand-up person, and he also had a great sense of humor. We shared a background. We both grew up in Casper Wyoming. He was born in Nebraska, but moved to Casper when he was very young, and grew up, he was captain the football team. Married the head cheerleader, Lynn Cheney, raised two great daughters, including Liz Cheney, who and you know, they have an expression out in Wyoming ranchers do when livestock is good, they say they bred true, and that’s certainly true of Liz.

How complex is his legacy politically, considering how much influence he had in the early 2000s Yes, it’s always going to be controversial. He made some decisions that are still debated today about the war on terror, but I think you have to recall what a searing moment it must have been for him to be alone in the White House when the planes were hitting targets on 911. The president was out of town, and there sat Dick Cheney with the possibility of having to order the shoot down of domestic airliners. And then he was grabbed by the Secret Service and hauled down to a bunker in the White House.

I think that was a searing experience and influenced his decision that he wanted to do everything he could to try to prevent another attack.

He was a somewhat reluctant vice president. I know that may surprise some people. He never injected himself into the process. The second President Bush asked him to lead the vice presidential search, and then it was Mr. Bush himself who said, ‘Well, why don’t you do it? ‘He didn’t set out with that goal in mind. I think he felt that his public service days were behind him, but he also felt a great obligation.

You know, he had served his father as Secretary of Defense, and he felt an obligation to serve his country. The other thing I would say about him is that he was a person of great loyalty to his country, but his politics were different than what you see in the Republican Party of today. Yes, he was conservative, he believed in strong national defense, but he was sharply critical of Donald Trump and the direction in which the Republican Party has taken today.

Yes, it’s always going to be controversial. He made some decisions that are still debated today about the War on Terror, but I think you have to recall what a searing moment it must have been for him to be alone in the White House when the planes were hitting targets on 9/11.

The president was out of town, and there sat Dick Cheney with the possibility of having to order the shoot down of domestic airliners, and then he was grabbed by the Secret Service and hauled down to a bunker in the White House.

I think that was a searing experience and influenced his decision that he wanted to do everything he could to try to prevent another attack.