Richard B. Cheney, a Valedictory

Jay Nordlinger of National Review reports on a lunch/interview he and several colleagues had with Vice President Dick Cheney. Most of the piece is Cheney in his own words, responding expansively to reporters' questions. At the end Nordlinger gives his own assessment of Cheney:

I am one of those who consider Dick Cheney — Richard B. Cheney, to get formal — one of the best public servants of recent times. He is smart, decent, and versatile. He is thoughtful about big issues and impressive with details. He knows the government inside out. He is part politician, part policy wonk. He is also a leader. His opinions, and the ways at which he arrives at them, are utterly sound. He is a superb communicator (when he chooses to communicate). His temperament is so good as to be enviable.

And Nordlinger concludes:

One of the best decisions George W. Bush ever made was to ask Cheney to run with him — and to be his partner in government. I wish Cheney could have been president — not instead of Bush, but at some point in his career. I wish he could be president still.

This is no popular view but one with which I concur. I am happy to have Dick as a WY neighbor.