Dick Cheney remembered by former political director: 'True warrior of Republican Party'
RALEIGH, N.C. (WTVD) -- Former Vice President Dick Cheney is being remembered in North Carolina as a dedicated public servant who loved America.
"What people need to remember and what Republicans need to remember is Vice President Cheney was a true warrior for the Republican Party," said Jonathan Felts. " He was on the road every week raising money for our candidates."
Felts worked for the Bush-Cheney reelection campaign in 2004 as the North Carolina Executive Director. The Davie County native lives in Raleigh with his family and has memories working as Deputy Assistant to the President and Director of the White House Office of Political Affairs. He reflected on a photo that shows him briefing then-President George W. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney on the 2008 Republican National Convention from the Oval Office.
ABC11 News was there in January 2008 when Cheney spoke at the Charlotte Chamber of Commerce about the state of the economy and the war on terror. Months later, in July, he returned to Raleigh at Hayes Barton Baptist Church for the funeral of former North Carolina Republican Senator Jesse Helms.
Vice President Cheney worked for nearly four decades in Washington, D.C.
"Such a fun little political anecdote that George W. Bush put Cheney in charge of a committee to determine who the vice president should be and this committee, led by Cheney, says, well, me," said N.C. State University Political Science Professor Steven Greene.
Greene called Cheney a major figure in American politics who played a critical role in the nation's response to 9/11 and the invasion of Iraq. He said the former vice president leaves behind a complicated legacy.
In 2024, he and his daughter, former Republican Representative Liz Cheney, endorsed Democrat Kamala Harris over President Trump after the January 6th attacks.
"It speaks to the way the Republican party has transformed from a very establishment county club pro-business Republican party to a much more populist culture war-based Republican party in the image of Donald Trump," he said.
Greene called Cheney one of the most important figures in shaping American politics. He died at 84 years old.
