JAMES ROGAN

 

Vice President Dick Cheny died today at age 84 from heart disease. I didn't know him well, but our paths did cross occasionally.

 

The first time was in early May 1994, just after I had won a special election to fill a vacancy in the California State Assembly. The day after taking office, I flew to Los Angeles to attend a fundraiser for California Attorney General Dan Lungren and his guest speaker, former Secretary of Defense Dick Cheney.

 

A popular national figure in 1994 because of his leading role in helping direct U.S. forces during the Bush Administration's Persian Gulf War, at that time Cheney was traveling America as an undeclared candidate for the 1996 Republican presidential nomination. At a private reception, Lungren introduced me to the balding, bespectacled Cheney, who congratulated me on my victory and asked to get together with me in Sacramento soon to discuss his White House plans.

 

Cheney's physical appearance belied his speaking skills: the dour-looking man had a polished style and wonderful comedic timing. He began his remarks with this story:

 

"When I first won election to Congress in 1978, my best campaign worker was Mrs. Johnson, my high school English teacher. She would return all my campaign flyers and mailers with the grammatical errors corrected. Mrs. Johnson liked to call me from time to time, and when I was Secretary of Defense she somehow managed to get the personal telephone number that rang directly on my desk in the Pentagon.

 

"In August 1991, we were in the midst of an international crisis with an attempted coup against Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev. I was in a high-level strategy meeting with the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the Secretary of State, and many other officials. Suddenly, my private telephone rang. It was Mrs. Johnson calling from Jackson Hole, Wyoming.

 

"'Hi, Dick,'" she said. 'How are you?'

 

"I told her I was very busy, that we were in a big meeting, and that there was a coup going on in the Soviet Union. I asked if I could call her back.

 

"'No,' she said. 'I've got a big problem now.' I asked her what was wrong.

 

"'Dick, they're not picking up my trash.'

 

"I told her, 'Mrs. Johnson, right now I have generals and admirals in my office, the Soviet Union is collapsing, and we are facing a military coup against Gorbachev. I'm Secretary of Defense now, not a congressman. I do war and peace—I don't do trash.'

 

"Mrs. Johnson said, 'Dick, you were in Congress for ten years. Don't tell me you don't do trash.'

 

"I asked why she didn't call old Joe Sullivan, the city maintenance worker who lived down the street from her. 'I didn't want to go that high up,' she replied.

 

• • •

 

Five months later, Cheney's office called and invited me to join him at a GOP luncheon at the Quiet Cannon Restaurant in Montebello. There I met with Cheney privately before the event. He asked if he could visit me in Sacramento after the 1994 midterm elections to discuss his 1996 presidential plans, and to have me introduce him around to my Republican colleagues to lay the early groundwork for a California primary effort. We agreed to set a date for the visit after Thanksgiving.

 

During the luncheon, I sat with Andrew Goldman, a member of Cheney's staff. Goldman said Cheney had been campaigning for Republican candidates for the past 18 months and would announce his own presidential candidacy before Christmas. "We'll have about a month to rest after the November elections," he sighed, "and then we are in for two years of hell."

 

Meanwhile, Cheney said that he has been campaigning for Republican candidates for the last a year and a half and had driven alone in his car across the country over 8,000 miles. "I wanted to reconnect with the American people," he said. "When I was Secretary of Defense, I spent a lot of time on international problems and Soviet issues. Now I wanted to do like I did when I was in Congress. I hit all the truck stops and McDonalds along the way. It reminded me that America is really all of us. There are 250 million people who get up each morning and contribute to our nation. I believe the Republican Party of 1994 is about America. People have had a belly full of government in their face. We are spending too much money and allowing government to interfere too much. The good news is that in November of 1994, we will see a new phenomenon—a national Republican victory in state and federal races."

 

Cheney predicted that after the 1994 elections, Republicans would hold more than 200 House seats: "We will have the greatest number of Republicans in the House of Representatives than we have had in over 40 years," he promised. "And Bill Clinton's worst nightmare will come true: waking up the Wednesday morning after the election and finding Newt Gingrich as the new speaker of the House!"

 

• • •

 

In October 1994, Dick Cheney saw a tsunami coming that few others recognized or believed. He was right. That November, Republicans swamped Democrats in the midterm elections and seized control of Congress for the first time in four decades.

 

The one thing Cheney didn't see that day was his own change of heart. After spending two years prepping for a White House run, he backed out of the 1996 presidential contest. However, he didn't remain sidelined on the bench. Four years later, George W. Bush picked him as his running mate. He went on to serve two terms as vice president of the United States before returning to private life in 2009.

 

Rest in peace.

 

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