WASHINGTON – Loyal. “A lion of a man.” A “full-time rodeo grandpa.”

Family, friends and former colleagues delivered a humanizing funeral tribute to the late former Vice President Dick Cheney, a powerful and polarizing figure in U.S. politics, at the Washington National Cathedral on Nov. 20.

Hundreds of Washington’s current and ex-leaders packed the historic building's pews, including former Presidents Joe Biden and George W. Bush, all five of the living former vice presidents, GOP Sens. Mitch McConnell and John Thune and political pundits like liberal commentator Rachel Maddow. President Donald Trump did not attend the funeral.

Here are notable moments from Cheney’s funeral:

A vice presidential reunion

All living former vice presidents were in attendance: Kamala Harris, Mike Pence, Joe Biden, Dan Quayle and Al Gore.

As attendees filed in for the ceremony, Harris was seen chatting, smiling and laughing along with Quayle and Gore, who sat in a row behind the most recent former vice president. Pence greeted Gore, Quayle and Harris when he walked in and then sat next to Harris.

One vice president that was missing? The current one, Vice President JD Vance.

Right before the funeral's start, Vance participated in a fireside chat with the conservative outlet Breitbart News, where he offered condolences to the Cheney family. Like Trump, Vance was not invited to Cheney’s funeral.

“Obviously, there’s some political disagreements there, but he was a guy who served his country,” Vance said. “We certainly wish his family all the best in this moment of grieving.”

Memories of 2000 election

A quick handshake, a smile and a nod of the head.

One-time political rivals Bush and Gore were once again reunited – this time at Cheney’s funeral.

The two men faced off in the 2000 presidential election, one of the closest in U.S. history, that ended with Bush the victor heading to the White House following a Supreme Court ruling that halted a recount in Florida.

Bush and Gore were seen greeting each other after the Republican walked in to take his seat. The two have been spotted together sparingly, at times attending the same funerals, such as Jimmy Carter’s ceremony earlier this year, and presidential inaugurations, including in 2001 where Bill Clinton and Gore passed the torch to Bush and Cheney.

Bush chose Cheney as VP because he never ran for the White House

Twenty-five years ago, Bush said he had a big decision. Who was going to be his running mate?

The former president recounted during his eulogy how he enlisted the help of Cheney, a former White House chief of staff and secretary of Defense, to lead the search amid the 2000 campaign. Bush said he had a range of criteria he was looking for: mature judgment, rectitude and loyalty.

But above all, Bush said he wanted someone who wouldn’t get distracted by ambition to seek the presidency.

“After weeks of these meetings, I began to have a thought I could not shake,” Bush recalled. “I realized the best choice for the vice president was the man sitting right in front of me.”

Cheney was among the few vice presidents who didn’t run for the White House. In the late 20th century and the early 21st century, only Spiro Agnew, who served as vice president under Richard Nixon, did not make his own run for president.

After serving two-terms under Bush, Cheney did not run for president in 2008.

Although Bush said he chose Cheney because he encompassed everything he was looking for in a running mate, he almost dropped him during his re-election campaign in 2004.

Bush in his 2010 memoir, "Decision Points," wrote that he almost chose then-Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, a Republican from Tennessee, as a running mate over Cheney. Bush and Cheney at the time were at odds over the state of the war in Iraq, as well as Bush’s refusal to pardon I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby, Cheney’s chief of staff, after he was indicted on charges related to an intelligence investigation.

During his tribute at Cheney’s funeral, Bush said his vice president offered to step aside.

“I thought about it for a while, but after four years of seeing how he treated people, how he carried responsibility, how he handled pressure and took the hits, I arrived back at the conclusion that they do not come any better than Dick Cheney,” Bush said.

Who was seated next to who?

It was a bipartisan affair, all the way from politicians to pundits.

Maddow, who has a political show on MS NOW, was seated between Anthony Fauci, former chief medical advisor to the president, and former RNC Chairman Ken Mehlman, who held the position under Bush’s presidency in 2005. Next to Mehlman was James Carville, a Democratic political consultant.

Photos posted on social media showed Maddow chatting with Mehlman and Carville.

The wide cast of characters at Cheney’s funeral was emblematic of Cheney’s own politics, where he chose his country over his party.

His daughter, Liz Cheney during her tribute, said her father was inspired by Democratic President John F. Kennedy but nonetheless became a Republican. Still, Liz Cheney said, her father “knew that bonds of party must always yield to the single bond we share as Americans.”

“For him, a choice between defense of the Constitution and defense of your political party was no choice at all,” she said.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Key takeaways from Cheney funeral: A reunion of VPs and 2000s déjà vu

Reporting by Rebecca Morin and Joey Garrison, USA TODAY / USA TODAY

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