WASHINGTON ‒ Former presidents and longtime Republican friends are set to attend the Nov. 20 funeral service of Dick Cheney, one of the most powerful and polarizing vice presidents in United States history.

Cheney's funeral service begins at 11 a.m. ET at Washington National Cathedral.

Cheney, part of an old Republican guard quickly vanishing in the era of Donald Trump, died at 84 years old on Nov. 4 following complications from pneumonia and cardiac and vascular disease.

Former President George W. Bush is set to speak at the funeral, and former President Joe Biden is expected to also attend. Bush tapped Cheney as his vice presidential running mate in the 2000 election and relied on him heavily to direct his energy and post-9/11 foreign policies.

Trump, who Cheney criticized strongly as a threat to the nation, will not attend the funeral, the White House confirmed.

Others expected to speak at the funeral for the nation's 46th vice president are the Rev. Randolph Marshall Hollerith, dean of Washington National Cathedral; Jonathan Reiner, professor of medicine and surgery at George Washington University School of Medicine & Health Sciences; Cheney's daughter, former Wyoming U.S. Rep. Liz Cheney; Cheney's grandchildren; and Pete Williams, former assistant secretary of defense for public affairs and former NBC News correspondent

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Harris, Pence, Fauci among mourners at funeral

Former Vice Presidents Kamala Harris and Mike Pence, as well as Anthony Fauci, the former head of the National Institute for Allergies and Infectious Disease, are among those at Cheney’s funeral.

Fauci is seated next to liberal television commentator Rachel Maddow, who is also in attendance.

There’s a heavy VP presence, with Al Gore also attending. Vice President JD Vance was not invited to the funeral. Cheney opposed the Trump-Vance ticket in the 2024 election and bucked his party by endorsing Harris.

-Joey Garrison

JD Vance offers condolences to the Cheney family

Vice President JD Vance offered his condolences to Cheney’s family on Thursday am, as he participated in a fireside chat with the conservative outlet Breitbart News in Washington.

Vance made the remarks after Washington Bureau Chief Matthew Boyle asked if he had a message for the Cheney family.

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

Vance was not invited to Cheney’s funeral, a source familiar with the matter said. He spoke at the Breitbart event as attendees began to take their seats at the service that’s taking place at the Washington National Cathedral.

--Francesca Chambers

Democrats, including Al Gore, attend Cheney’s funeral while Trump, Vance skip

Several notable Democrats – from former Vice President Al Gore to MS NOW commentator Rachel Maddow – showed up at Cheney’s funeral, while President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance did not.

The divide illustrates the rift between the current Republican Party, dominated by Trump, and the old guard led by the likes of Cheney and former President George W. Bush, who Cheney served under.

Gore lost the 2000 election to Bush and Cheney in one of the most controversial elections in American history that ended when the Supreme Court intervened to stop a vote recount in Florida.

Democrats criticized Cheney often when he was in office leading the post-9/11 invasion of Iraq, but they grew to respect the former vice president in his later years when Cheney refused to support Trump.

-Joey Garrison

JD Vance offers condolences to the Cheney family

Vice President JD Vance offered his condolences to Cheney’s family on Thursday am, as he participated in a fireside chat with the conservative outlet Breitbart News in Washington.

Vance made the remarks after Washington Bureau Chief Matthew Boyle asked if he had a message for the Cheney family.

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

Vance was not invited to Cheney’s funeral, a source familiar with the matter said. He spoke at the Breitbart event as attendees began to take their seats at the service that’s taking place at the Washington National Cathedral.

--Francesca Chambers

Mourners gather for Cheney funeral

Inside the Washington National Cathedral, mourners dressed in dark suits and dresses are milling about and greeting one another in the aisles as cathedral staff prepare for the funeral service. Empty seats in the rows closest to the white floral-adorned Canterbury Pulpit, where clergy will speak, and Stone Lectern, where Cheney’s former colleagues and loved ones will offer tributes, are reserved for family members and high profile guests including Supreme Court Justices John Roberts, Brett Kavanaugh, Elena Kagan and Clarence Thomas.

–N'dea Yancey-Bragg

Vice President JD Vance not invited to Cheney funeral

Vice President JD Vance was not invited to Dick Cheney’s funeral, a source familiar with the matter said.

Vance is a critic of the Iraq war and suggested after Cheney’s death that the deceased politician did a poor job as vice president.

The sitting VP will participate in a fireside chat with the conservative outlet Breitbart News ahead of the funeral this morning in Washington.

At the event, Breitbart reporter Matthew Boyle asked Vance if he had a message for the Cheney family.

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

--Francesca Chambers

Former Republican Vice President Mike Pence among funeral attendees

Former Vice President Mike Pence will attend Dick Cheney’s funeral in Washington.

Pence served as vice president from 2017 to 2021 during President Donald Trump’s first term in office. He is the nation’s most recent, former Republican vice president.

--Francesca Chambers

Participants arrive ahead of Cheney funeral

Before the sun rose on Nov. 20, law enforcement officials and members of the media had already gathered in the cold on the west lawn of the illuminated Washington National Cathedral where former Vice President Dick Cheney's funeral will be held. As residents walked their dogs and jogged through the grounds, funeral participants, including many service members, filed through metal detectors outside the Gothic cathedral. Cathedral staff said the security measures were put in place “to ensure the health and safety of the staff and guests in attendance,” at the invitation-only service.

-N’dea Yancey-Bragg

'A calm and steady presence,' Bush remembers

Cheney, who served under Bush, was a hawkish, deeply partisan figure with broad knowledge of government and few qualms about the use of executive power. Bush nicknamed him "Vice" and "Big Time." His opponents called him "Darth Vader."

"Dick was a calm and steady presence in the White House amid great national challenges," Bush said in a statement after Cheney's death. "I counted on him for his honest, forthright counsel, and he never failed to give his best."

A Republican congressman from Wyoming in the 1980s and Defense secretary for the elder President George H.W. Bush, Cheney's first prominent role in Washington was as deputy chief of staff and later White House chief of staff for President Gerald Ford.

A legacy shaped by Iraq invasion

Cheney is known as the architect of the war in Iraq. He helped lead the push following the 9/11 terrorist attacks under Bush to invade Iraq based on intelligence ‒ later proven wrong ‒ that Saddam Hussein had amassed weapons of mass destruction.

"Simply stated, there is no doubt that Saddam Hussein now has weapons of mass destruction," Cheney said in August 2002, arguing not only did the Iraq leader have weapons of mass destruction but might share them with terrorists.

“The danger to America requires action on many fronts all at once,” he said. “We must take the battle to the enemy.”

The intelligence linking Iraq to weapons of mass destruction was later proven to be faulty and at times politically contrived.

The Iraq war took the lives of an estimated 200,000 Iraqi civilians and 4,492 U.S. servicemembers, and cost more than $700 billion.

Reach Joey Garrison on X @joeygarrison.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Dick Cheney funeral live updates: Former presidents, friends remember polarizing VP

Reporting by Joey Garrison, N'dea Yancey-Bragg and Francesca Chambers, USA TODAY / USA TODAY

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