In a rare display of bipartisan unity, political leaders from across the spectrum convened in Washington, D.C., to bid farewell to former Vice President Dick Cheney, a significant figure in Republican politics prior to the MAGA era.

The funeral, held on Thursday, drew the attendance of two former presidents along with all living former vice presidents, forming a distinguished assembly of Washington’s political elite. However, the current President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance were notably absent from the gathering, with sources indicating that they were not extended invitations.

Cheney, known for his lifetime of staunch conservative values, originally endorsed Trump during the 2016 presidential race. However, his stance shifted in later years as he openly criticized Trump, particularly after his daughter, Liz Cheney, faced backlash for her active participation in the congressional committee investigating the January 6, 2021, Capitol riot.

In her eulogy, Liz Cheney highlighted her father’s decision to back then-Senator Kamala Harris over Trump, stating, “For him, choosing between defending the Constitution and aligning with a political party was no choice at all.”

The attendees at Cheney’s funeral not only paid tribute to a prominent political figure but also harkened back to a period when Washington’s political climate was less divisive, and respect crossed party lines during moments of national reflection.

The funeral’s guest list itself was also a nod to a time when Washington was not so polarised and politicians from both sides of the aisle paid their respects when a dignitary passed away.

In 2022, Cheney described Trump as a coward and said no one was a “greater threat to our republic.”

Pence, who similarly broke with Trump over the president’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election, said that Cheney gave him two pieces of advice shortly after Pence was elected vice president in 2016. He urged Pence to spend “a lot of time on Capitol Hill” and to receive the president’s daily brief first thing in the morning, before attending any meeting with the president, in order to be better prepared for what would be discussed.

“It was a way that he said, ‘You will be better equipped to be able to advise the president if you know in advance what’s coming and can run that through the filter of the president’s priorities,’” Pence told CNN’s Jeff Zeleny before the funeral.

The White House offered a muted reaction after Cheney’s death with press secretary Karoline Leavitt telling reporters that Trump was “aware” the former vice president had died and noting that flags had been lowered to half-staff.

CNN has reached out to the White House for comment on Trump not being invited to the funeral, which Axios was first to report.

Honorary pallbearers at Cheney’s funeral included members of his Secret Service detail; his former chiefs of staff, David Addington and Scooter Libby; and photographer David Hume Kennerly.

On one of the last pages of the service leaflet was a quote from the writer and naturalist John Muir, saying: “The mountains are calling and I must go.”