{"id":2083,"date":"2025-11-23T14:45:30","date_gmt":"2025-11-23T14:45:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/readinstory.com\/?p=2083"},"modified":"2025-11-23T14:45:56","modified_gmt":"2025-11-23T14:45:56","slug":"why-the-obamas-skipped-dick-cheneys-funeral-as-michelles-past-absences-broke-protocol","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/readinstory.com\/?p=2083","title":{"rendered":"Why the Obamas skipped Dick Cheney\u2019s funeral as Michelle\u2019s past absences \u2018broke protocol\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"
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U.S. leaders gathered on Thursday (November 20) for the funeral of Dick Cheney but the absence of Barack and Michelle Obama stood out.<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Cheney, who passed away on November 3 at 84, was a businessman and former U.S. Vice President, serving two terms under President George W. Bush from 2001 to 2009.<\/p>\n

Before that, he had been President Gerald Ford\u2019s White House chief of staff in the 1970s and later spent ten years in the House of Representatives.<\/p>\n

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He was appointed defense secretary by President George H.W. Bush, overseeing the first Gulf War and the U.S. invasion of Panama. Throughout his career, Cheney became one of the most divisive vice presidents in American politics.<\/p>\n

His family announced that he di:ed due to complications from pneumonia and cardiac and vascular disease, surrounded by his wife Lynne and daughters Liz and Mary.<\/p>\n

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Those who honored him at the service included George W. Bush, Liz Cheney, and a long list of lawmakers from both parties.<\/p>\n

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However, President Trump and Vice President JD Vance were not invited, a White House official told Reuters.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, the Obamas were also absent. A source told PEOPLE they had no plans to attend but did not explain why.<\/strong><\/h2>\n

On November 5, Barack Obama posted a tribute on Facebook: \u201cAlthough Dick Cheney and I came from very different political traditions, I respected his commitment to public service and his deep love for his country. Michelle and I offer our heartfelt condolences to his family.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Michelle Obama\u2019s absence follows other notable events she skipped this year, including the January 9 funeral of former President Jimmy Carter and Trump\u2019s second inauguration later that month.<\/p>\n

All five living presidents and the First Ladies attended Carter\u2019s funeral, and Barack went to both ceremonies alone.<\/p>\n

Her decision drew criticism at the time. Businessman Kevin O\u2019Leary told Fox News he believed her choice to skip the inauguration was \u201cwrong,\u201d adding that the tradition has lasted more than a century and should be respected.<\/p>\n

According to PEOPLE, Michelle addressed her recent absences on her IMO podcast in April, explaining that she\u2019s learning to \u201csay no.\u201d<\/strong><\/h2>\n

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She said, \u201cIt took all my strength to stop doing what others expected and start doing what felt right for me. That was a tough shift.\u201d<\/p>\n

She added that choosing which events to attend is part of that \u2014 declining when she feels it\u2019s the right call.<\/p>\n

\u201cPractice the \u2018art of saying no\u2019 when it feels like the right decision.\u201d<\/p>\n

The former First Lady continued, \u201cIt\u2019s a muscle you have to build, and we struggled because it feels like we started training late in life. I\u2019m only now beginning to develop it.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

U.S. leaders gathered on Thursday (November 20) for the funeral of Dick Cheney but the absence of Barack and Michelle Obama stood out. Cheney, who passed away on November 3 … <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2084,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2083","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/readinstory.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2083","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/readinstory.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/readinstory.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/readinstory.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/readinstory.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2083"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/readinstory.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2083\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2086,"href":"https:\/\/readinstory.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2083\/revisions\/2086"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/readinstory.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/2084"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/readinstory.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2083"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/readinstory.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2083"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/readinstory.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2083"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}