From Politico:
Following Barack Obama’s historic visit to the White House on Monday, Vice President-elect Joe Biden and his wife, Jill, met with Dick Cheney and his wife, Lynne, on Thursday at the official vice-presidential residence, a 19th-century Victorian home on the grounds of the U.S. Naval Observatory.
The Cheneys greeted the Bidens around 5 p.m. with smiles, despite the sharp criticism Joe Biden had for Dick Cheney during a campaign that ended just over ten days ago.
Deadeye Dick even waited outside for the Bidens. He was there with his dogs to greet them!
The Bidens and the Cheneys stood side-by-side and posed for the cameras on the front porch before retreating behind a closed front door for a tour of the residence.
They had “a good visit” that lasted just under an hour, the vice president’s press secretary, Megan Mitchell, said in a statement.
Lynne even offered her guest some snacks she had prepared!
Biden’s transition spokesperson, Elizabeth Alexander, also released a cordial statement on the meeting. “The Bidens thank the Cheneys for welcoming them into their home and for their gracious hospitality,” the statement said.
Lynne was especially proud as she showed the Bidens how she had redecorated the house.
Biden’s visit comes on the day a former Al Gore aide agreed to be his chief of staff. Ron Klain, perhaps most widely known for his key role on Gore’s legal team during 2000 Florida recount, has accepted the job, Politico’s Mike Allen reports. Klain also served as Gore’s chief of staff during the 1996 reelection.
The last time a current vice president hosted his incoming predecessor at the northwest Washington residence, it was Gore greeting Dick Cheney more than a month after a bitterly contested election.
Thursday’s meeting appeared to draw more interest than the previous transition, a shift that former Clinton press secretary Mike McCurry said could be a sign of how much the vice president’s role has changed since then.
…snip…
Cheney expanded the power of the office of the vice president perhaps more than any one who had ever held the post. He had unprecedented power in the executive office, and is seen as a chief architect of the war in Iraq.
Like Cheney, Biden is known for his command of foreign policy. It’s one of the reasons Obama gave for selecting him as his running mate, so it is expected that he will be influential in those decisions. Biden, who has served as chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations, has also been a fixture in Washington for decades.
…snip…
Nowhere has Biden been more critical of Cheney than on the war in Iraq. “He has yet to be right one single time on Iraq,” Biden said of Cheney on FOX News well before he was on the Democratic ticket.
Biden’s colorful criticism of Cheney during the campaign is another reason Thursday’s meeting had heightened notoriety. His “most dangerous vice president” line came during his Oct. 2 debate with Gov. Sarah Palin.
Before that, Biden targeted Cheney in his speech at the Democratic National Convention: ”For every American who is trying to do the right thing, for all those people in government who are honoring the pledge to uphold the law and honor the Constitution,” Biden said, ”no longer will you hear the eight most-dreaded words in the English language, ‘The vice president’s office is on the phone.’ ”
…snip…
Still, Cheney promised a “smooth and graceful transition of power” in remarks on Saturday at the Virginia Military Institute. And after getting a brief tour of their new home, the Bidens will in January become only the sixth family to live in the vice-presidential residence.
HYSTERICAL RAISINS 
Nonnie,
Great documenting of our national tragedy. Sad, scary stuff! The last eight years have been such a nightmare.
O/T How do you manage to be so prolific?
nice man-sized safe there nonnie, properly creepified.
have you noticed, cindy mccain and jill biden are a bit physically similar, then the contrasts are incredibly striking. cindy lou looks tight and mean. jill looks kind and more open.
i registered for NN and i’m going to reserve a room. i have some miles on delta i may use for my transportation. i’m excited go to to pittsburg – i hope we can have locally-based workshops. so we dems can get insight into the edges of appalachia.
One of the most personable Veeps meets one of the nastiest. It’s an even bigger contrast than Nixon being replaced by LBJ.
hi jesus!
did you try out that site to see if it would accept your avatar?
i just hold my breath every day and hope that i find a story that interests me and a movie to match it.
jenn,
close, but no cigar! 😦 i was going to include a man-sized safe, but it took up too much room, and i figured deadeye dick would keep that in his office, not the living room. that’s not a safe, it’s an iron maiden and other assorted torture devices. the rack is in front of the fireplace.
cindy lou are similar in build and blonde, but the resemblance stops there. cindylou is stepford to the tenth power, and jill is seems warm and open.
you should get hold of nightowl. she lives near pittsburgh. she can probably tell you where the hotspots are.
neon vincent,
i wonder if there were sounds when they met, like when cold food hits a hot pan. two opposites cannot be in close proximity without there being some kind of reaction. ditto for lynne and jill.
like weather fronts: cold dry air and warm moist air = tornadoes in the great plains.
zactly!
If I were Biden, I’d have just had my staff call his and ask him to leave me some notes. No way I’d want to meet the crypt keeper.
i’m sure they had already met in the senate. he and jill really had no choice once they were invited. however, i bet they had their cootie-repellent clothes on!
I checked out the site. I’ll work on it. Thanks, nonnie.
you’re welcome, jesus! let me know how you make out.
You, ms. nonnie, are a threat to national security revealing the top-level secret torture chamber. Shame on you!
(And, way to go!)
nightowl,
that’s why i have moved to an undisclosed location until january 21st. 😉
Ha! Love it! I’m not one of those people with the diplomatic heft to greet an adversary with a smile. My grandma would say Irish diplomacy is being able to tell someone to go to hell in such a way that they look forward to the trip. Biden must be a master!
wcp,
i am the same way. i don’t think i could ever be a politician, because when i don’t like someone, i make it known. i love your grandma’s explanation of irish diplomacy. diplomacy is one of those subjects that evokes great quotes. here are some i found:
Daniele Vare : “Diplomacy is the art of letting someone have your way.”
Will Durant: “To say nothing, especially when speaking, is half the art of diplomacy.”
Will Rogers: “Diplomacy is the art of saying “Nice doggie” until you can find a rock.”
Isaac Goldberg: “Diplomacy is to do and say the nastiest things in the nicest way.”
John Kenneth Galbraith: “There are few ironclad rules of diplomacy but to one there is no exception. When an official reports that talks were useful, it can safely be concluded that nothing was accomplished.”
Adlai Stevenson: “A diplomat’s life is made up of three ingredients: protocol, Geritol and alcohol.”
Robert Frost: “A diplomat is a man who always remembers a woman’s birthday but never remembers her age.”