WASHINGTON (AFP) — Vice President Dick Cheney welcomed his successor, vice president-elect Joseph Biden, to his official residence Thursday, shrugging off his visitor's stinging campaign trail attacks.
Biden arrived at the vice president's official Naval Observatory residence in northwest Washington with his wife Jill, and posed for photographs with Cheney and his wife Lynne.
During the 50-minute visit, the couples held a private meeting and the Cheneys gave their guests a tour of the ornate residence, said the vice president's spokeswoman, Megan Mitchell.
"It was a good visit. The Cheneys enjoyed giving the Bidens a tour of the residence and wished them well as they make it their home in January," she said in a statement.
The Bidens in turn thanked their hosts "for welcoming them into their home and for their gracious hospitality," said Elizabeth Alexander, a spokeswoman for the vice president-elect.
Biden was a fierce critic of Cheney, possibly the most powerful vice president ever, during the presidential campaign which ended with Democrat Barack Obama's historic victory last week.
In the vice presidential debate against Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin last month, Biden branded Cheney "the most dangerous vice president we've had."
During his speech at the Democratic National Convention in August, Biden took another withering swipe at Cheney.
"For every American who is trying to do the right thing, for all those people in government who are honoring their pledge to uphold the law and respect our Constitution, no longer will the eight most dreaded words in the English language be: 'The vice president's office is on the phone'," he said.
The Biden-Cheney meeting follows Obama's private one-on-one talks with President George W. Bush at the White House on Monday.
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