WILSON, Wyo. — When former Vice President Dick Cheney opened his Wyoming home to Mitt Romney Thursday evening for a private dinner fund-raiser, many donors and supporters viewed the moment as a symbolic passing of the torch from the last Republican administration to the hope of the next one.

But the Romney campaign made sure that the burning light was passed as quietly as possible.

Mr. Cheney remains unpopular with many Americans, and Mr. Romney’s team went to great lengths to avoid any public images of the two men together. When Mr. Romney arrived at the reception, he greeted Mr. Cheney with a handshake and Mr. Cheney’s wife, Lynne, with a kiss, but reporters who were within view were promptly escorted out by the campaign. (Typically, the campaign does not allow photos or videos inside its fund-raisers.)

Mr. Romney, who largely avoids mentioning former President George W. Bush and Mr. Cheney on the campaign trail, did not mention Mr. Bush at the first reception, which was open to a press pool. But once at Mr. Cheney’s private residence — which backs up to a golf course — a pool reporter within earshot of Mr. Romney’s remarks heard Mr. Romney invoke Mr. Bush but was not able to make out the context, and was again escorted away by a campaign staffer.

Mr. Cheney, meanwhile, offered a strong endorsement of Mr. Romney.

Recalling the four Republican presidents for whom he had worked, and the credentials necessary for a commander in chief, Mr. Cheney said he felt there was “only one man to be president of the United States who meets those requirements, and that’s Gov. Mitt Romney.”

“Whether it’s 9/11 or the other kinds of difficulties and crises that arrive — they always do — and that’s when you find out what kind of leader your president is,” Mr. Cheney said. “I’m convinced that in addition to all of these other qualifications that you all know about, when I think about the kind of individual I want in the Oval Office in that moment of crisis, who has to make those key decisions, some of them life and death decisions, decisions as the commander in chief, who has the responsibility for sending our young men and women in harm’s way. That man’s Mitt Romney.”



Mr. Romney, who spoke for about 20 minutes, returned the favor, calling Mr. Cheney “quite a man, quite a leader,” and pointing out that he could have simply enjoyed Wyoming and stuck to fly fishing and hunting.

Though Mr. Romney’s finance team had expected the events would bring in roughly $2 million, the day’s fund-raisers brought in a haul of more than $4 million. Mr. Romney’s National Finance Committee also used the trip to Jackson, Wyo. — a town where the population is just slightly higher than its elevation — to hold one of its group meetings, which occur roughly once a month.

Many high-dollar donors who had already maxed out and wanted to attend the event were told they had to recruit a new donor who could raise the $30,000 entrance price in order to attend. Attendees were treated to a picture of themselves with Mr. Romney, against a backdrop of a United States flag and the Wyoming state flag.

More than 200 guests attended the dinner, and included Foster Friess, a major contributor to a pro-Rick Santorum “Super PAC” that attacked Mr. Romney during the early nominating contests; Harold Hamm, the billionaire oil executive; Woody Johnson, the owner of the New York Jets; Lowry Mays, the founder of Clear Channel Communications; and L.E. Simmons, the president of a private equity firm with a focus on oil.

Though Mr. Cheney and Mr. Bush remain popular with the Republican base, both are polarizing figures among the broader electorate. Many Americans still blame the economic downtown on Mr. Bush’s administration, and Mr. Bush is considered such a liability on the campaign trial that Mr. Romney rarely, if ever, mentions him.

“It should come as no surprise that Vice President Cheney is hosting a fund-raiser for Mitt Romney,” said Melanie Roussell, a spokeswoman for the Democratic National Committee, in an e-mail statement. “Not only has Romney suggested we return to the unilateral approach to foreign policy that got us bogged down in Iraq, but he also plans to carbon copy the failed economic policies of the past — the same policies that benefited a few, while leaving the middle class out to dry.”

In private, however, relations between Mr. Romney and the Bushes — both father and son — are warmer. Many of Mr. Romney’s foreign policy advisers hail from both Bush administrations, and Condoleezza Rice headlined a fund-raiser for Mr. Romney in June. One of Mr. Romney’s senior advisers, Ron Kaufman, was something of consigliore to the first President Bush. Mr. Bush and his wife, Barbara, endorsed Mr. Romney earlier in the campaign, and former President George W. Bush did so as well, in an awkward run-in with ABC News.

“I’m for Mitt Romney,” the younger Mr. Bush said in May, before slipping into an elevator.

Elizabeth Cheney, Mr. Cheney’s daughter, who attended the event, said her father first got to know Mr. Romney well during the 2002 Olympics, when Mr. Romney moved to Salt Lake City, Utah to help revive the flailing games.

“My dad just has a tremendous amount of respect for him,” Ms. Cheney said. “Having served four of the last five Republican presidents, he has a unique insight into what it takes to sit in the Oval Office and he feels Governor Romney has what it takes, and is the right man to lead the nation.”

Though Mr. Romney rarely mentions Mr. Cheney on the campaign trail, he did bring him up at a town hall last September, recalling having watched the former vice president field a variety of questions during a C-SPAN interview he had seen.

“And I listened to him speak and said, Whether you agree or disagree with him, this is a man of wisdom and judgment, and he could have been president of the United States,” Mr. Romney said. “That’s the kind of person I’d like to have — a person of wisdom and judgment.”

A source close to the event said the two men most likely stole some time on Thursday for a private meeting.

Thursday evening’s event marked the first time Mr. and Mrs. Cheney opened their Wyoming home for a fund-raiser. The dinner was co-hosted by Dick and Maggie Scarlett, who served as Wyoming finance chairs of Senator John McCain’s 2008 campaign.

And, of course, the dinner reflected the mood of Wyoming, as well. Wildflowers adorned all of the tables.