Cheney shows disappointment with Bush

WASHINGTON, Aug. 13 (UPI) -- Former U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney has revealed openly disappointment with former President George Bush who he felt had "gone soft" on him, observers say.

In a recent meeting on preparations for his memoirs, Cheney said he felt Bush was "moving away" from him during the second term and was "shackled by the public reaction and the criticism he took," a participant in the book discussions told the Washington Post.

"The implication was that Bush had gone soft on him, or rather Bush had hardened against Cheney's advice. He'd showed an independence that Cheney didn't see coming," the source said.

John Hannah, Cheney's second-term national security adviser, said the former vice president is still driven by the nightmare of terrorists obtaining nuclear weapons, but now speaks of "doubts about the main channels of American policy" during Bush's second term.

Some of the disputes between Bush and Cheney were personal, the Post said, citing the firing of Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, a Cheney favorite, and the refusal by Bush to pardon top Cheney aide and close friend I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby in the CIA agent identity case.