Dick Cheney turns the page on Bush ties

Now his private reflections, revealed as his memoir takes shape, have opened a second front - against his partner of eight years, former President George W. Bush.

Cheney's disappointment with Bush surfaced recently in one of the salonlike conversations he is holding to discuss the book with former colleagues, authors, diplomats, and policy experts.

"In the second term he felt Bush was moving away from him," said a participant in the recent gathering, describing Cheney's reply. "He'd showed an independence that Cheney didn't see coming. It was clear that Cheney's doctrine was cast-iron strength at all times - never apologize, never explain - and Bush moved toward the conciliatory."

The two maintain respectful ties, speaking on the telephone now and then, though aides to both said they were never quite friends.

There's a sting in Cheney's critique because he views concessions to public sentiment as moral weakness. After years of praising Bush as a man of resolve, Cheney now intimates Bush turned out to be an ordinary politician.

Read more...