Former US vice president Dick Cheney has reportedly expressed disappointment with the irresolute manner in which former president George W. Bush took his advice.

Cheney, who has spoken out against the "far left" agenda of the current US administration of President Barack Obama, has also criticized Bush for what he believes to be a wavering approach toward the former vice-president's counsel.

The 68-year-old retired politician says Bush took a rather "independent" stand in the implementation of policies and did not listen to the ex-vice president at the start of his second tenure in 2004.

"When the president made decisions that I didn't agree with, I still supported him and didn't go out and undercut him," Cheney's official biographer Stephen Hayes quoted him as saying.

"Now we're talking about after we've left office. I have strong feelings about what happened. ... And I don't have any reason not to forthrightly express those views," he went on to quote Cheney.

Meanwhile, Barton Gellman, another author who wrote a book on the former administration's number two in the chain of command, has also indicated that Cheney was dismayed over the "weak" and "conceding" conduct of Bush.

According to Gellman, in a recent informal meeting held with the participation of Cheney, a member of the audience close to Cheney spoke of the former vice president openly confirming his dissatisfaction with Bush's "soft" position in his political dealings.

"In the second term, he felt Bush was moving away from him," Gellman quoted the unnamed participant as saying.

"He said Bush was shackled by the public reaction and the criticism he took. Bush was more malleable to that. 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. 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 report, published in The Washington Post on Wednesday, suggests that the former president was an "ordinary" politician who lacked sharp insights on various issues.

It also refers to Cheney's role in Bush's first presidential term as the prime source of guidance for the White House.

Cheney has frequently defended hard-line policies and advocated the use of torture, allegedly in order to keep America "safe".

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