Cheney: Obama Has Learned from the Bush Administration

Former Vice President Dick Cheney says that President Obama has learned to accept the Bush administration's national security policies.

In an interview with NBC News set to air Tuesday, Cheney says he was initially afraid the president would rapidly discard enhanced interrogation techniques or terrorist surveillance programs. Early on, Cheney was one of the Obama administration's harshest critics, saying the president was making America "less safe."

However, he said he believes President Obama's attitude about those policies has changed.

"He's been through the fires of becoming president and having to make decisions and live with the consequences," Cheney said. "I think he's learned that what we did was far more appropriate than he ever gave us credit for while he was a candidate. So, I think he's learned from experience."

Cheney nevertheless said he expects Mr. Obama to be a one-term president. He refused, however, to weigh in on whether former GOP vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin could beat him. He said he's "not going to get into the business ... of saying this one is, this one isn't" qualified to be president.

"I'm interested in Gov. Palin like a lot of people are," Cheney said. "She's got an interesting political career established... She's clearly a factor in the Republican Party, has a strong following. She also has a lot of critics."

Cheney, with his own large share of critics, acknowledged that he offered to step down as vice president three separate times to President Bush.

"The reason I did it was I thought he needed to have the ability to do whatever was necessary to make sure he won," Cheney said. "I said, 'Look, Mr. President, you know, I've taken a lot of incoming fire. It goes with the turf. But if you have any desire to make a change here, I'll be perfectly happy to step aside so you can put somebody else in this job."

Cheney also spoke in the interview about the possibility of receiving a heart transplant.