"Tell me what terrorist attack you would have let go forward because you didn't want to be a mean and nasty fellow," he says to Cutler, the film's creator. "Are you going to trade the lives of a number of people because you want to preserve your honor?"

Cheney gained a reputation for his zealous quest to prevent another terrorist attack on American soil --- a reputation that had sharp critics and steadfast supporters.

But after Bush's re-election in 2004, a divide was growing between the president and Cheney as the administration faced a declining sense of patience among the public for the Iraq War and negative headlines over prisoner abuse.

In 2006, Bush forced Rumsfeld's resignation, despite strong disagreement from Cheney.

"The way that history works, you don't get a lot of credit for what didn't happen," Cheney says, referring to Rumsfeld's departure. "This is one of those kinds of situations. It isn't so much what you achieved, as is what you prevented. Now you've safeguarded against further attacks against the U.S. I think that's a major accomplishment."

The split between the president and his No. 2 deepened when Bush refused to pardon Libby, Cheney's chief of staff, after a federal court convicted him of perjury, obstruction of justice and lying to investigators in the probe of the leak of the name of a CIA operative.

"I pushed very hard for a pardon. I thought a pardon was appropriate," Cheney says, adding the disagreement became a "major strain" on their relationship and a "source of considerable friction" through the remainder of Bush's second term.

The splintered relationship continues to this day, the film says.

For his part, Cheney remains as satisfied as ever with his performance as vice president --- and doesn't look back.

"I don't run around thinking, 'Gee, I wish we had done this or wish we had done that.' The world is as you find it, and you've got to deal with that," he says. "You get one shot. You don't get do-overs. So you don't spend a lot of time thinking about it."