1. I know people that know GWB well, and in one case gave LOTS of money to his campaigns. All of them have said he is an ENTIRELY different person to talk to one on one than he is when somebody sticks a microphone in front of him. The bumbling, ah, er, stuff that he did on camera, which unfortunately was nothing like him one on one, was used by the liberal to define and undermine his presidency.
2. As Governor of Texas, he governed by his own instincts. He started out as president governing by his own instincts. Somewhere during his first term, when re-election began to loom, he started to listen to “consultants” and “advisers” instead of following his own instincts. And that was the end of his effectiveness.
(Oh and by the way, even my great hero Reagan listened too much to advisers during his second term. That's why his second term did not live up to the greatness of his first term.)
I came away with that same sense after reading cheney’s : “In My Time: A Personal and Political Memoir.”
Pres. Bush moved away from cheney and to Condi et al. in his 2nd term.