Good observation, but you'll never hear it from the press, at least not with proper emphasis or prominence.
Remember the transition? The press trapped themselves on that one with their own spin. Having predicted deep difficulties for an administration of questionable legitimacy attempting to govern a deeply divided nation, they were then forced to acknowledge the stunningly deft transition, and report the opinions of policy experts who hailed it as the most successful transition in the history of the modern presidency. As a bonus, many reminded their interviewers that the most successful transition previously had been that of Reagan, and that The Rapist's transition was inept and plagued with difficulties.
The press clearly hated having to report on this. The funny (and deeply satisfying) thing about it all was they might have been able to ho-hum their way past acknowledging this first notable accomplishment of the administration if they had not been so over the top in poisoning the atmosphere previously.
Still, some of the press did largely ignore the transition story, and those that didn't spun it explicity as being due to Cheney's deft management (which, one must admit, was proper attribution, except for the, "Bush is dumb, Cheney is the smart one," subtext) and spun it implicity as Bush being a lucky idiot, at best benefiting intially from an easy going (and stupid) geniality.
The full story was amost never told, and as proof I doubt even most FReepers ever heard it: How, when the press was portraying Bush as fecklessly idling at the ranch, Cheney had his transition team doing a highly detailed and penetrating study of previous presidential transitions, including exstensive interviews with dozens of key figures. They produced a thick study from this research, focusing on what had worked and what hadn't. The resulting insights were used to construct a transition plan for Dubya's administration that systematically layed out philosophy, priorities, procedures and responsibilities and that averted the usual confusions. Everyone was clear on their roles, there was minimal fuss, and Team Bush hit the ground running.
I've always felt that those who've claimed Bush "grew in office" after 911 just weren't paying attention early one. It was clear to me from day one (as much as it possibly could be) that this would be an exceptional presidency.
they were then forced to acknowledge the stunningly deft transition
All the more remarkable when you consider that upon arrival, the Bush people had to contend with missing "W"'s from their keyboards and other vandalism left by the adolescents of the previous administration!