by Sandy » Sun Sep 18, 2011 5:02 pm
There was a lot of speculation that Cheney was the "brains" behind W's administration, and used the Bush name to control the presidency to which he could never have been elected. Part of the reason behind it was that Cheney was one of the family friends that kept bailing W out of bankruptcy and the whole plan for W to run, and Cheney to dictate policy was part of the deal. That's certainly credible, whether it is speculation or not, and we'll never really know.
One thing we do know is that Cheney left Washington far wealthier than he entered it. Bush did too. The average net wealth of the American people declined 4% during Bush's term in office, and net job growth was 0%, but a number of their close friends and business associates saw their personal wealth expand at a record pace. Regardless of who was in charge, the Bush administration, which includes Cheney, was the worst presidential administration ever to serve in office, and Bush was the worst president to ever serve, in terms of effectiveness. If Cheney was behind it, then that explains a lot.