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I'm sympathetic that GWB was smarter than he seemed, but there was plenty of evidence that he wasn't smart in the sense of the very curious and thoughtful high-

I'm sympathetic that GWB was smarter than he seemed, but there was plenty of evidence that he wasn't smart in the sense of the very curious and thoughtful high-functioning people that we all know. Listen to him give an answer to a question about Native American sovereignty: https://youtu.be/kdimK1onR4o?t=25 https://youtu.be/kdimK1onR4o?t=25 That's not a verbal misstep, that's someone who doesn't know the definition of the word sovereignty. After invading several countries. Or watch the 10-minute interview where he defends his foreign policy to an Irish reporter: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-vefD3WSiis https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-vefD3WSiis If I may quote a telling section: Reporter asking about Iraq: > The world is a more dangerous place today. There are terrorist bombings every single day. It wasn't like that two years ago. GWB's response: > What was it like September 11th, 2001? The whole thing is a train wreck. So either GWB isn't as smart as the OP claims, or he is smart, and just happens to be profoundly dishonest. I'm not sure how OP can claim he'd get high pass marks without trying though. We have his transcripts, we don't know how hard he tried, but he certainly didn't get anything resembling a 'high pass'. He was a straight C student. I think the most charitable thing to say at this point is that if he was as smart as claimed, his intelligence in no way helped his presidency. For all of the 'grilling of analysis and recommendations' he did, he sure made a number of objectively terrible decisions.

AlexCoventry 10y ago
There's also the litany of massive strategic blunders which happened on his watch, the consequences of which are still plaguing the US today. - Discouraging counter-terrorism investigations prior to 9/11 [0,1] - The famous ignorance of government warnings of the coming attack which arose despite that discouragement - Decision to invade Iraq - Initially laissez-faire approach to the housing and financial crises. You didn't have to be smart to see those coming, you just had to be paying attention and apply basic economic principles. These are all executive decisions for which he was responsible as President. If this is smart, I'd hate to see dumb. [0] http://www.historycommons.org/entity.jsp?entity=thomas_pickard http://www.historycommons.org/entity.jsp?entity=thomas_picka... [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_A._Clarke#9.2F11_Commission https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_A._Clarke#9.2F11_Commi...
drieddust 10y ago
I will say faking is also an art and don't forget he got his training from a president/father. I see this happening in corporate environment all the time. They will speaks the right things, quickly pick on your analyses and run with it as their own, interrupt you midway just to make you feel little because they have power over you. But when it comes to handing something impromptu they struggle. When they have to make a decision, they struggle. When it comes to execution, they usually fail horribly. Sadly arrogant display of power is considered a sign of intelligence by some. I have seen a lot of such fakers so I don't believe in credentials until I see what they actually achieve.
rudedogg 10y ago
I wasn't really old enough to understand and judge GWB's presidency, but from what I do know I can say my opinion of him isn't great. Anyway, the first video about Tribal sovereignty doesn't really prove the point that he was stupid in my mind. I don't know what would be a good answer to that question, and I don't think he did either.
- mikeyouse 10y ago
  There's a difference between not having an opinion of tribal sovereignty and not having an understanding of it. In my reading, GWB doesn't understand it. Further, if GWB was such a smart person, he should have both. Any moderately informed, politically active person could answer that question broadly. Most politicians I vehemently disagree with could talk intelligently about the topic for a half hour. GWB has a history degree from Yale, he spent most of his life in politics, he was the governor of a state, and then President. He should definitely have an opinion on Tribal Sovereignty, there are something like 6 million native Americans in the country, it's kind of an important topic.

AlexCoventry 10y ago

There's also the litany of massive strategic blunders which happened on his watch, the consequences of which are still plaguing the US today. - Discouraging counter-terrorism investigations prior to 9/11 [0,1] - The famous ignorance of government warnings of the coming attack which arose despite that discouragement - Decision to invade Iraq - Initially laissez-faire approach to the housing and financial crises. You didn't have to be smart to see those coming, you just had to be paying attention and apply basic economic principles. These are all executive decisions for which he was responsible as President. If this is smart, I'd hate to see dumb. [0] http://www.historycommons.org/entity.jsp?entity=thomas_pickard http://www.historycommons.org/entity.jsp?entity=thomas_picka... [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_A._Clarke#9.2F11_Commission https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_A._Clarke#9.2F11_Commi...

drieddust 10y ago

I will say faking is also an art and don't forget he got his training from a president/father. I see this happening in corporate environment all the time. They will speaks the right things, quickly pick on your analyses and run with it as their own, interrupt you midway just to make you feel little because they have power over you. But when it comes to handing something impromptu they struggle. When they have to make a decision, they struggle. When it comes to execution, they usually fail horribly. Sadly arrogant display of power is considered a sign of intelligence by some. I have seen a lot of such fakers so I don't believe in credentials until I see what they actually achieve.

rudedogg 10y ago

I wasn't really old enough to understand and judge GWB's presidency, but from what I do know I can say my opinion of him isn't great. Anyway, the first video about Tribal sovereignty doesn't really prove the point that he was stupid in my mind. I don't know what would be a good answer to that question, and I don't think he did either.

mikeyouse 10y ago
There's a difference between not having an opinion of tribal sovereignty and not having an understanding of it. In my reading, GWB doesn't understand it. Further, if GWB was such a smart person, he should have both. Any moderately informed, politically active person could answer that question broadly. Most politicians I vehemently disagree with could talk intelligently about the topic for a half hour. GWB has a history degree from Yale, he spent most of his life in politics, he was the governor of a state, and then President. He should definitely have an opinion on Tribal Sovereignty, there are something like 6 million native Americans in the country, it's kind of an important topic.