As a "former Harvard public policy research fellow", I'm guessing it's a lot more than just selection bias. Bush's gift was the ability to be charming. But it

As a "former Harvard public policy research fellow", I'm guessing it's a lot more than just selection bias. Bush's gift was the ability to be charming. But it's pretty clear he isn't even close to being the smartest person in almost any room, let along a room full of Stanford students as the made-up OP story described.