The article seems oddly timed, so as to imply that a certain other Republican President's intellect is underappreciated. So, that is what I will address. I hav

The article seems oddly timed, so as to imply that a certain other Republican President's intellect is underappreciated. So, that is what I will address. I have heard these anecdotes about GWBush, but I see no reason to extrapolate them to other Presidents. Outside of his few gaffes, in public, Bush was visibly intelligent. He rose up the ranks organically (as organically as political royalty can) and had past experiences that had to instill some level of wisdom in him (military, being an avid reader). Trump (as we know him) was born a Semi-Billionaire, and has been 'Construction Mogul and self-caricatured TV star' for his entire life. His time as a businessman is marred by more bankruptcies than successes, and his wealth (afaik) has grown slower than the stock market. He doesn't have any other experiences to speak of and has never been in a role where he (or his work) was accountable to someone else. Some other surface level differences include their choice of/relationship with their spouses and the extent to which their children seem to be well adjusted. Here is where I come with an analogy. Think of a professional cyclist. Success at the top level (outside of hard work) needs 2 things. An incredibly narrow set of cycling skills and a strong willingness to cheat (doping). Do either of them imply intelligence ? I think not. That is also how I view Trump. Trump is a meme, whose narrow set of skills (influencer) and incredibly low moral bar propelled him to a once in a lifetime viral rise. Just like a meme, he seemed to find no success before and it appears is being considered to be cringe right after his meme cycle. That being said, some members of the Trump's cabinet are definitely intelligent. Pompeo and Bannon clearly know what they are doing (as much a I dislike them) and if anything are some of the first public officials to have recognized America's collective failure in dealing with the CCP.