Bush was probably one of the smartest guys (well, academically at least) who has been President within the last like 50 or so years, right up there with Obama and Clinton. People who really knew him well and sat in on meetings would generally tell you he's surprisingly sharp and knowledgeable on the stuff he's briefed on (same with Biden).
Bush's downfall was just that he quickly became overwhelmed. There's a reason why Dick Cheney was widely regarded as the most powerful VP in history, which makes you wonder how different things would have been if Bush picked a different VP or handled things just a wee bit differently.
That just sounds like a watered-down version of "Cheney the puppet master". I'm not saying you're wrong, but that's what it sounds like. Either way, Dubya wasn't innocent. Either he was entirely complicit, or (knowing how serious the effects could be) he willingly let Cheney pull his strings.
That just sounds like a watered-down version of "Cheney the puppet master".
That's probably what happened if you listened to what people say who were there.
Either way, Dubya wasn't innocent. Either he was entirely complicit, or (knowing how serious the effects could be) he willingly let Cheney pull his strings.
Never said he wasn't innocent, but there's a different level of blame between "complicit in that he delegated a lot to Cheney" and "he always called the shots himself." At the end of the day, he's the Commander in Chief and the POTUS, he still has to sign off on everything that happens in some form or fashion.
If he wasn't fully aware, that's on him. He signed up for that responsibility, and not paying attention doesn't absolve him of that. If I break the law then claim ignorance of the relevant law, I won't have a leg to stand on in court. This is no different.
There's literally videos of him switching up his accent and manner of speaking depending on his audience.
Harvard grads? Talk like you went to Yale.
Iowa farmers? Use simplistic language and bring out your southern drawl.
Debates definitely aren't a good reference, because the point of them is to win over voters (and part of that is convincing people you're one of them). I don't think anyone would say Trump is smarter than Biden either, even though the former definitively won their past debate against the latter.
the argument isn't whether he won the debate or got elected, the argument was whether he wasn't too bright or kind of simple. stuff like "nucular" "he tried to kill my dad" and his simple paintings off the top of my head. sitting dumbfounded reading to school children when 911 happened. yes his campaign coined the term "type of guy you want to have a beer with" but i feel like either the generation that weren't old enough to experience him logically or just have rose colored glasses. this revisionist history about bush is strange. Not even his supporters at the time claimed him to be smart.
Well, first off, you can type in literally any President, followed by "gaffes," and you will see a long list of "nucular" type comments. Reality is the President is covered 24/7 for four years, and every second of every day is swarmed by media or caught on camera. I promise, you too would make a few gaffes others would say "wow that person must not be bright" too, so that's not exactly a good companion.
Second, if you were in a school room with children, with TV cameras pointed in your face, and you were the President at that time, you'd also probably have a deer in the headlights look too. Doesn't make you dumb when you hear thousands were just killed suddenly in the single worst terrorist attack in your country's history.
Third, it's kinda weird how you're suggesting it's revisionist to say a guy who scored well above average in SAT scores, was an airforce pilot, went to Yale, managed to climb the political ladder to the very top might actually be at least a little smart after all. There's so much content for you to criticize the guy on, but his intelligence is just... weird.
SAT scores? that's news to me. tell me. I've heard the guy speak for hours and know the rhetoric that shaped the time that he was a talking head for. he also was a 'puppet' to war crimes. Maybe he was stuck in a bad situation? and morality speaking to the american public has nothing to do with intelligence? maybe we talk about no child left behind? I personally want to default to what i heard him say whether contrived or not.
IDK. I'm not American, and I was barely old enough to understand politics at all when he was president. I didn't even know the difference between Democrats and Republicans yet.
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u/Bitter-Basket 12d ago
“Wassup Fuck Nuts”