# Impressions of George Bush's Intelligence **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [January 4, 2006, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/impressions-of-george-bushs-intelligence/338441 "2006-01-04T19:28:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Lissa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/85f322/32.png) [@Lissa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lissa)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2006, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/impressions-of-george-bushs-intelligence/338441/41 "2006-01-05T17:52:13Z")
> [@tdn](#): > > And yet he beat both Gore and Kerry, who both came off as elitist intellectuals. Dubya’s doing something right. Methinks there is a rampant streak of anti-intellectualism in many Americans. Perhaps Bush (or his advisors) were clever enough to tap into it. [This](http://www.cnn.com/2005/POLITICS/12/27/bush.readinglist/index.html) is the president’s current reading list, according White House spokesman Trent Duffy. “When Trumpets Call,” by Patricia O’Toole, and “Imperial Grunts: The American Military on the Ground,” by Robert Kaplan. > [@Trent Duffy](#): > > "The president is an avid reader. He reads books of all kinds and stripe and persuasion. \ “The president is a history buff.” I never would have suspected it. ---
**Author:** ![rjung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/45deac/32.png) [@rjung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjung)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2006, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/impressions-of-george-bushs-intelligence/338441/42 "2006-01-05T20:28:42Z")
> [@tdn](#): > > And yet he beat both Gore and Kerry, who both came off as elitist intellectuals. Dubya’s doing something right. Never underestimate the power of the right-wing smear machine. ---
**Author:** ![Starving\_Artist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/aeb1de/32.png) [@Starving\_Artist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Starving_Artist)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2006, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/impressions-of-george-bushs-intelligence/338441/43 "2006-01-05T21:22:53Z")
Has anyone ever seen Warren Beatty try to speak publicly? He’s awful! He hems and haws and stammers and looks around anxiously as if trying to find a door he might flee through. He was asked about this in an interview and he said it was because he’s so thoroughly aware of how things he says can be taken the wrong way, or misquoted, or deliberately twisted in order to make it seem he said something else, and that he’s so busy mentally trying to cope with all these concerns while he’s speaking and trying not to say the wrong thing, that it makes it very difficult for him to speak effectively. I think Bush has the same problem, and that it’s a fairly recent development brought on by the complexities of all the things he has to contend with when speaking, especially since 9/11 and the advent of the Iraq war. He has to contend with a great many considerations when making a speech and/or speaking extemporaneously (political adversaries; the news media; our soldiers and their commanders; terrorists, both here and abroad; leaders of other countries; etc.) and I think this has caused him to unconsciously develop a stiff and wooden speaking style that is almost painful to watch. He hasn’t always been this way. I recall seeing him speak when on the campaign trail before he was first elected and he was fine. I also recall several speeches he gave after taking office that were hailed even by the media as being excellent. Certainly it can be argued that as president he should have enough on the ball to deal with all these considerations effectively, but I really don’t think it’s so much a question of intelligence as it is a matter of his being too keenly aware of how his words can be misconstrued. ---
**Author:** ![Grelby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a5b964/32.png) [@Grelby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grelby)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2006, 7:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/impressions-of-george-bushs-intelligence/338441/44 "2006-01-06T07:47:10Z")
Bush sounds like an idiot. Worse yet, he sounds like an idiot who thinks he’s much smarter than the people he’s addressing. Is he actually an idiot? I don’t know. He does seem to have a frighteningly narrow view of the world, and a dangerous degree of stubbornness, but that’s not an impression that I’ve gather from his manner of speaking. Stage fright certainly seems like a possibility. So does that sense of political paranoia that Warren Beaty was referring to (according to a previous poster). Simple lack of articulation skills are another possibility - I agree with the poster that says that he sounds like he’s occasionally try to voice a complex and nuanced thought, but just can’t get it out there. On the other hand, that could just as easily be because he thinks that he is voicing a complex and nuanced thought. And he could just be an idiot. In any case, he doesn’t come across very well as a speaker, and I think that this weakness is definitely noticed by most of the people on his side of the aisle as well, though they are not so inclined to point and laugh as those of certain other political persuasions ;). Me, I laugh because the only other option seems to be to cry… but now that’s getting into politics. I’m done. ---
**Author:** ![Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ccd318/32.png) [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_in_Qatar)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2006, 10:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/impressions-of-george-bushs-intelligence/338441/45 "2006-01-06T10:46:33Z")
Hard to figure. He was a fighter pilot. The F-100s were considered tough to fly IIRC. This indicates he has some smarts and some hand-eye coordination. As a political pit bull for his dad, he was tough, aggressive and smart. He (and Barbara) seem to have been the tough part of Bush 41’s operation. Dad was an aristocrat. Not a nice guy, but no dummy. He won a seat in Congress. He became governor of Texas. I guess that indicates a level of being on the ball. As President he has disappointed. He has done little that he was not prompted to do. He seems out of his depth. I get the impression that becoming President in itself was his only goal. In the military it is taken as a fact that some people can command a Company and screw up a Battalion, or be brilliant was a Division commander and vapor lock when in command of a Corps. I suspect that is most of it. I think the guy has more than the average amount of smarts, but is out of his depth. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2006, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/impressions-of-george-bushs-intelligence/338441/46 "2006-01-06T15:30:02Z")
> [@Paul in Saudi](#): > > As President he has disappointed. He has done little that he was not prompted to do. He seems out of his depth… Sounds like the Peter Principle. ---
**Author:** ![pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a9a28c/32.png) [@pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pseudotriton_ruber_ruber)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2006, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/impressions-of-george-bushs-intelligence/338441/47 "2006-01-06T15:37:46Z")
> [@Paul in Saudi](#): > > He won a seat in Congress. Cite? ---
**Author:** ![Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ccd318/32.png) [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_in_Qatar)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2006, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/impressions-of-george-bushs-intelligence/338441/48 "2006-01-06T17:39:52Z")
> [@pseudotriton ruber ruber](#): > > Cite? Am I mistaken? Oh wait, his dad was a Congresscritter. My bad. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2006, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/impressions-of-george-bushs-intelligence/338441/49 "2006-01-06T18:37:46Z")
> [@](#): > > "The president is an avid reader. He reads books of all kinds and stripe and persuasion. \ “The president is a history buff.” There was an incident during the 2000 campaign when Bush’s staff had released a statement about some book that Bush was supposedly reading and enjoying. At his next press conference, a reporter asked him what he thought about the book. It was probably intended as a softball - it had been announced that Bush liked the book - but Bush appeared to freeze up and made some generic reply. The reporter was later accused of playing “gotcha”. ---
**Author:** ![HPL](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/3da27b/32.png) [@HPL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HPL)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2006, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/impressions-of-george-bushs-intelligence/338441/50 "2006-01-06T23:31:31Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > I don’t think he’s quite as dumb as he appears to be, but he is indeed exceedingly inarticulate and is nearly always wearing a dopey grin or smirk. It’s quite hard to measure, you really can’t go by college grades because rich kids like him and Kerry had no incentives to study hard. You really can’t go by his business career since it was essentially given to him. I say give him an IQ test. I’d be curious about his ASVAB scores, assuming you had to take it to join the Nation Guard in the 1970’s. ---
**Author:** ![HPL](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/3da27b/32.png) [@HPL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HPL)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2006, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/impressions-of-george-bushs-intelligence/338441/51 "2006-01-06T23:48:28Z")
> [@tdn](#): > > And yet he beat both Gore and Kerry, who both came off as elitist intellectuals. Dubya’s doing something right. The swift boats come to mind. Though Kerry also had the opposite problem. He could talk well, but after he was done, it was hard to remember exactly what the point was. I listened to him and I still couldn’t tell you much about what he stood for. The man needed to learn how to use bullet points. It appears that oversimplifying appeals to the audience more then overcomplicating. ---
**Author:** ![HPL](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/3da27b/32.png) [@HPL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HPL)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2006, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/impressions-of-george-bushs-intelligence/338441/52 "2006-01-06T23:51:07Z")
> [@HPL](#): > > I’d be curious about his ASVAB scores, assuming you had to take it to join the Nation Guard in the 1970’s. Er, the “National Guard”. Where is my brain today? ---
**Author:** ![Hung\_Mung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a88e4f/32.png) [@Hung\_Mung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hung_Mung)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2006, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/impressions-of-george-bushs-intelligence/338441/53 "2006-01-06T23:56:56Z")
> [@Sam Stone](#): > > Bush has _stage fright_. I’ve read numerous accounts of people who say that the ‘private’ George Bush is nothing like the public one. A lot of people on both sides of the aisle will tell you that. In person he’s charming, competant, professional. Put him in front of a podium and he stammers, overcompensates with silly grins and gestures, and in general doesn’t come across well. > > You’ll notice from time to time that he occasionally gives a speech of real conviction, and his passion overcomes his fears. And then he turns in some pretty good performances. I’ll second this. I’ve seen some video clips of Bush before his political career and the man is _fast_. I remember an interview he had with a reporter at a business dinner-type event in which he was asked about his fellow boardmembers and he was cracking jokes as fast as the reporter could name a name. It was downright funny and I was impressed. Having seen that, it baffles me all the more that the president affects an air of slow simplicity that sounds like condescension. He rubs me the wrong way and I think the people who coach his style and write his speeches have a lot to do with it. To me, he’s always come off as dull and arrogant rather than stupid. I can understand where many people get that impression, though. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/impressions-of-george-bushs-intelligence/338441.md?page=2)