There are other abilities that are not measured by tests, such as the ability to get on with people, humility, courage, willingness to learn from mistakes, insight, etc.
According to Robert McNamara, JFK's ability to empathise with the Russians' position was very important in resolving the cuban missile crisis.
As was his courage in facing down the military who wanted to attack cuba.
Presumably he had also learnt from his mistake in authorising the Bay of Pigs invasion, a project he inherited on coming to office.
George W. Bush wasn't a one dimensional idiot either. He had a lot of charisma and people skills and is probably one of the highest Presidents of all time on the 'would like to have a beer with him' barometer, even now.
I always thought of JFK as more like Obama (or rather, I thought of Obama as like JFK). As in, a genius. It is pretty clear from this application that a genius he was not.
> George W. Bush wasn't a one dimensional idiot either. He had a lot of charisma and people skills and is probably one of the highest Presidents of all time on the 'would like to have a beer with him' barometer, even now.
I would have thought the beer thing was a colloquialism for approval rating. If that's so, you're incorrect: at 22% his final approval rating was the worst in history, since they began recording such things in the thirties.
> If that's so, you're incorrect: at 22% his final approval rating was the worst in history, since they began recording such things in the thirties.
The day after election day, you're probably going to be telling us that 45-55% of the voters were idiots. Today, we can find large fractions which believe all sorts of idiocy (such as "think happy thoughts to help you get pregnant").
Combine that with a press that campaigned against W for his 2 terms while he stopped campaigning after his first and it's surprising that he was at 22%.
Today's happy fact, national "income" dropped more during "the recovery" than during the recession.
Wanting to have a beer with him is certainly not a colloquialism for approval rating. It is about him seeming like a cool guy on a personal level and like one you'd like to have a one-on-one conversation and hang out with.
That characteristic may or may not have anything to do with how good you think they are doing being POTUS. I thought he was a terrible President but still would love to have a beer with him and shoot the breeze.
> I thought he was a terrible President but still would love to have a beer with him and shoot the breeze.
I might be selling the sophistication of the electorate short but I think this attitude is probably a little unusual. I suspect for most people likability, approval, and electability are all rather synonymous. Difficult to prove since the polls don't include the beer question, just the questions related to actual approval.
You have a mistaken idea of genius as someone who is good at everything. They just have to be exceptionally gifted in one or more things to get noticed in history books.
Not sure the causality here, and I can't verify the citation on wikipedia, but from 1918-1928 2/3 of Choate graduates went to Harvard, Yale, or Princeton. Presumably by 1935 things were much the same. The number I would be much more interested in seeing in the context of this is what percentage of Harvard applicants were accepted.
What number out of 110 students is he? 85th
What honors has he won in literary or scholastic pursuits? None
So JFK was basically just George W. Bush. Interesting.