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My friends and I (all history/politics geeks) were debating who the smartest president of all time was -- or is. Note that when we say "smartest," we mean book smart.
I did an internet search to see if we could find any good "Top 10 lists." I came up empty, except for a couple of articles like this one:
The article narrows it down to Obama, Wilson, and Jefferson.
But Arthur, Garfield, Cleveland and Lyndon Johnson were themselves teachers.
What's your take on this? Would Jefferson win the accolade for biggest book nerd? Would he win the superlative for "most intelligent"? I haven't done enough research on the more obscure presidents to come to a definitive answer.
There is little evidence to support it. Mr. Obama went to Harvard, but so did George W. Bush, who some liberals consider dumber than dirt. The president won't release his transcripts, so we can't judge by his grades. Mr. Obama was president of the Harvard Law Review, but when he was selected, popularity mattered more than scholarship.
Mr. Obama joined an undistinguished law firm, where he tried no cases. So no help there.
Many cite the president's oratorical skills, but he often rambles when he speaks without a teleprompter. That's because his brain "is moving so fast that the mouth can't keep up," wrote Meghan Daum of the Los Angeles Times.
Columnist Joe Klein said Mr. Obama's first autobiography "may be the best-written memoir ever produced by an American politician." But Mr. Obama got help writing "Dreams from My Father" from "his friend and Hyde Park neighbor Bill Ayers," celebrity journalist Christopher Andersen claimed in his 2009 biography of Barack and Michelle.
"The book's language, oddly specific references, literary devices and themes would bear a jarring similarity to Ayers' own writing," Mr. Andersen wrote.
Laurence Tribe did say that Obama was one of his 2 brightest students ever. But Obama does make a lot of grammatical and pronunciation errors. He never learned the proper use of 'lie, lay, laid.' He doesn't know what 'beg the question' means, and couldn't even pronounce Comiskey Park,
Nonetheless I would rate Obama as the most intellectual prez of my lifetime. Of all time it would be James Madison and Woodrow Wilson. All three were disasters as Presidents.
'
Obama ignors problems, then he points fingers at others for his own problems he creates... Obama is far from being smart.. sly is more fitting . The news media lets Obama off so he keeps manipulating with his lying words. If Obama had any ethics or character, so far I haven't seen it.
Laurence Tribe did say that Obama was one of his 2 brightest students ever. But Obama does make a lot of grammatical and pronunciation errors. He never learned the proper use of 'lie, lay, laid.' He doesn't know what 'beg the question' means, and couldn't even pronounce Comiskey Park,
Nonetheless I would rate Obama as the most intellectual prez of my lifetime. Of all time it would be James Madison and Woodrow Wilson. All three were disasters as Presidents.
'
What's the punchline? You are 6 years old?
I neither hate nor like Obama, but I don't think he is particularly intelligent as far as presidents go. Like another poster said, Bill Clinton is very intelligent. But it is a not an easy thing to quantify.
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