Presidential historian Michael Beschloss
Originally Posted by Af-Freakin
Michael Beschloss’s statement is pure conjecture and, given the nature of Beschloss’s known political and personal associations, biased. No one doubts that Obama is above average in intelligence, but your and Beschloss’s statement that “he is the smartest” is unsustainable without actual documentary evidence – “actual documentary evidence” it appears Obama’s handlers are afraid to release. Furthermore, you acquiesce to the “opinion” of one historian. The weight of academic opinion is against Beschloss and, therefore, you.
“I think this is the most extraordinary collection of talent, of human knowledge, that has ever been gathered together at the White House, with the possible exception of when Thomas Jefferson dined alone.” President John F. Kennedy as he addressed a White House gathering of 49 Nobel Prize winners (29 April 1962).
Thomas Jefferson – graduated from the College of William and Mary. He was accomplished in philosophy, mathematics, history, French, Latin and Greek. Jefferson was a polymath – a person who is distinguished in many varied fields. He was: a(n) archeologist, author, inventor, lawyer, musician (talented in the cello, clavichord and violin) ornithologist, paleontologist, poet and speechmaker. He was the principal author of the Declaration of Independence and, with James Madison, co-authored the Constitution of Virginia. He is hands down considered one of – if not –
the most intelligent American president(s) in U.S. history. Yet, and impressively, a 2006 study estimates that Jefferson had only the second highest IQ of any U.S. president: John Q Adams is considered by many to have an even higher IQ.
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/1...06.00524.x/pdf
