Hold on, I thought Trump only has a B.A. from Penn in economics. Regardless, it's unclear how much he actually knows, particularly regarding history, and law (however, it is clear how little he knows about econ). While he may do well in a general intelligence exam, I'd be much more interested in his results for, say, an American citizenship test. I'm well aware the man doesn't understand the complexities of politics abroad, but does he even know the basics of how our own government works, and why? I doubt it.
And what things would you say he's done to show brilliance?
You're completely right on the degree. He went to Fordham first and then transferred to Penn's Wharton School of Business in order to finish his B.A. Apparently it's a common error to report that he went to Fordham first and then got a business degree at Wharton, because of the association of the school with its M.B.A. program. That was my bad for not fact-checking that carefully enough the first time.
In my opinion he has a surprisingly accurate instinct for strategic decisions, even ones that defy conventional wisdom. He played the media like a fiddle during the campaign, often doing things that they thought would sink him for sure when he was actually increasing his appeal. He also switched campaign chairs repeatedly, something many people thought would doom a complex operation, but it actually looks to have possibly saved him in the end. In manipulating the public he often has a strong sense for what is going to be "important" and what is going to be "inconsequential", and thus makes many "inconsequential" mistakes while subtlety nailing the truly consequential part of the action.
Also,
this is his uncle who was a distinguished scientist at M.I.T. and
this is his sister who has three degrees (including an M.A. from Columbia and a J.D. from Hofstra) and who served as a federal judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for 17 years and had a strong reputation (plus her son is a psychologist). Not to mention
Trump's father starting from nothing when his dad died at 12 and becoming a wealthy real estate tyc00n. Genes aren't everything for intelligence, but they're something, and the genes definitely seemed to be running in the family until he started diluting them with model-marriages.
Like I said before, though, he seems to have only applied that brilliance to the things he cares about - promoting himself and promoting his business. He leads the marketing, the self-promotion, the image, carefully crafts how he's going to get the deal and the support and the greater shine for his name...and that's it.
So I don't think he knows anything about the law, anything about history, anything about economics, and I think he would fail an American civ test. And as you say, that is MUCH more important than how he does in a general intelligence exam.
Self-control, intellectual curiosity, hard work, and a moral framework of integrity are much more significant for true success than I.Q. Didn't we already learn that with the Bush administration?
