In today's fevered political environment – especially the fever on the sputtering, burning, choking, exploding left – it is seldom mentioned that Don Trump is just smarter than any president in recent memory.  We hear about his touch and his instinct, and these are real.  But sheer brainpower is behind most of what he does.

Trump spent decades in the real estate business learning how the world works, how and when money is a decisive factor and when other considerations matter more, how to get people what they want while also getting what you want even when the two aren't obviously in sync.  Then he spent a decade or so in the TV racket, mastering presentation, tone, timing, etc.  He honed his instinct to a fine edge before moving into politics.

Unlike Barama, who had people around him formulating policy and doing the heavy lifting, Trump did all that himself.  Brains.  Effort.  Where Barama was lazy, spending hours on the golf course to avoid having to do anything back at the White House, Trump is a workaholic.  His hours on the golf course are productive rather than mere distraction.

Nor did the "political novice" tag ever fit this president.  You don't succeed at the highest levels of finance and construction in an extensively regulated environment such as New York City without political skill of a high order.  His successes as president in such a short period of time, one rapidly following another, show that he grasped what was really going on in politics far better than did his adversaries or even those on his own side.

In Donald Trump we have a once-in-a-hundred-years leader, a guy with brains and instinct all rolled into one.  Some might say Trump gets lucky a lot, but luck doesn't enter into it.  He has solved diplomatic problems that stumped whole generations at the State Department.  He has repaired an economy staggering under a regulatory load no economy should ever have had to bear.  He has made it fun again to live in America, with things working the way they're meant to.

Trump.  Smart guy.  Who'da thunk it?