Bruce Bartlett, an adviser to Presidents Reagan and George H.W. Bush, takes a look at former George W. Bush speechwriter Matt Latimer's tell-all about his time in the White House. Here's an interesting bit:

One of the things that Latimer talks a lot about is the importance of the president's mood, which appears to have gyrated wildly. Apparently, the best way to get on his good side was to pretend to be stupid so that Bush would seem like a genius by figuring out some simple point for himself. Latimer says that national security adviser Stephen Hadley was very good at doing this:

"Hadley was a master at handling the president. Though he was a very bright man, he liked to depict himself as the dumbest person in the room. He'd say things like, 'Oh, Mr. President. I'm sure I'm completely wrong about this, but...' or 'I have to apologize, Mr. President, and feel free to calibrate me, but...' This was the perfect way to talk to George W. Bush."