I think Trump is unusual in that he is genuinely a stupid man who is incredibly easily manipulated - e.g. See Rex Tillerson's comments on it wrt. having to use pretty graphs and no words for the president, and Bob Woodwards calls. Nixon was a tortured soul, but he was no fool.
Beyond that he's not too unique as a president - at least in the abstract: No one else has dared to be so bold in their disregard for the constitution, and yet so inept in executing it.
I'm not sure what skills you consider necessary to win both a contested primary election and a national election, but I'd consider many of them intellectual skills and the competition to be of a high level.
Savvy, but not intelligent. His brain is heavily optimized to be skilled at the particular American environment of celebrity worship, mixed with perceived business success. He is able to capitalize right now on that, but I'm not sure there is an adaptive intelligence in there.
Money and name recognition. If it wasn't for the TV show 'Apprentice', it is doubtful that people would have known who he was. That show is what established his (completely fabricated) reputation as a successful, skillful businessman, and he was able to ride that wave all the way to the White House.
> Most people in America didn't know who Trump was before that show aired.
Maybe most people who were quite young when it aired; Trump was a constant media presence from something like the late 1970s well into the 1990s, and sort of a pop culture touchstone for conspicuous excess as well as having a reputation as a successful NYC developer and prolific womanizer.
I just think some of the concerns about Trump veer towards the aesthetic. Some people react to him like they react to a bad painting. The rest is just rationalization.
For your specific example, polishing graphs and communicating visually sounds totally valid in the context of any other executive.
I rather the stupid man who approves a pipeline that keeps jobs and money in this country than the smart guy who kills the jobs, sends the money away for oil that will come over in railcars at higher cost, and no benefit for the environment at all, at least according to the scientists.
Beyond that he's not too unique as a president - at least in the abstract: No one else has dared to be so bold in their disregard for the constitution, and yet so inept in executing it.