Rocket science has been mythologized all out of proportion to its true difficulty.
Hollywood has a history of raising expectations beyond Washington's reach of appealing to the very American desire to mythologize political leaders particularly the president.
When I was in the Peace Corps I never made a phone call. I was in Central Africa I didn't make a phone call for two years. I was in Uganda for another four years and I didn't make a phone call. So for six years I didn't make a phone call but I wrote letters I wrote short stories I wrote books.