TIME magazine headline, 1947:
“Hitler wasn’t a really gifted general. However, he did get a lot done militarily so that counts for something.”
Hitler benefited from plain old dumb luck, the foolhardiness of his adversaries, and the advice of some people around him who were decidedly smarter than he.
However, Hitler suffered from that same dumb luck, foolhardiness of his adversaries (that worked out for them), and bad advice of some people around him that were dumber than he.