I'd like to think that if he were talented enough to pull something like that off, he wouldn't have to stoop to such a bizarre long-con as his only chance of winning.
Given his insistence that he won, even getting angry at allies who conceded that he lost, I don't believe for a second that he intentionally tanked it.
Alright, fine.
John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, John Quincy Adams, Martin van Buren, Tyler, Polk, Fillmore, Buchanan*, Lincoln, Cleveland, Taft, Wilson, Harding, Coolidge, Hoover, and FDR.
*only served in respective state militia, but did actually see action in said role
Technically speaking, Jefferson was in the Virginia militia, and Fillmore in the New York militia. Several more just served in their militias, so that list grows if you take out militia service. I decided to leave it in, because the point was made regardless.
You're kidding, right?
John Adams, John Quincy Adams, Martin van Buren, Cleveland, Taft, Wilson, Harding, Coolidge, Hoover, and FDR were all elected President before Bill Clinton without having served in the armed forces.