How smart is the United States president? This is one of those questions citizens hotly debate, both before and after the election.
In an attempt to set the record straight, a psychologist at the University of California at Davis tried to figure out the IQ score of various U.S. presidents. Of course, his scores aren’t based on the presidents actually taking the test. Many died before the IQ test was even invented.
Instead, the researcher focused on factors like the presidents’ leadership qualities, their openness to new ideas, and display of brilliant intellect to create an algorithm that estimates IQ score. Here are the estimated IQs of the 15 most famous U.S. presidents, ranked from lowest to highest.
George W. Bush: IQ 124
George W. Bush’s IQ was often the subject of great debate because he would do things like mess up quotes and blurt out weird sayings in his attempt to be both folksy and funny. While Bush was much smarter than he may have appeared, he’s at the bottom of this list with an estimated IQ of 124.
Ronald Reagan: IQ 130
Before he became a Republican icon, Ronald Reagan was a Hollywood legend. Many doubted how smart a former actor could be, but he surprised us all with both his intellect and things like the Iran-Contra scandal. Reagan has an estimated IQ of 130.
George H.W. Bush: IQ 130.1
George H.W. Bush comes in with an estimated IQ of 130.1, making him a bit smarter than his son. However, the extra intellect didn’t help him with re-election when his promises of “read my lips… no new taxes” turned out to be a lie.
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Richard Nixon: IQ 131
Richard Nixon is one of the most controversial presidents in U.S. history. But before the presidency and the Watergate scandal, Nixon was a lawyer educated at Duke University. His estimated IQ of 131 may have helped him pass the bar exam.
George Washington: IQ 132.5
George Washington is the most famous American president in history, but he had only an elementary school education. Still, his keen battlefield acumen as a general and shrewd stewardship of the country in its earliest days showcased his estimated IQ of 132.5.
Franklin D. Roosevelt: IQ 139.6
If we’re going by the number of elections won, Franklin D. Roosevelt is the most popular president of all time. That’s because he was won four terms as president before the law was changed. This Harvard-educated architect of the New Deal had an impressive estimated IQ of 139.6.
Abraham Lincoln: IQ 140
Abraham Lincoln is the second most famous president after George Washington. And like Washington, Lincoln had a humble education and never attended college. But with his estimated IQ of 140, he was able to preserve the union during the darkest and bloodiest time in American history.
Theodore Roosevelt: IQ 142.3
During his lifetime, Theodore Roosevelt cultivated a reputation as a take-charge badass. His legacy has only grown over time, with fans marveling at the time he took an assassin’s bullet and then continued giving a speech. This Harvard grad and prolific author (he wrote 35 books) had an estimated IQ of 142.3.
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Barack Obama: IQ 145
Barack Obama energized the entire nation with promises of hope and change. With his education, it’s no wonder he was a master of rhetoric that could bring a country together. Obama went to Columbia University and then graduated in the top 15 percent of Harvard Law School. Although the original UC Davis study did not include him, different sources have estimated he has an IQ of 145.
Jimmy Carter: IQ 145.1
Jimmy Carter has the dubious honor of earning more accomplishments after leaving the presidency than during his one term of service. But his tireless devotion to human rights and civil service eventually earned him a Nobel Prize in 2002. And with an estimated IQ of 145.1, he is certainly a man of great intellect and vision.
Bill Clinton: IQ 148.8
You know how some people make the distinction between being “book smart” and being “street smart?” Bill Clinton is a great example of this: with an estimated IQ of 148.8, he’s one of the smartest presidents to have ever lived. But his poor decision to have an affair with Monica Lewinsky nearly ended his presidency and permanently smeared his reputation.
John F. Kennedy: IQ 150.7
John F. Kennedy Jr. was a very young president, and his service was tragically cut short by assassination in 1963. But during his time, he managed to focus the entire country on a renewed spirit of national service and a race to space. And his estimated IQ of 150.7 made this possible.
Thomas Jefferson: IQ 153.8
Thomas Jefferson’s reputation has been on a rollercoaster ride for a while now. For example, the musical Hamilton put a renewed focus on Jefferson as a slaver. But the Founding Father’s role as the writer of the Declaration of Independence shaped early America in profound ways. An eloquent writer, Jefferson had an estimated IQ of 153.8.
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Joe Biden: IQ Unknown
Joe Biden is currently serving as president, and you’re probably wondering how smart he really is. Unfortunately, that question is difficult to answer.
That is because Biden never took an IQ test, and he became president after the UC Davis researcher compiled most of these estimates. Some point to the fact that Biden went to law school as evidence of a high IQ while others point to the fact he graduated near the bottom of the list as evidence of a low IQ.
The other presidents on this list had their IQs estimated based largely on their presidential accomplishments. Time will tell what Biden’s future accomplishments say about his presidency and intelligence.
Donald Trump: IQ Unknown
Donald Trump’s IQ is also unknown, which is a bit ironic: Trump has spent decades touting the value of IQ in general and the greatness of his own IQ in particular. And “low-IQ” would become one of his favorite insults to sling towards political opponents.
Fittingly enough, Trump’s IQ became a subject of some debate due to what he might call “fake news.” The website IQ-Test claimed that Trump had an IQ of 156 and was “smarter than 99.99 percent of the people on planet earth.”
Trump fans clung to this as evidence that he really is a genius. Critics pointed out that the website’s methodology was very spotty and that their results couldn’t be trusted. And because the website also provides an IQ estimate for Batman (192, if you were curious), these results should be taken with an entire shaker of salt.