The following is a weekly 60 minutes commentary by cbs news correspondent andy rooney. He studied all around the world, becoming fluent in. Microsoft may earn an affiliate commission if you purchase something. The 10 worst presidents in the history of the united states. Want to know which former us presidents had the highest iqs. As president, he worked to bring americans clean food and medicine, established many national. Theodore roosevelt for his breadth of curiosity and knowledge, he may well have been the best informed, at the real encyclopedia level, president ever thanks to extensive travel worldwi. A researcher from the university of california at davis came up with iq scores using biographical information about the presidents openness, intellectual brilliance and leadership. Constitution of the united states of america, bill of rights and constitutional amendments including images of original by. If one uses the intelligence quotient test as a determinant of smartness, then richard nixon is the smartest, with his iq of 143 least ability to avoid making crucial mistakes. Simonton estimated four different iq values for each president. Historians and sometimes political scientists are surveyed and asked to give presidents of the united states number ratings on their overall performance or on different aspects of their leadership several different factors are considered in deciding what makes one a good or bad president. You can help wikipedia by finding good sources, and adding them.
The rankings focus on presidential achievements, leadership qualities, failures and faults. He also served as the third president of the united states from. The 15 smartest and dumbest presidents of the united states. It requires a lot of skills for you to do your job well. Yet, what science tells us is that a high level of intellectual ability. Because iq scores werent available for all of the presidents. Feb 15, 2016 the least rapping of historys warren gs, but if my kansas school boardapproved history book is correct, harding was still a force to be reckoned with in the world of hip hop. He ranks them on how well they adhered to the principles of limited government as put down in the. It estimated iqs for all us presidents, and validated the headline of the hoax, which stated bushs was the lowest of any president in the last 50 years, though it estimates his iq considerably higher by more than two standard deviations than the 91 suggested in the hoax report.
Incorrect book the list contains an incorrect book please specify the title of the book. Instead of studying, he spent most of his time writing a book about the war of 1812. Just look at the president with the highest iq, john quincy adams, who is ranked 20. Feb, 2019 in its sixth presidential ranking since 1982, 157 scholars surveyed by the institute ranked trump the third worst president of all time after andrew johnson who was impeached and james buchanan.
Ranking americas worst presidents politics us news. He had an iq of 158, according to simontons estimates. Due to his perceived failures at handling sectional divisions in the country that precipitated the civil war, james buchanan is often ranked as the worst u. John fitzgerald kennedy was the 35th president of the us, serving less than 3 years before he was assassinated in 1963. The 15 smartest us presidents of all time business insider.
This section considers presidents who exhibited both smartness and dumbness depending on different criteria. Presidents barack obama and donald trump arent part of the ranking they came along after the iq research was conducted. News rankings, was remembered more fondly by recent presidential surveys. Presidential iq hoax news newspapers books scholar jstor november 2016 learn how and when to remove this template message. This year, donald trump enters the survey at 42nd, and he is only ranked outside of the bottom five in two of the twenty categories that scholars use to assess the presidents, luck and. The six republican presidents of the past 50 years had an average iq of 115. It may seem rare to have a genius for a us president, but being the most powerful individual of the free world is not for dummies. American presidents ranked by their iq score somali spot. What are the iq levels of us presidents ranked from the.
Eisenhower, which rose from 22nd in 1962 to 9th in 1982. Iq is a fairly well defined number precisely defined in performance on an iq test. Dec 07, 2019 i dont know of any source of iq test results for american presidents. In political studies, surveys have been conducted in order to construct historical rankings of the success of individuals who have served as the president of the united states. I considered ranking lbj higher on the list of bad presidents for a lot of reasons, but he just couldnt beat out the top four in his damage to the country. All that aside it is clear that there is no significant advantage in being above say 125 iq as president. Ranking the presidents political wire all the political. Which presidents do presidential historians rank best.
Theodore roosevelt entered the white house as william mckinleys vice president. Barack obama was ranked 12th, sandwiched between woodrow wilson and james monroe. Bush rated the lowest of all the republicans with an iq of 91. A notable difference from the 1962 schlesinger poll was the ranking of dwight d. For the sixth time since its inception in 1982, the siena college research institutes survey of u. Discover the presidents at the top and bottom and learn where donald trump falls. Even if by some miracle of science you managed to get them all alive in one room, taking the same test, you still wouldnt get an accurate figure because intelligence, as a measurement, is flawed in its subjectivity and its relation to an individuals environment.
Taft favored the law over politics and went on to serve as chief justice of the united states. He ranks at number 30 on the list of greatest us presidents, primarily for excelling at international relations and for his good working relationship with congress while in office from 1889 to 1893. The top 15 who appear on this list were compiled by libb thims an american engineer who compiles high iq scores. A poll of american presidential scholars could well rank grants personal memoirs as the best book written by an american president.
Presidential iq hoax according to a study by the lovenstein institute, president bush has the lowest iq of all presidents of past 50 years. Rating american presidents iqs history news network. With that question in mind, insidegov ranked the 27 smartest presidents in u. Dec 16, 2019 benjamin harrison was the 23rd president of the united states and served in the union army during the american civil war. It estimated iqs for all us presidents, and validated the headline of the hoax.
Total scoresoverall rankings cspan survey on presidents 2017. Find the top 100 most popular items in amazon books best sellers. Simonton then gave each president a score based on his personality traits. President bush is definitely intelligent, but his iq is below average when compared to that of his 41 predecessors, according to a new study by. In recent history, us president iqs have been the subject of debate and discussion. Check the complete slideshow to see how all us presidents are ranked. The top 40 us presidents ranked from lowest to highest. In fact, in a 20 gallup poll, americans ranked reagan as the second best modern u. He has authored more than two dozen books since leaving the white house. Sign up for a free book summary of recarving rushmore. At insidegov, we averaged all four iqs to get our rankings of the 15 least intelligent presidents in u.
In a recent survey, nearly 200 political science scholars ranked us presidents on a scale of 0100, from failure zero to average 50 to great 100. Learn how your favorite president is rated on peace, prosperity, and liberty. The second smartest president was thomas jefferson, followed by john f. Most intelligent us presidents ranked by iq score true. Eureka college although reagan ranks lower than most presidents in terms of iq, he is considered to be one of the most effective presidents. In 2017, cspan consulted presidential historians to develop a ranking of every u. While most people will never take a formal iq test, high iqs have nevertheless always been a topic of public interest. Truman may 8, 1884 december 26, 1972 was the 33rd president of the united states from 1945 to 1953, succeeding upon the death of franklin d. Books written by american presidents fiction and nonfiction. The survey included 91 historians and professional observers who scored each president in 10. Presidential iq, openness, intellectual brilliance, and leadership.
The 15 smartest and dumbest presidents of the united states published by the editors universally and instantly recognizable, the president of the united states the heads of state and government of the worlds largest superpower, the commanderinchief of the us armed forces, the omnipotent and ofttermed leader of the free world requires no longwinded or flowery introduction. Ranking systems are usually based on surveys of academic historians and political scientists or popular opinion. The best us presidents, as ranked by presidential historians. President richard nixon, who had previously ranked among americas 10 worst presidents in previous iterations of the u. A psychologist estimated the iq for nearly every u. One answer might come from the estimated iqs of the men who served as president of the united states. Iq rankings will tell you all about the worlds smartest presidents based on their intelligence quotient scores. Lets rank each president including trump according to their alleged iqs, and. Historians and sometimes political scientists are surveyed and asked to give presidents of the united states number ratings on their overall performance or on different aspects of their leadership. The ranking of presidents best presidents list cbs news. Based upon numerous rankings throughout the years, these men have been seen in unflattering lights time and time again.
Donald trumps iq, at 156, is comparable to that of the smartest u. Guess who comes in last in new ranking of presidents. Can you be a success even if you werent the smartest kid. Dec 07, 2016 donald trumps iq, at 156, is comparable to that of the smartest u.
Without the results of a standardized iq test, you cannot know a persons iq. Presidential iq, openness, intellectual brilliance, and. News averaged the results of three major presidential polls to make its own list of americas worst presidents. At a score of 175, harvard grad john quincy adams has the highest estimated iq of all u. Ranking the presidents on peace, prosperity, and liberty, eland doesnt rank our commanders in chief according to how many wars they won or how many new federal government social or regulatory agencies they fathered. Hes a prolific author who published 35 books and a naturalist and conservationist. An intelligence quotient test iq test is a series of standardized tests used to gauge and assess a persons intelligence.
Most intelligent us presidents ranked by iq score true activist. Richard nixon 37th president, from 19691974 image source. Presidents and hopefuls ranked by iq score ruling a country is one tough job that requires more than a degree. Gerald ford was hitting the books, and tackling guys on the football field, long before he became the 38th president. The smartest and least brainy presidents, by iq scores. Standards will agree that any iq over 150 will be genius level, and average will be 100115. Bill clinton came in at number four, with an estimated iq between 6 and 159, as. He implemented the marshall plan to rebuild the economy of western europe, and established the truman doctrine and nato. Nov 06, 2019 president richard nixon, who had previously ranked among americas 10 worst presidents in previous iterations of the u. Find out with cspan s presidential historian survey. Historical rankings of presidents of the united states. Presidents also gives the results of the 1982 survey, a poll of 49 historians conducted by the chicago tribune.
Chief executives dean keith simonton university of california at davis individual differences in intelligence are consistently associated with leader performance, including the assessed performance of presidents of the united states. I dont know of any source of iq test results for american presidents. The smartest and least brainy presidents iq scores moneywise. A chart purportedly ranking the intelligence quotients of former presidents of the united states made the rounds. Presidents with the highest iq scores readers digest. The greatest us presidents ranked, according to political. The white house has been a home to a number of smart people worthy of being called the president of the united states, and the ranking by iq is a way to place them in a sort of a hierarchy of smartness. The cable network cspan put out a list of all our presidents in the order that they think was best to worst. So youre telling me trump has the highest iq out of all the american presidents. The six democratic presidents of the past 50 years had an average iq of 156, with president clinton having the highest iq, at 182. Presidential iq hoax was a mid2001 email and internet hoax that purported to. The average iq for us presidents would be below for sure, 125 is easily adequate, and other personality, appearance, dynastic, geographical ethnic origin and sheer luck factors are extremely important in getting made president. Mount rushmore, courtesy of the national parks service. Experts rank best and worst presidents guess where trump.
The fact that some presidents may have a higher iq than the. These are the presidents who were geniuses and how donald. He used some clever statistical techniques to build an intelligence matrix for all the presidents up to. War ii that was later published as an acclaimed book, why england slept. Thomas jefferson had so many books to feed his iq of 160 that he sold them to the library of. Roosevelt, teddy roosevelt, abe lincoln, thomas jefferson and george washington as the united states top five chief executives. Many presidents were also born before the modern iq test was invented.