Presidential IQ

A political scientist friend of mine sent me an article yesterday that attempts to estimate the IQ of 42 of the 43 Presidents of the United States. You can read the entire article here, including the convoluted methodology. I would rather just cut to the chase and post the amusing results, ranked from highest to lowest:

Estimated Presidential IQ Range, Age 18-26. Source: Dean Keith Simonton, UC Davis

1. J. Q. Adams: 165-175
2. Jefferson: 150-160
3. Kennedy: 148-160
4. Clinton: 147-159
5. Carter: 144-157
6. J. Adams: 145-155
7. Wilson: 144-155
8. Madison: 135-160
9. T. Roosevelt: 142-153
10. Garfield: 141-152
11. Arthur: 141-152
12. F. Roosevelt: 140-151
13. Lincoln: 140-150
14. Filmore: 137-149
15. Tyler: 137-148
16. Pierce: 136-147
17. Hayes: 136-146
18. W. Harrison: 136-146
19. Van Buren: 135-146
20. B. Harrison: 134-145
21. Eisenhower: 134-145
22. Cleveland: 133-144
23. Nixon: 133-143
24. Polk: 133-143
25. McKinley: 133-143
26. Bush Sr.: 133-143
27. Jackson: 130-145
28. Washington: 135-140
29. Hoover: 132-143
30. Regan: 132-142
31. Coolidge: 131-142
32. LBJ: 131-141
33. Ford: 130-140
34. Truman: 130-140
35. Taft: 130-140
36. A. Johnson: 129-140
37. Buchannan: 129-140
38. Taylor: 129-140
39. Harding: 128-140
40. Bush Jr.: 129-139
41. Monroe: 128-139
42. Grant: 125-130

The paper actually goes down to a decimal point, allowing for tiebreakers. Also, if you remove John Quincy Adams, the range is fairly narrow, only 27-28 points from Grant to Jefferson at each's median. The paper also claims to have an extremely accurate methodology, and that there is a correspondence between intelligence and performance in the Presidency. Somehow, back in 2000, that completely backfired on Gore, who was widely considered to be much smarter than Bush. However, Bush somehow seemed to still win personality points more than Gore. Perhaps, now that people are sick of Bush and consider him a failure, we need to start pushing "gravitas" as an important characteristic of a chief executive. Also, I wonder which current Democratic candidate is the "smartest."