OpEdNews Article: 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

J. Q. Adams: 165-175
Jefferson: 150-160
Kennedy: 148-160
Clinton: 147-159
Carter: 144-157
J. Adams: 145-155
Wilson: 144-155
Madison: 135-160
T. Roosevelt: 142-153
Garfield: 141-152
Arthur: 141-152
F. Roosevelt: 140-151
Lincoln: 140-150
Filmore: 137-149
Tyler: 137-148
Pierce: 136-147
Hayes: 136-146
W. Harrison: 136-146
Van Buren: 135-146
B. Harrison: 134-145
Eisenhower: 134-145
Cleveland: 133-144
Nixon: 133-143
Polk: 133-143
McKinley: 133-143
Bush Sr.: 133-143
Jackson: 130-145
Washington: 135-140
Hoover: 132-143
Regan: 132-142
Coolidge: 131-142
LBJ: 131-141
Ford: 130-140
Truman: 130-140
Taft: 130-140
A. Johnson: 129-140
Buchannan: 129-140
Taylor: 129-140
Harding: 128-140
Bush Jr.: 129-139
Monroe: 128-139
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."

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