By Gary Bennett
Trump supporters, I know what you’re thinking. Please stay with me. It’s not as bad as you think.
When President Trump suggested that scientists should look into injecting disinfectant into the human body as a means to clean the lungs of covid-19, you may have thought that clinched his standing as the least intelligent president of all time. To be sure, the uncomfortable look on the face of Dr. Birx as she contemplated the style and color of her shoes as Trump looked her way and made his plea was priceless.
But not so! Tempting as it may be to label Mr. Trump as least intelligent president ever, we should remember that we’ve been here before. Well, maybe not to this extent. Just in my lifetime, both George W. Bush and Ronald Reagan suffered from so many malapropisms, verbal tics, lapses in thought and in Reagan’s case, forgetfulness, that their intellectual capacities were likewise questioned. During their presidencies, conventional wisdom among wide swaths of Americans, both supporters and detractors alike, deemed both to be not very bright.
We face the same dilemma today with Mr. Trump. Is he profoundly unintelligent as so many think? Or is he crazy like a fox, continually egging on the political establishment for his own benefit? Or more importantly, does it even matter? After all intellect can’t be the only predictor of presidential greatness. If it was, then smart presidents such as Bill Clinton (Rhodes Scholar and Yale Law School grad) and Jimmy Carter (Naval Academy graduate with distinction and a submarine officer) would be among our greatest presidents. Historians widely agree they are not. Conversely, presidents such as Reagan and Harry Truman were not considered very smart but are ranked highly on the greatness scale.
The examples I list above should pass your smell test that there is not a one-to-one relationship between presidential intelligence and greatness. But it is close! General intelligence has consistently been found to be the one best predictor of positive job performance in a wide range of occupations. Being president is no different.
There has been quite a bit of research done on the subject of presidential intelligence. I’ve read some of it. The most cited study seems to be that of Dean Keith Simonton and published in Political Psychology in 2006. He used “estimated IQ” to rank the presidents. Because most U.S. presidents died long before the advent of actual IQ tests, Simonton and his colleagues estimated presidential IQ based on observed factors from biographies including published works, openness to experience, inventiveness, curiosity, charisma and sophistication. This study garnered quite a bit of press in its day but also featured many detractors. Of course, to accept these findings, you have to believe that presidential historians are trying their level best to shed light on their subjects in an impartial way with no axes to grind (a tall order for many of us, I know.)
The rankings I present here are my own based on my reading of the above-mentioned study and my own reading of many presidential biographies (a hobby of mine).
You’ll note that I did not try to rank Donald Trump. I, like many political observers who are not overly partisan, just don’t know what to make of him. As I mentioned earlier, he is either one of the more intelligent presidents, operating at a level that most of us can’t understand, or he is the least intelligent president of all time. I do suspect it is the latter, but I’m not sure. History will judge.
Finally, it should be noted that all 39 presidents ranked in the study were found to have estimated IQs higher than the population in general so please don’t associate the ten least intelligent presidents with not being smart. Nothing is further from the truth. All of our presidents, by definition, have been smart enough to ascend to the highest office in the land. But, you’ll see, there are no great ones among those with lower intelligence.
Ten Most Intelligent Presidents
- Thomas Jefferson – widely accepted by most scholars as brilliant. Principal author of the Declaration of Independence.
- John Q. Adams – Highest estimated IQ of all presidents. Prolific writer, speaker, and thinker.
- James Madison – Father of the Constitution. Adroitly maneuvered among the top thinkers of the day to put his stamp on the Constitution.
- Abraham Lincoln – widely credited with saving the union through his adroit use of power and strategic thinking. Our most gifted orator.
- Bill Clinton – Rhodes Scholar who excelled at mastering complex information and explaining it with simple, understandable words.
- Woodrow Wilson – Highly respected academic who was president of Princeton University. Strategic thinker who was the father of internationalism.
- Theodore Roosevelt – Highly educated and erudite with the ability to present himself as an everyman. Uncanny ability to persuade people to follow his lead. Our most quintessential “leader.”
- John Adams – Founding father who adroitly shifted the country, rightly or wrongly, toward political partisanship.
- John Kennedy – Had a razor-sharp wit, was highly educated and a respected if not prolific writer. His strategy is credited with saving America from a nuclear exchange with Russia in 1962.
- Jimmy Carter – Successful businessman, Naval Academy graduate, and submarine officer. Credited with bringing Egypt and Israel together in late 1970’s. Winner of Nobel Peace Prize.
Ten Least Intelligent Presidents
- Andrew Johnson
- James Buchanan
- Zachary Taylor
- Warren Harding
- George W. Bush – Despite a Harvard MBA, showed little intellectual curiosity. Not a good speaker. Overly trusting. Would rather delegate than master complex information.
- Calvin Coolidge
- James Monroe – a plodding speaker and middling intellect of the day. Benefitted almost completely from Jefferson and Madison patronage.
- Ulysses Grant – Despite his reputation as Lincoln’s top Civil War general, he was an unimpressive thinker and failed farmer. He was largely an accidental soldier. Was the beneficiary of immense blind luck. Presidency plagued by scandal due to hands-off approach.
- Benjamin Harrison
- Gerald Ford – An accidental president and unimpressive thinker and speaker. Prone to misspeaking.
Other Notables:
George Washington
Middle of the pack. His physical stature, quiet confidence, and blind luck largely drove his success.
Andrew Jackson
Toward the bottom. A frontiersman with little formal education, he did not distinguish himself in speech or writing. Ruled through intimidation, not with power of thought.
Herbert Hoover
Middle of the pack. Downplayed warning signs of Great Depression. Paralyzed, unable to make big decisions.
Franklyn Roosevelt
Middle of the pack. Despite his larger than life persona, he was mostly the beneficiary of wealth, privilege, and good political instincts. Depended largely on the intelligence of others.
Harry Truman
Middle of the pack. The quintessential everyman was a failed farmer and retailer. He was the beneficiary of the democratic political machine of the day. Thrust into the spotlight by happenstance, not intelligence. But highly regarded as a great president. Able to make tough decisions.
Dwight Eisenhower
Toward the top. A first-rate military mind who nevertheless tended toward intellectual laziness later in life. Widely accepted as a good, but not great president.
Lyndon Johnson
Middle of the pack. Not highly educated or known for deep thinking or introspection. The quintessential political animal.
Richard Nixon
Toward the top. Accepted as a strategic and deep thinker but made the mistake of trusting in others too much. Another political animal, second only to Johnson.
Ronald Reagan
Toward the bottom. Not highly educated or respected as a deep thinker. He was second only to FDR in positive political instincts. Nevertheless, accepted as a good to great president.
George HW Bush
Beneficiary of wealth, upbringing, and a political family. Not known for his speaking or writing capabilities.
Barack Obama
Toward the top. Is verbally eloquent, fluent, and has the ability to inspire and motivate. Constitutional scholar.
Donald Trump
Either crazy like a fox or least intelligent president ever. History will have to judge.
