Historical estimate

Can U.S. Presidents Be Ranked by IQ?

A published model exists for early presidents, but its numbers are estimates—not test results.

QuestionWhat does the evidence actually support when a chart ranks presidents by IQ?
01

Read the method before the ranking

The estimates combine sparse retrospective IQ estimates with biographical ratings of intellectual brilliance and openness using missing-value estimation.

George WashingtonThomas JeffersonAbraham LincolnJohn F. KennedyRonald Reagan
02

There is no single table value

Simonton reports four variants. The atlas preserves their minimum and maximum and explicitly says that span is not a test-score interval.

Thomas JeffersonJohn F. Kennedy
03

Do not invent estimates for later presidents

Obama, Trump, and Biden are outside the study. A viral 73 claim about Trump was unsupported, and debunking it does not reveal his actual IQ.

Barack ObamaDonald TrumpJoe Biden
What the evidence supports

Simonton's 2006 paper supports labeled historiometric model estimates through George W. Bush, not definitive measured scores or a complete modern ranking.

Primary trail

Sources used in this investigation

peer-reviewed researchPresidential IQ, Openness, Intellectual Brilliance, and Leadership: Estimates and Correlations for 42 U.S. Chief ExecutivesPolitical Psychology (Wiley) · 2006fact checkNo Evidence Donald Trump Scored 73 on an IQ TestFull Fact · 2025