Posted on 12/30/2003 7:28:49 AM PST by nolongerforsale
Many books and articles have been written by psychologists estimating the IQs of people like Isaac Newton and Louis XIV. These estimates may not be very exact, but a surprising amount can be learned by studying the biography of a person and noting their intellectual development.
Isaac Newton, Leibnitz, and Goethe have all been estimated to have had very high IQs, ranging from 160 to 200. Napoleon and Hitler have been estimated around 130-140. King Frederick the Great and Czar Peter the Great around 150. The kings of Europe as a group would be one of the most intelligent groups of people who ever lived, with about a sixth of them being geniuses.
Plato, in his book THE REPUBLIC, described an ideal society ruled by philospher-kings. The American Republic has been run by men of shockingly low ability. Few of them would even be included among the most intelligent 5% of the population. In terms of integrity and character, American politicians would rate little better than the inmates of prisons.
I came across an interesting study which estimated the IQs of American presidents. It comes from ADVANCES IN PSYCHOLOGY RESEARCH, VOLUME 14, edited by Serge P. Shohov. New York, Nova Science Publishers, Inc., 2002. Chapter 6, "Intelligence and Presidential Greatness: Equation Replication Using Updated IQ Estimates" by Dean Keith Simonton. pages 143-153.
The article claims that the best presidents were usually those with the highest IQs. I would question this is in the case of Abraham Lincoln. He started the bloodiest war in American history. Of all the Western countries which had slavery, all of them except the United States and Haiti were able to abolish it peacefully. This might be a better country today if Lincoln had never been elected. Eisenhower isn't rated as very intelligent, but the country prospered under his rule.
Recently, a man sued in Connecticut for being denied a job as a police officer BECAUSE HIS IQ WAS TOO HIGH at 125.
Only in America can a man be denied a job as a policeman for being too intelligent, while stupidity is no bar to being president.
How can these estimates be so detailed as to include tenths of an IQ point? These are averages from a panel of experts based on many criteria.
Washington............................124.7
J. Adams...............................127.8
Jefferson..............................152.9
Madison................................127.8
Monroe.................................107.6
J.Q. Adams.............................133.8
Jackson................................115.7
Van Buren..............................118.7
W. Harrison............................120.7
Tyler..................................123.7
Polk...................................115.7
Taylor.................................109.6
Fillmore...............................114.7
Pierce.................................118.7
Buchanan...............................113.7
Lincoln................................129.8
A. Johnson.............................109.6
Grant..................................107.6
Hayes..................................120.7
Garfield...............................130.8
Arthur.................................130.8
Cleveland..............................116.7
B. Harrison............................114.7
McKinley...............................115.7
T. Roosevelt...........................130.8
Taft...................................121.7
Wilson.................................134.8
Harding................................101.6
Coolidge...............................106.6
Hoover.................................126.7
F. Roosevelt...........................130.8
Truman.................................123.7
Eisenhower.............................114.7
Kennedy................................139.8
L. Johnson.............................119.7
Nixon..................................125.7
Ford...................................115.7
Carter.................................121.7
Reagan.................................125.7
Bush Sr................................117.4
Clinton................................135.0
Bush Jr................................117.1
The problems of the world today are much too complex to be handled by such mediocrities. It has even been suggested that presidential candidates should be given IQ tests. It wouldn't be unreasonable to require candidates to at least be in the upper 1% of the population. That would be almost 3 million people, of whom over a million would be of the proper age, health, and so on.
One President with a high IQ who achieved his potential was Bill Clinton. Clinton had one of the highest IQs and was a Rhodes scholar, and even his enemies agree he was a very good president.
In my opinion, Thomas Jefferson was the best president of all, as well as the most intelligent. But he was a slaveowner who really didn't know much about politics or history. His ideas on how to run a country were mostly wrong.
He was talented at things like architecture and horticulture, though. He was accomplished in many areas.
Al Gore and William Frist would seem to be two politicians of good character and high intelligence. But even they aren't nearly good enough. And they are the best we have.
Today, the world faces overwhelming problems which could destroy civilization and bring on unimaginable catastrophes. The world today is being run by a chaotic system of bad governments and poor systems run by mediocre people with poor characters. To make things even worse, presidents spend almost all their time raising money, attending ceremonial occasions, and wasting time. Very little time is spent learning about the problems of the world and thinking about solutions.
The "smartest man in America" was on television. His IQ is estimated at over 200. He is a part-time bouncer in a bar. His opinions on politics and history were ignorant and ridiculous.
We need a leader with a very high IQ along with other excellent qualities. No one like that is famous anywhere in the world today or holds any public office. This must change.
I remember when Garry Trudeau picked up on this and thought it was real (dumba$$). After he did a strip on it we were able to get his strip pulled from the editorial page and slammed over to the funny pages in the Houston Comical. And that's where it still is.
What this author fails to mention is that the kings of Europe did a horrible job.
I am not anti-intellectual at all, but Intellectuals, in general, need to have stiff limits put on them lest they muck everything up and lots of folks get killed.
The article doesn't even take into account that the president of the United States surrounds himself with advisors who are by and large very bright people. Our most successful presidents were successful because they surrounded themselves with good people. This is the essence of leadership. Thank goodness we live in a country where leaders are selected for their leadership ability and not for their "smarts." Also we must be thankful that our system of government has many checks and balances. Thus, our fate does not depend upon a single man. Geniuses are always flawed and giving absolute power to a genius is always disastrous, as history has shown.
To sum it all up, the author of this piece cannot possibly be more wrong. First of all, we have not elected a single "dummy" to the office of president as the statistics quoted in this article bear out. Secondly, the United States of America, despite being only 227 years old, has established itself as the most powerful and richest nation the world has ever seen and our "stupid" presidents have had much to do with that. Those European weenies must really hate us for that.
I'll drink to that!
Did I miss something, or did these "experts" decide the IQ's of the President's themselves? That's how I interrupted it.
Excellent comment. I would only change the word "skulking" to "slithering".
Does that mean I get to be the next resident of 1600 Pennsylvania Ave.?
Stressing your good point!
Jack Coen, 1999, Comedy Central Presents
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