Posted on 01/26/2006 10:56:35 AM PST by lowbridge
Study pegs Democratic presidents as brighter
By RICHARD ORR
Herald Correspondent
It´s really not all that hard finding GWB´s brain.
It´s right there in the files of the Lovenstein Institute of Scranton, Pa., which has been publishing its research on each new president since 1973.
The GWB study published in October 2004 took four months to complete and compared him to all the presidents from Franklin Delano Roosevelt through Bill Clinton.
Based on the report´s findings, Democrats are smarter than Republicans -- quite a bit so, in fact. The three smartest Democrats were -- in order of intelligence -- Bill Clinton, Jimmy Carter and John Kennedy with IQs of 182, 175 and 174, respectively.
At the bottom of the Democrat list were FDR (147), Harry Truman (132) and Lyndon Johnson (126).
The three smartest Republicans were Richard Nixon (155), Dwight Eisenhower (122) and Gerald Ford (121).
At the bottom of the Republican list were Ronald Reagan at 105, Bush the Elder at 98 and -- like father, like son -- Bush the Younger at 91.
The highest IQ readings of 200-plus were garnered by Marylin Vos Savant -- who holds the Guinness record -- and Truman Capote, whose IQ at one time was said to be so high, it couldn´t be accurately measured because they couldn´t come up with a test he couldn´t ace.
The report notes that the six Republican presidents in the past 50 years scored an average IQ of 115. Nixon led the pack with 155. The Democrat average was 156, with Clinton´s 182 at the head of the class.
Criteria for the study included any writings they generated on their own without help from staff, their ability to speak with clarity, and several other psychological factors that were scored using the Swanson-Crain system of intelligence ranking. It´s considered accurate to within five percentage points.
Of course, IQ isn´t everything. Jimmy Carter, for instance, was among the brightest but certainly not among the best because he lacked the charisma and forcefulness needed for true leadership ability. Genius and sincerity alone aren´t enough.
Ronald Reagan had the charisma and the sincerity and the public appeal but not the brains, which allowed him to be led around by forces he wasn´t even aware of.
When it comes to GWB, he´s not only short on brain power and charisma, he also has this disconcerting air of detachment -- even indifference -- about him. When told about New Orleans, his first response was, I used to party there.
His father before him projected that selfsame air of disengagement -- best illustrated when he glanced at his watch with an irritated look on his face during one the debates that are really nothing more than canned questions and predictable answers.
According to the Lovenstein study, GWB´s poor showing as president comes from his difficulty with the King´s English in public statements, his limited use of vocabulary (6,500 words for Bush versus an average of 11,000 words for other presidents), his lack of scholarly achievements other than a basic MBA, and an absence of any body of work which could be studied on an intellectual basis.
Said Dr. Werner R. Lovenstein: He has no published works or writings, which made it more difficult to arrive at an assessment. We relied more heavily on transcripts of his unscripted public speaking.
The complete report can be found at www.lovenstein.org. It includes a telling voice-stress confidence analysis.
(Richard Orr is a Herald correspondent. He can be reached at richard@texasonline.net or richard@plainviewdailyherald.com.) Posted to MyPlainview: JANUARY 16, 2006 19:59 CST
Empty promises, hot air, bad ideas, and horse manure.
THIS HAS BEEN DEBUNKED 100 TIMES!!!
No, that's a Goebbels. mentality.
Democrats can never rely on truth. Democrats can only get elected by lying....either about their opponents or about what they truly stand for.
A great!
A bunch of "bright" guys with a lousy sense of what is best for the U.S.
Let's just for laughs assume this was true. The two highest IQ presidents, Clinton and Carter were also the the WORST presidents the US ever had. So the conclusion should be .... Intellectual savant idiot democrats can't lead a nation.
I have read that Einstein checked in at 160.
>and Truman Capote, whose IQ at one time was said to be so high, it couldn´t be accurately measured because they couldn´t come up with a test he couldn´t ace.<
There seemed to be some plumbing problems he couldn't figure out....
Mensa gives IQ tests to prospective applicants so I took the test and joined.
I never went to a meeting and I've since let my membership lapse because net net it probably cost me potential jobs by irritating interviewers, but I happen to remember what my score was.
Not that it matters, I really don't believe it means much of anything. The most successful people I know aren't a success because they are smart, they are a success because they refuse to have it any other way and simply will not be discouraged... period.
I recall that in the last election, John Kerry was posturing as the more intellectual candidate. I also recall that he was embarressed by some expert who apparently estimates the IQ's of presidential candidates.
He estimated GWB's IQ to be in the 126 range and John Kerry's to be in the 120 range. Tom Brokaw pointed that out to Kerry who then sniffed that he "must have been drinking the night before."
I guess if he had had those extra 6 points of IQ he would have been smart enough to realize it's not real bright to get drunk the night before you take an exam.
I'd say Dr. Lovenstein is an amiable dunce!
(oops...forgot to say that the way the expert guy estimated IQ was through old tests; etc.)
Fortunately, this thread gives an excuse to show off Lowbridge's brilliance. This is some of the funniest stuff I've ever read:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1171051/posts
I seem to recall Bush 41 being in the high teens, as in 118 or something like that. Wasn't he a couple of points above Kerry? And Kerry's considered a genius.
Wishful thinking by all Democrats. This can go on Oprah with the rest of the make believe stories.
The results are not an IQ test like you take in college.
They are 'ratings' given based on:
"Criteria for the study included any writings they generated on their own without help from staff, their ability to speak with clarity, and several other psychological factors that were scored using the Swanson-Crain system of intelligence ranking. It´s considered accurate to within five percentage points." (of what?)
Of course, IQ isn´t everything. Jimmy Carter, for instance, was among the brightest but certainly not among the best because he lacked the charisma and forcefulness needed for true leadership ability. Genius and sincerity alone aren´t enough.
Ronald Reagan had the charisma and the sincerity and the public appeal but not the brains, which allowed him to be led around by forces he wasn´t even aware of.
When it comes to GWB, he´s not only short on brain power and charisma, he also has this disconcerting air of detachment -- even indifference -- about him. When told about New Orleans, his first response was, I used to party there.
His father before him projected that selfsame air of disengagement -- best illustrated when he glanced at his watch with an irritated look on his face during one the debates that are really nothing more than canned questions and predictable answers.
According to the Lovenstein study, GWB´s poor showing as president comes from his difficulty with the King´s English in public statements, his limited use of vocabulary (6,500 words for Bush versus an average of 11,000 words for other presidents), his lack of scholarly achievements other than a basic MBA, and an absence of any body of work which could be studied on an intellectual basis.
Said Dr. Werner R. Lovenstein: He has no published works or writings, which made it more difficult to arrive at an assessment. We relied more heavily on transcripts of his unscripted public speaking.
IN OTHER WORDS, they rated the DEMS on preprepared speeches, and written documents that were done by a team of specialists, but GWB was rated by his responses to the MSM.
Kan u spill kat. ef u kan, u b way smat 'n u don half 2 wury none.
otay!
Not right!! He got there at 11:25pm.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.