One would hope that the person leading the United States of America would be a pretty smart person, but in reality, not all of our presidents have been geniuses. In fact, most of them have possessed average intelligence, and some of them never even went to college! But a few of them have been ridiculously smart, and thanks to one professor, we might finally know exactly how bright they were.
Even though we learned a lot about our nation's past leaders in history class, there are still lots of things many people don't know about the men who have lived in the White House. This fun quiz can help you learn some fun facts about them if you really want to prove your presidential prowess!
One of the things that lots of people might not know about our nation's presidents is that many of them went to Ivy League schools. In fact, JFK was just one of the USA's leaders who went to Harvard… Though looking at his application letter from 1935, it seems as though it was a lot easier to get into this prestigious college in his time than it is nowadays.
If you've ever been curious as to just how smart the presidents of the United States really were, take a look at their estimated IQ scores according to InsideGov and UC Davis professor Dean Simonton. Although we might never have proof as to the true intelligence of these history-making men, this might be the closest we'll ever get to knowing if they could beat us in a battle of wits.
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30. Herbert Hoover (129.8)
Before becoming president, Hoover was a professional mining engineer.
29. Ronald Reagan (130)
Reagan graduated from Eureka college and worked as a radio announcer and an actor before taking up residence in the White House.
28. George H.W. Bush (130.1)
The older Bush enlisted in the Navy on his 18th birthday and served until WWII had finished. He then attended Yale and graduated in 1948.
27. William McKinley (130.2)
McKinley became president despite being a two-time college dropout, first from Allegheny College in Meadville, PA, and then from Mount Union College in Alliance, OH.
26. James K. Polk (130.2)
Polk studied law in Nashville and eventually went on to become a successful lawyer.
25. Grover Cleveland (131)
Cleveland is the only president in history to serve two terms non-consecutively — first in 1885 and then in 1893.
24. Richard Nixon (131)
After graduating from Duke University School of Law, Nixon became a lawyer and then decided to serve in the Navy during WWII.
23. Dwight D. Eisenhower (132)
Eisenhower had an impressive military career, which included being the Supreme Commander of the Allied Forces in Europe during WWII.
22. Benjamin Harrison (132.2)
Harrison graduated from Miami University in Oxford, OH, in 1852. While he attended school there, he was a member of two fraternities: Phi Delta Theta and Delta Chi.
21. George Washington (132.5)
Despite the fact that he only received an elementary-level education, Washington became the first president of the United States of America.
20. Martin Van Buren (133.4)
He might have been smart on paper, but Van Buren is often considered one of the worst presidents to have held office.
19. Rutherford B. Hayes (133.9)
Hayes attended law school at Harvard, and like many other presidents, served as a lawyer before leading the nation.
18. William Henry Harrison (133.9)
Harrison died of pneumonia after just 32 days into his presidential term. He was not only the first president to die in office, but also the one who served the shortest term in history.
17. Franklin Pierce (134.8)
Pierce was friends with author Nathaniel Hawthorne, who wrote a biography about Pierce to support his bid for president.
16. Millard Fillmore (136.0)
Fillmore helped found what is now the State University of New York at Buffalo.
15. John Tyler (136.2)
As Harrison's vice president, Tyler became the first president to achieve his position through the death of a former president.
14. Franklin D. Roosevelt (139.6)
Before he contracted polio in 1921, Roosevelt attended Groton School and Harvard College, then served as Assistant Secretary of the Navy.
13. Abraham Lincoln (140)
Lincoln was so smart that he was able to become a lawyer and then one of the nation's most famous and successful presidents through what was mostly self-education.
12. Barack Obama (140)
Obama graduated from both Columbia Law School and Harvard. He then went on to teach constitutional law at the University of Chicago Law School.
11. James Madison (141.3)
Madison made his place in history not only by being the fourth president of the United States, but also by becoming the "Father of the Constitution" thanks to his work on the U.S. Constitution and Bill of Rights.
10. Chester A. Arthur (141.5)
Arthur's jobs as a teacher, principal, and president were preceded by an education at New York's Union College.
9. James Garfield (141.5)
Garfield studied at Williams College in Massachusetts, then later became a general in the Union army during the Civil War.
8. Theodore Roosevelt (142.3)
Roosevelt was a Harvard graduate, an author, a naturalist, and a war hero in addition to being the 26th U.S. president.
7. John Adams (142.5)
The second U.S. president was hailed for his intelligence, and many of his ideas on political theory ended up being published during his lifetime.
6. Jimmy Carter (145.1)
Carter won a Nobel Peace Prize in 2002 for his work with the Carter Center, which has made tremendous strides in helping those suffering from human rights violations.
5. Woodrow Wilson (145.1)
Wilson graduated from John Hopkins University with a PhD in political science. Afterward, he worked as a professor before being elected president.
4. Bill Clinton (148.8)
Clinton not only graduated from Georgetown University, but also obtained a law degree from Yale.
3. John F. Kennedy (150.7)
Kennedy's assassination is even more tragic when you learn that he was one of our country's most intelligent presidents and had a Gallup poll approval rating of 70 percent, the highest of any president.
2. Thomas Jefferson (153.8)
It's no surprise that a man who graduated from the College of William and Mary and helped draft the Constitution is considered the second-smartest president in the USA's history.
1. John Quincy Adams (168.8)
The most intelligent U.S. president earned both a Bachelor of Arts and Master of Arts degree from Harvard.
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