BUSH I.Q.

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"The intelligence of our presidents has never been seriously scrutinized at any time in our history until now. There is a widespread perception that President G. W. Bush is not qualified for the position he holds. That increasing awareness by the people has led to a study of the intellectual ability of all presidents for the past fifty years. There have been twelve presidents in that time, from F. D. Roosevelt to G. W. Bush. All were rated based on scholarly achievements, writings that they alone wrote,their ability to speak effectively, and a number of psychological factors. The conclusions of the study, conducted by an independent think tank located in Scranton, Pennsylvania were surprising. This think tank includes high caliber historians, psychiatrists, sociologists, scientists in human behavior, and psychologists. Among their ranks are Dr. Werner Levenstein, world-renowned sociologist, and Professor Patricia A. Williams, a world-respected psychiatrist. All members of the think tank are experts at being able to detect a person's IQ from the criteria stated earlier. After four months of research, these learned men and women have determined the IQs of each president within a range of five percentage points. The IQs listed below are the norms for each president.

147 Franklin D. Roosevelt (D) 132 Harry Truman (D) 122 Dwight D. Eisenhower (R) 174 John F. Kennedy (D) 126 Lyndon B. Johnson (D) 155 Richard M. Nixon (R) 121 Gerald Ford (R) 175 James E. Carter (D) 105 Ronald Reagan (R) 099 George HW Bush (R) 182 William J. Clinton (D) 091 George W. Bush (R)

The non-partisan researchers who evaluated the twelve presidents determined that the six Republican presidents for the past 50 years had an average IQ of 115.5, with President Nixon having the highest IQ, at 155. President G. W. Bush was rated the lowest of all the Republicans with an IQ of 91. The six Democrat presidents had IQs with an average of 156, with President Clinton having the highest IQ, at 182. President Lyndon B. Johnson was rated the lowest of all the Democrats with an IQ of 126. The margin of error is plus or minus five percent. This study was initiated on February 13, 2001 and completed on June 17, 2001. This study validated the widespread feeling of people about the sitting president. President Bush was rated low because of his inability to command the English language, his lack of any scholarly achievements, and an absence of anything authored by him that would reflect an intellectual effort." --"Jennifer Borenstein, Baskerville News Service, 6/28/01"

Note. Linky Dinky Claims Authorship With 7/10/01 Version.

"Doonesbury" creator Garry Trudeau has apologized -- sort of -- for a Sunday strip that cited an Internet hoax that said George W. Bush had the lowest IQ of any president in the last 50 years. The strip depicted a purported conversation between an unseen Bush and an adviser in the White House. It cited a purported ranking of presidential IQs based on public statements and writings. In the "study," Bush was said to have an IQ half that of Bill Clinton and a little more than half the average presidential vocabulary. The "Doonesbury" Web site acknowledged that the ranking was an Internet hoax and said that citing it was "a regrettable error, although perhaps inevitable, given that this feature uses the same fact-checking house as 'Saturday Night Live' and The Drudge Report." [Druge earlier complained on his web site about the comic strip in question.] "Trudeau takes full responsibility, acknowledging the use of fictional material from an outside source instead of simply making it up as he usually does," the site says. "The creator deeply apologizes for unsettling anyone who was under the impression that the president is, in fact, quite intelligent." Universal Press Syndicate senior editor Alan McDermott said Trudeau told editors in an e-mail that a "usually reliable" source had pointed out the purported study to him.... --AP, 9/6/01

The other evening on the Charlie Rose talk show the editor of the New York Times crossword puzzles told a story about Clinton. The editor estimated that it would take a really bright person 15 minutes to solve the typical Times Wednesday puzzle (They get more difficult as the week progresses). When he was president, It took Clinton 8 minutes to solve the puzzle while he was talking to someone on the phone. A recent think tank study of presidential I.Q.'s from the 40's to the present leads one to believe that Bush might have some difficulty writing out his name and address and talking on the phone at the same time. In fact, the study has Bush with the lowest I.Q. of any modern-day resident of the White House, with Poppy and the Gipper next in line. While the authenticity of the study might be questioned, we believe the results are indisputable. --Politex, 7/18/01

OUR RESPONSE..."You may be right, AR, that's why we wrote...."While the authenticity of the study might be questioned, we believe the results are indisputable." Also, please note that the author's name as well as the source has been placed in quotes. As I wrote about the story last week, it doesn't have to be true to be correct. The criteria for evaluation seems on the money to me: "scholarly achievements, writings that they alone wrote,their ability to speak effectively, and a number of psychological factors." Is there any doubt in your mind that, given this criteria, Junior is at the bottom of the barrel? --Politex, 7/18/01

Politex, I heard on the radio yesterday from a reputable journalist that Bush's IQ was revealed in the media. He has the lowest IQ of any President. Could you tell me more about this? --Ben, 8/7/01

This is fast becoming the story that will not die, Ben, perhaps because even if it isn't true, it sure sounds correct. We seem to be getting more and more e-mail on the subject, so read more about it below. --Politex, 8/7/01

Politex, is the Bush IQ story a spoof or sendup? I can't find any of the principles or the news service in any search engine. What do you know about the story, where did it come from and what do you think about its accuracy. I just sent it to a bunch of my friends and now I feel a little bit queazy about it. --Marc, 7/31/01

It's a spoof, Marc, but it's correct, so you shouldn't feel a bit queazy. As I wrote to a loyal Bush Watch reader when it began to make the rounds of the Web, a story doesn't have to be true to be correct. Is there any doubt that if Dictator Bush were compared with all of the presidents since FDR, he would come in dead last, based on the criteria of "scholarly achievements, writings that they alone wrote,their ability to speak effectively, and a number of psychological factors"? Some might argue that Reagan should be last, but at least he was a professional pitch man. Anyway, he came in next to last, with Poppy a dismal third last. Since the writer of the story, the name of the think tank, and the city of origin were indicated in the original version, the only thing that has been verified is that there is a Scranton, Pa. The supposed author of the study and the think tank have had ample time to come forth and prove the doubters wrong. We ran the story early on with the caution, "While the authenticity of the study might be questioned, we believe the results are indisputable," and we put quotes around the name of the author of the study, "Jennifer Borenstein," the name of the think tank, "Levenstein," and the name of the news service carrying the story, "Baskerville News Service." --Politex,