U.S. Presidential IQ hoax

The U.S. Presidential IQ hoax was a mid-2001 e-mail and internet hoax that purported to provide a list of estimated IQs of the U.S. Presidents from Franklin D. Roosevelt to George W. Bush. cite web
url = http://www.snopes.com/inboxer/hoaxes/presiq.htm
title = President Bush Has Lowest IQ of all Presidents of past 50 Years
accessdate = 2006-09-11
date = 2004-07-15
publisher = snopes.com]

The hoax

The hoax email showed Bill Clinton having the highest IQ (182) and George W. Bush the lowest (91). However, the numbers claimed in the email were fabricated, and the sociologists and institutions (e.g., the "Lovenstein Institute") quoted in the article do not exist. (A "Lovenstein Institute" website displays the "report," but it was created after the report's release.). [ [http://www.lovenstein.org/report The Lovenstein Institute - Scranton, PA ] ] The techniques purportedly used to measure the IQ of the presidents are not recognized means of measuring IQs. The hoax also contains other factual errors. When the hoax was debunked, it appeared to many to be a personal attack on Bush due to its timing and to its listing Bush's IQ as exactly half that of Clinton's.

Reports about the hoax

Perhaps because the perception of George W. Bush having low intelligence is common and had been cited by the media [cite web
url = http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/08/19/AR2006081900568_pf.html
title = Pundits Renounce The President
accessdate = 2006-09-11
last = Baker
first = Peter
date = 2006-08-20
publisher = Washtington Post] as well as by politicians, including a spokesperson of Tony Blair, [cite web
url = http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=401414
title = Blair 'feels betrayed by Bush on Lebanon'
accessdate = 2006-09-11
last = Walters
first = Simon
date = 2006-08-19
publisher = Daily Mail] the hoax report was widely taken to be true. The British newspaper "The Guardian", for example, quoted the report in its diary section of July 19 2001 and used it to belittle Bush. [cite web
url = http://www.guardian.co.uk/diary/story/0,3604,523939,00.html
title = Diary
author = Matthew Norman
accessdate = 2006-10-23
date = 2001-07-19
publisher = The Guardian] "The Guardian" published a retraction two days after the Associated Press drew attention to the error. [cite web
url = http://www.guardian.co.uk/diary/story/0,,537590,00.html
title = Diary
author = Matthew Norman
accessdate = 2006-10-23
date = 2001-08-16
publisher = The Guardian] Other mainstream media news outlets to fall for the hoax included "Bild" (Germany), "Pravda" (Russia), and the "Southland Times" (New Zealand) as well as a few small U.S. newspapers. The hoax came back to life in March 2007 in Spanish-language media when the Press Agency Efe distributed a piece referring to it. Dozens of media (primarily in their online versions) reproduced Efe's text. Among newspapers publishing the hoax were "El País" (Spain's leading newspaper), [cite web
url = http://www.elpais.com/articulo/gente/Fe/errores/noticia/coeficiente/intelectual/Bush/elpepugen/20070313elpepuage_1/Tes
title = Diary
author = ElPais.com
accessdate = 2007-03-13
date = 2007-03-13
publisher = El País] ABC and La Vanguardia.

Origin of the hoax

About.com reports that linkydinky.com was the original source of the spoof. [cite web
url = http://urbanlegends.about.com/library/bliq-bush.htm
title = Urban Legends and Folklore: On G.W. Bush's IQ (or Lack Thereof)
accessdate = 2006-10-23
date = 2001-07-16
publisher = About.com] Indeed, linkydinky's page on the hoax calls the report “our hoax”. [cite web
url = http://www.linkydinky.com/BushIQ.shtml
title = Report: President Bush Has Lowest IQ of all Presidents of past 50 Years
accessdate = 2006-10-23
date = 2001-10-07
publisher = Linky & Dinky] A copy of the spoof in full can be found there.

Real studies

In 2006, a real study, albeit one based on varied and often subjective historical material analyzed with the tools of historiometry, was published in the journal "Political Psychology". It estimated IQs for all US presidents since 1900. It rated G.W. Bush second to last, with an estimated IQ of 125 (with the estimate ranging from 111 to 139; the standard average for all people is 100). The same study estimated president Bill Clinton's IQ at 149. [cite journal
author = Dean Keith Simonton
date =
year = 2006
month = August
title = Presidential IQ, Openness, Intellectual Brilliance, and Leadership: Estimates and Correlations for 42 U.S. Chief Executives
journal = Political Psychology
volume = 27
pages = 511–526
doi = 10.1111/j.1467-9221.2006.00524.x
url = http://www.blackwell-synergy.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1467-9221.2006.00524.x
accessdate = 2006-09-11 ] In an interview, the study's director noted that "Bush may be 'much smarter' than the findings imply" but that he "scores particularly unimpressively for 'openness to experience, a cognitive proclivity that encompasses unusual receptiveness to fantasy, aesthetics, actions, ideas and values.'" [cite news
url = http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2087-2350564,00.html
title = Bush IQ low on presidential league
accessdate = 2006-09-10
last = Dobson
first = Roger
date=2006-09-10
publisher = "Times Online"] [cite web
url = http://www.csbsju.edu/uspp/Election/bush011401.htm
title = Bush gets bad rap on intelligence
accessdate = 2006-10-09
date=2001-01-14
publisher = "St. Cloud Times Online"] [cite news
url = http://www.usatoday.com/news/opinion/columnist/benedetto/2005-06-10-benedetto_x.htm
title = Who is smarter, Kerry or Bush?
accessdate = 2007-04-16
date=2005-06-10
publisher = "USA Today"]

Other researchers have looked at performances on actual IQ-correlated tests taken by George W. Bush and his two political opponents, such as the SAT and aptitude tests given to prospective military officers. These have given an estimated IQ of 125 for George W. Bush (and 120 for John Kerry and 134 for Al Gore). [ [http://www.vdare.com/Sailer/kerry_iq_lower.htm This Just In—Kerry's IQ Likely Lower than Bush's!] ]

ee also

* Strategery
* Bushisms

Notes and References

External links

* [http://www.snopes.com/inboxer/hoaxes/presiq.htm A copy of the hoax] at snopes.com