George W. Bush's IQ was never publicly tested. His SAT of 1206 converts to about 125, and Simonton's 2006 estimates ran 111 to 138.5. Here are the facts.
Dr. Russell T. WarneChief Scientist
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George W. Bush never took a public IQ test, but his case is unusual among presidents because real evidence exists: a documented SAT score of 1206 from his Yale records converts to an IQ of about 125 by psychologist Linda Gottfredson's calculation, and the only peer-reviewed study of presidential IQs estimated his score between 111.1 and 138.5, with an average around 125. Two independent routes land near the same number, roughly the 95th percentile. The famous "91" assigned to him by a chain e-mail is a documented hoax. Here is what the evidence actually shows.
The documented evidence: an SAT score of 1206
What the Yale records showed
In 1999 The New Yorker revealed, from his Yale records, that Bush scored 1206 on the SAT: 566 verbal and 640 math. Because the Educational Testing Service "recentered" (re-scaled upward) SAT scoring in the mid-1990s, a 1206 earned in the early 1960s corresponds to roughly a 1280 on the later scale. His Yale transcript was mixed: his lowest marks were a 70 in sociology and a 71 in economics, and his highest were High Passes in history and Japanese. He finished his Yale B.A. in 1968 and a Harvard MBA in 1975, which made him the first president to hold an MBA.
Converting the SAT to IQ: about 125
The SAT correlates strongly with general cognitive ability, which is why a documented SAT score is far better evidence than any retrospective estimate (we cover the relationship in is the SAT an IQ test). Linda Gottfredson, co-director of the University of Delaware-Johns Hopkins Project for the Study of Intelligence and Society, told UPI: "I recently converted Bush's SAT score to an IQ using the high school norms available for his age cohort ... I derived an IQ of 125, which is the 95th percentile." Charles Murray of the American Enterprise Institute reached a similar result when UPI asked him. A conversion is still an inference from a related test rather than an IQ score, but it is grounded in a real, documented performance.
The Simonton estimates: 111 to 138.5
How the estimates were made
Psychologist Dean Keith Simonton's 2006 study in Political Psychology estimated IQs for all 42 presidents from Washington through George W. Bush by applying missing-values statistics to earlier published assessments: Catharine Cox's 1926 IQ ratings, an Intellectual Brilliance measure, and personality ratings of Openness to Experience. Bush's four estimates came out at 111.1, 121.4, 128.5, and 138.5, all statistically imputed. The weakness is stark: his entire estimate rests on a single Openness rating of 0.0, the bottom of the presidential distribution. Simonton acknowledged the problem himself, writing that the estimates may be biased downward and that "George W. Bush may be much smarter than Table 1 implies."
Low rank among presidents, high rank among people
Two findings sit side by side in the paper. Simonton wrote that "Bush is definitely intelligent," with estimates averaging around 125, more than one standard deviation above the population mean and in the upper 10 percent of the intelligence distribution. At the same time, his estimate ranked near the bottom among twentieth-century presidents: only Warren Harding scored lower on three of the four estimates, and the figure sits about 20 points below Simonton's estimate for Bill Clinton. Presidents are a high-scoring pool, so a low rank within it still leaves a score far above the general average. Our review of US presidents ranked by IQ covers the full table.
What the critics said
Historian Thomas C. Reeves examined the study for the History News Network and judged that it has "little if any value." He noted that Bush's Openness rating was zero while Carter received 77.0 and Clinton and Kennedy 82.0 each, and he found the justification for those numbers unconvincing. Whatever one's politics, an IQ estimate resting on one personality rating deserves heavy skepticism, which is exactly why the documented SAT score is the better exhibit.
The hoax number: why "Bush IQ 91" is fake
The "91" comes from the 2001 "Lovenstein Institute" chain e-mail, which claimed Bush had the lowest IQ of any president of the past 50 years and gave Bill Clinton exactly twice his score. No such institute exists, and none of the quoted researchers exist. Simonton's own paper notes that some attacks on Bush's intelligence "were nothing more than internet hoaxes." Every serious line of evidence, from the SAT conversion to the academic estimates, places Bush well above average.
Verbal slips and measured intelligence
Bush's verbal stumbles were a running news feature, and they are not psychometric data. Off-the-cuff speech under cameras measures composure and habit as much as anything cognitive. The documented record (a 1206 SAT, a Yale B.A., a Harvard MBA, and Air National Guard pilot training) is consistent with an IQ around 120 to 125, and Simonton closed his own discussion by writing that Bush "is certainly smart enough to be president of the United States." For where a score like 125 sits relative to labels such as gifted, see our guide to what counts as a genius IQ score.
Frequently asked questions
What is George W. Bush's IQ?
Bush never took a public IQ test. His documented SAT score of 1206 converts to an IQ of about 125 by Linda Gottfredson's calculation, and Simonton's 2006 study estimated a range of 111.1 to 138.5 with an average around 125. Both routes point to roughly the 95th percentile.
Was George W. Bush's IQ really 91?
No. That number comes from a hoax chain e-mail attributed to a fake "Lovenstein Institute." No such study or institute exists, and every serious estimate places Bush well above average, at roughly 120 to 125.
What was George W. Bush's SAT score?
He scored 1206 out of 1600 (566 verbal, 640 math), as revealed from his Yale records by The New Yorker in 1999. Because the SAT was recentered in the mid-1990s, a 1206 from that era corresponds to roughly a 1280 on the later scale.
Did Bush have the lowest IQ of any president?
No. In Simonton's 2006 estimates Bush ranked near the bottom among twentieth-century presidents, above only Warren Harding on three of four estimates, but Simonton also wrote that "Bush is definitely intelligent" and placed him in the upper 10 percent of the general population.
How does Bush's IQ compare with Bill Clinton's?
Simonton's estimates put Bush about 20 points below Clinton, more than one standard deviation. Both figures are estimates rather than test scores, and Bush's rested almost entirely on a single low Openness rating, which even Simonton flagged as a possible downward bias.
Is an IQ of 125 good?
Yes. An IQ of 125 sits at about the 95th percentile, meaning only about 1 in 20 people scores higher. It is typical of successful graduate degree holders and entirely consistent with a Yale B.A. and a Harvard MBA.
The takeaway
George W. Bush's case shows what honest celebrity IQ reporting looks like: a documented test score, a careful conversion, an academic estimate with visible weaknesses, and a hoax number that collapses on inspection. Conversions and estimates are useful context, and neither is a measured IQ. If you want a measured number for yourself, a properly normed assessment such as the Reasoning and Intelligence Online Test reports modern deviation scores with stated precision. You can start with the free IQ test from RIOT IQ.
References
1. Simonton, D. K. (2006). Presidential IQ, openness, intellectual brilliance, and leadership: Estimates and correlations for 42 U.S. chief executives. Political Psychology, 27(4), 511-526. acsu.buffalo.edu
2. Sailer, S. (2004, January 14). Analysis: How smart is Bush? United Press International. upi.com
3. West, D. M. (2000). Bush/Gore grades and SAT scores. Inside Politics, Brown University. insidepolitics.org
