Look, we’re going to have to get one thing straight up front. IQ scores for dead presidents? They’re all guesses. No one sat Abraham Lincoln down with a Scantron and a number 2 pencil. Researchers examined their writings, the languages they knew and generally made educated guesses. So when you encounter lists of the 10 most intelligent president in the world, take them with a very large grain of salt. But it’s September 2025 now, and everybody still loves arguing about this stuff. So, have a look at the top 10 most intelligent president in the world according to these scores. A few of these guys were truly brilliant. Some were book smart and were terrible leaders. Intelligence is weird like that.
1. John Quincy Adams—The Actual Genius
John Quincy Adams clocked in around 168-175 for estimated IQ. The man spoke seven languages. Seven! He went to Harvard and had most of his upbringing in European diplomatic circles while his dad was off doing Revolutionary War stuff. But here’s the thing: he was a bit of a horrible president. One term and done. Smart isn’t synonymous with good at the job. Adams likely was better suited to be a diplomat or professor than the nation’s executive.
2. Thomas Jefferson—The Renaissance Man
Jefferson’s I.Q. was around 160. Guy built his own house, he invented stuff, he founded the University of Virginia, and he wrote the Declaration of Independence. He was interested in everything, from architecture and science to farming and music. Jefferson’s the kind of smart where you can have a conversation about literally anything and he’d know something about it. The problem was, he owned slaves while writing of freedom. Just because you’re smart doesn’t mean you’re right about everything.
3. James Madison – The Constitution Guy
Madison had an estimated IQ of approximately 141-150. There’s a reason he’s the “Father of the Constitution.” The dude more or less wrote the blueprint for how American government works. That takes some serious brainpower. Madison was small; he was only 5’4″ and not a hundred pounds, but his ideas were huge. He imagined every risk the government could fail to manage and worked to devise the safety valves. Pretty smart if you ask me.
4. John Adams—The Lawyer
Not to be confused with his son up there at number one. John Adams had an estimated IQ of 155. He was a lawyer who helped kickstart the whole independence thing. His letters with his wife, Abigail, are actually fascinating reads if you’re into that sort of thing. Adams was smart in a practical way. He wasn’t as flashy as Jefferson, but he got stuff done. Plus, he managed to keep America from getting dragged into a war with France, which was probably his smartest move.
5. Jimmy Carter—Still Kicking at 100
Carter’s IQ estimates range from 145 to 153. He graduated near the top of his class from the Naval Academy and was a nuclear engineer. The guy understands complex technical stuff that would make most people’s heads spin. Carter’s actually still alive as of September 2025; he turned 100 earlier this year. His presidency was rough, but he’s been probably the best ex-president we’ve ever had. Building houses for poor folks at 99 years old? That’s using your intelligence for good.
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6. Woodrow Wilson—The Professor President
Wilson’s IQ came in around 145. He had a PhD and was president of Princeton University before becoming actual president. Super academic, loved theory and big ideas about how the world should work. But Wilson was also kind of a disaster on racial issues and his League of Nations thing never happened. Sometimes being an intellectual means you’re too stuck in theory to deal with reality.
7. Bill Clinton—The Policy Wonk
Clinton’s estimated IQ is somewhere around 149. Rhodes Scholar, Yale Law School, could talk policy details for hours without notes. The man loved getting into the weeds on complicated issues. Clinton was smart in that he could make complex stuff sound simple when talking to regular people. That’s a different kind of intelligence than just knowing a lot of facts.
8. John F. Kennedy—Quick Thinker
JFK’s IQ estimate was around 149.8. Harvard grad, wrote a bestselling book, handled the Cuban Missile Crisis without blowing up the world. That last one probably counts more than his GPA. Kennedy was smart under pressure. When stuff hit the fan, he could think fast and make calls without panicking. That matters way more than test scores when you’re president.
9. Theodore Roosevelt—The Young Genius
Teddy Roosevelt had an estimated IQ of 153 and was America’s youngest president at 42. Dude was into everything, starting from boxing, hunting, writing books, and conservation to building up the Navy. He had crazy energy and the brains to back it up. Roosevelt was smart about power. He knew how to use the presidency to actually get things done, which a lot of smarter presidents never figured out.
10. Barack Obama—The Professor Type
Barack Obama IQ estimates put him around 145-160. Harvard Law School, taught constitutional law at the University of Chicago, was president of Harvard Law Review. Smart guy by any measure. Obama’s intelligence showed in how he talked about complicated issues without dumbing them down too much. Sometimes that worked great; sometimes people just wanted simpler answers. Being smart can actually work against you in politics.
Who is the smartest president in the world Right Now?
That’s tough to answer in September 2025 because we’re comparing different countries and different kinds of smart. Is Donald Trump smart for winning elections twice? Is Xi Jinping smart for consolidating power? What about Modi in India? They’re all intelligent in different ways.
Which president had the lowest IQ?
Ulysses S. Grant is the president who is usually saddled with a low IQ estimate of just 115 or so. But Grant was a masterful military strategist who won the Civil War. He just struggled as president. Different work requires different forms of smart. The whole “dumbest presidents” talk is quite fruitless as well. We dump on Warren G. Harding a lot, but his estimated IQ of 139 is better than average. He just made terrible decisions about who to trust.
Presidents ranked by IQ Miss the Point
There’s one thing that bugs me about lists of presidents ranked by IQ. They treat intelligence as though it were everything. Lincoln hardly went to school but he is one of our greatest presidents. Reagan was no intellectual heavyweight, but he transformed American politics for decades. The top 10 best president in the world 2024 aren’t the same as top 10 best presidents. Smart doesn’t equal effective. Indeed, sometimes a less brilliant but wiser president triumphs over a genius with lousy instincts.
What Actually Matters
You know what matters more than IQ? Knowing when to listen to experts. Knowing when to compromise and when to dig in. Understanding what regular people actually care about. Making tough calls when there’s no good answer. Some of the smartest presidents overthought everything. Some average-intelligence presidents had better gut instincts and surrounded themselves with smart people. That’s leadership. So yeah, the 10 most intelligent president in the world based on IQ scores is interesting bar trivia. But it tells you almost nothing about who was actually good at being president. History’s weird like that.