Self-made PresidentIQ (U.S. norms)IQ (U.S. white norms)Notes
Richard Nixon
154154In 1991, Daniel Seligman wrote “Nixon biographer Roger Morris says RMN tested at 143 on the Otis test when he was in Fullerton High School in California. Nixon attended Fullerton circa 1928 and thus was tested around age 15.

In a 1930 paper by P. Cattell, it’s noted that 108 on the Otis index of brightness equates to the 75th percentile, implying a standard deviation of about 12, which would make Nixon’s IQ a spectacular 154 on the now commonly used sigma 15 scale (white norms since tests in that era were normed only on whites).
Barack Obama
140139Likely scored around 43.5 out of 48 on the 1980s LSAT which equates to an IQ of 148, but reportedly scored 128 on the childhood WISC IQ test (likely 124 after adjusting for norm inflation). A composite score of both tests would be around 140 (U.S. norms)
Average IQ of self-made Presidents (n = 2)standard deviation
147 (U.S. norms)10 (U.S. norms)
147 (U.S. white norms)11 (U.S. white norms)
Legacy President IQ (U.S. norms)IQ (U.S. white norms)Notes
George W. Bush130129National norm studies suggest that if all American 17-year-olds had taken the SAT in 1960 (not just the college bound elite) the mean and SD would have been 784 and 210 respectively, making Bush’s score of 1206, +2 SD or IQ 130 (U.S. norms)
JFK
125 124In 1991, Daniel Seligman wrote about how Kennedy biographer Thomas C. Reeves claimed JFK tested at 119 on the Otis test just before entering Choate Academy. JFK entered Choate around 1931 and thus was tested around age 14.

In a 1930 paper by P. Cattell, it’s noted that 108 on the Otis index of brightness equates to the 75th percentile, implying a standard deviation of about 12, which would make JFK’s IQ 124 on the now commonly used sigma 15 scale (white norms since tests in that era were normed only on whites).
Average IQ of legacy Presidents n = 2standard deviation
128 (U.S. norms)4 (U.S. norms)
127 (U.S. white norms)4 (U.S. white noms)
Average IQ of all Presidents n = 4standard deviation
137 (U.S. norms)13 (U.S. norms)
137 (U.S. white norms)13 (U.S. white norms)

Because sample sizes are tiny, only tentative conclusions can be drawn but based on publicly available data, the average IQ of self-made U.S. Presidents is an astonishing 147 suggesting only one in a thousand (white) Americans have an intellect this high. To come from nothing to become the most powerful person in America (and by extension the World) requires considerable intellect in most cases. This is similar to my earlier finding that the average IQ of all living people to hold the title “richest self-made American” is 151.

Whether measured by money or political power, it seems America is a meritocracy, at least when it comes to IQ. Ethics might be a different story.

To quote the late great Daniel Seligman. “people who are at the top in American life are probably there because they’re more intelligent than the rest of us.”

Given the 0.45 IQ correlation between fathers and sons, we’d expect the sons of self-made U.S. Presidents to be only 45% as far above the mean of 100 as their fathers were, and thus IQ 121. And so it’s not surprising that legacy Presidents average somewhat higher at 127 (white norms). This suggests that even among children born into obscenely rich and powerful families, there’s still some meritocracy, with the smarter ones being able to replicate the achievements of their self-made fathers and the less bright ones, squandering the family legacy.