| "Wait, how do YOU pronounce nucular?" |
Recent presidents have all arrived at the White House with impressive academic credentials. In fact, all four of the most recent elected presidents got a degree from either Harvard or Yale, something which none of the previous four had done. However, new research suggests that, when it comes to American presidents, there is no direct correlation between getting a diploma from an Ivy League school and getting a reputation for cleverness.
YouGov asked how intelligent each of the last eight elected presidents were, on a scale from “not at all intelligent” to “very intelligent”. Bill Clinton comes out on top, with 49% considering the Yale Law graduate and Rhodes Scholar “very intelligent”. Another 30% put him in the “somewhat intelligent” category. Nearly as many remember Ronald Reagan as either very (44%) or somewhat (28%) intelligent. Reagan’s only diploma was from Eureka College, a small liberal arts college in Illinois.
By contrast, the only man on the list to have attended both Yale and Harvard, George W. Bush, is considered least intelligent of all. Only 52% say George W. Bush is at least somewhat intelligent. And the same number who say Bush is “not at all intelligent”, 17%, say the same for Barack Obama, another double Ivy League grad (though twice that number think Obama is very intelligent).
Oh hell no!
Now I am not suggesting that Reagan was a stupid man, but leaving his Alzheimer's aside there is simply no way that he was the intellectual superior to our current President.
What's more I think that if he had faced the same level of obstructionism and partisan/racist hatred he would have achieved virtually nothing and likely would have left office after only one term.
The British thought Reagan being president was a joke.
ReplyDeleteThey thought he was brainless. He was. Just goes to show how diminishing public education in this country has rendered the much of the populace clueless.
Reagan was a very good liar and then as the Alzheimers took over he could just phone it all in.
DeleteThe Brits got it right.........
DeleteThe only two things that got Reagan elected POTUS was name recognition and his speech writers. He was a failure as Ca Gov. and a bad actor, especially after he was elected.
ReplyDeleteHe cracked down on the blacks and hippies! For the win!!!
DeleteThis is clearly a skewed list. Clinton and Obama belong up top, followed by Franklin Roosevelt, with Reagan, Papa Bush and Sonny-Boy Bush way down near the bottom.
ReplyDeleteBeaglemom
Jimmy Carter studied nuclear physics at a graduate level at the Georgia Institute of Technology. He should be at least third, if not second, on this list. I'm quite sure that Yale would've had nothing to do with George H. W. Bush had his father not provided him with legacy status.
ReplyDeleteAnyone who got past Hyman Rickover's nuke screening is very smart and capable. Probably the most exclusive branch of the service anywhere anytime.
DeleteI agree with you that Jimmy Carter is vastly underrated in this survey.
DeleteCarter was one of the brightest that served as POTUS!
DeleteI also agree Carter is vastly underrated. Everything I have learned about him has convinced me he is exceptionally intelligent.
DeleteHeck, Carter remains vastly underrated in almost all things. The man was fantastic.
DeletePoint of information: the 39th President, the last one to “meet a payroll" (you know, the “peanut farmer") before the current one, also uses the pronunciation nu-cu-lar. Engineer though he is.
DeleteNot only a huge intellect, but Carter was and is the only true Christian we have ever elected. It just amazes me how the right demonizes him, and compares Obama to him..which to me, is a huge compliment! How did they get from Sunday School to wanting to bomb everyone in sight?
DeleteThe only conceivable reason for 17% to claim that Barack Obama is "not intelligent at all" is racism. And stating something so demonstrably stupid could only be done by people who are so far below the President in intelligence that it is surprising they were able to participate in the poll.
ReplyDeleteThank you Nefer - some folks will always say the black guy is the dumbest regardless of who else is on the list.
DeleteClinton achieved little and did some damage during his 8 years - President Obama will always be remembered for his achievements - a man for the ages.
Never look at the history of you got who did this poll and you will see it is a right wing establishment. The uk offices and the first of the you gives were staunch conservatives. Nuffield said except my president is generally the smartest person on the room anytime/anywhere.
Delete@7:43 -- I think you left some words out of each of your sentences......
Delete6:16 LOL spellcheck!!!
DeleteNefer not never! Nuff said not Nuffield and basically it is a right leaning polling company.
I don't think Reagan was smart and/or as outstanding as all the Republicans so indicate today!
ReplyDeleteI put President Obama and President Clinton on the same level. And, I think that after President Obama has been out of office awhile, things - ratings/history/facts - will change greatly for him. He's been dealt more obstruction and racism/hate (within our own country from Republicans and Teabaggers) and problems throughout the world, than any other POTUS!
I respect and truly like both President Obama and President Clinton. And, I sincerely hope that Hillary Clinton runs for POTUS! It would be wonderful having President Clinton and former President Clinton occupying the White House and taking over where President Obama left off at the end of his second term.
I was not sure about Hillary until I saw this week's interview with Charlie Rose. The woman knows more about foreign policy that Bush's entire State Dept. She is a walking encyclopedia of US history. Intelligent, well-spoken, and would make a great POTUS.
DeleteAnd then $arah came along, and in her speech at Eureka, California, so proudly commented on the wonderful legacy of Saint Reagan graduating from college there...
ReplyDeleteLuckily for humanity Sarah's name is missing from that list. That would have been a genetic and intelligence bottleneck to rival the Dark Ages.
DeletePresident Sarah would have made the the end times happen so she could have been raptured with Muthee and Akin. Instead, she's reduced to endorsing TeaBaggers and paying for ghost writers to post their crap on Bristol's book club blog.
I truly wonder if Palin can even count to 100!
Delete>>> I truly wonder if Palin can even count to 100!
DeleteIn what respect?
Asking the general public to rate the intelligence of presidents without asking how they rate their own intelligence seems pointless to me. I've known some pretty stupid people who assert that they are intelligent. And I would not value their assessment of a president.
ReplyDeleteI think this poll is just another way of asking "how much do you hate having a black man in the White house". It does seem to reflect on the effectiveness of the Saint Reagan propaganda, though.
Reagan was a shit two bit actor and the dumb ass American people bought his lame shit. Hinkley should have been successful. American traitor garbage.
ReplyDeleteAny poll which asks about the intelligence level of George W. Bush should include a category of "dumber than dirt."
ReplyDeleteBill Clinton: proof the most immoral man can have it all and be respected
ReplyDeleteSomeone wrote that men in power have to have huge egos and the sex drive to go with it. Look at the Kennedys, and even FDR. Many of our Presidents had affairs, including Jefferson. It was just not 'reported' until Rove decided to try to bring down Clinton, who refused to start wars and focused on America, and golly, thought Americans should have health care!! Horrors! Where were the tax curs on the 'job creators?' Where were the handouts to the Kochs? He's getting blow jobs from an intern? So is Newt, but let's impeach Clinton! Idiots.
DeleteAmbitious people want to be president. Most intelligent people do not.
DeleteAnd the more ambitious you are, the less intelligent you tend to be.
This explains G.W. and Reagan a LOT. Even Nixon. He may have been intelligent but his paranoia, ambition and other character flaws negated the intelligence he had. All part of the package.
Europeans laugh at the Americans obsession with sex. Bill's adultery in the White House was hardly unique and had nothing to so with his ability to do his job.
If you want to talk about immoral, I'd like at members of Congress voting against the interest of those who elected them and instead favoring the artificial persons funneling huge amounts of money into their war chests for favorable votes and bills.
I'll take an adulterer over a fascist any day.
I totally agree, how an actor who played second fiddle to a chimp became president is a big deal, but no way should he be anywhere near the second smartest. Maybe one above GWBush I could see.
ReplyDeleteYeah, Clinton was a great president, he left us with a surplus, which Bush immediately squandered, and President Obama had to waste time, energy and resources to clean up his mess, and STILL is smarter and wiser by far than the rest combined.
Anita, your racism is showing! Obama is NOT smarter than the rest combined but he is very intelligent
DeleteAgree.
ReplyDeleteWho's at the bottom? That fucker who put us in that big mess President Obama got us out of, that's who.
ReplyDeleteAll of these polls are flawed in that the current president, whoever he may be, is always roundly disliked by some percentage of respondents. Polls make more sense when assessing previous presidents. Judgments of intelligence in polls like this have more to do with how people (sometimes unusually dumb people) perceived the quality of the presidency rather than the qualities of the person.
ReplyDeleteHaving said that, I think all of these men were highly intelligent -- with the exception of George W Bush, who was a chimp worthy of playing opposite Reagan in a sequel to Bonzo.
Attack me all you want to, but Richard Nixon was one of the smartest Presidents we've ever had. His failings came along with his genius.
ReplyDeleteMost folks who have studied Nixon would agree. It was packaged, unfortunately, with paranoia.
DeleteI agree. He was a terribly flawed and damaged man, but he was certainly not stupid.
DeleteO/T but......what's with this new revelation that the Clinton's had a hit man on staff who "cleaned" up after them by killing multiple individuals so as to cover their tracks........get on it Gryph,it's the story of the century......snark,snark.....
ReplyDeleteNixon was the most intelligent of them all.
ReplyDeleteWait a few years.
ReplyDeleteObama will go up on the list, trading places with Reagan and G.W. will stay at the bottom , but his numbers will shift even lower.
The more time passes, I suspect the lower Ronnie will go, as people figure out that he was pretty dumb and trickle down just pissed on the people while rewarding the 1%ers.