Strange Notations From a Laborious Life

 I was scrolling through my Facebook page this morning and came across one of those “guest post” advertisements that try to lure you in. This one was quite interesting though. It ranked the IQ’s of the fifteen least intelligent US Presidents and the IQ’s of the 24 most intelligent Commanders-in-Chief. The results were quite interesting.

 As you can imagine even the least mentally acrobatic Prez was hardly a dumbo, I think it was James Buchanan (sorry Jim if my short term memory has failed me) but interesting to note that President George W Bush wasn’t near the bottom, Well, he wasn’t on the bottom. I think he was eighth last with the IQ of 124. Not bad but hardly an intellectual as you might have guessed.

 I have an apology to make to James Buchanan. I have just re-checked the list and it is in fact Ulysses S Grant who has the lowest IQ of any President. Shocking! The man who oversaw the victory of the Union Army in the Civil War, who sent those good ol’ boys packing, who took the surrender of the Army of Northern Virginia at Appomattox Court House is barely smarter than me! Who would have thought?

 Grant’s stocks as President are pretty low. He oversaw one of the most scandal plagued administrations of any chief executive although revisionist historians are now trying to paint his tenure in a better light. He is quite an interesting character though.

 After graduating in the middle of his class at West Point he saw action in  the Mexican-American War where he ran afoul of his future Civil War adversary Robert E Lee who held a major command.

 Re-entering civilian life he went broke as a businessman and was in very real effect saved by the oncoming war between the states. The Union Army, short of effective officers as many West Pointers chose to serve their native Southern Army, scouted ex-officers for service and Grant soon found himself back in the blue. He scaled the ranks rapidly and he was in no time promoted to a general’s command in the Mississippi Theater, his dazzling triumph at Vicksburg almost trumping the concurrent victory at Gettysburg for newspaper space. Grant’s Vicksburg campaign is still studied at military academies around the world.

 He was soon given command of the Army of the Potomac, essentially the main US fighting force and in a series of bloody campaigns destroyed the strength of the rebellious armies and effectively ended the war and restored the integrity of the United States. A Presidential run was a mere formality.

 After his term expired he became a renowned statesman touring the world but but financial difficulties started to plague him again and he began writing his memoirs hoping to secure a healthy income from the sale of his life story. He completed the work shortly before dying of cancer and they are considered among the greatest of US Presidential autobiographies.

 I suppose Grant’s story tells us that certain people can still be brilliant in their given field even if it does not translate into academic achievement or an IQ among the greatest. He is still one of the most notable figures of US history.

 So, who, according to the Professor who used several parameters and calculations to rank the Presidents, is the smartest man to have sat in the White House? John Quincy Adams, that’s who.

 President from 1825 to 1829 with an IQ of 168, he was an esteemed lawyer who as President negotiated several lucrative trade deals. He was also fluent in Latin and Greek. Ha, who isn’t?!

 Thomas Jefferson, unsurprisingly was second on the list with John F Kennedy (who is also the richest President!) third and Bill Clinton fourth with Woodrow Wilson and  Jimmy Carter rounding out the top six. Speaking of the Civil War, the man credited with being the greatest President, Abraham Lincoln was a disappointing twelfth on the list. How accurate can this thing be?

 After reading of the supposed IQ’s of these giants of history I was induced to try a little IQ test myself. I was estimated to be between 103 and 120 which fits with tests I have done in the past which have worked out somewhere in the middle of those two figures. I’m hardly a genius apparently but not as dumb as a brick either thankfully. The average IQ in Australia is 100.

 I will now stop making jokes about George W Bush as it appears he is in fact smarter than me although I don’t put a great lot of stock into these things and I am never going to be President of the United States either.

 I wonder what Tony Abbot’s IQ is?

 So, there is a little test for you all to try on this quiet Saturday morning. Can you match John Quincy Adams? Or are you more likely to be dwelling with the likes of US Grant?

 Maybe it’s better not to know. Haha.

 Have a great weekend.