The 15 smartest US presidents of all time

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John F. Kennedy speaks at Rice University, September 12, 1962

In 2006, University of California at Davis psychology professor Dean Simonton completed a comprehensive study examining the "intellectual brilliance" of 42 US presidents.

The top 15 who appear on this list were compiled by Libb Thims - an American engineer who compiles high IQ scores as a hobby - using the results of Simonton's study.

Because IQ scores weren't available for all of the presidents, Simonton estimated their scores based on certain personality traits noted in their biographies that would indicate a higher-than-average level of intelligence, such as "wise," "inventive," "artistic," "curious," "sophisticated," "complicated," and"insightful."

Simonton then gave each president a score based on his personality traits, which he then interpreted as a measure of the chief executives' "Intellectual Brilliance."

Each president's resulting IQ score, then, is based on a measure of his intellectual brilliance, which in turn was evaluated based on their personality traits, openness to experience (receptiveness to actions, ideas, values, etc.), and achievements relative to their age.