Two things you didn’t realize about Herbert Hoover - he has nothing to do with vacuums in any way, shape or form, and he is also staggeringly smart with a 129.8 IQ.
Ronald Reagan’s reputation for being “not that smart” probably has a lot to do with his career before he became president. He was a famous actor for a long period of time in his youth, starring in a wide range of westerns and other movies. People generally tend to think that actors are just robots who recite lines that other people write for them, so this probably had a lot to do with the fact that people assumed he wasn’t that smart in office, too.
George H.W. Bush has an IQ of 130.1, putting him pretty high up on the list of smart presidents. He’s another guy who people tended to think wasn’t that bright while he was in office, but a lot of that probably has to do with people disagreeing with his personal politics. He was a controversial figure to say the least, so far too often people confuse, “I don’t like what he’s doing” with, “He must be an idiot.” Bush 1 goes a long way towards proving just how wrong that really is.
It’s incredible how some of the smartest presidents on this list are also some of the earliest. Case in point: William McKinley reportedly had a 130.2 IQ while in office.
James K. Polk’s IQ was 130.2, which would be incredibly high if he were alive today, let alone when he became the 11th President of the United States.
