Clinton seen as the most intelligent president, George W. Bush the least

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.