Short answer: No IQ test exists for George Washington. The best-documented estimates come from Catharine Cox (1926), reprinted by Dean Keith Simonton in 2006: 125 for childhood and 135 for ages 17 to 26, or 130 and 140 after correcting for thin records. That is well above average, yet on the corrected adult measure it trails Jefferson, both Adamses, Madison and Lincoln.
At a glance
| Estimated IQ | 125 (childhood) and 135 (ages 17–26); 130 and 140 corrected |
|---|---|
| Basis of estimate | Cox (1926), reproduced in Simonton, Political Psychology 27(4), 2006 |
| Measured score | None on record |
| Born – died | February 22, 1732, Westmoreland County, Virginia – December 14, 1799, Mount Vernon |
| Field | Military command, statecraft, land surveying |
| Signature achievement | Victory at Yorktown (1781); the two-term precedent (1797) |
| Comparable minds | Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, Alexander Hamilton |
The Numbers on File
Washington is one of eight presidents who made Catharine Cox's list of 301 geniuses, published by Stanford University Press in 1926 as Volume II of Genetic Studies of Genius. Cox and two colleagues read the surviving record of each subject's youth and translated it into an IQ at two ages: birth to 17 (A1) and 17 to 26 (A2).
In 2006 the psychologist Dean Keith Simonton reprinted those figures in "Presidential IQ, Openness, Intellectual Brilliance, and Leadership," Political Psychology 27(4), pages 511–526. His Table 1 lists Washington at 125 for A1 and 135 for A2. Corrected for the reliability of the data, the figures rise to 130 and 140. Simonton states that the Cox figures were adopted for the presidents "of sufficient renown to make it into the sample of 301 geniuses."
For what those scores mean today, see IQ 135 and IQ 140. For his life, see our George Washington profile. For the method's strengths and flaws, read historical IQ estimates explained.
Where He Ranks Among the Presidents Cox Rated
Simonton's table makes the comparison exact. On the corrected figure for ages 17 to 26, the measure most widely reported, only Ulysses S. Grant scores lower than Washington. On childhood alone, John Adams and James Madison rate lower, at 120.
| President | Childhood (uncorrected) | Ages 17–26 (corrected) |
|---|---|---|
| John Quincy Adams | 165 | 175 |
| Thomas Jefferson | 145 | 160 |
| James Madison | 120 | 160 |
| John Adams | 120 | 155 |
| Abraham Lincoln | 125 | 150 |
| George Washington | 125 | 140 |
| Ulysses S. Grant | 110 | 130 |
Simonton also compiled personality ratings. On Openness to Experience, the trait most tied to intellectual curiosity, Washington scores 14.0 against Jefferson's 99.1. The picture is consistent: a capable, practical mind, not a bookish one. See how the others compare on Thomas Jefferson's IQ and Abraham Lincoln's IQ.
A Surveyor's Mind
Washington never attended college. His older half-brothers studied in England; he did not. His schooling came from private tutors and possibly a local school in Fredericksburg, and it ended in his teens. What he took from it was geometry and trigonometry.
He put both to work early. In 1749 he received a surveyor's license from the College of William & Mary, and on July 20, 1749, aged 17, he became surveyor of Culpeper County. Before 16 he had copied out the 110 maxims of The Rules of Civility and Decent Behaviour.
The quantitative habit lasted. As a farmer he switched from tobacco to wheat in the 1760s and tested fertilizers, crop rotations and breeds. For his 16-sided treading barn, the Mount Vernon estate records that he calculated the bricks needed for the first floor: 30,820. His distillery produced more than 11,000 gallons of whiskey at its peak.
The Commander's Record
Congress named Washington commander-in-chief on June 15, 1775. He held a fragile army together for eight years against Britain's professional army and navy. The crossing of the Delaware and the attack on Trenton came on December 26, 1776, after months of retreat. The British surrender at Yorktown followed on October 19, 1781. In December 1783 he resigned his commission and went home.
The record points to endurance, political tact and a sense of when not to fight, qualities Cox's method could not see. For the wider field, see military leaders ranked by IQ, where Washington sits second among commanders with a verified estimate, behind Napoleon.
Jefferson's Verdict
The sharpest contemporary assessment of Washington's intellect came from Thomas Jefferson, in a letter to Walter Jones dated January 2, 1814. Jefferson wrote that "his mind was great and powerful, without being of the very first order." His penetration was strong but "not so acute as that of a Newton, Bacon or Locke." Yet "as far as he saw, no judgment was ever sounder."
Jefferson added that Washington's mind was slow in operation but sure in its conclusions, and that he read little beyond agriculture and English history. Cox's 125-to-140 range fits that portrait: strong, steady, not dazzling.
What an IQ Score Cannot Capture
Washington's decisive acts were refusals. He gave up command in 1783. He served two presidential terms, from 1789 to 1797, and declined a third, setting a precedent that held until Franklin Roosevelt broke it. His Farewell Address, published September 19, 1796, warned against faction and foreign entanglements.
Restraint, reputation and judgment are not measured by any IQ test, historical or modern. Scholarly rankings of presidents consistently place Washington among the greatest. His corrected adult estimate ranks second from the bottom among the Cox-rated presidents. The distance between those two facts is the lesson.
How We Assessed This
We quote only figures confirmed in Simonton's 2006 table, which reproduces Cox's published estimates. We did not use unsourced online numbers. Cox's corrections for Washington added 5 points at each age; for other presidents they added up to 30. Read every historical estimate as a rough band, not a single score.
Frequently asked questions
What was George Washington's IQ?
He never took an IQ test. Catharine Cox's 1926 study, reprinted by Dean Keith Simonton in 2006, estimated 125 for his childhood and 135 for ages 17 to 26. Adjusted for the reliability of the records, the figures are 130 and 140.
Was George Washington a genius?
Not by test-score standards. His estimated IQ of 125 to 140 is well above average but modest for Cox's sample of eminent figures. By achievement, he won a war of independence and defined the American presidency, which is why he ranks among history's most consequential leaders.
Who had a higher IQ, George Washington or Thomas Jefferson?
Jefferson, by a clear margin in the only research data. Cox's estimates, as reprinted by Simonton, give Jefferson 145 for childhood and 160 corrected for early adulthood, against Washington's 125 and 140. Jefferson himself described Washington's mind as great and powerful but not of the very first order.
Did George Washington go to college?
No. Unlike many of his peers and his older half-brothers, Washington received no college education. His formal schooling ended in his teens and focused on practical mathematics. The College of William & Mary issued his surveyor's license in 1749, but he never studied there.
Which president has the highest estimated IQ?
In Simonton's 2006 study, John Quincy Adams tops the list at 175 on the corrected early-adulthood measure, a figure taken from Cox's 1926 ratings. Jefferson follows at 160. Estimates for presidents outside Cox's sample were derived statistically from personality ratings and carry wider error.
Sources
- Simonton, Presidential IQ, Openness, Intellectual Brilliance, and Leadership, Political Psychology 27(4), 2006 — Journal record of the 2006 study
- Simonton (2006), full-text PDF — Table 1: Washington 125/130/135/140; other presidents; Openness scores
- Catharine Cox, The Early Mental Traits of Three Hundred Geniuses (1926), full text — Washington's case study in the original volume
- Thomas Jefferson to Walter Jones, 2 January 1814 (Founders Online) — Jefferson's assessment of Washington's mind
- Mount Vernon: George Washington biography — Education, surveying, Rules of Civility, barn bricks, distillery
- Wikipedia: George Washington — Dates, surveyor appointment, command, presidency
- Simonton, Galton, Terman, Cox (Gifted Child Quarterly, 2020) — Cox's method and her ratings of eight presidents from Washington to Grant
Editorial standard: IQ figures for historical figures are retrospective estimates and are labeled as such; scores for living people appear only when the person disclosed them or a reputable outlet reported them. Corrections: contact the editors.
