The Lovenstein Institute IQ Report

In July 2001 an e-mail began to circulate claiming that the Lovenstein Institute, a think-tank based in Scranton, Pennsylvania, had conducted research into the IQ of all the Presidents of the past 50 years and had concluded that George W. Bush ranked at the bottom, with an IQ of only 91. (Click here to read the text of the email.)

The claim that G.W. Bush had the lowest IQ of any recent U.S. President attracted the attention of the international media. The London Guardian broke the story on July 19, and on August 26 Garry Trudeau featured the report in his Doonesbury comic strip. Unfortunately both Trudeau and the Guardian had fallen for a hoax.

The e-mail had originated as a joke on a website called linkydinky.com. In its original version, the joke was quite obvious. For instance, Linkydinky.com cited the Pennsylvania Court Observer as its source for the news, noting that this newspaper only had a circlation of five readers. Furthermore, it described Dr. Lovenstein as "living in a mobile home in Scranton, Pennsylvania."

However, as the joke made its way through people's inboxes, these textual clues were stripped away, until in the final version of the email it sounded as if the Lovenstein Institute was an actual research organization (which it is not).

Once they learned of their mistake, both Trudeau and the Guardian published retractions.



Comments

Funny how all the Democrats have the highest IQ's and all the Republicans have very low ones. That's a big red flag. Of course, many people were so blinded by their bias against certain presidents that they felt those numbers HAD to be true. Says a lot about how people think.
Posted by Alex  on  Fri Oct 22, 2004  at  11:00 PM
I think it's REAL 😊 ...but just the part about George W. Bush... unless they were OVER-ESTIMATING his IQ!
Posted by Kerry G.  on  Wed Feb 23, 2005  at  09:19 AM
Hey everyone,
this is an obvious fake. Notice how Cilinton's I.Q. is exactly twice that of Bush's. The study claims t run for 50 years but they put a president from before that time period on it. Not every president has written a book, and it is impossible to test IQ from writing and speeches. They used a bogus test... google it and you'll realize that it doesn't exist.
Posted by Brian  on  Thu May 26, 2005  at  03:55 PM
Funny how I would believe this true, if it wasn't for the fact that I live near Scranton and have never heard, seen, or noticed any mention of the place. If they had pictures, they would show a large college in the middle of the city, which would be The University of Scranton. Im looking for an e-mail address to see if I can crack them over the head with this information.
Posted by Nick  on  Fri Jun 17, 2005  at  11:30 PM
While this actual "study" and subsequent report may have been a hoax, it points out that sometimes fiction can actually be true. Based on George W's lack of coherent vocabulary, his inability to be truthful, his alcohol and drug use in the past and his willingness to believe in his own B.S., I would tend to think that an IQ of 91 is actually an over-estimation of what's going on between those ears of his!
Posted by PJ Strong  on  Thu Jun 23, 2005  at  09:17 AM
I still insist its true... I mean... look around at our country in the last five years?

Any doubt the man is an idiot?


...or maybe he's just a psychopathic meglomaniac.
Posted by Soundboy_Jeff  on  Wed Sep 14, 2005  at  03:12 PM
I'm surprised it is so high.
Posted by george torre  on  Sun Oct 16, 2005  at  05:16 PM
It does not require a "think tank" to discern a low intelligence. You only have to observe the person in question. Each of us daily, makes such judgements. Nothing wrong with being "judgemental". That's what judges do. Is that guy dumb or not? Compared to me, he is.
Posted by Wise Bill  on  Mon Jun 05, 2006  at  11:27 PM
Fooled Me...I saw the bias against the repubs, but that's not unusual and 91 is in the normal range. It seems to fit very well, and Clinton is twice as smart as Bush.
Posted by john Bonner  on  Sun Aug 13, 2006  at  07:55 PM
They say the liberals are the smart ones but who wants to bet that was said by a liberal.
Liberals no nothing of economics, war foreign or domestic policy but they can sure piss away our tax revenue on moronic things.
Even if this was true, which it isn't,43 now isn't the dumbest to be POTUS.
That belongs to Barack Husain "Barry" Obama!
Semper Fi
Posted by J.W. Pulley  on  Mon Jan 27, 2014  at  05:21 AM