Dwight D. Eisenhower IQ

Dwight David Eisenhower was born in Denison, Texas, in 1890 and raised in Abilene, Kansas. He graduated from West Point in 1915 and in 1926 finished first in his class at the Army's Command and General Staff School. In the Second World War he was Supreme Allied Commander in Europe and led the D-Day landings. After serving as president of Columbia University and NATO commander, he was the 34th president from 1953 to 1961. He died in 1969.

He was never tested. Simonton's 2006 study gives him 145 in version II-C, averaging about 132. His first place in the 1926 Command and General Staff School class is the clearest documented sign of his intellect.

Many historians think so. He often played the plain-spoken general in public, sometimes deliberately mangling sentences at press conferences to avoid giving answers. His private papers show detailed, careful reasoning.

He ended the Korean War, built the interstate highway system, sent troops to enforce school desegregation in Little Rock, created NASA and kept the Cold War from turning hot.

In January 1961 he warned against the acquisition of unwarranted influence by the "military-industrial complex", a permanent arms industry tied to the armed forces. Coming from a five-star general, the warning carried unusual weight and is still widely quoted.

Eisenhower reasoned through planning. "Plans are worthless, but planning is everything," he said: the value lies in thinking through options in advance. Managing a coalition of strong-willed generals also took social intelligence of a high order.

What supports it

• Simonton (2006) gives Eisenhower 145 in version II-C.
• He finished first at the Command and General Staff School.
• His wartime and presidential papers are published.

What it cannot prove

• Simonton built most presidential figures statistically from expert ratings, so neighbouring presidents cannot really be told apart.
• His deliberate public persona may have misled raters.
• Achievement reflects education, opportunity, persistence and collaboration as well as raw reasoning ability.

Dwight D. Eisenhower's IQ is represented here by a retrospective estimate of 145, not a verified test result. Dwight D. Eisenhower is best known for exceptional planning. The useful question is what the surviving evidence shows, not whether a precise modern score can be recovered.

Genial, organised and shrewd. A coalition builder whose easy smile masked careful calculation.

The dominant archetype here is The Coalition Commander. This archetype shapes decision patterns: what feels natural, what creates friction, and what blind spots tend to emerge.

Estimated IQ is 145. This is a rough estimate based on documented accomplishments and contemporary accounts, not a literal measurement.

He was a keen oil painter and produced about 260 paintings.

Dwight D. Eisenhower's estimate of 145 falls in the genius level IQ range. Want your own number rather than Dwight's? Take the free IQ test or the quick IQ test. See what an IQ of 145 means, place it on the IQ chart or check how rare it is with the IQ rarity calculator.