What was Harry S. Truman’s IQ?
The only scholarly estimate averages 127.6; the 132 online comes from a 2001 hoax e-mail.
Harry S. Truman’s IQ was never measured. The one scholarly estimate, Dean Keith Simonton’s 2006 study, gives four values from 115.5 to 139.8 that average 127.6, while the 132 that circulates comes from a 2001 hoax e-mail. His documented record is a Kansas City law-school record of three A’s, ten B’s and one C, and no college degree.
Harry S. Truman’s estimated IQ
- Dean Keith Simonton’s 2006 paper in Political Psychology (Table 1) lists four IQ estimates for Truman: 115.5, 124.6, 130.3 and 139.8, which average about 127.6.
- At the Kansas City School of Law (1923–1925) he took fourteen courses in night classes and earned three A’s, ten B’s and one C, according to the Harry S. Truman Library.
- After high school in 1901 he took typing, bookkeeping and shorthand at Spalding’s Commercial College, then left to help his father, per the Truman Library.
- He rose from Jackson County judge (elected 1922) to U.S. senator (1934), vice president (January 1945) and 33rd president (April 12, 1945), according to Wikipedia.
This is an inference, not a test. Simonton calls his IQ estimates “more tentative and approximate” than his other scores, and Truman’s are reconstructed from ratings, not taken from a childhood record. His law grades cover only two years of night classes, so the range is placed close to Eisenhower’s rather than higher.
- Born
- May 8, 1884, Lamar, Missouri
- Died
- December 26, 1972, Kansas City, Missouri
- Office
- 33rd U.S. president, April 12, 1945 – January 20, 1953
- Education
- Spalding’s Commercial College (1901); Kansas City School of Law, night classes (1923–1925)
- Degree
- None; the only president since McKinley without a college degree, per Wikipedia
- Law-school record
- Fourteen courses: three A’s, ten B’s, one C
- Simonton (2006)
- Four estimates, 115.5 to 139.8; average about 127.6
- Circulating figure
- 132, from a 2001 hoax e-mail
What an IQ of 120–135 actually means
Set the claim aside for a moment. If someone genuinely scored in this range, here is what that would represent.
Average is 100 by construction, and about two-thirds of people fall between 85 and 115. Take the test to place your own score on this scale.
| Score range | Classification | Share of people | What it indicates |
|---|---|---|---|
| 85 – 114 | Average | ~68% | The range most people fall into. |
| 115 – 129 | Above average | ~13.6% | Roughly one person in seven. |
| 130 – 144 | Gifted | ~2% | The threshold most high-IQ societies use. |
| Above 144 | Highly gifted | ~0.1% | Figures above this range are extrapolated from the curve rather than measured. |
Percentages are approximate and describe a normal distribution. The same number means different things on tests with different standard deviations.
Thirty questions gives you a measured position on this exact scale — your score, your percentile and the ability breakdown behind it.
Find out in 30 minutes →Who Harry S. Truman was
Who was Harry S. Truman? Harry S. Truman was born on May 8, 1884, in Lamar, Missouri, was raised in Independence, and died on December 26, 1972, in Kansas City, according to Wikipedia. He served as vice president from January 20, 1945, and became the 33rd president on April 12, 1945, on Franklin D. Roosevelt’s death. He served until January 20, 1953.
Did Harry Truman go to college? No. The Truman Library says he enrolled at Spalding’s Commercial College soon after graduating from high school in 1901, took a typing class in the summer and bookkeeping and shorthand in the fall, then quit to help his father’s failing business ventures. Wikipedia describes him as the only president since William McKinley who did not earn a college degree. Truman took night courses at the Kansas City School of Law from 1923 to 1925, and he dropped out after two years.
What did Harry Truman do before the presidency? According to Wikipedia he fought in France as a captain in the Field Artillery in World War I, opened a haberdashery in Kansas City that went bankrupt in the recession of 1921, and was elected a judge of Jackson County in 1922. He was elected to the U.S. Senate from Missouri in 1934 and, between 1940 and 1944, gained national prominence as chairman of the Truman Committee. See also the research on the IQ of historical geniuses, or compare yourself on the same scale with the IQ Metrics test.
By Elora Mercer, Celebrity Research WriterFigures checked by Leon Falkner, Data & Research AnalystReviewed by Aarav Vardhan, Editor-in-Chief · Last reviewed November 2026
Harry S. Truman: the documented record
The estimate above rests on this record. Every entry here is a matter of public fact, which is more than can be said for the number itself.
- 1884Born May 8 in Lamar, Missouri.
- 1901Graduates from Independence High School; takes classes at Spalding’s Commercial College.
- 1922Elected a judge of Jackson County, Missouri.
- 1923–1925Takes night classes at the Kansas City School of Law and leaves after the second year.
- 1934Elected U.S. senator from Missouri.
- 1945Becomes vice president on January 20 and president on April 12.
- 1953Leaves office on January 20.
- 1972Dies December 26 in Kansas City.
- 2001A hoax e-mail credits a “Lovenstein Institute” with IQ scores for presidents, including 132 for Truman.
- 2006Simonton publishes four IQ estimates for 42 presidents in Political Psychology.
Where the 132 figure came from
Following a claim back to its first appearance is the part almost nobody does — and it is what most people are actually asking.
Harry Truman IQ figures come from two places, and only one is scholarly. Dean Keith Simonton’s 2006 paper in Political Psychology, “Presidential IQ, Openness, Intellectual Brilliance, and Leadership: Estimates and Correlations for 42 U.S. Chief Executives,” prints four IQ estimates for Truman in Table 1: 115.5, 124.6, 130.3 and 139.8. Their average is about 127.6. Cox’s 1926 method was applied to only eight presidents, and Truman is not one of them, so his values are reconstructed; the paper says such IQ scores “must therefore be considered more tentative and approximate.” Its scale has a hypothetical mean of 100 and a standard deviation of 16.
Where does the Harry Truman IQ score of 132 come from? From a 2001 e-mail that claimed a “Lovenstein Institute” had ranked presidents by IQ. The text, preserved at hoaxes.org, lists “132 Harry Truman (D)” and says the study was released on July 9, 2001. No test, method or data is given. On the usual scale (mean 100, SD 15) 132 would sit at about the 98th percentile, but it is a number from a hoax. Our ranking of presidents by IQ and the review of world leaders ranked by IQ explain how the list spread.
Was Harry Truman smart? His documented record is a school record, not an IQ test. At the Kansas City School of Law he attended night classes from 1923 to 1925, while serving as a judge, and took fourteen courses, earning three A’s, ten B’s and one C, according to the Truman Library. He dropped out at the end of the second year of a four-year curriculum. Those grades show solid work under pressure, not a score on an IQ scale.
What was Harry Truman’s IQ compared with other presidents? This site’s range, 120–135, sits just below Dwight D. Eisenhower (125–140) and Abraham Lincoln (140–160), and overlaps John F. Kennedy (119–135). Simonton’s averages put Truman at 127.6 and Eisenhower at 131.9. See other political figures we have checked.
How we read a number →Table 1 gives 115.5, 124.6, 130.3 and 139.8 for Truman; states that the IQ scores are tentative and that Cox’s method covered only eight presidents.
Night classes 1923–1925, fourteen courses, three A’s, ten B’s, one C; dropped out after the second year.
Enrolled after high school in 1901; typing, bookkeeping and shorthand; left to help his father.
Dates, offices, haberdashery, judgeship, Senate career and the note that he is the only president since McKinley without a degree.
Prints “132 Harry Truman (D)”; the e-mail names no test and gives a release date of July 9, 2001.
Confirms the identifier Q11613 is the president of the United States from 1945 to 1953.
Photograph in the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery, released under CC0.
No test result appears in the Truman Library pages, Wikipedia’s biography or Simonton’s paper.
The sources behind our estimate
The figures that circulate for Harry S. Truman, what we were able to confirm, and where the two diverge.
A 2001 e-mail credited a “Lovenstein Institute” of Scranton, Pennsylvania, with IQ scores for recent presidents; its list reads “132 Harry Truman (D),” next to 147 for Franklin D. Roosevelt and 122 for Dwight D. Eisenhower.
The e-mail’s text, preserved at hoaxes.org, names no test or data and describes its own authors as publishing a newsletter with a circulation of 5 and running a degree-selling website, which marks it as a spoof. Simonton’s peer-reviewed paper is the only scholarly source, and it prints no single figure for Truman.
Simonton’s average of 127.6 and the hoax’s 132 both fall inside this site’s 120–135 range, but they are not equal evidence: 127.6 is an average of four reconstructed estimates, while 132 is a number from a fabricated e-mail.
Want a number that does hold up? Every figure on this page is somebody’s claim. Take the 30-question test and get a percentile you can check rather than a figure you have to trust.
Harry S. Truman — frequently asked
What was Harry S. Truman’s IQ?
No IQ test result for Harry S. Truman exists. The one scholarly estimate, Dean Keith Simonton’s 2006 paper in Political Psychology, gives four values from 115.5 to 139.8, averaging about 127.6. This site’s inferred range is 120–135 on a scale with mean 100 and SD 15.
What is Harry Truman’s IQ score?
Harry Truman’s IQ score is not documented. The 132 that circulates comes from a 2001 hoax e-mail naming a “Lovenstein Institute,” preserved at hoaxes.org. Simonton’s 2006 paper offers four reconstructed estimates, not one score, and calls such estimates tentative.
Where does Harry Truman’s 132 IQ come from?
The 132 comes from a 2001 e-mail hoax. Its list, preserved at hoaxes.org, reads “132 Harry Truman (D),” with no test, method or data, and says the study was released on July 9, 2001. It should not be treated as a result.
Did Harry Truman go to college?
No. The Truman Library says he took typing, bookkeeping and shorthand at Spalding’s Commercial College in 1901, then left to help his father, and attended the Kansas City School of Law at night from 1923 to 1925 without finishing.
What were Harry Truman’s law-school grades?
Harry Truman took fourteen courses at the Kansas City School of Law from 1923 to 1925 and earned three A’s, ten B’s and one C, according to the Truman Library. He dropped out at the end of the second year of a four-year curriculum.
Did Harry Truman take an IQ test?
No IQ test taken by Harry Truman has been published. Simonton’s 2006 estimates are reconstructed from ratings of other traits, because Catharine Cox’s 1926 childhood-record method was applied to only eight presidents and Truman is not one of them.
How does Harry Truman’s estimated IQ compare with Eisenhower’s?
This site’s estimate for Harry Truman, 120–135, sits just below its 125–140 estimate for Dwight D. Eisenhower. Simonton’s averages, 127.6 for Truman and 131.9 for Eisenhower, point the same way. Both are inferences, not test scores.
How does my IQ compare with Harry S. Truman?
You can find out in about fifteen minutes. The IQ Metrics assessment is 30 questions, scored on the same 100-mean scale used throughout this page, so your result and the estimate above are at least expressed in the same units — one measured, one inferred. Once you have a number, the leaderboard shows where it would sit, and how we score and norm it explains the benchmarking.
Where does this estimate come from?
From the documented record rather than a test — the method is named above and set out in full under how we read a number. Compare it against the other politics profiles, starting with Thomas Jefferson.
- Take the 30-question IQ test — get a measured score and percentile of your own
- Average IQ by country — how the scale behaves across populations
- How IQ Metrics scores its assessment — the method behind our own number
- More on how IQ testing works — reliability, error and what a score can and cannot say
- More politics profiles — same field, same method
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Official White House portrait (May 29, 1959; Eisenhower Presidential Library; Commons file), public domain (U.S. federal government work), cropped. Background removed for the portrait above. · Photograph by Alexander Gardner (8 November 1863), public domain. Background removed for the portrait above. · Photograph by Cecil W. Stoughton, White House, public domain. Background removed for the portrait above.
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