Historical rankings of presidents of the United States

In political studies, surveys have been conducted in order to construct historical rankings of the success of the presidents of the United States. Ranking systems are usually based on surveys of academic historians and political scientists or popular opinion. The rankings focus on presidential achievements, leadership qualities, failures, and faults.[1][2][3]

In the 1920s, sculptor Gutzon Borglum and President Calvin Coolidge selected George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt and Abraham Lincoln to appear on Mount Rushmore—it later became an iconic symbol of presidential greatness.

General findings

Abraham Lincoln, Franklin D. Roosevelt, and George Washington are most often listed as the three highest-rated presidents among historians. The remaining places within the Top 10 are often rounded out by Theodore Roosevelt, Thomas Jefferson, Harry S. Truman, Woodrow Wilson, Dwight D. Eisenhower, Andrew Jackson, and John F. Kennedy. More recent presidents such as Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton are often rated among the greatest in public opinion polls, but do not always rank as highly among presidential scholars and historians. The bottom 10 often include James Buchanan, Warren G. Harding, Andrew Johnson, Franklin Pierce, Millard Fillmore, William Henry Harrison, John Tyler, Zachary Taylor, George W. Bush, and Donald Trump. Because William Henry Harrison (31 days) and James A. Garfield (200 days, incapacitated after 119 days) both died shortly after taking office, they are often omitted from presidential rankings. Furthermore, Zachary Taylor died after serving as president for only 16 months, but he is usually included. In the case of these three, it is not clear whether they received low rankings due to their actions as president or because each was in office for such a limited time that it is not possible to assess them more thoroughly.

Political scientist Walter Dean Burnham noted the "dichotomous or schizoid profiles" of presidents, which can make some hard to classify. Historian Alan Brinkley stated that "there are presidents who could be considered both failures and great or near great (for example, Nixon)". Historian and political scientist James MacGregor Burns observed of Nixon: "How can one evaluate such an idiosyncratic president, so brilliant and so morally lacking?"[4]

Notable scholar surveys

Abraham Lincoln is often considered the greatest president for his leadership during the American Civil War and his eloquence in speeches such as the Gettysburg Address.

James Buchanan is often considered the worst president for his inept leadership during the years leading up to the Civil War.

The 1948 poll was conducted by historian Arthur M. Schlesinger Sr. of Harvard University.[1] The 1962 survey was also conducted by Schlesinger, who surveyed 75 historians.[5] Schlesinger's son, Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr., conducted another poll in 1996.[6]

The Complete Book of U.S. Presidents also gives the results of the 1982 survey, a poll of 49 historians conducted by the Chicago Tribune. A notable difference from the 1962 Schlesinger poll was the ranking of Dwight D. Eisenhower, which rose from 22nd in 1962 to 9th in 1982.

The 1996 column shows the results from a poll conducted from 1988 to 1996 by William J. Ridings Jr. and Stuart B. McIver and published in Rating The Presidents: A Ranking of U.S. Leaders, from the Great and Honorable to the Dishonest and Incompetent.[7] More than 719 people took part in the poll, primarily academic historians and political scientists, although some politicians and celebrities also took part. Participants from every state were included and emphasis was placed upon getting input from female historians and "specialists in African-American studies" as well as a few non-American historians. Poll respondents rated the presidents in five categories (leadership qualities, accomplishments and crisis management, political skill, appointments and character and integrity) and the results were tabulated to create the overall ranking.

A 2000 survey by The Wall Street Journal consisted of an "ideologically balanced group of 132 prominent professors of history, law, and political science". This poll sought to include an equal number of liberals and conservatives in the survey as the editors argued that previous polls were dominated by either one group or the other. According to the editors, this poll included responses from more women, minorities and young professors than the 1996 Schlesinger poll. The editors noted that the results of their poll were "remarkably similar" to the 1996 Schlesinger poll, with the main difference in the 2000 poll being the lower rankings for the 1960s presidents Lyndon B. Johnson and John F. Kennedy and higher ranking of President Ronald Reagan at 8th. Franklin D. Roosevelt still ranked in the top three.

Another presidential poll was conducted by The Wall Street Journal in 2005, with James Lindgren of Northwestern University Law School for the Federalist Society.[8] As in the 2000 survey, the editors sought to balance the opinions of liberals and conservatives, adjusting the results "to give Democratic- and Republican-leaning scholars equal weight". Franklin D. Roosevelt still ranked in the top three, but editor James Taranto noted that Democratic-leaning scholars rated George W. Bush the sixth-worst president of all time while Republican scholars rated him the sixth-best, giving him a split-decision rating of "average".

The Siena College Research Institute of Siena College has conducted surveys in 1982, 1990, 1994, 2002, 2010, and 2018—during the second year of the first term of each president since Ronald Reagan.[9] These surveys collect presidential rankings from historians, political scientists, and presidential scholars in a range of attributes, abilities, and accomplishments.[10] The 1994 survey placed only two presidents, Franklin D. Roosevelt and Abraham Lincoln, above 80 points and two presidents, Andrew Johnson and Warren G. Harding, below 50 points.[11][12]

A 2006 Siena College poll of 744 professors reported the following results:[13]

• "George W. Bush has just finished five years as President. If today were the last day of his presidency, how would you rank him? The responses were: Great: 2%; Near Great: 5%; Average: 11%; Below Average: 24%; Failure: 58%"
• "In your judgment, do you think he has a realistic chance of improving his rating?" Two-thirds (67%) responded no; less than a quarter (23%) responded yes; and 10% chose "no opinion or not applicable"

Thomas Kelly, professor emeritus of American studies at Siena College, said: "President Bush would seem to have small hope for high marks from the current generation of practicing historians and political scientists. In this case, current public opinion polls actually seem to cut the President more slack than the experts do". Douglas Lonnstrom, Siena College professor of statistics and director of the Siena Research Institute, stated: "In our 2002 presidential rating, with a group of experts comparable to this current poll, President Bush ranked 23rd of 42 presidents. That was shortly after 9/11. Clearly, the professors do not think things have gone well for him in the past few years. These are the experts that teach college students today and will write the history of this era tomorrow".[13]

In 2008, The Times daily newspaper of London asked eight of its own "top international and political commentators" to rank all 42 presidents "in order of greatness".[14]

The C-SPAN Survey of Presidential Leadership consists of rankings from a group of presidential historians and biographers. The C-SPAN Survey of Presidential Leadership has taken place three times: in 2000, 2009 and 2017.[15][16][17] The most recent survey was of 91 presidential historians, surveyed by C-SPAN's Academic Advisor Team, made up of Douglas G. Brinkley, Edna Greene Medford and Richard Norton Smith. In the survey, each historian rates each president on a scale of one ("not effective") to 10 ("very effective") on presidential leadership in ten categories: Public Persuasion, Crisis Leadership, Economic Management, Moral Authority, International Relations, Administrative Skills, Relations with Congress, Vision/Setting An Agenda, Pursued Equal Justice for All and Performance Within the Context of His Times—with each category equally weighed.[18] The results of all three C-SPAN surveys have been fairly consistent. Abraham Lincoln has taken the highest ranking in each survey and George Washington, Franklin D. Roosevelt and Theodore Roosevelt have always ranked in the top five while James Buchanan, Andrew Johnson and Franklin Pierce have been ranked at the bottom of all three surveys.[17]

The 2010 Siena poll of 238 presidential scholars found that former president George W. Bush was ranked 39th out of 43, with poor ratings in handling of the economy, communication, ability to compromise, foreign policy accomplishments and intelligence. Meanwhile, the then-current president Barack Obama was ranked 15th out of 43, with high ratings for imagination, communication ability and intelligence and a low rating for background (family, education and experience).[19][20]

In 2011, through the agency of its United States Presidency Centre (USPC), the Institute for the Study of the Americas (located in the University of London's School of Advanced Study) released the first ever United Kingdom academic survey to rate presidents. This polled the opinion of British specialists in American history and politics to assess presidential performance. They also gave an interim assessment of Barack Obama, but his unfinished presidency was not included in the survey. (Had he been included, he would have attained eighth place overall.)[21]

In 2012, Newsweek magazine asked a panel of historians to rank the ten best presidents since 1900. The results showed that historians had ranked Franklin D. Roosevelt, Theodore Roosevelt, Lyndon B. Johnson, Woodrow Wilson, Harry S. Truman, John F. Kennedy, Dwight D. Eisenhower, Bill Clinton, Ronald Reagan and Barack Obama as the best since that year.[22]

A 2013 History News Network poll of 203 American historians, when asked to rate Obama's presidency on an A–F scale, gave him a B- grade. Obama, whom historians graded using 15 separate measures plus an overall grade, was rated most highly in the categories of communication ability, integrity and crisis management; and most poorly for his relationship with Congress, transparency, and accountability.[23]

A 2015 poll administered by the American Political Science Association (APSA) among political scientists specializing in the American presidency had Abraham Lincoln in the top spot, with George Washington, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Theodore Roosevelt, Thomas Jefferson, Harry S. Truman, Dwight D. Eisenhower, Bill Clinton, Andrew Jackson, and Woodrow Wilson making the top 10.[24] APSA conducted a repeat of this poll in 2018, with Donald Trump appearing for the first time, in last position.[25]

The 2018 Siena poll of 157 presidential scholars reported George Washington, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Abraham Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt, and Thomas Jefferson as the top five US presidents, with SCRI director Don Levy stating, "The top five, Mount Rushmore plus FDR, is carved in granite with presidential historians...."[26] Donald Trump—entering the SCRI survey for the first time—joined Andrew Johnson, James Buchanan, Warren G. Harding, and Franklin Pierce among the bottom five US presidents. George W. Bush, whom presidential scholars had rated among the bottom five in the previous 2010 survey, improved to a position in the third quartile.

Scholar survey results

Within each column

Blue backgrounds indicate first quartile.[lower-alpha 1]

Green backgrounds indicate second quartile.

Orange backgrounds indicate third quartile.

Red backgrounds indicate fourth quartile.

Note: click the "sort" icon at the head of each column to view the rankings for each survey in numerical order.

Within each row

Columns are ordered by date of survey. Within each row, the number of presidents ranked by the reported survey generally increases from left to right, making it difficult to directly compare individual rankings, especially when widely separated.

The quartile colour scheme corrects for this effect, but at substantial loss in resolution.

A sudden colour change within a row does not necessarily suggest a revision of historical perspective; this could also be due to a long-term trend toward more valiant or more execrable presidents.

Two presidents that do seem to have experienced a revision in relative ranks are Grover Cleveland and George H. W. Bush, with the former ahead in most rankings before 2009 and the later ahead in most rankings after 2009.

But one must also be careful in this style of comparison because some sources are reported multiple time, such as Siena in 1982, 1990, 1994, 1996, 2002, 2010, and 2018 and so apparent "trends" may predominantly represent a change within a single tradition of evaluation.

No. [lower-alpha 2] [lower-alpha 3]	President	Political party	Schl. 1948[1]	Schl. 1962[5]	M-B 1982	CT 1982	Siena 1982	Siena 1990	Siena 1994	R-McI 1996[7]	Schl. 1996[6]	C-SPAN 2000	WSJ 2000	Siena 2002	WSJ 2005[8]	C-2009[27]	Siena 2010[19][20]	USPC 2011[21]	APSA 2015[24]	C-2017[28]	APSA 2018[25]	Siena 2018[29]	Most frequent quartile
1	George Washington	Independent	02	02	03	02	04	04	04	03	02 (tie)	03	01	04	01	02	04	03	02	02	02	01	1
2	John Adams	Federalist	09	10	09	15	10	14	12	14	11	16	13	12	13	17	17	12	15	19	14	14	2
3	Thomas Jefferson	Democratic-Republican	05	05	04	05	02	03	05	04	04	07	04	05	04	07	05	04	05	07	05	05	1
4	James Madison	Democratic-Republican	14	12	14	17	09	08	09	10	17	18	15	09	17	20	06	14	13	17	12	07	2
5	James Monroe	Democratic-Republican	12	18	15	16	15	11	15	13	15	14	16	08	16	14	07	13	16	13	18	08	2
6	John Quincy Adams	Democratic-Republican	11	13	16	19	17	16	17	18	18	19	20	17	25	19	19	20	22	21	23	18	2
7	Andrew Jackson	Democratic	06	06	07	07	13	09	11	08	05	13	06	13	10	13	14	09	09	18	15	19	1
8	Martin Van Buren	Democratic	15	17	20	18	21	21	22	21	21	30	23	24	27	31	23	27	25	34	27	25	3
9	William Henry Harrison	Whig	–	–	–	–	26	35	28	35	–	37	–	36	–	39	35	–	39	38	42	39	4
10	John Tyler	Independent[30]	22	25	28	28	34	33	34	34	32	36	34	37	35	35	37	37	36	39	37	37	4
11	James K. Polk	Democratic	10	08 (tie)	12	10	12	13	14	11	09	12	10	11	09	12	12	16	19	14	20	12	2
12	Zachary Taylor	Whig	25	24	27	26	29	34	33	29	29	28	31	34	33	29	33	33	33	31	35	30	3
13	Millard Fillmore	Whig	24	26	29	31	32	32	35	36	31	35	35	38	36	37	38	35	37	37	38	38	4
14	Franklin Pierce	Democratic	27	28	31	33	35	36	37	37	33 (tie)	39	37 (tie)	39	38	40	40	39	40	41	41	40	4
15	James Buchanan	Democratic	26	29	33	34	37	38	39	40	38	41	39	41	40	42	42	40	43	43	43	43	4
16	Abraham Lincoln	Republican	01	01	01	01	03	02	02	01	01	01	02	02	02	01	03	02	01	01	01	03	1
17	Andrew Johnson	National Union[31]	19	23	32	30	38	39	40	39	37	40	36	42	37	41	43	36	41	42	40	44	4
18	Ulysses S. Grant	Republican	28	30	35	32	36	37	38	38	33 (tie)	33	32	35	29	23	26	29	28	22	21	24	4
19	Rutherford B. Hayes	Republican	13	14	22	22	22	23	24	25	23	26	22	27	24	33	31	30	30	32	29	32	3
20	James A. Garfield	Republican	–	–	–	–	25	30	26	30	–	29	–	33	–	28	27	–	31	29	34	28	3
21	Chester A. Arthur	Republican	17	21 (tie)	23	24	24	26	27	28	26	32	26	30	26	32	25	32	32	35	31	34	3
22/24	Grover Cleveland	Democratic	08	11	17	13	18	17	19	16	13	17	12	20	12	21	20	21	23	23	24	23	2
23	Benjamin Harrison	Republican	21	20	26	25	31	29	30	31	19	31	27	32	30	30	34	34	29	30	32	35	3
25	William McKinley	Republican	18	15	18	11	19	19	18	17	16	15	14	19	14	16	21	17	21	16	19	20	2
26	Theodore Roosevelt	Republican	07	07	05	04	05	05	03	05	06	04	05	03	05	04	02	05	04	04	04	04	1
27	William Howard Taft	Republican	16	16	19	20	20	20	21	20	22	24	19	21	20	24	24	25	20	24	22	22	2
28	Woodrow Wilson	Democratic	04	04	06	06	06	06	06	06	07	06	11	06	11	09	08	06	10	11	11	11	1
29	Warren G. Harding	Republican	29	31	36	36	39	40	41	41	39	38	37 (tie)	40	39	38	41	38	42	40	39	41	4
30	Calvin Coolidge	Republican	23	27	30	29	30	31	36	33	30	27	25	29	23	26	29	28	27	27	28	31	3
31	Herbert Hoover	Republican	20	19	21	21	27	28	29	24	33 (tie)	34	29	31	31	34	36	26	38	36	36	36	3
32	Franklin D. Roosevelt	Democratic	03	03	02	03	01	01	01	02	02 (tie)	02	03	01	03	03	01	01	03	03	03	02	1
33	Harry S. Truman	Democratic	–	08 (tie)	08	08	07	07	07	07	08	05	07	07	07	05	09	07	06	06	06	09	1
34	Dwight D. Eisenhower	Republican	–	21 (tie)	11	09	11	12	08	09	10	09	09	10	08	08	10	10	07	05	07	06	1
35	John F. Kennedy	Democratic	–	–	13	14	08	10	10	15	12	08	18	14	15	06	11	15	14	08	16	10	2
36	Lyndon B. Johnson	Democratic	–	–	10	12	14	15	13	12	14	10	17	15	18	11	16	11	12	10	10	16	2
37	Richard Nixon	Republican	–	–	34	35	28	25	23	32	36	25	33	26	32	27	30	23	34	28	33	29	3
38	Gerald Ford	Republican	–	–	24	23	23	27	32	27	28	23	28	28	28	22	28	24	24	25	25	27	3
39	Jimmy Carter	Democratic	–	–	25	27	33	24	25	19	27	22	30	25	34	25	32	18	26	26	26	26	3
40[lower-alpha 4]	Ronald Reagan	Republican	–	–	–	–	16	22	20	26	25	11	08	16	06	10	18	08	11	09	09	13	1
41[lower-alpha 4]	George H. W. Bush	Republican	–	–	–	–	–	18	31	22	24	20	21	22	21	18	22	22	17	20	17	21	2
42[lower-alpha 4]	Bill Clinton	Democratic	–	–	–	–	–	–	16	23	20	21	24	18	22	15	13	19	08	15	13	15	2
43[lower-alpha 4]	George W. Bush	Republican	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	23	19	36	39	31	35	33	30	33	3
44[lower-alpha 4]	Barack Obama	Democratic	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	15	–	18	12	08	17	2
45[lower-alpha 4]	Donald Trump	Republican	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	44	42	4
46	Joe Biden	Democratic	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–
Total in survey [lower-alpha 2][lower-alpha 3]			29	31	36	36	39	40	41	41	39	41	39	42	40	42	43	40	43	43	44	44	44

1. Quartiles were determined by splitting the data into an upper and lower half and then splitting these into the first two and last two quartiles, respectively. When splitting an odd number of values, the median was included in the upper half.
2. Note: Grover Cleveland was elected to two non-consecutive terms, serving as both the 22nd and 24th President of the United States; he is the only person to have held the office in non-consecutive terms. Because Cleveland had two presidencies, the number of persons who have served as president is one less than the number of presidents in order of succession.
3. William Henry Harrison and James Garfield are sometimes omitted from rankings of the presidents because of the brevity of their terms in office. In addition to Grover Cleveland's two presidential numbers and tied rankings, this also contributes to the number of ranks assigned by some sources to be deficient of presidential complement of the era.
4. Italics within row indicate rank awarded before president had completed term in office.

Murray–Blessing 1982 survey

The Murray–Blessing 1982 survey asked historians whether they were liberal or conservative on domestic, social and economic issues.[32] The table below shows that the two groups had only small differences in ranking the best and worst presidents. Both groups agreed on the composition of nine of the top ten presidents (and were split over the inclusion of either Lyndon B. Johnson or Dwight D. Eisenhower) and six of the worst seven (split over Jimmy Carter or Calvin Coolidge).

Rankings by liberals and conservatives

Rank	Liberals (n = 190)	Conservatives (n = 50)
1	Abraham Lincoln	Abraham Lincoln
2	Franklin D. Roosevelt	George Washington
3	George Washington	Franklin D. Roosevelt
4	Thomas Jefferson	Thomas Jefferson
5	Theodore Roosevelt	Theodore Roosevelt
6	Woodrow Wilson	Andrew Jackson
7	Andrew Jackson	Harry S. Truman
8	Harry S. Truman	Woodrow Wilson
9	Lyndon B. Johnson	Dwight D. Eisenhower
10	John Adams	John Adams
...	...	...
30	Calvin Coolidge	Jimmy Carter
31	Franklin Pierce	Richard Nixon
32	James Buchanan	Franklin Pierce
33	Andrew Johnson	Andrew Johnson
34	Ulysses S. Grant	James Buchanan
35	Richard Nixon	Ulysses S. Grant
36	Warren G. Harding	Warren G. Harding

Public opinion polls

Rasmussen poll

According to a Rasmussen poll conducted in 2007, six presidents—George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt, Franklin D. Roosevelt and John F. Kennedy—were rated favorably by at least 80% of Americans.[33]

President	Favorable	Unfavorable	Net favorable
George Washington	94	2	92
Abraham Lincoln	92	4	88
Thomas Jefferson	89	4	85
Theodore Roosevelt	84	8	76
Franklin D. Roosevelt	81	12	69
John F. Kennedy	80	13	67
John Adams	74	9	65
James Madison	73	8	65
Ronald Reagan	72	22	50
Dwight D. Eisenhower	72	15	57
Harry S. Truman	70	14	56
Andrew Jackson	69	14	55
Gerald Ford	62	26	36
John Quincy Adams	59	7	52
Ulysses S. Grant	58	24	34
George H. W. Bush	57	41	16
Jimmy Carter	57	34	23
William Howard Taft	57	15	42
Woodrow Wilson	56	19	37
Bill Clinton	55	41	14
James Monroe	49	10	39
Herbert Hoover	48	34	14
Lyndon B. Johnson	45	42	3
Andrew Johnson	45	26	19
Chester A. Arthur	43	17	26
James A. Garfield	42	16	26
William McKinley	42	24	18
George W. Bush	41	59	−18
Grover Cleveland	40	26	14
Calvin Coolidge	38	31	7
Rutherford B. Hayes	38	19	19
Richard Nixon	32	60	−28
Benjamin Harrison	30	35	−5
Warren G. Harding	29	33	−4
James Buchanan	28	32	−4
James K. Polk	27	21	6
Zachary Taylor	26	18	8
Martin Van Buren	23	19	4
William Henry Harrison	21	16	5
Franklin Pierce	17	25	−8
Millard Fillmore	17	25	−8
John Tyler	9	15	−6

Gallup poll

A Gallup poll about presidential greatness taken February 2–5, 2011, asked 1,015 adults in the United States the following question: "Who do you regard as the greatest United States president?"[3]

1. Ronald Reagan (19%)
2. Abraham Lincoln (14%)
3. Bill Clinton (13%)
4. John F. Kennedy (11%)
5. George Washington (10%)
6. Franklin Roosevelt (8%)
7. Barack Obama (5%)
8. Theodore Roosevelt (3%)
9. Harry S. Truman (3%)
10. George W. Bush (2%)
11. Thomas Jefferson (2%)
12. Jimmy Carter (1%)
13. Dwight Eisenhower (1%)
14. George H. W. Bush (1%)
15. Andrew Jackson (<0.5%)
16. Lyndon B. Johnson (<0.5%)
17. Richard Nixon (<0.5%)

In addition, "Other" received 1%, "None" received 1% and "No opinion" received 5%.

Public opinion polls on recent presidents

These polls evaluate recent presidents only.

2010 Gallup poll

A Gallup poll taken on November 19–21, 2010, asked 1,037 Americans to say, based on what they know or remember about the nine most recent former presidents, whether they approve or disapprove of how each handled his job in office.[34]

1. John F. Kennedy (85% approval/10% disapproval)
2. Ronald Reagan (74% approval/24% disapproval)
3. Bill Clinton (69% approval/30% disapproval)
4. George H. W. Bush (64% approval/34% disapproval)
5. Gerald Ford (61% approval/26% disapproval)
6. Jimmy Carter (52% approval/42% disapproval)
7. Lyndon B. Johnson (49% approval/36% disapproval)
8. George W. Bush (47% approval/51% disapproval)
9. Richard Nixon (29% approval/65% disapproval)

Public Policy Polling

A Public Policy Polling poll taken between September 8–11, 2011, asked 665 American voters, based on what they know or remember about the nine then-most recent former presidents, whether they hold favorable or unfavorable views of how each handled his job in office.[35]

1. John F. Kennedy (74% favorability/15% unfavorability)
2. Ronald Reagan (60% favorability/30% unfavorability)
3. Bill Clinton (62% favorability/34% unfavorability)
4. George H. W. Bush (53% favorability/35% unfavorability)
5. Gerald Ford (45% favorability/26% unfavorability)
6. Jimmy Carter (45% favorability/43% unfavorability)
7. Lyndon B. Johnson (36% favorability/39% unfavorability)
8. George W. Bush (41% favorability/51% unfavorability)
9. Richard Nixon (19% favorability/62% unfavorability)

Vision Critical/Angus Reid poll

A Vision Critical/Angus Reid Public Opinion poll taken on February 18–19, 2011, asked 1,010 respondents about 11 former presidents plus the current president and whether each was a good or bad president.[36]

1. John F. Kennedy (80% approval/6% disapproval)
2. Ronald Reagan (72% approval/16% disapproval)
3. Bill Clinton (65% approval/24% disapproval)
4. Dwight D. Eisenhower (61% approval/6% disapproval)
5. Harry S. Truman (57% approval/7% disapproval)
6. Jimmy Carter (47% approval/28% disapproval)
7. George H. W. Bush (44% approval/38% disapproval)
8. Barack Obama (41% approval/33% disapproval)
9. Gerald Ford (37% approval/25% disapproval)
10. Lyndon B. Johnson (33% approval/27% disapproval)
11. George W. Bush (30% approval/55% disapproval)
12. Richard Nixon (24% approval/54% disapproval)

2013 Gallup poll

A Gallup poll taken November 7–10, 2013, asked 1,039 adults in the United States the following question: "How do you think each of the following presidents will go down in history—as an outstanding president, above average, average, below average, or poor?".[37]

Gallup poll 2013

President	Outstanding	Above average	Average	Below average	Poor	No opinion	Weighted average[38]
Dwight D. Eisenhower	10%	39%	36%	2%	1%	12%	3.63
John F. Kennedy	18%	56%	19%	2%	1%	4%	3.92
Lyndon B. Johnson	4%	16%	46%	14%	8%	12%	2.93
Richard Nixon	2%	13%	27%	29%	23%	6%	2.38
Gerald Ford	2%	14%	56%	15%	5%	8%	2.92
Jimmy Carter	4%	19%	37%	20%	15%	6%	2.76
Ronald Reagan	19%	42%	27%	6%	4%	2%	3.67
George H. W. Bush	3%	24%	48%	12%	10%	2%	2.98
Bill Clinton	11%	44%	29%	9%	6%	1%	3.45
George W. Bush	3%	18%	36%	20%	23%	1%	2.58
Barack Obama	6%	22%	31%	18%	22%	1%	2.72

2014 Quinnipiac poll

A Quinnipiac University poll taken June 24–30, 2014, asked 1,446 registered voters in the United States who they thought were the best and worst presidents since World War II.[39]

Best President since World War II:

1. Ronald Reagan (35%)
2. Bill Clinton (18%)
3. John F. Kennedy (15%)
4. Barack Obama (8%)
5. Dwight Eisenhower (5%)
6. Harry S. Truman (4%)
7. Lyndon B. Johnson (tie) (3%)
7. George H. W. Bush (tie) (3%)
9. Jimmy Carter (2%)
10. Richard Nixon (tie) (1%)
10. Gerald Ford (tie) (1%)
10. George W. Bush (tie) (1%)

Worst President since World War II:

1. Barack Obama (33%)
2. George W. Bush (28%)
3. Richard Nixon (13%)
4. Jimmy Carter (8%)
5. Lyndon B. Johnson (tie) (3%)
5. Ronald Reagan (tie) (3%)
5. Bill Clinton (tie) (3%)
8. Gerald Ford (tie) (2%)
8. George H. W. Bush (tie) (2%)
10. Dwight Eisenhower (1%)
11. Harry S. Truman (tie) (<1%)
11. John F. Kennedy (tie) (<1%)

2017 Quinnipiac poll

Four years later, a Quinnipiac University poll taken January 20–25, 2017, asked 1,190 voters in the United States who they thought were the best and worst presidents since World War II.[40]

Best President since World War II:

1. Ronald Reagan (30%)
2. Barack Obama (29%)
3. John F. Kennedy (12%)
4. Bill Clinton (9%)
5. Dwight Eisenhower (tie) (3%)
5. George W. Bush (tie) (3%)
7. Harry S. Truman (tie) (2%)
7. Lyndon B. Johnson (tie) (2%)
7. Jimmy Carter (tie) (2%)
7. George H. W. Bush (tie) (2%)
11. Richard Nixon (tie) (<1%)
11. Gerald R. Ford (tie) (<1%)

Worst President since World War II:

1. Richard Nixon (24%)
2. Barack Obama (23%)
3. George W. Bush (22%)
4. Jimmy Carter (10%)
5. Ronald Reagan (5%)
6. Bill Clinton (4%)
7. Lyndon B. Johnson (3%)
8. George H. W. Bush (2%)
9. Gerald R. Ford (1%)
10. Harry S. Truman (tie) (<1%)
10. Dwight Eisenhower (tie) (<1%)
10. John F. Kennedy (tie) (<1%)

2017 Morning Consult poll

Including for the first time President Donald Trump, a Morning Consult poll taken February 9–10, 2017, asked 1,791 registered voters in the United States, who they thought were the best and worst presidents since World War II.[41][42]

Best President since World War II:

1. Ronald Reagan (26%)
2. Barack Obama (20%)
3. John F. Kennedy (17%)
4. Bill Clinton (9%)
5. Donald Trump (6%)
6. George W. Bush (tie) (2%)
6. Harry S. Truman (tie) (2%)
6. Jimmy Carter (tie) (2%)
6. George H. W. Bush (tie) (2%)
10. Richard Nixon (tie) (1%)
10. Lyndon B. Johnson (tie) (1%)
12. Gerald R. Ford (<1%)

Worst President since World War II:

1. Donald Trump (26%)
2. Barack Obama (25%)
3. Richard Nixon (13%)
4. George W. Bush (7%)
5. Bill Clinton (6%)
6. Jimmy Carter (5%)
7. George H. W. Bush (3%)
8. Lyndon B. Johnson (2%)
9. Ronald Reagan (tie) (1%)
9. Gerald R. Ford (tie) (1%)
9. Dwight D. Eisenhower (tie) (1%)
9. Harry S. Truman (tie) (1%)
13. John F. Kennedy (<1%)

2018 Quinnipiac poll

A Quinnipiac University poll taken March 3–5, 2018, asked 1,122 voters in the United States who they thought were the best and worst presidents since World War II.[43]

Best President since World War II:

1. Ronald Reagan (28%)
2. Barack Obama (24%)
3. John F. Kennedy (tie) (10%)
3. Bill Clinton (tie) (10%)
5. Donald Trump (7%)
6. Dwight Eisenhower (4%)
7. Harry S. Truman (tie) (3%)
7. Jimmy Carter (tie) (3%)
9. Lyndon B. Johnson (2%)
10. George H. W. Bush (tie) (1%)
10. Richard Nixon (tie) (1%)
10. George W. Bush (tie) (1%)
13. Gerald R. Ford (<1%)

Worst President since World War II:

1. Donald Trump (41%)
2. Barack Obama (21%)
3. Richard Nixon (10%)
4. Jimmy Carter (8%)
5. George W. Bush (6%)
6. Bill Clinton (4%)
7. Lyndon B. Johnson (tie) (2%)
7. Ronald Reagan (tie) (2%)
9. Gerald R. Ford (1%)
10. Harry S. Truman (tie) (<1%)
10. Dwight Eisenhower (tie) (<1%)
10. John F. Kennedy (tie) (<1%)
10. George H. W. Bush (tie) (<1%)

2021 Gallup poll

A Gallup poll taken January 4–15, 2021, asked 1,023 adults in the United States the following question: "How do you think each of the following presidents will go down in history—as an outstanding president, above average, average, below average, or poor?"[44]

Gallup poll 2021

President	Outstanding	Above average	Average	Below average	Poor
John F. Kennedy	23%	47%	25%	2%	1%
Richard Nixon	4%	7%	26%	29%	30%
Jimmy Carter	6%	21%	43%	14%	10%
Ronald Reagan	17%	35%	30%	10%	6%
George H. W. Bush	7%	21%	53%	11%	6%
Bill Clinton	10%	26%	37%	16%	11%
George W. Bush	6%	18%	49%	16%	10%
Barack Obama	21%	35%	22%	11%	12%
Donald Trump	9%	20%	10%	14%	47%

Siena College Research Institute, Presidential Expert Poll of 2010

Abbreviations

Bg = Background

PL = Party leadership

CAb = Communication ability

RC = Relations with Congress

CAp = Court appointments

HE = Handling of economy

L = Luck

AC = Ability to compromise

WR = Willing to take risks

EAp = Executive appointments

OA = Overall ability

Im = Imagination

DA = Domestic accomplishments

Int = Integrity

EAb = Executive ability

FPA = Foreign policy accomplishments

LA = Leadership ability

IQ = Intelligence

AM = Avoid crucial mistakes

EV = Experts' view

O = Overall

Blue backgrounds indicate first quartile.

Green backgrounds indicate second quartile.

Orange backgrounds indicate third quartile.

Red backgrounds indicate fourth quartile.

Source:[45]

Seq.	President	Political party	Bg	PL	CAb	RC	CAp	HE	L	AC	WR	EAp	OA	Im	DA	Int	EAb	FPA	LA	IQ	AM	EV	O
1	George Washington	Independent	7	18	12	3	3	4	1	3	4	1	4	9	4	2	2	3	1	12	1	3	4
2	John Adams	Federalist	4	29	18	26	10	13	23	32	16	15	13	17	22	3	19	12	20	7	15	12	17
3	Thomas Jefferson	Democratic-Republican	1	4	6	4	6	16	6	11	8	5	5	3	6	14	5	7	6	1	6	5	5
4	James Madison	Democratic-Republican	3	10	11	9	7	12	17	7	15	9	6	8	12	5	14	20	17	2	10	8	6
5	James Monroe	Democratic-Republican	9	12	15	8	14	9	9	8	17	8	16	16	8	10	11	2	13	15	7	9	7
6	John Quincy Adams	Democratic-Republican	2	34	20	35	16	14	30	29	23	13	15	11	18	4	21	16	26	5	20	21	19
7	Andrew Jackson	Democratic	30	2	10	14	27	28	4	38	5	19	12	13	14	23	6	19	5	23	12	13	14
8	Martin Van Buren	Democratic	16	13	23	19	24	38	33	13	32	25	24	24	27	29	23	25	27	22	27	24	23
9	William Henry Harrison	Whig	24	30	25	31	33	27	42	35	30	24	37	35	36	30	33	39	24	31	33	34	35
10	John Tyler	Independent[30]	33	42	39	42	39	31	22	39	26	34	35	29	34	33	37	35	36	33	32	36	37
11	James K. Polk	Democratic	17	9	13	12	21	15	7	23	7	16	17	14	11	24	9	8	10	20	9	11	12
12	Zachary Taylor	Whig	37	35	28	37	37	24	36	34	28	28	34	27	37	21	31	34	25	37	25	33	33
13	Millard Fillmore	Whig	40	41	40	38	35	33	25	25	37	35	38	36	35	36	38	33	39	39	30	35	38
14	Franklin Pierce	Democratic	38	37	37	41	40	34	35	36	38	38	39	39	39	38	40	40	40	38	35	40	40
15	James Buchanan	Democratic	23	40	41	40	42	41	40	41	43	39	42	42	43	40	42	41	43	40	41	43	42
16	Abraham Lincoln	Republican	28	6	2	6	4	5	13	1	2	2	1	2	1	1	1	5	2	3	2	1	3
17	Andrew Johnson	National Union[31]	42	43	43	43	43	37	39	43	34	42	41	41	42	37	41	38	42	41	42	42	43
18	Ulysses S. Grant	Republican	26	28	24	22	25	29	21	22	22	40	28	26	26	27	34	24	21	29	31	31	26
19	Rutherford B. Hayes	Republican	29	33	30	29	29	26	19	18	33	33	33	32	33	28	30	30	32	30	24	29	31
20	James A. Garfield	Republican	20	22	22	24	32	23	41	27	31	29	25	28	25	25	26	31	23	26	22	27	27
21	Chester A. Arthur	Republican	41	31	32	27	28	19	14	21	27	26	30	25	20	32	27	26	28	32	17	26	25
22/24	Grover Cleveland	Democratic	19	16	17	15	17	22	20	19	24	18	20	22	17	19	17	21	19	25	14	19	20
23	Benjamin Harrison	Republican	39	32	34	28	30	35	29	30	39	36	36	34	32	31	35	28	34	35	23	32	34
25	William McKinley	Republican	21	14	19	11	23	18	24	20	21	20	21	23	19	22	18	15	18	27	11	20	21
26	Theodore Roosevelt	Republican	6	7	3	5	1	2	2	12	1	4	3	1	2	6	4	4	4	6	3	4	2
27	William Howard Taft	Republican	14	36	29	30	18	20	32	24	36	22	23	30	21	18	25	23	31	18	28	23	24
28	Woodrow Wilson	Democratic	8	8	9	16	8	8	15	37	9	10	8	5	9	11	10	10	12	4	29	10	8
29	Warren G. Harding	Republican	43	38	36	34	36	39	37	26	40	43	43	43	40	42	43	37	41	43	39	41	41
30	Calvin Coolidge	Republican	25	24	38	21	26	30	12	28	41	30	32	37	31	17	28	32	33	28	19	28	29
31	Herbert Hoover	Republican	10	26	31	33	19	43	43	40	42	32	26	38	41	13	29	36	37	14	40	38	36
32	Franklin D. Roosevelt	Democratic	5	1	1	2	2	1	5	2	3	3	2	4	3	16	3	1	3	10	4	2	1
33	Harry S. Truman	Democratic	35	15	14	20	15	6	11	15	6	7	7	15	7	8	8	6	9	17	8	6	9
34	Dwight D. Eisenhower	Republican	12	17	21	10	9	11	8	5	20	17	11	20	13	9	7	9	7	19	5	7	10
35	John F. Kennedy	Democratic	13	19	4	13	12	7	27	6	10	6	14	7	15	35	13	17	11	11	16	14	11
36	Lyndon B. Johnson	Democratic	15	3	16	1	5	10	28	9	12	12	9	12	5	34	12	43	15	21	37	16	16
37	Richard Nixon	Republican	18	20	26	36	38	25	34	33	14	37	22	19	24	43	24	11	29	16	43	37	30
38	Gerald Ford	Republican	27	25	35	17	22	36	31	17	35	23	31	33	30	15	32	27	30	34	26	25	28
39	Jimmy Carter	Democratic	31	39	27	39	20	40	38	31	25	21	29	21	29	7	36	29	35	13	36	30	32
40	Ronald Reagan	Republican	34	5	5	7	31	21	3	14	11	31	19	18	23	26	20	13	8	36	13	17	18
41	George H. W. Bush	Republican	11	27	33	23	34	32	26	16	29	27	27	31	28	20	22	14	22	24	18	22	22
42	Bill Clinton	Democratic	22	11	8	25	11	3	10	4	18	11	10	10	10	41	15	18	14	9	34	15	13
43	George W. Bush	Republican	36	23	42	32	41	42	18	42	19	41	40	40	38	39	39	42	38	42	38	39	39
44	Barack Obama	Democratic	32	21	7	18	13	17	16	10	13	14	18	6	16	12	16	22	16	8	21	18	15
Seq.	President	Political party	Bg	PL	CAb	RC	CAp	HE	L	AC	WR	EAp	OA	Im	DA	Int	EAb	FPA	LA	IQ	AM	EV	O

2017 C-SPAN Presidential Historian Survey

Abbreviations

PP = Public persuasion

CL = Crisis leadership

EM = Economic management

MA = Moral authority

IR = International relations

AS = Administrative skills

RC = Relations with Congress

VSA = Vision/Setting an agenda

PEJ = Pursued equal justice for all

PCT = Performance within context of times

O = Overall

Blue backgrounds indicate first quartile.

Green backgrounds indicate second quartile.

Orange backgrounds indicate third quartile.

Red backgrounds indicate fourth quartile.

Source:[46]

Seq.	President	Political party	PP	CL	EM	MA	IR	AS	RC	VSA	PEJ	PCT	O
1	George Washington	Independent	4	2	1	1	2	2	2	2	13	1	2
2	John Adams	Federalist	22	17	15	11	13	21	24	20	15	19	19
3	Thomas Jefferson	Democratic-Republican	8	13	13	6	11	7	5	5	17	6	7
4	James Madison	Democratic-Republican	18	19	19	9	22	17	13	18	18	16	17
5	James Monroe	Democratic-Republican	17	14	18	16	7	11	9	14	25	11	13
6	John Quincy Adams	Democratic-Republican	33	23	17	12	15	18	32	15	9	22	21
7	Andrew Jackson	Democratic	7	10	26	20	20	23	21	10	38	13	18
8	Martin Van Buren	Democratic	30	35	40	33	26	26	28	33	30	33	34
9	William Henry Harrison	Whig	28	38	38	31	42	40	38	36	37	38	38
10	John Tyler	Independent[30]	39	36	39	37	28	38	41	37	41	36	39
11	James K. Polk	Democratic	13	9	14	27	16	9	11	11	36	12	14
12	Zachary Taylor	Whig	27	28	28	28	30	35	35	30	34	30	31
13	Millard Fillmore	Whig	40	34	34	36	34	36	36	39	39	37	37
14	Franklin Pierce	Democratic	41	41	41	39	40	39	40	41	42	41	41
15	James Buchanan	Democratic	43	43	42	43	43	41	42	43	43	43	43
16	Abraham Lincoln	Republican	3	1	2	2	3	1	4	1	1	2	1
17	Andrew Johnson	National Union[31]	42	42	37	41	39	43	43	42	40	42	42
18	Ulysses S. Grant	Republican	19	21	27	19	19	37	20	23	10	21	22
19	Rutherford B. Hayes	Republican	29	30	25	32	33	29	30	32	32	28	32
20	James A. Garfield	Republican	21	31	29	22	36	32	27	25	20	27	29
21	Chester A. Arthur	Republican	37	32	31	35	35	28	29	34	27	32	35
22/24	Grover Cleveland	Democratic	20	22	24	26	23	22	22	21	31	23	23
23	Benjamin Harrison	Republican	32	33	32	30	27	30	26	31	24	31	30
25	William McKinley	Republican	16	16	11	18	17	13	10	17	26	18	16
26	Theodore Roosevelt	Republican	2	5	4	5	4	4	7	4	11	4	4
27	William Howard Taft	Republican	31	26	20	25	21	12	23	28	22	24	24
28	Woodrow Wilson	Democratic	11	11	9	8	12	8	16	7	35	10	11
29	Warren G. Harding	Republican	36	39	35	40	37	42	34	40	33	40	40
30	Calvin Coolidge	Republican	24	29	22	21	29	25	18	29	29	26	27
31	Herbert Hoover	Republican	38	40	43	29	31	14	31	38	28	39	36
32	Franklin D. Roosevelt	Democratic	1	3	5	3	1	3	3	3	8	3	3
33	Harry S. Truman	Democratic	14	4	10	10	5	10	14	13	4	5	6
34	Dwight D. Eisenhower	Republican	12	6	6	4	6	5	6	16	12	7	5
35	John F. Kennedy	Democratic	6	7	7	15	14	16	12	9	7	9	8
36	Lyndon B. Johnson	Democratic	15	20	12	24	38	6	1	8	2	14	10
37	Richard Nixon	Republican	26	27	23	42	10	24	37	24	21	34	28
38	Gerald Ford	Republican	34	24	30	23	25	27	19	35	14	25	25
39	Jimmy Carter	Democratic	35	37	33	14	32	31	33	22	5	29	26
40	Ronald Reagan	Republican	5	8	16	13	9	33	8	6	23	8	9
41	George H. W. Bush	Republican	23	12	21	17	8	16	15	27	16	20	20
42	Bill Clinton	Democratic	9	18	3	38	18	20	17	19	6	17	15
43	George W. Bush	Republican	25	25	36	34	41	34	25	26	19	35	33
44	Barack Obama	Democratic	10	15	8	7	24	19	39	12	3	15	12
Seq.	President	Political party	PP	CL	EM	MA	IR	AS	RC	VSA	PEJ	PCT	O

Siena College Research Institute, Presidential Expert Poll of 2018

On February 13, 2019, Siena released its 6th presidential poll.[47]

The poll was initiated in 1982 and occurs one year into the term of each new president. It is currently a survey of 157 presidential scholars, across a range of leadership parameters.

The ranking gave the top five spots to George Washington, Franklin Roosevelt (FDR), Abraham Lincoln, Theodore (Teddy) Roosevelt and Thomas Jefferson. This top five, described as Mount Rushmore plus FDR, was consistent with prior surveys. Washington had been ranked fourth in all previous surveys, and FDR first.

Abbreviations

Bg = Background

Im = Imagination

Int = Integrity

IQ = Intelligence

L = Luck

WR = Willing to take risks

AC = Ability to compromise

EAb = Executive ability

LA = Leadership ability

CAb = Communication ability

OA = Overall ability

PL = Party leadership

RC = Relations with Congress

CAp = Court appointments

HE = Handling of economy

EAp = Executive appointments

DA = Domestic accomplishments

FPA = Foreign policy accomplishments

AM = Avoid crucial mistakes

EV = Experts' view

O = Overall

Blue backgrounds indicate first quartile.

Green backgrounds indicate second quartile.

Orange backgrounds indicate third quartile.

Red backgrounds indicate fourth quartile.

Seq.	President	Political party	Bg	Im	Int	IQ	L	WR	AC	EAb	LA	CAb	OA	PL	RC	CAp	HE	EAp	DA	FPA	AM	EV	O
1	George Washington	Independent	7	7	1	10	1	6	2	2	1	11	2	18	1	1	1	1	2	2	1	2	1
2	John Adams	Federalist	3	13	4	4	24	14	31	21	21	13	8	28	17	4	13	15	19	13	16	10	14
3	Thomas Jefferson	Democratic-Republican	2	2	14	1	8	5	14	6	6	4	4	5	5	7	20	4	6	9	7	5	5
4	James Madison	Democratic-Republican	4	6	7	3	16	15	6	13	17	10	6	9	10	6	14	7	11	19	11	8	7
5	James Monroe	Democratic-Republican	9	14	11	18	6	16	7	10	12	15	17	12	8	11	9	9	10	5	6	9	8
6	John Quincy Adams	Democratic-Republican	1	9	6	5	29	19	24	22	23	12	16	29	29	15	17	18	21	15	14	18	18
7	Andrew Jackson	Democratic	37	15	29	28	4	4	38	11	9	18	19	6	16	30	25	25	17	23	20	19	19
8	Martin Van Buren	Democratic	23	22	27	25	34	28	20	28	27	25	27	16	23	25	31	26	29	27	24	28	25
9	William Henry Harrison	Whig	22	38	28	37	44	32	41	38	29	31	37	36	37	42	41	40	42	44	37	39	39
10	John Tyler	Independent[30]	34	33	35	34	22	26	37	36	37	34	36	41	40	38	34	36	36	26	32	36	37
11	James K. Polk	Democratic	19	10	23	23	9	7	18	7	11	16	12	10	11	22	15	16	12	8	8	13	12
12	Zachary Taylor	Whig	30	26	22	32	37	24	26	26	25	32	32	35	32	37	27	33	27	30	26	30	30
13	Millard Fillmore	Whig	40	37	36	38	35	38	32	37	39	40	39	40	39	39	37	37	37	37	33	37	38
14	Franklin Pierce	Democratic	38	39	38	40	39	38	39	39	40	41	40	39	38	41	40	39	41	39	38	40	40
15	James Buchanan	Democratic	36	43	40	39	42	41	40	42	44	42	43	42	41	43	42	43	44	43	44	44	43
16	Abraham Lincoln	Republican	28	1	2	2	18	1	1	1	2	1	1	2	4	3	4	2	1	6	2	1	3
17	Andrew Johnson	Democratic[31]	42	42	41	42	40	34	43	43	43	44	42	44	43	44	43	42	43	41	43	43	44
18	Ulysses S. Grant	Republican	20	24	25	24	26	18	17	27	18	26	26	24	19	24	26	38	24	24	31	24	24
19	Rutherford B. Hayes	Republican	35	30	32	29	23	35	23	33	33	30	31	33	30	27	22	30	35	31	28	29	32
20	James A. Garfield	Republican	22	25	21	20	41	30	25	25	24	23	24	27	26	34	29	27	34	34	27	25	28
21	Chester A. Arthur	Republican	41	31	37	36	17	33	22	30	34	36	35	34	33	33	30	31	25	32	23	31	34
22/24	Grover Cleveland	Democratic	26	23	26	27	19	27	22	19	20	19	22	20	27	20	21	23	23	21	15	22	23
23	Benjamin Harrison	Republican	33	34	30	35	28	36	33	35	35	35	34	31	28	35	32	34	32	29	29	33	35
25	William McKinley	Republican	29	20	20	26	32	22	21	17	19	22	20	11	12	23	16	17	20	14	13	20	20
26	Theodore Roosevelt	Republican	5	4	8	6	2	2	15	4	4	5	5	7	7	9	3	5	4	3	5	4	4
27	William Howard Taft	Republican	12	28	12	14	27	31	19	23	26	21	23	30	21	16	19	21	18	22	19	23	22
28	Woodrow Wilson	Democratic	8	8	19	7	14	11	35	14	14	7	14	8	14	13	11	14	14	11	25	15	11
29	Warren G. Harding	Republican	39	41	42	43	33	40	34	40	41	39	41	38	35	36	35	41	38	36	39	41	41
30	Calvin Coolidge	Republican	32	36	17	33	13	39	27	32	38	37	33	26	24	31	24	32	33	35	22	32	31
31	Herbert Hoover	Republican	13	35	15	13	43	37	36	29	36	29	29	32	33	26	44	35	39	33	40	35	36
32	Franklin D. Roosevelt	Democratic	6	3	16	12	5	3	4	3	3	2	3	1	3	2	2	3	3	1	4	3	2
33	Harry S. Truman	Democratic	31	16	9	21	12	8	12	8	10	14	10	14	15	17	8	10	7	4	9	7	9
34	Dwight D. Eisenhower	Republican	11	18	5	17	7	21	5	5	5	20	7	15	9	5	6	11	8	7	3	6	6
35	John F. Kennedy	Democratic	14	5	31	11	31	9	8	12	8	3	11	17	13	12	7	6	15	17	18	12	10
36	Lyndon B. Johnson	Democratic	15	11	34	22	25	10	9	9	13	17	9	3	2	8	12	8	5	40	35	17	16
37	Richard Nixon	Republican	16	21	43	16	36	12	30	24	28	27	25	22	34	32	23	28	22	16	42	38	29
38	Gerald Ford	Republican	18	32	10	30	30	29	11	31	30	33	30	25	25	21	33	24	31	28	21	27	27
39	Jimmy Carter	Democratic	25	19	3	15	38	27	29	32	32	24	28	37	36	19	38	22	28	25	34	26	26
40	Ronald Reagan	Republican	27	17	24	31	3	13	10	15	7	6	18	4	6	18	18	20	16	12	12	16	13
41	George H. W. Bush	Republican	10	27	18	19	20	27	13	20	22	28	21	21	20	29	28	19	26	10	17	21	21
42	Bill Clinton	Democratic	21	12	39	8	11	17	3	16	15	8	13	13	18	10	5	12	9	18	30	14	15
43	George W. Bush	Republican	17	29	33	41	21	20	28	34	31	38	38	19	22	28	36	29	30	38	36	34	33
44	Barack Obama	Democratic	24	11	13	9	15	23	16	18	16	9	15	23	31	14	10	13	13	20	10	11	17
45	Donald Trump	Republican	43	40	44	44	10	25	42	41	42	43	44	43	42	40	39	44	40	42	41	42	42
Seq.	President	Political party	Bg	Im	Int	IQ	L	WR	AC	EAb	LA	CAb	OA	PL	RC	CAp	HE	EAp	DA	FPA	AM	EV	O

Memorability of the presidents

In November 2014, Henry L. Roediger III and K. Andrew DeSoto published a study in the journal Science asking research subjects to name as many presidents as possible.[48][49] They reported data from three generations as well as from an online survey conducted in 2014. The percentage of participants in the online survey sample who could name each president was the following:

1. Barack Obama (100%)
2. Bill Clinton (96%)
3. George W. Bush or George H. W. Bush (95%)
4. George Washington (94%)
5. Abraham Lincoln (88%)
6. John F. Kennedy (83%)
7. Richard Nixon (82%)
8. Jimmy Carter (79%)
9. Thomas Jefferson (72%)
10. Ronald Reagan (66%)
11. Gerald Ford (62%)
12. Franklin D. Roosevelt or Theodore Roosevelt (60%)
13. John Adams or John Quincy Adams (56%)
14. Dwight D. Eisenhower (54%)
15. Harry S. Truman (50%)
16. Andrew Jackson (47%)
17. Herbert Hoover (42%)
18. Andrew Johnson or Lyndon B. Johnson (41%)
19. William Howard Taft (39%)
20. James Madison (38%)
21. Ulysses S. Grant (38%)
22. James Monroe (30%)
23. Woodrow Wilson (29%)
24. Calvin Coolidge (22%)
25. James A. Garfield (19%)
26. James K. Polk (17%)
27. Warren G. Harding (16%)
28. William McKinley (15%)
29. John Tyler (12%)
30. James Buchanan (12%)
31. Grover Cleveland (11%)
32. William Henry Harrison or Benjamin Harrison (11%)
33. Martin Van Buren (11%)
34. Rutherford B. Hayes (10%)
35. Zachary Taylor (10%)
36. Millard Fillmore (8%)
37. Franklin Pierce (7%)
38. Chester A. Arthur (7%)

Criticism and alternatives

David H. Donald, noted biographer of Abraham Lincoln, relates that when he met John F. Kennedy in 1961, Kennedy voiced his deep dissatisfaction and resentment with historians who had rated some of his predecessors. Kennedy remarked, "No one has a right to grade a president—even poor James Buchanan—who has not sat in his chair, examined the mail and information that came across his desk, and learned why he made his decisions".[50] Historian and political scientist Julian E. Zelizer has argued that traditional presidential rankings explain little concerning actual presidential history and that they are "weak mechanisms for evaluating what has taken place in the White House".[51]

The broadly static nature of the rankings over multiple decades has also been called into question, particularly given the frequent nature of previously unknown material about American government becoming exposed.[52]

Alvin S. Felzenberg's The Leaders We Deserved

Felzenberg lauds the Reagan administration, considering the statesman to be one of America's three greatest leaders in contrast to the middling status assigned by multiple surveys of historians.

Alvin S. Felzenberg, a professor at both the Elliot School of International Affairs within George Washington University and the Annenberg School for Communication within the University of Pennsylvania, authored the 2008 book The Leaders We Deserved (and a Few We Didn't) in an attempt to revise the understanding of presidential rankings.[53][52] Felzenberg's broad motivation for the book came from his interest in American presidents and his intent "not to fix their reputations in concrete, but to provoke discussion."[52]

Looking back at past discussions over the various ranking methodologies the author argues that the academic process has fallen victim to certain negative trends, and he stresses that the analysis must not only attempt to evaluate individuals based on broad assessments of their performance but on a composite approach looking at different leadership categories. These, in Felzenberg's opinion, should include looking at diverse factors from the performance of the U.S. economy due to presidential actions to leaders' behaviors in advancing the causes of individual liberty to intellectual competence in the administrations managed by the presidents and more.[54][52]

In his study of American history, the author finds fault with conventional wisdom in certain areas and agrees with it in others.[54][52] Notably, Felzenberg's assessment of Abraham Lincoln as America's greatest president is followed closely by that of George Washington as its second greatest while both Ronald Reagan and Theodore Roosevelt tie for third place. Dwight D. Eisenhower falls into fifth place.[52]

Racial equality assessments

In 2002, Ron Walters, former director of the University of Maryland's African American Leadership Institute, stated that presidents ranked by how each one balanced the interests of the majority and those of excluded groups was practical in respect to American debate on racial politics. Presidents have traditionally been ranked on personal qualities and their leadership ability to solve problems that move the nation in a positive direction. Walters stated there was a qualitative difference between white and African-American intellectuals in evaluating presidents. In the 1996 New York Times poll by Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr., 31 white historians and one black historian ranked presidents on differing categories of greatness. In a survey done by professors Hanes Walton Jr. and Robert Smith and in their text book American Politics And The African American Quest For Universal Freedom, 44 African-American political scientists and historians ranked presidents in terms of racial attitudes and racial legislation proposed.[55] Individual presidents' attitudes, policies and perspectives were historically ranked in five categories: White Supremacist; Racist; Racially Neutral; Racially Ambivalent; Antiracist.[56]

Northwestern Presidential Leadership on Diversity and Inclusion Survey (2019)

In May 2019, Dr. Alvin Tillery of the Center for the Study of Diversity and Democracy at Northwestern University and Dr. Christina Greer of Fordham University "conducted a poll of 113 academic researchers and asked them to rate the 14 modern presidents on both their overall leadership and rhetoric on diversity and inclusion using a scale ranging from 0 to 100."[57] Survey respondents were significantly more liberal than the national average, "with only 13 percent of the respondents describing themselves as either moderate, slightly conservative, or conservative." However, "similar patterns of ratings [were stated to be found] across the ideological spectrum".[57]

Rank	Overall (performance + diversity and inclusion score)	Diversity and inclusion leadership score only
1	Franklin D. Roosevelt (83/100)	Barack Obama (75/100)
2	Barack Obama (77/100)	Bill Clinton (54/100)
3	Lyndon B. Johnson (69/100)	Jimmy Carter (43/100)
4	Bill Clinton (62/100)	George W. Bush (41/100)
5	John F. Kennedy (61/100)	Lyndon B. Johnson (40/100)
6	Harry S. Truman (57/100)	George H. W. Bush (34/100)
7	Dwight D. Eisenhower (54.4/100)	Franklin D. Roosevelt (31/100)
8	Ronald Reagan (54.1/100)	Gerald Ford (30/100)
9	Jimmy Carter (50/100)	John F. Kennedy (28.4/100)
10	George H. W. Bush (49/100)	Harry S. Truman (28/100)
11	Gerald Ford (39/100)	Ronald Reagan (27.8/100)
12	George W. Bush (38/100)	Dwight D. Eisenhower (26/100)
13	Richard Nixon (32/100)	Richard Nixon (24/100)
14	Donald Trump (11/100)	Donald Trump (9/100)

See also

• Historical rankings of chancellors of Germany
• Historical rankings of prime ministers of Australia
• Historical rankings of prime ministers of Canada
• Historical rankings of prime ministers of the Netherlands
• Historical rankings of prime ministers of the United Kingdom

Footnotes

References

1. Maranell, Gary M. (June 1970). "The Evaluation of Presidents: An Extension of the Schlesinger Polls". The Journal of American History. 57 (1): 104–113. doi:10.2307/1900552. JSTOR 1900552. S2CID 154631219.
2. William J. Ridings Jr. and Stuart B. McIver. Rating the Presidents: A Ranking of U.S. leaders, from the Great and Honorable to the Dishonest and Incompetent. 2000. ISBN 0806521511.
3. "Americans Say Reagan Is the Greatest U.S. President". Gallup.com. Retrieved March 16, 2012.
4. Skidmore. 2001.
5. Schlesinger, Arthur M. "Our Presidents: A Rating by 75 Historians". The New York Times. July 1962. pp. 12–13, 40–41, 43.
6. "Rating the Presidents: Washington to Clinton". Retrieved March 25, 2010.
7. Rating the Presidents: A Ranking of U.S. leaders, from the Great and Honorable to the Dishonest and Incompetent. 2000. ISBN 0806521511.
8. "Presidential Leadership; The Rankings". Wall Street Journal Online. September 12, 2005. Archived from the original on February 7, 2006.
9. "About the Presidents Study". Retrieved September 24, 2019.
10. "Siena's 6th Presidential Expert Poll 1982 – 2018". Retrieved September 24, 2019.
11. "Historians Give Good Grades to Clinton Presidency in Siena College Survey". January 11, 1995. Archived June 28, 2006.
12. "FDR America's Greatest President". August 19, 2002. Archived February 10, 2007.
13. "Experts: Bush Presidency Is A Failure; Little Chance To Improve Ranking". Archived May 27, 2008, at the Wayback Machine. Siena Research Institute. May 1, 2006.
14. Griffin, Jeremy; Hines, Nico (October 28, 2008). "Who's the greatest? The Times US presidential rankings". The Times. London. Retrieved March 24, 2010.
15. "C-SPAN Releases Second Historians Survey of Presidential Leadership". C-SPAN. February 15, 2009.
16. "Presidential Historians Survey 2017". C-SPAN. February 17, 2017.
17. "C-SPAN Releases Third Historians Survey of Presidential Leadership". C-SPAN. February 17, 2017.
18. "Methodology: Presidential Historians Survey 2017". C-SPAN. February 17, 2017.
19. "Rushmore Plus One; FDR joins Mountainside Figures Washington, Jefferson, Teddy Roosevelt and Lincoln as Top Presidents" Archived July 7, 2015, at the Wayback Machine. Siena Research Institute. July 1, 2010.
20. Thomas, G. Scott (July 1, 2010). "Clean sweep for the Roosevelts". Business First of Buffalo. Retrieved September 1, 2010.
21. Iwan Morgan. "UK Survey of US Presidents: Results and Analysis". Retrieved October 10, 2013.
22. "From Franklin Delano Roosevelt to John F. Kennedy, Newsweek's 10 Best Presidents (Photos)". The Daily Beast. September 24, 2012. Retrieved April 13, 2014.
23. HNN Staff (September 8, 2013). "Historians Give Barack Obama a B-". History News Network. Retrieved April 13, 2014.
24. Brandon Rottinghaus (February 13, 2015). "Measuring Obama against the great presidents". The Brookings Institution.
25. "How Does Trump Stack Up Against the Best — and Worst — Presidents?". The New York Times. February 19, 2018. Retrieved February 19, 2018.
26. "Siena's 6th Presidential Expert Poll 1982 – 2018". Retrieved September 24, 2019.
27. "Lincoln Wins: Honest Abe tops new presidential survey". CNN. February 16, 2009. Retrieved October 30, 2010.
28. "Presidential Historians Survey 2017". C-SPAN. Retrieved February 17, 2017.
29. "Presidents 2018 Rank by Category" (PDF). Retrieved February 19, 2019.
30. Tyler was elected on the Whig ticket as Harrison's vice president, but Tyler became an independent after the Whigs expelled him from the party in 1841.
31. Johnson was a former War Democrat elected on the National Union ticket as Lincoln's vice president. By 1868, the National Union Party disbanded but Johnson had not yet rejoined the Democratic Party.
32. Murray and Blessing. p. 135.
33. "Washington, Lincoln Most Popular Presidents: Nixon, Bush Least Popular - Rasmussen Reports™". Rasmussenreports.com. July 4, 2007. Retrieved March 16, 2012.
34. "Kennedy Still Highest-Rated Modern President, Nixon Lowest". Gallup. Retrieved March 16, 2012.
35. "JFK, Reagan, Clinton most popular recent ex-presidents". September 15, 2011.
36. "Kennedy and Reagan Lead List of Good Presidents for Americans". Angus Reid Public Opinion. Archived August 22, 2012, at the Wayback Machine Retrieved August 22, 2012.
37. "Americans Rate JFK as Top Modern President". Gallup. Archived from the original on August 1, 2016.
38. The weights were 5 for "Outstanding", 4 for "Above Average", 3 for "Average", 2 for "Below Average" and 1 for "Poor".
39. "National (US) Poll – July 2, 2014 – Obama Is First As Worst President Since WWII, Quinnipiac University National Poll Finds; More Voters Say Romney Would Have Been Better". Quinnipiac University.
40. "Trump Starts In The Hole As U.S. Voters Disapprove, Quinnipiac University National Poll Finds; Reagan, Obama Are Best Presidents In 70 Years". Quinnipiac University.
41. "Morning Consult National Tracking Poll February 09–10,2017". Politico.
42. "Poll: Trump and Obama Are America's Worst Presidents Since World War II". Morning Consult. February 15, 2017.
43. "QU Poll Release Detail". Quinnipiac University. March 7, 2018. Retrieved March 10, 2018.
44. Jones, Jeffrey. "Americans Expect History to Judge Trump Harshly". Gallup. Retrieved January 20, 2021.
45. "Rushmore Plus One; FDR joins Mountainside Figures Washington, Jefferson, Teddy Roosevelt and Lincoln as Top Presidents". Siena College. July 1, 2010. Archived from the original on July 6, 2010. Retrieved May 19, 2017.
46. "All Presidents - C-SPAN Survey on Presidents 2017". C-SPAN. Retrieved December 14, 2017.
47. "Siena's 6th Presidential Expert Poll 1982 – 2018".
48. Roediger, Henry L.; DeSoto, K. Andrew (November 28, 2014), "Forgetting the Presidents", Science, 346 (6213): 1106–1109, Bibcode:2014Sci...346.1106R, doi:10.1126/science.1259627, PMID 25430768, S2CID 6951497
49. Carey, Benedict (November 27, 2014). "Study on Cultural Memory Confirms: Chester A. Arthur, We Hardly Knew Ye". The New York Times. Retrieved September 11, 2015.
50. Donald, David H. Lincoln. 1995. p. 13.
51. Zelizer (February 21, 2011). "What's wrong with presidential rankings". CNN Opinion.
52. Mengisen, Annika (October 31, 2008). "The Presidents Ranked and Graded: A Q&A With the Author of The Leaders We Deserved". Freakonomics.com. Retrieved April 3, 2020.
53. "The Leaders We Deserved (and a Few We Didn't): Rethinking the Presidential Rating Game". AbeBooks.com. Retrieved April 3, 2020.
54. Folsom, Jr, Burton W. (April 24, 2009). "The Leaders We Deserved (and a Few We Didn't): Rethinking the Presidential Rating Game". Foundation for Economic Education. Retrieved April 3, 2020.
55. Walters (July 8, 2002)."Presidency: How Do African-American Scholars Rank Presidents?". History News Network.
56. Walton Jr., Hanes; Smith, Robert C. (2000). American Politics and the African American Quest for Universal Freedom. New York: Addison-Wesley Longman, Inc. pp. 201–202.
57. Tillery Jr., Alvin (May 31, 2019). "The First-Ever Expert Survey on Presidential Leadership on Diversity and Inclusion" (PDF). Center for the Study of Diversity and Democracy. Retrieved June 25, 2019.

Further reading

• Bailey, Thomas A. (1966). Presidential Greatness: The Image and the Man from George Washington to the Present. New York: Appleton-Century. → A non-quantitative appraisal by leading historian.
• Bose, Meena; Landis Mark (2003). The Uses and Abuses of Presidential Ratings. New York: Nova Science Publishers. ISBN 978-1590337943. → A collection of essays by presidential scholars.
• DeGregorio, William A. (1993). The Complete Book of U.S. Presidents (4th, rev., expanded, and up-dated ed.). New York: Barricade Books. ISBN 978-0942637922. → Contains the results of the 1962 and 1982 surveys.
• Eland, Ivan (2009). Recarving Rushmore: Ranking the Presidents on Peace, Prosperity, and Liberty. Oakland, California: Independent Institute. ISBN 978-1598130225.
• Faber, Charles; Faber, Richard (2000). The American Presidents Ranked by Performance. Jefferson, NC: McFarland Co. ISBN 978-0786407651.
• Felzenberg, Alvin S. (1997). "There You Go Again: Liberal Historians and the New York Times Deny Ronald Reagan His Due". Policy Review. 82: 51–54. ISSN 0146-5945.
• Holli, Melvin G. (1999). The American Mayor: The Best & the Worst Big-City Leaders. University Park, PA: Pennsylvania State University Press. ISBN 978-0271018768.
• Merry, Robert W. Where They Stand: The American Presidents in the Eyes of Voters and Historians (2012).
• Miller, Nathan (1998). Star-Spangled Men America's Ten Worst Presidents. New York: Scribner. ISBN 978-0684836102.
• Murray, Robert K.; Blessing, Tim H. (1994). Greatness in the White House: Rating the Presidents, from Washington Through Ronald Reagan (2., updated ed.). University Park, PA: Pennsylvania State University Press. ISBN 978-0271010892.
• Nichols, Curt (2012). "The Presidential Ranking Game: Critical Review and Some New Discoveries". Presidential Studies Quarterly. 42 (2): 275–299. doi:10.1111/j.1741-5705.2012.03966.x. ISSN 0360-4918.
• Pfiffner, James P. (2003). "Ranking the Presidents: Continuity and Volatility" (PDF). White House Studies. 3: 23. ISSN 1535-4768.
• Ridings Jr., William J.; McIver, Stuart B. (1997). Rating the Presidents: A Ranking of U.S. leaders, from the Great and Honorable to the Dishonest and Incompetent. Secaucus, NJ: Carol Publishing. ISBN 978-0806517995.
• Schlesinger Jr., Arthur M. (1997). "Ranking the Presidents: From Washington to Clinton". Political Science Quarterly. 112 (2): 179–190. doi:10.2307/2657937. JSTOR 2657937. S2CID 155363507.
• Skidmore, Max J. (2004). Presidential Performance: A Comprehensive Review. Jefferson, NC: McFarland Co. ISBN 978-0786418206.
• Skidmore, Max J. (2001). "Ranking and Evaluating Presidents: The Case of Theodore Roosevelt". White House Studies. 1 (4): 495–505. ISSN 1535-4768.
• Taranto, James; Leo, Leonard (2004). Presidential Leadership: Rating the Best and Worst in the White House. New York: Wall Street Journal Books. ISBN 978-0743254335. → For Federalist Society surveys.
• Vedder, Richard; Gallaway, Lowell (2001). "Rating Presidential Performance". In Denson, John V. (ed.). Reassessing the Presidency: The Rise of the Executive State and the Decline of Freedom. Auburn, AL: Ludwig von Mises Institute. ISBN 978-0945466291.

External links

• "Ranking Presidents: Utter Nonsense Or Useful Analysis?". 2001 column by John Dean.
• "List of presidential rankings". Historians rank the 42 men who have held the office. AP via MSNBC. February 16, 2009, poll.