Historical rankings of presidents of the United States explained

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 scholarly rankings focus on presidential achievements, leadership qualities, failures, and faults.[1] [2] [3] Popular-opinion polls typically focus on recent or well-known presidents.

History

20th century

A 1948 poll was conducted by historian Arthur M. Schlesinger Sr. of Harvard University.[1] A 1962 survey was also conducted by Schlesinger, who surveyed 75 historians.[4] Schlesinger's son, Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr., conducted another poll in 1996.[5] [6]

The Chicago Tribune surveyed 49 historians in 1982.[7]

The Siena College Research Institute has conducted surveys in 1982, 1990, 1994, 2002, 2010, 2018 and 2022 - during the second year of the first term of each president since Ronald Reagan.[8] These surveys collect presidential rankings from historians, political scientists, and presidential scholars in a range of attributes, abilities, and accomplishments.[9] 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.[10] [11]

In 1996, William J. Ridings Jr. and Stuart B. McIver conducted and published a poll and in 1997, an accompanying book on the poll results.[12] 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, crisis management, political skill, appointments, and character and integrity) and the results were tabulated to create the overall ranking.

2000–2017

A 2005 presidential poll was conducted by James Lindgren for the Federalist Society and The Wall Street Journal.[13] [14] 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".

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".[15]

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 four times: in 2000, 2009, 2017, and 2021.[16] [17] [18] [19] The 2021 survey was of 142 presidential historians, surveyed by C-SPAN's Academic Advisor Team, made up of Douglas G. Brinkley, Edna Greene Medford, Richard Norton Smith, and Amity Shlaes. 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.[20] The results of all four 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 four surveys.[18]

The 2011 survey, the first poll asking UK academics to rate American presidents, was conducted by the United States Presidency Centre (USPC) at the Institute for the Study of the Americas (located in the University of London's School of Advanced Study). 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 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.[23]

A 2016 survey of 71 British specialists by the Presidential History Network produced similar results to the 2011 USPC survey, with Barack Obama placed in the first quartile.[24] [25]

2018–present

See also: List of controversies of recent U.S. Presidents. A second Presidential Greatness Project Expert Survey was sent to members of the Presidents and Executive Politics section of the APSA in 2018, ranked Donald Trump for the first time, putting him in last position.[26] In the 2024 edition, Trump easily had the worst showing, with a score of 10.92 out of 100, while self-identified Republican historians rated Trump in the bottom five.[27] The study organizers noted a drop in recent Republican presidents' scores by speculating that respondents put more weight towards a president's fealty towards political and institutional norms.[28] [29] The first version of this poll was conducted in 2015.[30]

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...."[31] Donald Trump—entering the SCRI survey for the first time—joined Andrew Johnson and James Buchanan among the bottom three US presidents. George W. Bush, whom presidential scholars had rated fifth lowest in the previous 2010 survey, improved in position to 12th lowest. The 2022 Siena poll had Franklin Roosevelt first, Lincoln second, and Washington third, with the bottom three as Trump, Buchanan, and Johnson.

The 2021 C-SPAN poll showed a continued recent rehabilitation of Ulysses Grant, showed George W. Bush improving, Obama remaining high, and Trump with the fourth lowest ranking.

Scholar survey summary

Within each column:
 Blue  backgrounds indicate rankings in the first quartile. Green  backgrounds indicate rankings in the second quartile. Yellow-green  backgrounds indicate the median ranking of an odd number of presidents.[32]  Yellow  backgrounds indicate rankings in the third quartile. Orange  backgrounds indicate rankings in the fourth quartile.At leftmost column head, click "triangles" to view the in-office order of each president.
At each survey column head, click on "triangles" to view the ranking order for each president in that survey.

[33]
[34]
PresidentPolitical party
data-sort-value="1" 1data-sort-value="Washington, George" George WashingtonIndependent332122323 422141 3 2 3 4 4 4 2 3 22
data-sort-value="2" 2data-sort-value="Adams, John" John AdamsFederalist131615141419101512 171713131213 16 11 14 12 14 10 15 9 109
data-sort-value="3" 3data-sort-value="Jefferson, Thomas" Thomas JeffersonDemocratic-Republican557557554 574454 7 4 4 5 3 2 5 4 55
data-sort-value="4" 4data-sort-value="Madison, James" James MadisonDemocratic-Republican11101671217151314 6201517915 18 17 10 9 8 9 17 14 1214
data-sort-value="5" 5data-sort-value="Monroe, James" James MonroeDemocratic-Republican18121281813141613 7142116816 14 15 13 15 11 15 16 15 1812
data-sort-value="6" 6data-sort-value="Adams, John Q" John Quincy AdamsDemocratic-Republican201717182321172220 191916251720 19 18 18 17 16 17 19 16 1311
data-sort-value="7" 7data-sort-value="Jackson, Andrew" Andrew JacksonDemocratic2123221915181699 14131410136 13 5 8 11 9 13 7 7 66
data-sort-value="8" 8data-sort-value="Van Buren, Martin" Martin Van BurenDemocratic282934252734272527 233140272423 30 21 21 22 21 21 18 20 1715
data-sort-value="9" 9data-sort-value="Harrison, William Henry" William H. HarrisonWhig414040394238393539393637 35 28 35 26
data-sort-value="10" 10data-sort-value="Tyler, John" John TylerIndependent[35] 373939373739363637 373531353734 36 32 34 34 33 34 28 28 2522
data-sort-value="11" 11data-sort-value="Polk, James K" James K. PolkDemocratic251518122014221916 1212991110 12 9 11 14 13 12 10 12 8 10
data-sort-value="12" 12data-sort-value="Taylor, Zachary" Zachary TaylorWhig383635303531333333 332928333431 28 29 29 33 34 29 26 27 2425
data-sort-value="13" 13data-sort-value="Fillmore, Millard" Millard FillmoreWhig393838383837393735 383733363835 35 31 36 35 32 32 31 29 2624
data-sort-value="14" 14data-sort-value="Pierce, Franklin" Franklin PierceDemocratic424142404141404039 404041383937 39 33 37 37 36 35 33 31 2827
data-sort-value="15" 15data-sort-value="Buchanan, James" James BuchananDemocratic444443 43424138 40 39 38 37 34 33 2926
data-sort-value="16" 16data-sort-value="Lincoln, Abraham" Abraham LincolnRepublican1213 11212 311222 1 1 1 2 2 3 1 1 11
data-sort-value="17" 17data-sort-value="Johnson, Andrew" Andrew JohnsonNational Union[36] 43434042374136 41243736 40 37 39 40 39 38 30 32 2319
data-sort-value="18" 18data-sort-value="Grant, Ulysses S" Ulysses S. GrantRepublican17212024 2122232829 262318293532 33 33 38 38 37 36 32 35 3028
data-sort-value="19" 19data-sort-value="Hayes, Rutherford B" Rutherford B. HayesRepublican29313332 2932323030 313327242722 26 23 25 24 23 22 22 22 1413
data-sort-value="20" 20data-sort-value="Garfield, James A" James A. GarfieldRepublican30272728 342931272834 3329 30 26 30 25
data-sort-value="21" 21data-sort-value="Arthur, Chester A" Chester A. ArthurRepublican33333034 3135353232 253222263026 32 26 28 27 26 24 24 23 21 17
data-sort-value="22/24" 22/24data-sort-value="Cleveland, Grover" Grover ClevelandDemocratic26262523 2423242321 202119122012 17 13 16 19 17 18 13 17 118
data-sort-value="23" 23data-sort-value="Harrison, Benjamin" Benjamin HarrisonRepublican31343235 3230302934 343029 303227 31 19 31 30 29 31 25 26 2021
data-sort-value="25" 25data-sort-value="McKinley, William" William McKinleyRepublican24221420 1916202117 211617141914 15 16 17 18 19 19 11 18 1518
data-sort-value="26" 26data-sort-value="Roosevelt, Theodore" Theodore RooseveltRepublican4444 44445 245535 4 6 5 3 5 5 4 5 77
data-sort-value="27" 27data-sort-value="Taft, William Howard" William H. TaftRepublican23252322 2224252025 242429 202119 24 22 20 21 20 20 20 19 1616
data-sort-value="28" 28data-sort-value="Wilson, Woodrow" Woodrow WilsonDemocratic15131311 11116106 891011611 6 7 6 6 6 6 6 6 44
data-sort-value="29" 29data-sort-value="Harding, Warren G" Warren G. HardingRepublican40423741 3940384238 413834 394037 38 [37]
data-sort-value="30" 30data-sort-value="Coolidge, Calvin" Calvin CoolidgeRepublican34322431 2827312728 292626232925 27 30 33 36 31 30 29 30 2723
data-sort-value="31" 31data-sort-value="Hoover, Herbert" Herbert HooverRepublican36373636 3636293826 363436313129 34 33 24 29 28 27 21 21 1920
data-sort-value="32" 32data-sort-value="Roosevelt, Franklin D" Franklin D. RooseveltDemocratic2132 33131 133313 2 2 2 1 1 1 3 2 33
data-sort-value="33" 33data-sort-value="Truman, Harry S." Harry S. TrumanDemocratic6769 66867 957777 5 8 7 7 7 7 8 8 8
data-sort-value="34" 34data-sort-value="Eisenhower, Dwight D" Dwight D. EisenhowerRepublican8656 759710 10868109 9 10 9 8 12 11 9 11 21
data-sort-value="35" 35data-sort-value="Kennedy, John F" John F. KennedyDemocratic109810 168121415 11611151418 8 12 15 10 10 8 14 13
data-sort-value="36" 36data-sort-value="Johnson, Lyndon B" Lyndon B. JohnsonDemocratic981116 1010111211 161112181517 10 14 12 13 15 14 12 10
data-sort-value="37" 37data-sort-value="Nixon, Richard" Richard NixonRepublican35283129 3328263423 302737 322633 25 36 32 23 25 28 35 34
data-sort-value="38" 38data-sort-value="Ford, Gerald R" Gerald FordRepublican27302827 2525282424 282225282828 23 28 27 32 27 23 23 24
data-sort-value="39" 39data-sort-value="Carter, Jimmy" Jimmy CarterDemocratic22242626 2626182618 322532342530 22 27 19 25 24 33 27 25
data-sort-value="40" 40[38] data-sort-value="Reagan, Ronald" Ronald ReaganRepublican1618913 9913118 181086168 11 25 26 20 22 16
data-sort-value="41" 41data-sort-value="Bush, George H W" George H. W. BushRepublican19202121 1720211722 221820212221 20 24 22 31 18
data-sort-value="42" 42data-sort-value="Clinton, Bill" Bill ClintonDemocratic12141915131519819 131523221824 21 20 23 16
data-sort-value="43" 43data-sort-value="Bush, George W" George W. BushRepublican32352933 3033343531 393637 1923
data-sort-value="44" 44data-sort-value="Obama, Barack" Barack ObamaDemocratic7111017 812718(8)[39] 15
data-sort-value="45" 45data-sort-value="Trump, Donald" Donald TrumpRepublican434142
data-sort-value="46" 46data-sort-value="Biden, Joe" Joe BidenDemocratic1419
Total surveyed<-- future suggestion: for more than two footnotes, begin adding
elements to prevent widening of column -->
4545 44 44 4443414340 43 42 4240 4239 41 39 41 41 40 39 36 36 3129

Notable scholar surveys

1982 Murray–Blessing

The Murray–Blessing 1982 survey asked historians whether they were liberal or conservative on domestic, social, and economic issues.[40] 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
RankLiberals (n = 190)Conservatives (n = 50)
1Abraham LincolnAbraham Lincoln
2Franklin D. RooseveltGeorge Washington
3George WashingtonFranklin D. Roosevelt
4Thomas JeffersonThomas Jefferson
5Theodore RooseveltTheodore Roosevelt
6Woodrow WilsonAndrew Jackson
7Andrew JacksonHarry S. Truman
8Harry S. TrumanWoodrow Wilson
9Lyndon B. JohnsonDwight D. Eisenhower
10John AdamsJohn Adams
.........
30Calvin CoolidgeJimmy Carter
31Franklin PierceRichard Nixon
32James BuchananFranklin Pierce
33Andrew JohnsonAndrew Johnson
34Ulysses S. GrantJames Buchanan
35Richard NixonUlysses S. Grant
36Warren G. HardingWarren G. Harding

2010 Siena College

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 = Avoiding crucial mistakes
  • EV = Experts' view
  • O = Overall Blue  backgrounds indicate first quartile. Green  backgrounds indicate second quartile. Yellow-green  backgrounds indicate the median. Yellow  backgrounds indicate third quartile. Orange  backgrounds indicate fourth quartile.Source:[41]
    Seq.PresidentPolitical party
    1data-sort-value="Washington, George" George Washington7 18 12 3 3 4 1 3 4 1 4 9 4 2 2 3 1 12 1 3 4
    2data-sort-value="Adams, John" John Adams4 29 18 26 10 13 23 32 16 15 13 17 22 3 19 12 20 7 15 12 17
    3data-sort-value="Jefferson, Thomas" Thomas Jefferson1 4 6 4 6 16 6 11 8 5 5 3 6 14 5 7 6 1 6 5 5
    4data-sort-value="Madison, James" James Madison3 10 11 9 7 12 17 7 15 9 6 8 12 5 14 20 17 2 10 8 6
    5data-sort-value="Monroe, James" James Monroe9 12 15 8 14 9 9 8 17 8 16 16 8 10 11 2 13 15 7 9 7
    6data-sort-value="Adams, John Quincy" John Quincy Adams2 34 20 35 16 14 30 29 23 13 15 11 18 4 21 16 26 5 20 21 19
    7data-sort-value="Jackson, Andrew" Andrew Jackson30 2 10 14 27 28 4 38 5 19 12 13 14 23 6 19 5 23 12 13 14
    8data-sort-value="Van Buren, Martin" Martin Van Buren16 13 23 19 24 38 33 13 32 25 24 24 27 29 23 25 27 22 27 24 23
    9data-sort-value="Harrison, William Henry" William Henry Harrison24 30 25 31 33 27 42 35 30 24 37 35 36 30 33 39 24 31 33 34 35
    10data-sort-value="Tyler, John" John Tyler33 42 39 42 39 31 22 39 26 34 35 29 34 33 37 35 36 33 32 36 37
    11data-sort-value="Polk, James K." James K. Polk17 9 13 12 21 15 7 23 7 16 17 14 11 24 9 8 10 20 9 11 12
    12data-sort-value="Taylor, Zachary" Zachary Taylor37 35 28 37 37 24 36 34 28 28 34 27 37 21 31 34 25 37 25 33 33
    13data-sort-value="Fillmore, Millard" Millard Fillmore40 41 40 38 35 33 25 25 37 35 38 36 35 36 38 33 39 39 30 35 38
    14data-sort-value="Pierce, Franklin" Franklin Pierce38 37 37 41 40 34 35 36 38 38 39 39 39 38 40 40 40 38 35 40 40
    15data-sort-value="Buchanan, James" James Buchanan23 40 41 40 42 41 40 41 43 39 42 42 43 40 42 41 43 40 41 43 42
    16data-sort-value="Lincoln, Abraham" Abraham Lincoln28 6 2 6 4 5 13 1 2 2 1 2 1 1 1 5 2 3 2 1 3
    17data-sort-value="Johnson, Andrew" Andrew Johnson42 43 43 43 43 37 39 43 34 42 41 41 42 37 41 38 42 41 42 42 43
    18data-sort-value="Grant, Ulysses S." Ulysses S. Grant26 28 24 22 25 29 21 22 22 40 28 26 26 27 34 24 21 29 31 31 26
    19data-sort-value="Hayes, Rutherford B." Rutherford B. Hayes29 33 30 29 29 26 19 18 33 33 33 32 33 28 30 30 32 30 24 29 31
    20data-sort-value="Garfield, James A." James A. Garfield20 22 22 24 32 23 41 27 31 29 25 28 25 25 26 31 23 26 22 27 27
    21data-sort-value="Arthur, Chester A." Chester A. Arthur41 31 32 27 28 19 14 21 27 26 30 25 20 32 27 26 28 32 17 26 25
    22/24data-sort-value="Cleveland, Grover" Grover Cleveland19 16 17 15 17 22 20 19 24 18 20 22 17 19 17 21 19 25 14 19 20
    23data-sort-value="Harrison, Benjamin" Benjamin Harrison39 32 34 28 30 35 29 30 39 36 36 34 32 31 35 28 34 35 23 32 34
    25data-sort-value="McKinley, William" William McKinley21 14 19 11 23 18 24 20 21 20 21 23 19 22 18 15 18 27 11 20 21
    26data-sort-value="Roosevelt, Theodore" Theodore Roosevelt6 7 3 5 1 2 2 12 1 4 3 1 2 6 4 4 4 6 3 4 2
    27data-sort-value="Taft, William Howard" William Howard Taft14 36 29 30 18 20 32 24 36 22 23 30 21 18 25 23 31 18 28 23 24
    28data-sort-value="Wilson, Woodrow" Woodrow Wilson8 8 9 16 8 8 15 37 9 10 8 5 9 11 10 10 12 4 29 10 8
    29data-sort-value="Harding, Warren G." Warren G. Harding43 38 36 34 36 39 37 26 40 43 43 43 40 42 43 37 41 43 39 41 41
    30data-sort-value="Coolidge, Calvin" Calvin Coolidge25 24 38 21 26 30 12 28 41 30 32 37 31 17 28 32 33 28 19 28 29
    31data-sort-value="Hoover, Herbert" Herbert Hoover10 26 31 33 19 43 43 40 42 32 26 38 41 13 29 36 37 14 40 38 36
    32data-sort-value="Roosevelt, Franklin D." Franklin D. Roosevelt5 1 1 2 2 1 5 2 3 3 2 4 3 16 3 1 3 10 4 2 1
    33data-sort-value="Truman, Harry S." Harry S. Truman35 15 14 20 15 6 11 15 6 7 7 15 7 8 8 6 9 17 8 6 9
    34data-sort-value="Eisenhower, Dwight D." Dwight D. Eisenhower12 17 21 10 9 11 8 5 20 17 11 20 13 9 7 9 7 19 5 7 10
    35data-sort-value="Kennedy, John F." John F. Kennedy13 19 4 13 12 7 27 6 10 6 14 7 15 35 13 17 11 11 16 14 11
    36data-sort-value="Johnson, Lyndon B." Lyndon B. Johnson15 3 16 1 5 10 28 9 12 12 9 12 5 34 12 43 15 21 37 16 16
    37data-sort-value="Nixon, Richard" Richard Nixon18 20 26 36 38 25 34 33 14 37 22 19 24 43 24 11 29 16 43 37 30
    38data-sort-value="Ford, Gerald" Gerald Ford27 25 35 17 22 36 31 17 35 23 31 33 30 15 32 27 30 34 26 25 28
    39data-sort-value="Carter, Jimmy" Jimmy Carter31 39 27 39 20 40 38 31 25 21 29 21 29 7 36 29 35 13 36 30 32
    40data-sort-value="Reagan, Ronald" Ronald Reagan34 5 5 7 31 21 3 14 11 31 19 18 23 26 20 13 8 36 13 17 18
    41data-sort-value="Bush, George H. W." George H. W. Bush11 27 33 23 34 32 26 16 29 27 27 31 28 20 22 14 22 24 18 22 22
    42data-sort-value="Clinton, Bill" Bill Clinton22 11 8 25 11 3 10 4 18 11 10 10 10 41 15 18 14 9 34 15 13
    43data-sort-value="Bush, George W." George W. Bush36 23 42 32 41 42 18 42 19 41 40 40 38 39 39 42 38 42 38 39 39
    44data-sort-value="Obama, Barack" Barack Obama32 21 7 18 13 17 16 10 13 14 18 6 16 12 16 22 16 8 21 18 15
    Seq.PresidentPolitical party

    2011 USPC

    In September/October 2010, the United States Presidency Centre (USPC) of the Institute for the Study of the Americas at the University of London surveyed 47 British specialists on American history and politics. Presidents were rated from 1 to 10 in five categories:

    1. vision/agenda-setting: "did the president have the clarity of vision to establish overarching goals for his administration and shape the terms of policy discourse?"
    2. domestic leadership: "did the president display the political skill needed to achieve his domestic objectives and respond effectively to unforeseen developments?"
    3. foreign policy leadership: "was the president an effective leader in promoting US foreign policy interests and national security?"
    4. moral authority: "did the president uphold the moral authority of his office through his character, values, and conduct?"
    5. positive historical significance of legacy: "did the president's legacy have positive benefits for America's development over time?"

    William Henry Harrison (1841) and James Garfield (1881) were not rated because they died shortly after taking office. Barack Obama (2009–) ranked 8th in interim ranking as of January 2011, but was not counted in the final results (and thus did not affect the rankings of other presidents) because he had yet to complete a term.

    Franklin D. Roosevelt (1933–1945) came in first overall and in the categories of vision/agenda, domestic leadership, and foreign policy leadership. Washington came in first for moral authority; Lincoln for his legacy. Morgan believes it is likely that Roosevelt's ranking (which only marginally surpassed Lincoln's) rose because the poll was conducted during the worst economic troubles since the 1930s.

    Of presidents since 1960, only Ronald Reagan and (in interim results) Barack Obama placed in the top ten; Obama was the highest-ranked president since Harry Truman (1945–1953). Most of the other recent presidents held middling positions, though George W. Bush placed in the bottom ten, the lowest-ranked president since Warren Harding (1921–1923). Lyndon Johnson (1963–1969) "would have been placed much higher in recognition of his civil rights achievement but for the corrosive effect of Vietnam on his foreign policy and moral authority scores." As with US polls, the bottom five (other than Harding) were president before and after the Civil War.

    One of the more significant differences from American polls is the relatively low ranking of John F. Kennedy (1961–1963), who placed fifteenth. British academics "seemingly faulted JFK for the gap between his rhetoric and his substantive achievements as president."

    Abbreviations
  • VSA = Vision/Setting an agenda
  • DL = Domestic leadership
  • FPL = Foreign-policy leadership
  • MA = Moral authority
  • HL = Historical legacy (positive significance of)
  • O = Overall Blue  backgrounds indicate first quartile. Green  backgrounds indicate second quartile. Yellow  backgrounds indicate third quartile. Orange  backgrounds indicate fourth quartile.

    Each category is ranked according to its averaged numerical score (in parentheses). Source:

    Seq.PresidentPolitical party
    1data-sort-value="Washington, George" George Washington5 (8.22)4 (7.78)2 (7.89)1 (9.20)3 (9.18)3 (84.5%)
    2data-sort-value="Adams, John" John Adams13 (6.33)17 (5.56)11 (7.05)9 (7.15)12 (6.26)12 (64.7%)
    3data-sort-value="Jefferson, Thomas" Thomas Jefferson3 (8.29)6 (7.57)8 (7.14)8 (7.16)4 (8.16)4 (76.6%)
    4data-sort-value="Madison, James" James Madison15 (6.23)15 (5.78)19 (5.75)11 (6.72)10 (6.38)14 (61.7%)
    5data-sort-value="Monroe, James" James Monroe18 (5.97)18 (5.55)9 (7.08)12 (6.27)14 (6.18)13 (62.1%)
    6data-sort-value="Adams, John Quincy" John Quincy Adams17 (6.00)21 (4.89)20 (5.69)13 (6.00)19 (5.22)20 (55.6%)
    7data-sort-value="Jackson, Andrew" Andrew Jackson9 (7.50)7 (7.29)18 (6.08)18 (5.63)9 (6.40)9 (65.8%)
    8data-sort-value="Buren, Martin Van" Martin Van Buren27 (4.33)25 (4.42)27 (4.55)27 (4.45)25 (4.06)27 (43.6%)
    9data-sort-value="Harrison, William Henry" William H. Harrison
    10data-sort-value="Tyler, John" John Tyler37 (3.38)37 (3.08)30 (4.00)35 (3.19)38 (2.46)37 (32.2%)
    11data-sort-value="Polk, James K." James K. Polk12 (6.44)13 (5.97)14 (6.50)22 (5.19)20 (5.22)16 (58.6%)
    12data-sort-value="Taylor, Zachary" Zachary Taylor33 (3.84)33 (3.88)28 (4.13)26 (4.46)34 (3.00)33 (38.6%)
    13data-sort-value="Fillmore, Millard" Millard Fillmore36 (3.50)35 (3.62)35 (3.72)32 (3.72)32 (3.19)35 (35.5%)
    14data-sort-value="Pierce, Franklin" Franklin Pierce40 (2.79)39 (2.50)39 (3.00)37 (2.81)39 (2.18)39 (26.5%)
    15data-sort-value="Buchanan, James" James Buchanan39 (3.06)40 (2.33)40 (2.91)38 (2.74)40 (2.11)40 (26.3%)
    16data-sort-value="Lincoln, Abraham" Abraham Lincoln2 (8.98)2 (8.91)3 (7.73)2 (9.13)1 (9.37)2 (88.2%)
    17data-sort-value="Johnson, Andrew" Andrew Johnson26 (4.39)38 (2.90)31 (3.92)36 (3.05)36 (2.54)36 (33.6%)
    18data-sort-value="Grant, Ulysses S." Ulysses S. GrantRepublican30 (4.05)30 (4.08)26 (4.64)31 (3.95)26 (3.95)29 (41.3%)
    19data-sort-value="Hayes, Rutherford B." Rutherford B. Hayes28 (4.27)26 (4.27)33 (3.81)30 (4.10)31 (3.48)30 (39.8%)
    20data-sort-value="Garfield, James A." James A. Garfield
    21data-sort-value="Arthur, Chester A." Chester A. Arthur34 (3.74)29 (4.22)36 (3.68)28 (4.26)30 (3.48)32 (38.8%)
    22/24data-sort-value="Cleveland, Grover" Grover Cleveland23 (5.44)19 (5.28)22 (5.16)19 (5.56)21 (5.06)21 (53.0%)
    23data-sort-value="Harrison, Benjamin" Benjamin Harrison35 (3.68)34 (3.68)34 (3.75)29 (4.24)33 (3.04)34 (36.8%)
    25data-sort-value="McKinley, William" William McKinley19 (5.95)16 (5.58)17 (6.28)17 (5.86)17 (5.46)17 (58.3%)
    26data-sort-value="Roosevelt, Theodore" Theodore Roosevelt7 (8.11)5 (7.76)5 (7.61)10 (7.09)7 (7.28)5 (75.7%)
    27data-sort-value="Taft, William Howard" William Howard Taft25 (4.61)24 (4.59)24 (4.73)25 (4.97)23 (4.18)25 (46.1%)
    28data-sort-value="Wilson, Woodrow" Woodrow Wilson8 (8.11)8 (6.98)6 (7.50)5 (7.30)5 (7.43)6 (75.7%)
    29data-sort-value="Harding, Warren G." Warren G. Harding38 (3.32)36 (3.23)37 (3.62)39 (2.21)37 (2.52)38 (29.8%)
    30data-sort-value="Coolidge, Calvin" Calvin Coolidge29 (4.22)31 (4.07)29 (4.02)23 (5.07)29 (3.56)28 (41.9%)
    31data-sort-value="Hoover, Herbert" Herbert Hoover24 (4.87)32 (4.02)25 (4.72)24 (5.00)28 (3.78)26 (44.8%)
    32data-sort-value="Roosevelt, Franklin D." Franklin D. Roosevelt1 (9.11)1 (9.04)1 (8.77)3 (8.43)2 (9.32)1 (89.3%)
    33data-sort-value="Truman, Harry S." Harry S. Truman10 (7.06)9 (6.79)4 (7.72)7 (7.28)6 (7.32)7 (72.3%)
    34data-sort-value="Eisenhower, Dwight D." Dwight D. Eisenhower20 (5.81)12 (6.13)7 (7.21)4 (7.40)11 (6.34)10 (65.8%)
    35data-sort-value="Kennedy, John F." John F. Kennedy11 (6.96)14 (5.79)15 (6.41)21 (5.42)13 (6.23)15 (61.6%)
    36data-sort-value="Johnson, Lyndon B." Lyndon B. Johnson4 (8.23)3 (8.55)32 (3.87)20 (5.45)8 (6.53)11 (65.3%)
    37data-sort-value="Nixon, Richard" Richard Nixon16 (6.11)20 (5.09)12 (6.83)40 (2.02)27 (3.89)23 (47.9%)
    38data-sort-value="Ford, Gerald" Gerald Ford32 (3.93)22 (4.72)23 (4.89)16 (5.87)24 (4.11)24 (47.0%)
    39data-sort-value="Carter, Jimmy" Jimmy Carter22 (5.60)23 (4.72)21 (5.62)6 (7.28)18 (5.38)18 (57.2%)
    40data-sort-value="Reagan, Ronald" Ronald Reagan6 (8.17)11 (6.28)10 (7.06)14 (5.89)15 (5.89)8 (66.6%)
    41data-sort-value="Bush, George H. W." George H. W. Bush31 (4.04)27 (4.24)13 (6.64)15 (5.87)22 (4.71)22 (51.0%)
    42data-sort-value="Clinton, Bill" Bill Clinton14 (6.28)10 (6.46)16 (6.39)34 (3.48)16 (5.57)19 (56.4%)
    43data-sort-value="Bush, George W." George W. Bush21 (5.64)28 (4.22)38 (3.82)33 (3.55)35 (2.75)31 (39.6%)
    44data-sort-value="Obama, Barack" Barack Obama<--fix sorting order to absolute numerical ranking-->11 (7.00)11 (6.44)19 (6.04)8 (7.27)8 (6.66)8 (66.8%)
    Seq.PresidentPolitical party

    2016 PHN

    In 2016, the Presidential History Network surveyed 71 named British and Irish specialists. The questions were the same as in the USPC survey, which was directed by some of the same people. Some respondents did not rate presidents that they were not familiar with. The minimum number of responses (62) were for the rather obscure and inconsequential presidents Hayes, Arthur, Cleveland, and Benjamin Harrison. 69–70 rated all recent presidents, from FDR on.

    Abbreviations
  • VSA = Vision/Setting an agenda
  • DL = Domestic leadership
  • FPL = Foreign-policy leadership
  • MA = Moral authority
  • HL = Historical legacy (positive significance of)
  • O = Overall Blue  backgrounds indicate first quartile. Green  backgrounds indicate second quartile. Yellow-green  backgrounds indicate the median. Yellow  backgrounds indicate third quartile. Orange  backgrounds indicate fourth quartile.

    Each category is ranked according to its averaged numerical score. Source:

    Seq.PresidentPolitical party
    1data-sort-value="Washington, George" George Washington3 (8.46)4 (7.65)3 (7.69)2 (8.90)3 (8.94)3 (8.33)
    2data-sort-value="Adams, John" John Adams18 (6.27)14 (5.98)11 (6.79)11 (6.79)10 (6.47)10 (6.52)
    3data-sort-value="Jefferson, Thomas" Thomas Jefferson4 (8.38)6 (7.20)9 (6.83)10 (6.82)4 (7.65)5 (7.38)
    4data-sort-value="Madison, James" James Madison15 (6.36)13 (6.08)20 (5.79)12 (6.47)13 (6.36)15 (6.21)
    5data-sort-value="Monroe, James" James Monroe14 (6.40)16 (5.80)8 (7.02)14 (6.16)14 (6.20)14 (6.32)
    6data-sort-value="Adams, John Quincy" John Quincy Adams20 (6.17)19 (5.41)17 (6.09)13 (6.44)15 (6.06)17 (6.03)
    7data-sort-value="Jackson, Andrew" Andrew Jackson11 (7.24)8 (6.73)21 (5.67)22 (5.00)17 (5.63)16 (6.05)
    8data-sort-value="Buren, Martin Van" Martin Van Buren29 (4.57)25 (4.76)26 (4.58)25 (4.46)26 (4.11)27 (4.50)
    9data-sort-value="Harrison, William Henry" William H. Harrison[42]
    10data-sort-value="Tyler, John" John Tyler36 (3.52)36 (3.36)33 (3.57)32 (3.42)35 (3.12)36 (3.39)
    11data-sort-value="Polk, James K." James K. Polk17 (6.30)19 (5.41)18 (6.06)26 (4.36)23 (4.75)22 (5.38)
    12data-sort-value="Taylor, Zachary" Zachary Taylor34 (3.66)35 (3.61)34 (3.51)30 (4.12)33 (3.29)33 (3.64)
    13data-sort-value="Fillmore, Millard" Millard Fillmore40 (2.80)38 (3.10)38 (3.00)36 (2.86)36 (2.78)39 (2.91)
    14data-sort-value="Pierce, Franklin" Franklin Pierce39 (2.84)40 (2.58)40 (2.92)37 (2.74)40 (2.26)40 (2.67)
    15data-sort-value="Buchanan, James" James Buchanan41 (2.69)41 (2.31)41 (2.82)40 (2.33)41 (2.13)41 (2.46)
    16data-sort-value="Lincoln, Abraham" Abraham Lincoln2 (9.16)1 (9.03)2 (8.01)1 (9.32)1 (9.49)2 (9.00)
    17data-sort-value="Johnson, Andrew" Andrew Johnson35 (3.54)39 (2.95)37 (3.41)38 (2.73)38 (2.56)37 (3.04)
    18data-sort-value="Grant, Ulysses S." Ulysses S. GrantRepublican24 (5.30)22 (5.17)23 (5.44)21 (5.05)22 (5.00)23 (5.19)
    19data-sort-value="Hayes, Rutherford B." Rutherford B. Hayes33 (3.83)31 (3.92)32 (3.70)31 (3.67)32 (3.44)32 (3.71)
    20data-sort-value="Garfield, James A." James A. Garfield[43]
    21data-sort-value="Arthur, Chester A." Chester A. Arthur37 (3.36)33 (3.78)35 (3.49)33 (3.38)34 (3.18)35 (3.44)
    22/24data-sort-value="Cleveland, Grover" Grover Cleveland23 (5.33)24 (4.93)24 (5.15)20 (5.22)24 (4.73)24 (5.07)
    23data-sort-value="Harrison, Benjamin" Benjamin Harrison30 (4.06)29 (4.10)29 (4.10)29 (4.13)29 (3.55)30 (3.99)
    25data-sort-value="McKinley, William" William McKinley22 (5.84)18 (5.65)16 (6.13)18 (5.42)21 (5.24)20 (5.66)
    26data-sort-value="Roosevelt, Theodore" Theodore Roosevelt8 (8.07)5 (7.55)4 (7.62)7 (7.03)6 (7.07)4 (7.47)
    27data-sort-value="Taft, William Howard" William Howard Taft28 (4.63)27 (4.63)25 (4.76)24 (4.84)25 (4.34)25 (4.64)
    28data-sort-value="Wilson, Woodrow" Woodrow Wilson5 (8.37)11 (6.26)5 (7.53)8 (7.00)8 (7.01)6 (7.23)
    29data-sort-value="Harding, Warren G." Warren G. Harding38 (3.22)37 (3.17)36 (3.48)39 (2.37)39 (2.54)38 (2.96)
    30data-sort-value="Coolidge, Calvin" Calvin Coolidge31 (3.90)30 (4.00)31 (3.83)28 (4.29)31 (3.48)31 (3.90)
    31data-sort-value="Hoover, Herbert" Herbert Hoover27 (4.72)34 (3.76)28 (4.15)27 (4.31)30 (3.48)29 (4.08)
    32data-sort-value="Roosevelt, Franklin D." Franklin D. Roosevelt1 (9.31)2 (9.00)1 (9.11)3 (8.40)2 (9.23)1 (9.01)
    33data-sort-value="Truman, Harry S." Harry S. Truman12 (6.90)9 (6.71)5 (7.53)9 (6.86)7 (7.03)8 (7.06)
    34data-sort-value="Eisenhower, Dwight D." Dwight D. Eisenhower19 (6.22)12 (6.09)7 (7.13)5 (7.30)11 (6.44)9 (6.64)
    35data-sort-value="Kennedy, John F." John F. Kennedy9 (7.56)17 (5.77)13 (6.60)16 (5.67)12 (6.43)12 (6.41)
    36data-sort-value="Johnson, Lyndon B." Lyndon B. Johnson7 (8.16)3 (8.46)30 (4.06)19 (5.23)9 (6.59)11 (6.50)
    37data-sort-value="Nixon, Richard" Richard Nixon21 (6.16)21 (5.19)19 (5.99)41 (1.75)28 (3.58)26 (4.53)
    38data-sort-value="Ford, Gerald" Gerald Ford32 (3.85)28 (4.38)27 (4.46)23 (4.94)27 (4.06)28 (4.34)
    39data-sort-value="Carter, Jimmy" Jimmy Carter16 (6.31)23 (4.99)22 (5.53)6 (7.14)18 (5.59)18 (5.91)
    40data-sort-value="Reagan, Ronald" Ronald Reagan6 (8.19)15 (5.86)12 (6.72)17 (5.64)19 (5.51)13 (6.38)
    41data-sort-value="Bush, George H. W." George H. W. Bush26 (4.83)26 (4.67)10 (6.81)15 (5.68)20 (5.41)21 (5.48)
    42data-sort-value="Clinton, Bill" Bill Clinton13 (6.88)7 (6.93)14 (6.35)34 (3.22)16 (5.85)19 (5.85)
    43data-sort-value="Bush, George W." George W. Bush25 (4.93)32 (3.83)39 (2.94)35 (2.91)37 (2.60)34 (3.44)
    44data-sort-value="Obama, Barack" Barack Obama10 (7.39)9 (6.71)15 (6.30)4 (7.86)5 (7.44)7 (7.14)
    Seq.PresidentPolitical party

    2017 C-SPAN

    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. Yellow-green  backgrounds indicate the median. Yellow  backgrounds indicate third quartile. Orange  backgrounds indicate fourth quartile.Source:[44]
    Seq.PresidentPolitical party
    1data-sort-value="Washington, George" George Washington4 2 1 1 2 2 2 2 13 1 2
    2data-sort-value="Adams, John" John Adams22 17 15 11 13 21 24 20 15 19 19
    3data-sort-value="Jefferson, Thomas" Thomas Jefferson8 13 13 6 11 7 5 5 17 6 7
    4data-sort-value="Madison, James" James Madison18 19 19 9 22 17 13 18 18 16 17
    5data-sort-value="Monroe, James" James Monroe17 14 18 16 7 11 9 14 25 11 13
    6data-sort-value="Adams, John Quincy" John Quincy Adams33 23 17 12 15 18 32 15 9 22 21
    7data-sort-value="Jackson, Andrew" Andrew Jackson7 10 26 20 20 23 21 10 38 13 18
    8data-sort-value="Buren, Martin Van" Martin Van Buren30 35 40 33 26 26 28 33 30 33 34
    9data-sort-value="Harrison, William Henry" William Henry Harrison28 38 38 31 42 40 38 36 37 38 38
    10data-sort-value="Tyler, John" John Tyler39 36 39 37 28 38 41 37 41 36 39
    11data-sort-value="Polk, James K." James K. Polk13 9 14 27 16 9 11 11 36 12 14
    12data-sort-value="Taylor, Zachary" Zachary Taylor27 28 28 28 30 35 35 30 34 30 31
    13data-sort-value="Fillmore, Millard" Millard Fillmore40 34 34 36 34 36 36 39 39 37 37
    14data-sort-value="Pierce, Franklin" Franklin Pierce41 41 41 39 40 39 40 41 42 41 41
    15data-sort-value="Buchanan, James" James Buchanan43 43 42 43 43 41 42 43 43 43 43
    16data-sort-value="Lincoln, Abraham" Abraham Lincoln3 1 2 2 3 1 4 1 1 2 1
    17data-sort-value="Johnson, Andrew" Andrew Johnson42 42 37 41 39 43 43 42 40 42 42
    18data-sort-value="Grant, Ulysses S." Ulysses S. Grant19 21 27 19 19 37 20 23 10 21 22
    19data-sort-value="Hayes, Rutherford B." Rutherford B. Hayes29 30 25 32 33 29 30 32 32 28 32
    20data-sort-value="Garfield, James A." James A. Garfield21 31 29 22 36 32 27 25 20 27 29
    21data-sort-value="Arthur, Chester A." Chester A. Arthur37 32 31 35 35 28 29 34 27 32 35
    22/24data-sort-value="Cleveland, Grover" Grover Cleveland20 22 24 26 23 22 22 21 31 23 23
    23data-sort-value="Harrison, Benjamin" Benjamin Harrison32 33 32 30 27 30 26 31 24 31 30
    25data-sort-value="McKinley, William" William McKinley16 16 11 18 17 13 10 17 26 18 16
    26data-sort-value="Roosevelt, Theodore" Theodore Roosevelt2 5 4 5 4 4 7 4 11 4 4
    27data-sort-value="Taft, William Howard" William Howard Taft31 26 20 25 21 12 23 28 22 24 24
    28data-sort-value="Wilson, Woodrow" Woodrow Wilson11 11 9 8 12 8 16 7 35 10 11
    29data-sort-value="Harding, Warren G." Warren G. Harding36 39 35 40 37 42 34 40 33 40 40
    30data-sort-value="Coolidge, Calvin" Calvin Coolidge24 29 22 21 29 25 18 29 29 26 27
    31data-sort-value="Hoover, Herbert" Herbert Hoover38 40 43 29 31 14 31 38 28 39 36
    32data-sort-value="Roosevelt, Franklin D." Franklin D. Roosevelt1 3 5 3 1 3 3 3 8 3 3
    33data-sort-value="Truman, Harry S." Harry S. Truman14 4 10 10 5 10 14 13 4 5 6
    34data-sort-value="Eisenhower, Dwight D." Dwight D. Eisenhower12 6 6 4 6 5 6 16 12 7 5
    35data-sort-value="Kennedy, John F." John F. Kennedy6 7 7 15 14 16 12 9 7 9 8
    36data-sort-value="Johnson, Lyndon B." Lyndon B. Johnson15 20 12 24 38 6 1 8 2 14 10
    37data-sort-value="Nixon, Richard" Richard Nixon26 27 23 42 10 24 37 24 21 34 28
    38data-sort-value="Ford, Gerald" Gerald Ford34 24 30 23 25 27 19 35 14 25 25
    39data-sort-value="Carter, Jimmy" Jimmy Carter35 37 33 14 32 31 33 22 5 29 26
    40data-sort-value="Reagan, Ronald" Ronald Reagan5 8 16 13 9 33 8 6 23 8 9
    41data-sort-value="Bush, George H. W." George H. W. Bush23 12 21 17 8 16 15 27 16 20 20
    42data-sort-value="Clinton, Bill" Bill Clinton9 18 3 38 18 20 17 19 6 17 15
    43data-sort-value="Bush, George W." George W. Bush25 25 36 34 41 34 25 26 19 35 33
    44data-sort-value="Obama, Barack" Barack Obama10 15 8 7 24 19 39 12 3 15 12
    Seq.PresidentPolitical party

    2018 Siena College

    On February 13, 2019, Siena released its sixth presidential poll.[45]

    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 awarded the top five spots to George Washington, Franklin Roosevelt, Abraham Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt, and Thomas Jefferson, in keeping with prior surveys. Washington had been ranked fourth in all previous surveys, and Franklin Roosevelt first.

    (The numbers below do not match the source where there are ties in the rankings. They have instead been counted as ties are in other polls (e.g. 26, 27, 27, 27, 30 rather than 26, 27, 27, 27, 28), so that all categories span the range 1–44.)

    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 = Avoiding crucial mistakes
  • EV = Experts' view
  • O = Overall Blue  backgrounds indicate first quartile. Green  backgrounds indicate second quartile. Yellow  backgrounds indicate third quartile. Orange  backgrounds indicate fourth quartile.
    Seq.PresidentPolitical party
    1data-sort-value="Washington, George" George WashingtonIndependent7 7 1 10 1 6 2 2 1 11 2 18 1 1 1 1 2 2 1 2 1
    2data-sort-value="Adams, John" John AdamsFederalist3 14 4 4 24 14 32 21 21 13 8 28 17 4 13 15 19 13 16 10 14
    3data-sort-value="Jefferson, Thomas" Thomas JeffersonDemocratic-Republican2 2 14 1 8 5 14 6 6 4 4 5 5 7 20 4 6 9 7 5 5
    4data-sort-value="Madison, James" James MadisonDemocratic-Republican4 6 7 3 16 15 6 13 17 10 6 9 10 6 14 7 11 19 11 8 7
    5data-sort-value="Monroe, James" James MonroeDemocratic-Republican9 15 11 18 6 16 7 10 12 15 17 12 8 11 9 9 10 5 6 9 8
    6data-sort-value="Adams, John Quincy" John Quincy AdamsDemocratic-Republican1 9 6 5 29 19 25 22 23 12 16 29 29 15 17 18 21 15 14 18 18
    7data-sort-value="Jackson, Andrew" Andrew JacksonDemocratic38 16 29 28 4 4 39 11 9 18 19 6 16 30 25 25 17 23 20 19 19
    8data-sort-value="Van Buren, Martin" Martin Van BurenDemocratic24 23 27 25 34 30 20 28 27 25 27 16 23 25 31 26 29 27 24 28 25
    9data-sort-value="Harrison, William Henry" William Henry HarrisonWhig22 (tie) 39 28 37 44 34 42 39 29 31 37 36 38 42 41 40 42 44 37 39 39
    10data-sort-value="Tyler, John" John TylerIndependent35 34 35 34 22 26 38 37 37 34 36 41 41 38 34 36 36 26 32 36 37
    11data-sort-value="Polk, James K." James K. PolkDemocratic19 10 23 23 9 7 18 7 11 16 12 10 11 22 15 16 12 8 8 13 12
    12data-sort-value="Taylor, Zachary" Zachary TaylorWhig31 27 22 32 37 24 27 26 25 32 32 35 32 37 27 33 27 30 26 30 30
    13data-sort-value="Fillmore, Millard" Millard FillmoreWhig41 38 36 38 35 40 (tie) 33 38 39 40 39 40 40 39 37 37 37 37 33 37 38
    14data-sort-value="Pierce, Franklin" Franklin PierceDemocratic39 40 38 40 39 40 (tie) 40 40 40 41 40 39 39 41 40 39 41 39 38 40 40
    15data-sort-value="Buchanan, James" James BuchananDemocratic37 44 40 39 42 44 41 43 44 42 43 42 42 43 42 43 44 43 44 44 43
    16data-sort-value="Lincoln, Abraham" Abraham LincolnRepublican29 1 2 2 18 1 1 1 2 1 1 2 4 3 4 2 1 6 2 1 3
    17data-sort-value="Johnson, Andrew" Andrew JohnsonDemocratic43 43 41 42 40 36 44 44 43 44 42 44 44 44 43 42 43 41 43 43 44
    18data-sort-value="Grant, Ulysses S." Ulysses S. GrantRepublican20 25 25 24 26 18 17 27 18 26 26 24 19 24 26 38 24 24 31 24 24
    19data-sort-value="Hayes, Rutherford B." Rutherford B. HayesRepublican36 31 32 29 23 37 24 34 33 30 31 33 30 27 22 30 35 31 28 29 32
    20data-sort-value="Garfield, James A." James A. GarfieldRepublican22 (tie) 26 21 20 41 32 26 25 24 23 24 27 26 34 29 27 34 34 27 25 28
    21data-sort-value="Arthur, Chester A." Chester A. ArthurRepublican42 32 37 36 17 35 22 (tie) 30 34 36 35 34 33 (tie) 33 30 31 25 32 23 31 34
    22/24data-sort-value="Cleveland, Grover" Grover ClevelandDemocratic27 24 26 27 19 27 (tie) 22 (tie) 19 20 19 22 20 27 20 21 23 23 21 15 22 23
    23data-sort-value="Harrison, Benjamin" Benjamin HarrisonRepublican34 35 30 35 28 38 34 36 35 35 34 31 28 35 32 34 32 29 29 33 35
    25data-sort-value="McKinley, William" William McKinleyRepublican30 21 20 26 32 22 21 17 19 22 20 11 12 23 16 17 20 14 13 20 20
    26data-sort-value="Roosevelt, Theodore" Theodore RooseveltRepublican5 4 8 6 2 2 15 4 4 5 5 7 7 9 3 5 4 3 5 4 4
    27data-sort-value="Taft, William Howard" William Howard TaftRepublican12 29 12 14 27 33 19 23 26 21 23 30 21 16 19 21 18 22 19 23 22
    28data-sort-value="Wilson, Woodrow" Woodrow WilsonDemocratic8 8 19 7 14 11 36 14 14 7 14 8 14 13 11 14 14 11 25 15 11
    29data-sort-value="Harding, Warren G." Warren G. HardingRepublican40 42 42 43 33 43 35 41 41 39 41 38 36 36 35 41 38 36 39 41 41
    30data-sort-value="Coolidge, Calvin" Calvin CoolidgeRepublican33 37 17 33 13 42 28 32 (tie) 38 37 33 26 24 31 24 32 33 35 22 32 31
    31data-sort-value="Hoover, Herbert" Herbert HooverRepublican13 36 15 13 43 39 37 29 36 29 29 32 33 (tie) 26 44 35 39 33 40 35 36
    32data-sort-value="Roosevelt, Franklin D." Franklin D. RooseveltDemocratic6 3 16 12 5 3 4 3 3 2 3 1 3 2 2 3 3 1 4 3 2
    33data-sort-value="Truman, Harry S." Harry S. TrumanDemocratic32 17 9 21 12 8 12 8 10 14 10 14 15 17 8 10 7 4 9 7 9
    34data-sort-value="Eisenhower, Dwight D." Dwight D. EisenhowerRepublican11 19 5 17 7 21 5 5 5 20 7 15 9 5 6 11 8 7 3 6 6
    35data-sort-value="Kennedy, John F." John F. KennedyDemocratic14 5 31 11 31 9 8 12 8 3 11 17 13 12 7 6 15 17 18 12 10
    36data-sort-value="Johnson, Lyndon B." Lyndon B. JohnsonDemocratic15 11 (tie) 34 22 25 10 9 9 13 17 9 3 2 8 12 8 5 40 35 17 16
    37data-sort-value="Nixon, Richard" Richard NixonRepublican16 22 43 16 36 12 31 24 28 27 25 22 35 32 23 28 22 16 42 38 29
    38data-sort-value="Ford, Gerald" Gerald FordRepublican18 33 10 30 30 31 11 31 30 33 30 25 25 21 33 24 31 28 21 27 27
    39data-sort-value="Carter, Jimmy" Jimmy CarterDemocratic26 20 3 15 38 27 (tie) 30 32 (tie) 32 24 28 37 37 19 38 22 28 25 34 26 26
    40data-sort-value="Reagan, Ronald" Ronald ReaganRepublican28 18 24 31 3 13 10 15 7 6 18 4 6 18 18 20 16 12 12 16 13
    41data-sort-value="Bush, George H. W." George H. W. BushRepublican10 28 18 19 20 27 (tie) 13 20 22 28 21 21 20 29 28 19 26 10 17 21 21
    42data-sort-value="Clinton, Bill" Bill ClintonDemocratic21 13 39 8 11 17 3 16 15 8 13 13 18 10 5 12 9 18 30 14 15
    43data-sort-value="Bush, George W." George W. BushRepublican17 30 33 41 21 20 29 35 31 38 38 19 22 28 36 29 30 38 36 34 33
    44data-sort-value="Obama, Barack" Barack ObamaDemocratic25 11 (tie) 13 9 15 23 16 18 16 9 15 23 31 14 10 13 13 20 10 11 17
    45data-sort-value="Trump, Donald" Donald TrumpRepublican44 41 44 44 10 25 43 42 42 43 44 43 43 40 39 44 40 42 41 42 42
    Seq.PresidentPolitical party

    2021 C-SPAN

    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. Yellow  backgrounds indicate third quartile. Orange  backgrounds indicate fourth quartile.Source:[46]
    Seq.PresidentPolitical party
    1data-sort-value="Washington, George" George Washington4 2 2 2 2 2 1 2 14 2 2
    2data-sort-value="Adams, John" John Adams22 18 10 8 14 19 22 20 13 18 15
    3data-sort-value="Jefferson, Thomas" Thomas Jefferson7 8 11 11 11 6 5 6 20 6 7
    4data-sort-value="Madison, James" James Madison19 19 20 12 22 16 12 15 21 12 16
    5data-sort-value="Monroe, James" James Monroe17 14 17 14 6 10 9 14 25 11 12
    6data-sort-value="Adams, John Quincy" John Quincy Adams26 23 14 10 10 17 29 17 10 22 17
    7data-sort-value="Jackson, Andrew" Andrew Jackson8 13 25 32 23 27 24 10 39 19 22
    8data-sort-value="Buren, Martin Van" Martin Van Buren29 34 39 34 26 25 28 30 33 33 34
    9data-sort-value="Harrison, William Henry" William Henry Harrison38 39 41 35 41 40 40 37 36 40 40
    10data-sort-value="Tyler, John" John Tyler40 36 40 37 35 38 41 40 41 38 39
    11data-sort-value="Polk, James K." James K. Polk13 12 16 28 17 9 13 11 35 17 18
    12data-sort-value="Taylor, Zachary" Zachary Taylor31 29 30 29 31 35 37 32 34 34 35
    13data-sort-value="Fillmore, Millard" Millard Fillmore41 37 36 36 37 37 35 41 38 36 38
    14data-sort-value="Pierce, Franklin" Franklin Pierce42 42 38 39 40 39 39 42 42 41 42
    15data-sort-value="Buchanan, James" James Buchanan43 44 43 43 44 42 43 44 44 44 44
    16data-sort-value="Lincoln, Abraham" Abraham Lincoln2 1 1 1 3 1 4 1 1 1 1
    17data-sort-value="Johnson, Andrew" Andrew Johnson44 43 42 42 42 43 44 43 43 43 43
    18data-sort-value="Grant, Ulysses S." Ulysses S. Grant18 16 28 17 18 36 16 21 6 16 20
    19data-sort-value="Hayes, Rutherford B." Rutherford B. Hayes30 33 29 33 30 31 31 33 31 32 33
    20data-sort-value="Garfield, James A." James A. Garfield24 30 26 23 36 28 26 29 16 27 27
    21data-sort-value="Arthur, Chester A." Chester A. Arthur34 31 27 31 33 24 27 31 27 28 30
    22/24data-sort-value="Cleveland, Grover" Grover Cleveland20 24 22 25 24 23 25 22 29 25 25
    23data-sort-value="Harrison, Benjamin" Benjamin Harrison36 32 31 27 29 32 30 34 23 31 32
    25data-sort-value="McKinley, William" William McKinley15 15 13 21 16 12 10 18 26 14 14
    26data-sort-value="Roosevelt, Theodore" Theodore Roosevelt3 4 4 5 4 5 7 4 11 4 4
    27data-sort-value="Taft, William Howard" William Howard Taft28 26 19 22 20 15 20 26 19 23 23
    28data-sort-value="Wilson, Woodrow" Woodrow Wilson12 11 12 19 13 11 18 9 37 15 13
    29data-sort-value="Harding, Warren G." Warren G. Harding33 38 32 40 34 41 33 38 30 37 37
    30data-sort-value="Coolidge, Calvin" Calvin Coolidge21 27 21 18 27 21 15 27 24 24 24
    31data-sort-value="Hoover, Herbert" Herbert Hoover39 40 44 30 32 20 36 39 32 39 36
    32data-sort-value="Roosevelt, Franklin D." Franklin D. Roosevelt1 3 3 3 1 3 3 3 9 3 3
    33data-sort-value="Truman, Harry S." Harry S. Truman14 5 8 9 7 8 14 13 4 5 6
    34data-sort-value="Eisenhower, Dwight D." Dwight D. Eisenhower11 6 6 4 5 4 6 16 12 7 5
    35data-sort-value="Kennedy, John F." John F. Kennedy6 7 7 16 15 18 11 7 7 9 8
    36data-sort-value="Johnson, Lyndon B." Lyndon B. Johnson16 21 18 24 39 7 2 8 2 13 11
    37data-sort-value="Nixon, Richard" Richard Nixon27 28 24 41 12 26 38 23 28 35 31
    38data-sort-value="Ford, Gerald" Gerald Ford37 25 33 20 25 29 19 35 17 26 28
    39data-sort-value="Carter, Jimmy" Jimmy Carter35 35 37 7 28 34 34 24 5 30 26
    40data-sort-value="Reagan, Ronald" Ronald Reagan5 9 15 13 9 30 8 5 22 8 9
    41data-sort-value="Bush, George H. W." George H. W. Bush25 10 23 15 8 13 17 28 15 21 21
    42data-sort-value="Clinton, Bill" Bill Clinton10 20 5 38 19 22 23 19 8 20 19
    43data-sort-value="Bush, George W." George W. Bush23 22 35 26 38 33 21 25 18 29 29
    44data-sort-value="Obama, Barack" Barack Obama9 17 9 6 21 14 32 12 3 10 10
    45data-sort-value="Trump, Donald" Donald Trump32 41 34 44 43 44 42 36 40 42 41
    Seq.PresidentPolitical party

    2022 Siena College

    The Siena College Research Institute released their seventh poll results on June 22, 2022. The best 10% and worst 10% remain unchanged from their 2018 poll (top five: F. D. Roosevelt, Lincoln, Washington, T. Roosevelt, Jefferson; bottom five: A. Johnson, Buchanan, Trump, Harding, Pierce). 41% of the scholars polled said that if a president were to be added to Mount Rushmore, it should be FDR. 63% believed that the president should be elected by a national popular vote; whereas, 17% supported the Electoral College.[47]

    A year into his term, Joe Biden entered the ranking in the second quartile, at nineteenth place out of 45. Among recent presidents, George H. W. Bush, Bill Clinton, and Barack Obama moved up in the rankings, while George W. Bush and Donald Trump moved down, though part of the downward shift was due to the addition of a new president to the poll. Counting from the other direction, Trump remained unchanged at third place from last. The changes were relatively small (one or two places), apart from Obama, who moved up six places (14%) to eleventh place, in the first quartile. Notable shifts among earlier presidents included the continuing rehabilitation of Lyndon Johnson, up 8 places into the first quartile, and of Ulysses Grant, up 3 places (up 8 in the individual evaluations) into the second quartile; and the lessening appreciation of Andrew Jackson, down 4 places to the median (down 7, into the third quartile, in the individual evaluations); Ronald Reagan, down 5 places, remaining in the second quartile; and Zachary Taylor, down 6 places into the fourth quartile.[48]

    Abbreviations
  • Bg = Background (family, education, experience)
  • 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 (speak, write)
  • OA = Overall ability
  • PL = Party leadership
  • RC = Relationship with Congress
  • CAp = Court appointments
  • HE = Handling of U.S. economy
  • EAp = Executive appointments
  • DA = Domestic accomplishments
  • FPA = Foreign policy accomplishments
  • AM = Avoiding crucial mistakes
  • PV = Present overall view [the average ranking of the polled experts][49]
  • O = Overall rank [the average of the individual parameters][50]  Blue  backgrounds indicate first quartile. Green  backgrounds indicate second quartile. Yellow-green  backgrounds indicate the median. Yellow  backgrounds indicate third quartile. Orange  backgrounds indicate fourth quartile.

    Source: Siena College Research Institute: 2022 Survey of U.S. Presidents

    Seq.PresidentPolitical party
    1 George WashingtonIndependent6 6 3 12 1 5 3 3 3 11 3 18 3 1 4 1 4 2 1 33
    2 John AdamsFederalist5 16 5 4 26 20 35 23 23 12 15 31 33 8 15 17 18 17 20 14 16
    3 Thomas JeffersonDemocratic-Republican7 4 20 2 5 8 14 7 6 5 5 4 5 11 20 7 6 10 8 75
    4 James MadisonDemocratic-Republican4 7 9 3 13 15 11 12 18 8 9 10 10 14 19 11 13 20 11 1110
    5 James MonroeDemocratic-Republican13 15 16 21 8 14 7 13 14 15 16 17 9 15 12 13 9 6 6 1212
    6 John Quincy AdamsDemocratic-Republican2 11 7 5 25 19 28 24 21 13 17 29 35 17 13 18 20 15 13 1817
    7 Andrew JacksonDemocratic38 17 37 32 6 4 41 18 11 20 22 5 21 35 30 26 22 29 27 2623
    8 Martin Van BurenDemocratic22 24 30 25 37 28 20 29 26 27 29 15 30 27 36 27 30 25 25 2929
    9 William Henry HarrisonWhig32 39 29 34 45 40 38 38 31 36 38 38 41 42 42 41 41 42 37 3940
    10 John TylerIndependent35 37 39 36 31 33 42 40 40 33 40 43 43 40 37 39 36 27 36 3739
    11 James K. PolkDemocratic26 14 28 23 9 7 22 10 12 17 14 14 11 32 18 21 15 9 10 1715
    12 Zachary TaylorWhig40 29 25 38 38 30 33 35 28 39 33 39 36 37 29 34 31 35 23 3236
    13 Millard FillmoreWhig42 38 35 39 28 36 31 39 39 38 39 41 39 39 31 36 37 37 34 4038
    14 Franklin PierceDemocratic41 41 38 40 39 41 39 41 41 40 41 42 40 41 40 40 40 38 39 4141
    15 James BuchananDemocratic37 45 41 42 43 45 43 43 44 44 45 44 44 44 43 42 45 44 45 4544
    16 Abraham LincolnRepublican29 1 1 1 21 1 1 1 2 1 1 2 4 3 2 3 1 4 2 12
    17 Andrew JohnsonDemocratic44 44 42 44 42 39 45 45 45 45 44 45 45 45 44 44 44 43 44 4345
    18 Ulysses S. GrantRepublican31 23 18 24 19 16 16 22 13 19 20 22 16 20 23 38 17 22 31 1621
    19 Rutherford B. HayesRepublican29 31 32 29 20 37 23 32 32 31 31 30 26 22 28 23 32 33 19 3031
    20 James A. GarfieldRepublican25 25 22 20 41 30 25 26 24 21 24 26 19 31 24 29 29 30 21 2727
    21 Chester A. ArthurRepublican39 34 36 37 16 34 29 34 36 34 36 35 28 32 27 33 28 34 22 3433
    22/24 Grover ClevelandDemocratic34 28 23 26 22 29 27 20 20 23 27 20 23 25 32 23 26 24 24 2426
    23 Benjamin HarrisonRepublican27 32 33 33 29 35 33 36 34 32 34 36 29 28 33 31 35 32 28 3134
    25 William McKinleyRepublican23 26 26 28 33 25 26 15 19 22 18 11 14 24 16 19 23 11 14 2122
    26 Theodore RooseveltRepublican3 3 10 6 2 3 18 4 4 4 4 7 7 6 3 5 5 5 5 44
    27 William Howard TaftRepublican10 30 11 14 30 38 19 27 33 25 28 34 24 19 17 25 24 28 26 2525
    28 Woodrow WilsonDemocratic9 9 21 8 15 11 37 9 17 10 13 8 13 16 11 15 11 13 30 1513
    29 Warren G. HardingRepublican43 42 43 43 35 43 36 42 42 42 42 40 34 38 35 43 39 40 40 4242
    30 Calvin CoolidgeRepublican33 40 19 31 12 42 30 33 38 41 35 27 25 29 25 35 38 36 18 3332
    31 Herbert HooverRepublican14 36 15 15 44 44 40 28 37 29 32 33 38 30 45 32 42 31 42 3837
    32 Franklin D. RooseveltDemocratic1 2 14 10 6 2 2 2 1 2 2 1 2 2 1 2 2 1 4 21
    33 Harry S. TrumanDemocratic28 13 8 19 11 9 13 8 8 14 10 12 15 12 7 9 8 3 7 57
    34 Dwight D. EisenhowerRepublican11 20 4 16 4 18 5 5 5 18 7 9 6 5 6 12 7 7 3 66
    35 John F. KennedyDemocratic12 5 27 12 27 10 8 14 7 3 12 16 12 13 9 4 14 12 15 109
    36 Lyndon B. JohnsonDemocratic16 10 31 18 18 6 6 6 9 16 6 3 1 4 8 6 3 39 35 98
    37 Richard NixonRepublican17 21 44 17 36 12 21 25 27 26 25 23 32 26 22 30 16 14 41 3628
    38 Gerald FordRepublican24 33 13 30 32 32 15 30 30 35 30 28 20 23 38 22 33 26 29 2830
    39 Jimmy CarterDemocratic21 19 2 11 40 26 24 31 29 24 26 37 37 18 34 16 25 23 32 2324
    40 Ronald ReaganRepublican36 18 24 35 3 13 17 19 10 7 21 6 8 21 21 28 21 16 17 1918
    41 George H. W. BushRepublican8 27 17 22 24 27 12 17 22 28 19 24 17 36 26 20 27 8 12 2220
    42 Bill ClintonDemocratic19 12 40 9 10 17 4 16 16 9 11 13 18 7 5 14 12 18 33 1314
    43 George W. BushRepublican20 35 34 41 23 22 32 37 35 37 37 21 22 34 39 37 34 41 38 3535
    44 Barack ObamaDemocratic18 7 6 7 14 21 10 11 15 6 8 19 27 9 10 8 10 19 9 811
    45 Donald TrumpRepublican45 43 45 45 17 23 44 44 43 43 43 32 42 43 41 45 43 45 43 4443
    46 Joe BidenDemocratic15 22 12 27 34 24 9 21 25 30 23 25 31 10 14 10 19 21 16 2019
    Seq.PresidentParty

    Scholar surveys of diversity and racism

    Walton and Smith (2002–2020)

    Professors Hanes Walton Jr. and Robert Smith in their book American Politics and the African American Quest for Universal Freedom, ranked presidents for their views and actions on the topic of race.[51] Presidents can be ranked twice since "White supremacist" refers only to personal belief; while the other categories incorporate policy actions as well.

    Tillery and Greer (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."[53] 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."

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

    Public opinion polls

    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.[54]

    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)

    2011 Gallup poll

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

    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 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.[55]

    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.[56]

    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 American adults 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?".[57]

    Gallup poll 2013
    PresidentOutstandingAbove averageAverageBelow averagePoorNo opinionWeighted average[58]
    Dwight D. Eisenhower10%39%36%2%1%12%3.63
    John F. Kennedy18%56%19%2%1%4%3.92
    Lyndon B. Johnson4%16%46%14%8%12%2.93
    Richard Nixon2%13%27%29%23%6%2.38
    Gerald Ford2%14%56%15%5%8%2.92
    Jimmy Carter4%19%37%20%15%6%2.76
    Ronald Reagan19%42%27%6%4%2%3.67
    George H. W. Bush3%24%48%12%10%2%2.98
    Bill Clinton11%44%29%9%6%1%3.45
    George W. Bush3%18%36%20%23%1%2.58
    Barack Obama6%22%31%18%22%1%2.72

    2014 Quinnipiac poll

    A Quinnipiac University poll taken June 24–30, 2014, asked 1,446 American registered voters who they believed were the best and worst presidents since World War II.[59]

    2017 Quinnipiac poll

    Four years later, a Quinnipiac University poll taken January 20–25, 2017, asked 1,190 American voters who they believed were the best and worst presidents since World War II.[60]

    2017 Morning Consult poll

    Including President Donald Trump for the first time, a Morning Consult poll taken February 9–10, 2017, asked 1,791 American registered voters who they believed were the best and worst presidents since World War II.[61] [62]

    2018 Quinnipiac poll

    A Quinnipiac University poll taken March 3–5, 2018, asked 1,122 American voters who they believed were the best and worst presidents since World War II.[63]

    2021 Gallup poll

    A Gallup poll taken January 4–15, 2021, asked 1,023 American adults 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?"[64]

    Gallup poll 2021
    President Outstanding Above average Average Below average Poor Weighted average
    John F. Kennedy 23% 47% 25% 2% 1% 3.83
    Richard Nixon 4% 7% 26% 29% 30% 2.14
    Jimmy Carter 6% 21% 43% 14% 10% 2.81
    Ronald Reagan 17% 35% 30% 10% 6% 3.41
    George H. W. Bush 7% 21% 53% 11% 6% 3.06
    Bill Clinton 10% 26% 37% 16% 11% 3.08
    George W. Bush 6% 18% 49% 16% 10% 2.91
    Barack Obama 21% 35% 22% 11% 12% 3.45
    Donald Trump 9% 20% 10% 14% 47% 2.30

    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.[65] They reported data from three generations as well as from an online survey conducted . 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%)

    Reception

    Gerard Baker, US editor for The Times, writes, "the 42 American presidents fall into a well-established, bell-curve or normal distribution on a chart – a handful of outstanding ones, a handful of duds, and a lot of so-sos. I couldn't, in all honesty therefore, really say that number 13 on the list is that much better than number 30."[66]

    Political scientist Walter Dean Burnham described "dichotomous or schizoid profiles" of presidents, making some hard to classify in his opinion. Historian Alan Brinkley said "there are presidents who could be considered both failures and great or near great (for example, Wilson, Johnson, 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?"[67]

    David Herbert 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."[68] 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."[69] The broadly static nature of the rankings over multiple decades has also been called into question, particularly given the frequent exposure of previously unknown material about American government.[70]

    The first British survey, published in 2011, places some small government advocates higher than recent US surveys have: Thomas Jefferson at 4, Ronald Reagan at 8, and Andrew Jackson at 9 (compare 7, 10 and 13 in C-SPAN 2009).

    Survey takers

    In 2002, Ron Walters, former director of the University of Maryland's African American Leadership Institute, stated that ranking based on the presidents' ability to balance 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 that there was a qualitative difference between presidential evaluations from white and African-American intellectuals. He gives as an example of this difference a comparison between two contemporary studies, a 1996 New York Times poll by Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr., where 31 white historians and one black historian ranked presidents as "Great", "Near Great", "High Average", "Average", "Below Average", or "Failure", and a survey performed by professors Hanes Walton Jr. and Robert Smith and featured in their book American Politics and the African American Quest for Universal Freedom, where 44 African-American political scientists and historians ranked presidents as "White Supremacist", "Racist", "Racially Neutral", "Racially Ambivalent", or "Antiracist".[71]

    A 2012 analysis by Mark Zachary Taylor faulted presidential surveys with "partisan bias and subjective judgments", suggesting an algorithm to rank of the presidents based on objectively measurable economic statistics. His algorithm placed Franklin Roosevelt as the best president for the economy, followed by Harding, Hayes and McKinley tied for second. The worst-ranked presidents were Hoover and Van Buren, tied.[72]

    Alvin S. Felzenberg has criticized what he sees as a liberal bias in presidential rankings. In particular, he ranks Ronald Reagan in third place, substantially higher than averaged rankings. In reviewing his 2010 book, Michael Genovese says, "Felzenberg is upset—with some justification—at the liberal bias he sees as so prevalent in the ranking of U.S. presidents by historians and political scientists. To remedy this, he has provided a counter to the liberal bias with a conservative bias. In doing so, he commits all the sins of which he accuses liberals. This book is a mirror image of the work he finds so troubling....It is unscientific, impressionistic, and highly subjective."[73]

    See also

    Individual presidents

    Other countries

    Further reading

    Notes and References

    1. Maranell. Gary M.. The Evaluation of Presidents: An Extension of the Schlesinger Polls. The Journal of American History. June 1970. 57. 1. 104–113. 1900552. 10.2307/1900552. 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. .
    3. Web site: Americans Say Reagan Is the Greatest U.S. President. February 18, 2011. Gallup. March 16, 2012. March 14, 2012. https://web.archive.org/web/20120314210856/http://www.gallup.com/poll/146183/Americans-Say-Reagan-Greatest-President.aspx. live.
    4. Schlesinger, Arthur M. "Our Presidents: A Rating by 75 Historians". The New York Times. July 1962. pp. 12–13, 40–41, 43.
    5. Web site: Rating the Presidents: Washington to Clinton. PBS. March 25, 2010. April 13, 2010. https://web.archive.org/web/20100413234454/http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/choice2004/leadership/schlesinger.html#chart. live.
    6. Schlesinger . Arthur M. . 1997-06-01 . Rating the Presidents: Washington to Clinton . Political Science Quarterly . en . 112 . 2 . 179–190 . 10.2307/2657937 . 2657937 . 0032-3195.
    7. Book: DeGregorio, William A. . The complete book of U. S. presidents . 1991 . Barricade . 978-0-942637-37-3 . 3rd . New York . 704.
    8. Web site: About the Presidents Study . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20190924150628/https://scri.siena.edu/us-presidents-study/about-the-presidents-study/ . September 24, 2019 . September 24, 2019.
    9. Web site: Siena's 6th Presidential Expert Poll 1982–2018 . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20190719163759/https://scri.siena.edu/2019/02/13/sienas-6th-presidential-expert-poll-1982-2018/ . July 19, 2019 . September 24, 2019.
    10. https://web.archive.org/web/20060628235418/http://www.siena.edu/sri/results/95%20Presidency%20Survey.htm "Historians Give Good Grades to Clinton Presidency in Siena College Survey"
    11. https://web.archive.org/web/20070210095846/http://www.siena.edu/sri/results/2002/02AugPresidentsSurvey.htm "FDR America's Greatest President"
    12. Book: Ridings . William J. . Rating the presidents: a ranking US leaders, from the great and honorable to the dishonest and incompetent . MacIver . Stuart B. . 1997 . Carol Publ. Group . 978-0-8065-1799-5 . A Citadel Press book . Secaucus, NY.
    13. Web site: Taranto . James . James Taranto . September 12, 2005 . Opinion: Presidential Leadership; The Rankings . https://web.archive.org/web/20060207050558/http://www.opinionjournal.com/extra/?id=110007243 . February 7, 2006 . OpinionJournal from The Wall Street Journal.
    14. Book: Presidential leadership: rating the best and the worst in the White House . 2004 . Free Press . 978-0-7432-5433-5 . Taranto . James . A Wall Street journal book . New York . Leo . Leonard.
    15. News: Who's the greatest? The Times US presidential rankings. Griffin, Jeremy. Hines, Nico. The Times. October 28, 2008. March 24, 2010. London. December 2, 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20201202042621/https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/whos-the-greatest-the-times-us-presidential-rankings-g6qv750mq3r. live.
    16. http://static.c-span.org/files/pressCenter/C-SPANpresidentialsurveyPR021509.pdf "C-SPAN Releases Second Historians Survey of Presidential Leadership"
    17. https://www.c-span.org/presidentsurvey2017/ "Presidential Historians Survey 2017"
    18. https://static.c-span.org/assets/documents/presidentSurvey/C-SPAN%20Historians%20Survey%20of%20President%20Leadership%20Feb%2017%202017%20press%20release%20PDF.pdf "C-SPAN Releases Third Historians Survey of Presidential Leadership"
    19. https://static.c-span.org/assets/documents/presidentSurvey/2021+Press+Release.pdf "C-SPAN releases fourth Historians Survey of Presidential Leadership"
    20. https://www.c-span.org/presidentsurvey2021/?page=methodology "Methodology: Presidential Historians Survey 2021"
    21. Iwan Morgan. "UK Survey of US Presidents: Results and Analysis" . Institute for the Study of the Americas. Retrieved October 10, 2013.
    22. Web site: From Franklin Delano Roosevelt to John F. Kennedy, Newsweek's 10 Best Presidents (Photos). The Daily Beast. September 24, 2012. April 13, 2014. April 24, 2014. https://web.archive.org/web/20140424210738/http://www.thedailybeast.com/galleries/2012/09/24/from-franklin-delano-roosevelt-to-john-f-kennedy-newsweek-s-10-best-presidents-photos.html. live.
    23. Web site: Measuring Obama against the great presidents. Brandon Rottinghaus. February 13, 2015. The Brookings Institution. April 6, 2015. January 6, 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20160106025720/http://www.brookings.edu/blogs/fixgov/posts/2015/02/13-obama-measuring-presidential-greatness-vaughn-rottinghaus. live.
    24. Web site: UK Survey of US Presidents: Overall Ranking & Total Scores . Presidential History Network . 2016 . July 23, 2021 . July 23, 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210723155339/https://presidentialhistorynetwork.wordpress.com/survey/overall-results/ . live .
    25. Web site: UK Survey of US Presidents: Full dataset . Presidential History Network . 2016 . July 23, 2021 . June 30, 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210630144408/https://presidentialhistorynetwork.files.wordpress.com/2017/01/full-data-by-president.pdf . live .
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    27. News: Chappell . Bill . February 19, 2024 . In historians' Presidents Day survey, Biden vs. Trump is not a close call . NPR.
    28. News: Pengelly . Martin . 2024-02-20 . Trump ranked as worst US president in history, with Biden 14th greatest . 2024-02-23 . The Guardian . en-GB . 0261-3077.
    29. Web site: Vaughn . Justin . Rottinghaus . Brandon . 2024-02-18 . Opinion: We know how voters feel about Trump and Biden. But how do the experts rank their presidencies? . 2024-02-23 . Los Angeles Times . en-US.
    30. Web site: Benson . Samuel . 2024-02-19 . Presidential rankings by academics place Obama, Biden above Reagan, Trump . 2024-02-20 . Deseret News . en.
    31. Web site: February 13, 2019 . Siena's 6th Presidential Expert Poll 1982–2018 . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20190719163759/https://scri.siena.edu/2019/02/13/sienas-6th-presidential-expert-poll-1982-2018/ . July 19, 2019 . September 24, 2019 . Siena College Research Institute.
    32. Quartiles were determined by splitting the data into an upper and lower half and then splitting these halves each into two quartiles. When splitting an odd total number of rankings, the median is given an intermediate color.
    33. [Grover Cleveland]
    34. 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, this contributes to the number of ranks assigned by some sources being less than the presidential complement of the era.
    35. 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.
    36. When he ran for reelection in 1864, Republican Abraham Lincoln formed a bipartisan electoral alliance with War Democrats by selecting Democrat Andrew Johnson as his running mate, and running on the National Union Party ticket. Not until 1868, long after the National Union Party had disbanded, did Johnson rejoin the Democratic Party.
    37. Underline within a column indicates a given survey's lowest-ranking president (or presidents, in the event of a tie for last place).
    38. Italics within row indicate rank awarded before president had completed term in office.
    39. Obama would place 8th based on provisional scores of the USPC 2011 survey, but was not given a ranking in the final results as he had not yet completed his term when the survey was conducted.
    40. Murray and Blessing. p. 135.
    41. Web site: Rushmore Plus One; FDR joins Mountainside Figures Washington, Jefferson, Teddy Roosevelt and Lincoln as Top Presidents. Siena College. July 1, 2010. https://web.archive.org/web/20100706090046/http://www.siena.edu/pages/179.asp?item=2566. July 6, 2010. May 19, 2017.
    42. Harrison was only president for one month, therefore, he was not ranked in this survey.
    43. Garfield was president for 6 and a half months, therefore, he was not ranked in this survey.
    44. Web site: All Presidents. C-SPAN Survey on Presidents 2017. C-SPAN. December 14, 2017. December 22, 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20171222235618/https://www.c-span.org/presidentsurvey2017/. live.
    45. Web site: Siena's 6th Presidential Expert Poll 1982–2018. February 27, 2019. July 19, 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20190719163759/https://scri.siena.edu/2019/02/13/sienas-6th-presidential-expert-poll-1982-2018/. live.
    46. Web site: All Presidents. C-SPAN Survey on Presidents 2021. C-SPAN. June 30, 2021. July 3, 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20210703102349/https://www.c-span.org/presidentsurvey2021/. live.
    47. Web site: American Presidents: Greatest and Worst. Siena's 7th Presidential Expert Poll 1982–2022. . June 23, 2022 . July 15, 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220715114119/https://scri.siena.edu/2022/06/22/american-presidents-greatest-and-worst/ . live .
    48. Web site: Graphics for American Presidents: Greatest and Worst . June 23, 2022 . June 23, 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220623191952/https://scri.siena.edu/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/Graphics-for-Presidents-Release-2.pdf . live .
    49. The average evaluation. The wording on the survey was "your present overall view."
    50. The average rank as calculated by Sienna from the data items in the table. This is usually within a few places of the average evaluation, but more divergent in the cases of Ulysses Grant and Richard Nixon.
    51. News: Cox . Tony . February 19, 2007 . Race and Ranking the Best and Worst Presidencies . NPR - News and Notes.
    52. Book: Walton, Hanes . 262 . American Politics and the African American Quest for Universal Freedom . Smith . Robert C. . Wallace . Sherri L. . 2020-12-30 . Routledge . 978-1-003-02832-1 . 9 . 9th edition. New York, NY : Routledge, 2021. . en . 10.4324/9781003028321.
    53. Web site: Tillery Jr. . Alvin B. . May 31, 2019 . The First-Ever Expert Survey on Presidential Leadership on Diversity and Inclusion . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20190702143212/https://www.csdd.northwestern.edu/research/csdd-survey-results_presidential-leadership-poll_may-2019.pdf . July 2, 2019 . June 25, 2019 . Center for the Study of Diversity and Democracy.
    54. Web site: Kennedy Still Highest-Rated Modern President, Nixon Lowest. December 6, 2010. Gallup. March 16, 2012. March 14, 2012. https://web.archive.org/web/20120314210852/http://www.gallup.com/poll/145064/Kennedy-Highest-Rated-Modern-President-Nixon-Lowest.aspx. live.
    55. http://www.publicpolicypolling.com/main/2011/09/jfk-reagan-clinton-most-popular-recent-ex-presidents.html "JFK, Reagan, Clinton most popular recent ex-presidents"
    56. http://www.angus-reid.com/polls/43774/kennedy-and-reagan-lead-list-of-good-presidents-for-americans/ "Kennedy and Reagan Lead List of Good Presidents for Americans"
    57. Web site: Americans Rate JFK as Top Modern President. Gallup. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20160801184550/http://www.gallup.com/poll/165902/americans-rate-jfk-top-modern-president.aspx. August 1, 2016. mdy-all.
    58. The weights were 5 for "Outstanding", 4 for "Above Average", 3 for "Average", 2 for "Below Average" and 1 for "Poor".
    59. Web site: 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. July 3, 2014. July 3, 2014. https://web.archive.org/web/20140703073437/http://www.quinnipiac.edu/news-and-events/quinnipiac-university-poll/national/release-detail?ReleaseID=2056. live.
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    61. Web site: Morning Consult National Tracking Poll February 09–10,2017. Politico. October 18, 2017. February 16, 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20170216131218/http://www.politico.com/f/?id=0000015a-418e-d93a-ad7e-dfded64d0002. live.
    62. Web site: Poll: Trump and Obama Are America's Worst Presidents Since World War II. Morning Consult. 2017-02-15. October 18, 2017. October 19, 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20171019055213/https://morningconsult.com/2017/02/15/poll-trump-obama-americas-worst-presidents-since-world-war-ii/. live.
    63. Web site: QU Poll Release Detail. Quinnipiac University. March 7, 2018. March 10, 2018. November 4, 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20201104184734/https://poll.qu.edu/national/release-detail?ReleaseID=2526. live.
    64. Web site: Jones . Jeffrey . Americans Expect History to Judge Trump Harshly . . January 19, 2021 . 20 January 2021 . January 19, 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210119203641/https://news.gallup.com/poll/328670/americans-expect-history-judge-trump-harshly.aspx . live .
    65. News: Carey. Benedict. Study on Cultural Memory Confirms: Chester A. Arthur, We Hardly Knew Ye. September 11, 2015. The New York Times. November 27, 2014. October 27, 2015. https://web.archive.org/web/20151027091724/http://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/28/science/study-details-presidents-paths-from-power-to-dusty-corner-of-cultural-memory.html. live.
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    68. Donald, David H. Lincoln. 1995. p. 13.
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