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 individuals who have served as the president 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.
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
, 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, Ulysses S. Grant, Zachary Taylor, and George W. Bush. Because William Henry Harrison and James A. Garfield both died shortly after taking office, they are usually 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 if 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 ". Historian and political scientist James MacGregor Burns observed of Nixon: "How can one evaluate such an idiosyncratic president, so brilliant and so morally lacking?"
Notable scholar surveys
The 1948 poll was conducted by historian Arthur M. Schlesinger Sr. of Harvard University. The 1962 survey was also conducted by Schlesinger, who surveyed 75 historians. Schlesinger's son, Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr., conducted another poll in 1996.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. 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 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. 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. These surveys collect presidential rankings from historians, political scientists, and presidential scholars in a range of attributes, abilities, and accomplishments. 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.
A 2006 Siena College poll of 744 professors reported the following results:
- "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 responded no; less than a quarter responded yes; and 10% chose "no opinion or not applicable"
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.
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...." Donald J. 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, who presidential scholars had rated among the bottom five in the previous 2010 survey, improved to a position in the third quartile.
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. 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 to 10 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—each category is equally weighed. 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.
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".
In 2011, through the agency of its United States Presidency Centre, the Institute for the Study of the Americas 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.
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.
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.
A 2015 poll administered by the American Political Science Association 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. APSA conducted a repeat of this poll in 2018, with Donald Trump appearing for the first time, in last position.
Scholar survey results
;Within each column:Note: click the "sort" icon at the head of each column to view the rankings for each survey in numerical order.
No. | President | Political party | |||||||||||||||||||||
1 | George Washington | Independent | 02 | 02 | 03 | 02 | 04 | 04 | 04 | 03 | 02 | 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 | 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 | 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 | 39 | 37 | 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 | 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 | 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 | 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 | 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 | 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 | 02 | 03 | 01 | 03 | 03 | 01 | 01 | 03 | 03 | 03 | 02 | 1 |
33 | Harry S. Truman | Democratic | – | 08 | 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 | 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 | Ronald Reagan | Republican | – | – | – | – | 16 * | 22 | 20 | 26 | 25 | 11 | 08 | 16 | 06 | 10 | 18 | 08 | 11 | 09 | 09 | 13 | 1 |
41 | George H. W. Bush | Republican | – | – | – | – | – | 18 * | 31 | 22 | 24 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 21 | 18 | 22 | 22 | 17 | 20 | 17 | 21 | 2 |
42 | Bill Clinton | Democratic | – | – | – | – | – | – | 16 * | 23 * | 20 * | 21 * | 24 * | 18 | 22 | 15 | 13 | 19 | 08 | 15 | 13 | 15 | 2 |
43 | George W. Bush | Republican | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 23 * | 19 * | 36 | 39 | 31 | 35 | 33 | 30 | 33 | 3 |
44 | Barack Obama | Democratic | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 15 * | – | 18 * | 12 | 08 | 17 | 2 |
45 | Donald Trump | Republican | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 44 * | 42 * | 4 * |
Total in survey | 29 | 31 | 36 | 36 | 39 | 40 | 41 | 41 | 39 | 41 | 39 | 42 | 40 | 42 | 43 | 40 | 43 | 43 | 44 | 44 | 4 |
Murray-Blessing 1982 survey
The Murray-Blessing 1982 survey asked historians whether they were liberal or conservative on domestic, social and economic issues. 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 six of the worst seven.Rank | Liberals | Conservatives |
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.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?"- Ronald Reagan
- Abraham Lincoln
- Bill Clinton
- John F. Kennedy
- George Washington
- Franklin Roosevelt
- Barack Obama
- Theodore Roosevelt
- Harry S. Truman
- George W. Bush
- Thomas Jefferson
- Jimmy Carter
- Dwight Eisenhower
- George H. W. Bush
- Andrew Jackson
- Lyndon B. Johnson
- Richard Nixon
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.- John F. Kennedy
- Ronald Reagan
- Bill Clinton
- George H. W. Bush
- Gerald Ford
- Jimmy Carter
- Lyndon B. Johnson
- George W. Bush
- Richard Nixon
Public Policy Polling
- John F. Kennedy
- Ronald Reagan
- Bill Clinton
- George H. W. Bush
- Gerald Ford
- Jimmy Carter
- Lyndon B. Johnson
- George W. Bush
- Richard Nixon
Vision Critical/Angus Reid poll
- John F. Kennedy
- Ronald Reagan
- Bill Clinton
- Dwight D. Eisenhower
- Harry S. Truman
- Jimmy Carter
- George H. W. Bush
- Barack Obama
- Gerald Ford
- Lyndon B. Johnson
- George W. Bush
- Richard Nixon
2013 Gallup poll
President | Outstanding | Above average | Average | Below average | Poor | No opinion | Weighted average |
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.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.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.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.Siena College Research Institute, Presidential Expert Poll of 2010
;AbbreviationsSource:
Seq. | President | Political party | |||||||||||||||||||||
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 | 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 | 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 |
2017 C-SPAN Presidential Historian Survey
;AbbreviationsSource:
Seq. | President | Political party | |||||||||||
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 | 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 | 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 |
Siena College Research Institute, Presidential Expert Poll of 2018
On February 13, 2019, Siena released its 6th presidential poll.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, Abraham Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt and Thomas Jefferson. This top five, described as Mt. Rushmore plus FDR, was consistent with prior surveys. Washington had been ranked fourth in all previous surveys, and FDR first.
;Abbreviations
Seq. | President | Political party | |||||||||||||||||||||
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 | 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 | 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 |
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. 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:- Barack Obama
- Bill Clinton
- George W. Bush or George H. W. Bush
- George Washington
- Abraham Lincoln
- John F. Kennedy
- Richard Nixon
- Jimmy Carter
- Thomas Jefferson
- Ronald Reagan
- Gerald Ford
- Franklin D. Roosevelt or Theodore Roosevelt
- John Adams or John Quincy Adams
- Dwight D. Eisenhower
- Harry S. Truman
- Andrew Jackson
- Herbert Hoover
- Andrew Johnson or Lyndon B. Johnson
- William Howard Taft
- James Madison
- Ulysses S. Grant
- James Monroe
- Woodrow Wilson
- Calvin Coolidge
- James A. Garfield
- James K. Polk
- Warren G. Harding
- William McKinley
- John Tyler
- James Buchanan
- Grover Cleveland
- William Henry Harrison or Benjamin Harrison
- Martin Van Buren
- Rutherford B. Hayes
- Zachary Taylor
- Millard Fillmore
- Franklin Pierce
- Chester A. Arthur
Criticism and alternatives
The broadly static nature of the rankings over multiple decades has also been called into question, particularly given that the frequent nature of previously unknown material about American government getting exposed.
Alvin S. Felzenberg's ''The Leaders We Deserved''
, 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, has authored The Leaders We Deserved in an attempt to revise the understanding of presidential rankings. 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."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.
In his study of American history, the author finds fault with conventional wisdom in certain areas and agrees with it in others. 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.
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 majority interests and the interests 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. Individual presidents' attitudes, policies and perspectives were historically ranked in five categories: White Supremacist; Racist; Racially Neutral; Racially Ambivalent; Antiracist.Northwestern Presidential Leadership on Diversity and Inclusion Survey (2019)
In May 2019, the Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences, "in conjunction the Dr. Christina Greer of Fordham University, the Center for the Study of Diversity and Democracy’s 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." 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 across the ideological spectrum".Overall (performance + diversity and inclusion score)
- Franklin D. Roosevelt
- Barack Obama
- Lyndon B. Johnson
- Bill Clinton
- John F. Kennedy
- Harry S. Truman
- Dwight D. Eisenhower
- Ronald Reagan
- Jimmy Carter
- George H. W. Bush
- Gerald Ford
- George W. Bush
- Richard Nixon
- Donald Trump
Diversity and inclusion leadership score (without including overall leadership)
- Barack Obama
- Bill Clinton
- Jimmy Carter
- George W. Bush
- Lyndon B. Johnson
- George H. W. Bush
- Franklin D. Roosevelt
- Gerald Ford
- John F. Kennedy
- Harry S. Truman
- Ronald Reagan
- Dwight D. Eisenhower
- Richard Nixon
- Donald Trump
Footnotes