Presidential Greatness Survey Jan. 16, 20181 | Brookings Institution Apr. 2, 20152 | Siena Research Institute (SRI) July 1, 20103 | C-SPAN 20094 | Wall Street Journal & Federalist Society Feb.-Mar. 20055 | Arthur Schlesinger, Jr. 19966 |
|
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Abraham Lincoln | Abraham Lincoln | Franklin Roosevelt | Abraham Lincoln | George Washington | Abraham Lincoln |
2 | George Washington | George Washington | Theodore Roosevelt | George Washington | Abraham Lincoln | George Washington |
3 | Franklin Roosevelt | Franklin Roosevelt | Abraham Lincoln | Franklin Roosevelt | Franklin Roosevelt | Franklin Roosevelt |
4 | Theodore Roosevelt | Theodore Roosevelt | George Washington | Theodore Roosevelt | Thomas Jefferson | Thomas Jefferson |
5 | Thomas Jefferson | Thomas Jefferson | Thomas Jefferson | Harry Truman | Theodore Roosevelt | Andrew Jackson |
6 | Harry Truman | Harry Truman | James Madison | John F. Kennedy | Ronald Reagan | Theodore Roosevelt |
7 | Dwight Eisenhower | Dwight Eisenhower | James Monroe | Thomas Jefferson | Harry Truman | Woodrow Wilson |
8 | Barack Obama | Bill Clinton | Woodrow Wilson | Dwight Eisenhower | Dwight Eisenhower | Harry Truman |
9 | Ronald Reagan | Andrew Jackson | Harry Truman | Woodrow Wilson | James Polk | James Polk |
10 | Lyndon Johnson | Woodrow Wilson | Dwight Eisenhower | Ronald Reagan | Andrew Jackson | Dwight Eisenhower |
11 | Woodrow Wilson | Ronald Reagan | John F. Kennedy | Lyndon Johnson | Woodrow Wilson | John Adams |
12 | James Madison | Lyndon Johnson | James Polk | James Polk | Grover Cleveland | John F. Kennedy |
13 | Bill Clinton | James Madison | Bill Clinton | Andrew Jackson | John Adams | Grover Cleveland |
14 | John Adams | John F. Kennedy | Andrew Jackson | James Monroe | William McKinley | Lyndon Johnson |
15 | Andrew Jackson | John Adams | Barack Obama | Bill Clinton | John F. Kennedy | James Monroe |
16 | John F. Kennedy | James Monroe | Lyndon Johnson | William McKinley | James Monroe | William McKinley |
17 | George H.W. Bush | George H.W. Bush | John Adams | John Adams | John Adams | James Madison |
18 | James Monroe | Barack Obama | Ronald Reagan | George H.W. Bush | Lyndon Johnson | John Quincy Adams |
19 | William McKinley | James Polk | John Quincy Adams | John Quincy Adams | George W. Bush | Benjamin Harrison |
20 | James Polk | William Taft | Grover Cleveland | James Madison | William Taft | Bill Clinton |
21 | Ulysses Grant | William McKinley | William McKinley | Grover Cleveland | George H.W. Bush | Martin Van Buren |
22 | William Taft | John Quincy Adams | George H.W. Bush | Gerald Ford | Bill Clinton | William Taft |
23 | John Quincy Adams | Grover Cleveland | Martin Van Buren | Ulysses Grant | Calvin Coolidge | Rutherford Hayes |
24 | Grover Cleveland | Gerald Ford | William Taft | William Taft | Rutherford Hayes | George H.W. Bush |
25 | Gerald Ford | Martin Van Buren | Chester Arthur | Jimmy Carter | John Quincy Adams | Ronald Reagan |
26 | Jimmy Carter | Jimmy Carter | Ulysses Grant | Calvin Coolidge | Chester Arthur | Chester Arthur |
27 | Martin Van Buren | Calvin Coolidge | James Garfield | Richard Nixon | Martin Van Buren | Jimmy Carter |
28 | Calvin Coolidge | Ulysses Grant | Gerald Ford | James Garfield | Gerald Ford | Gerald Ford |
29 | Rutherford Hayes | Benjamin Harrison | Calvin Coolidge | Zachary Taylor | Ulysses Grant | Zachary Taylor |
30 | George W. Bush | Rutherford Hayes | Richard Nixon | Benjamin Harrison | Benjamin Harrison | Calvin Coolidge |
31 | Chester Arthur | James Garfield | Rutherford Hayes | Martin Van Buren | Herbert Hoover | Millard Fillmore |
32 | William Harrison | Chester Arthur | Jimmy Carter | Chester Arthur | Richard Nixon | John Tyler |
33 | Richard Nixon | Zachary Taylor | Zachary Taylor | Rutherford Hayes | Zachary Taylor | Franklin Pierce |
34 | James Garfield | Richard Nixon | Benjamin Harrison | Herbert Hoover | Jimmy Carter | Ulysses Grant |
35 | Zachary Taylor | George W. Bush | William Harrison | John Tyler | John Tyler | Herbert Hoover |
36 | Herbert Hoover | John Tyler | Herbert Hoover | George W. Bush | Millard Fillmore | Richard Nixon |
37 | John Tyler | Millard Fillmore | John Tyler | Millard Fillmore | Andrew Johnson | Andrew Johnson |
38 | Millard Fillmore | Herbert Hoover | Millard Fillmore | Warren Harding | Franklin Pierce | James Buchanan |
39 | Warren Harding | William Harrison | George W. Bush | William Harrison | Warren Harding | Warren Harding |
40 | Andrew Johnson | Franklin Pierce | Franklin Pierce | Franklin Pierce | James Buchanan | |
41 | Franklin Pierce | Andrew Johnson | Warren Harding | Andrew Johnson | ||
42 | William Harrison | Warren Harding | James Buchanan | James Buchanan | ||
43 | James Buchanan | James Buchanan | Andrew Johnson | |||
44 | Donald Trump |
(See our similar site on President Ronald Reagan)
Sources and notes:
1. The 2018 Presidents & Executive Politics Presidential Greatness Survey was conducted by Brandon Rottinghaus and Justin S. Vaughn, who surveyed current and recent members of the Presidents & Executive Politics Section of the American Political Science Association and received 170 usable responses between Dec. 22, 2017 and Jan. 16, 2018. Note that while President Trump is making his debut on this poll at the bottom of the list, he took office on Jan. 20, 2017, after the poll was conducted. Trump and all the former US Presidents were rated on a scale of 0-100 for their “overall greatness.” Abraham Lincoln scored the highest with an average rating of 95.03, while Donald Trump scored the lowest with an average rating of 12.34. The results were published at sps.boisestate.edu.
2. Poll of several hundred members of the American Political Science Association by the Brookings Institution; Brandon Rottinghaus and Justin S. Vaughn, “Measuring Obama against the Great Presidents,” brookings.edu, Apr. 2, 2015
3. Participants were 238 “presidential scholars, historians and political scientists;” “Presidents 2010 Rank by Category,” siena.edu, July 1, 2010
4. Participants were 65 “presidential historians” and “other professional observers of the presidency;” “C-SPAN 2009 Historians Presidential Leadership Survey,” c-span.org, 2009
5. Participants were 8 correspondents, editors, bureau chiefs, columnists, and writers of The Times; “Who’s the Greatest? The Times US Presidential Rankings,” by Jeremy Griffin and Nico Hines, timesonline.co.uk, Oct. 28, 2008
6. Because of the short duration of their terms, William Henry Harrison and James Garfield were excluded from this ranking; participants were 85 “professors of history, law, political science and economics… the presidents are ranked in order of mean score, adjusted to give equal weight to Democratic- and Republican-leaning respondents;” “The Rankings,” www.opinionjournal.com, Sep. 12, 2005
7. Participants were 32 “historians and close observers of presidential leadership;” “Rating the Presidents: Washington to Clinton,” by Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr., Political Science Quarterly, Summer 1997
People who view this page may also like: |
---|
1. US Presidential Rankings |
2. Should Felons Who Have Completed Their Sentence (Incarceration, Probation, and Parole) Be Allowed to Vote? - Pro & Con Quotes |
3. 50 Famous Vegetarians |