Historical rankings of United States Presidents

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Sculptor Gutzon Borglum and President Calvin Coolidge selected Washington, Jefferson, Roosevelt, and Lincoln to appear on Mount Rushmore.
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Sculptor Gutzon Borglum and President Calvin Coolidge selected Washington, Jefferson, Roosevelt, and Lincoln to appear on Mount Rushmore.

Many surveys have been conducted in order to construct rankings of the success of individuals who have served as 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 the presidential achievements, leadership qualities, failures and faults (such as corruption).

Three Presidents—George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, and Franklin D. Roosevelt—are consistently ranked at the top of the lists. Usually ranked just below those three are Presidents Thomas Jefferson and Theodore Roosevelt. The remaining "top 10" ranks are often rounded out by Woodrow Wilson, Andrew Jackson, Harry S. Truman, Dwight D. Eisenhower and James K. Polk. In recent polls, James Madison, James Monroe and Ronald Reagan have sometimes been ranked in the top 10.

Ranking at the bottom of most polls are Franklin Pierce, James Buchanan, Andrew Johnson, and Warren G. Harding.

Some presidents present special problems because their foreign policy success/failure stands in contradiction to their domestic policy failure/success. Political scientist Walter Dean Burnham noted the "dichotomous or schizoid profiles. On some very important dimensions both Wilson and Lyndon B. Johnson were outright failures in my view; while on others they rank very high indeed. Similarly with Nixon." Historian Alan Brinkley said: "There are presidents who could be considered both failures and great or near great (for example, Wilson, Johnson, Nixon)". James MacGregor Burns observed of Nixon, 'How can one evaluate such an idiosyncratic president, so brilliant and so morally lacking?'" (Skidmore 2001).

Contents

[edit] Surveys of scholars

More than one thousand scholars have participated in the surveys. The issue of the validity of the rankings has been of special interest to historians and political scientists, who have tried to specify the relative importance of personality, leadership, issues and partisanship. Quantitative ranking by groups of scholars have been in favor in recent decades, displacing the traditional methods of evaluation by individual writers as typified by Bailey (1966) and most biographers. For a description of each of the polls, see the survey details section below.

Because Grover Cleveland served two non-consecutive terms and is counted as both the 22nd and 24th President, the total number of Presidents in each poll is at least one less than the number of the most recently serving President in the poll. Because of their short time in office, Presidents William Henry Harrison and James Garfield are sometimes omitted from these polls. Current U.S. president George W. Bush is also absent in some rankings because his term is not yet completed.

# President Schlesinger 1948 poll rank Schlesinger 1962 poll rank 1982 Murray-Blessing survey of 846 historians Chicago Tribune 1982 poll rank Siena 1982 poll rank Siena 1990 poll rank Siena 1994 poll rank Ridings- McIver 1996 poll rank CSPAN 1999 poll rank Wall Street Journal 2000 poll rank Siena 2002 poll rank Wall Street Journal 2005 poll rank Average
Total Presidents in survey 29 31 36 38 39 40 41 41 41 39 42 40  
01 George Washington 02 02 03 03 04 04 04 03 03 01 04 01 02.83
02 John Adams 09 10 09 14 (tie) 10 14 12 14 16 13 12 13 12.17
03 Thomas Jefferson 05 05 04 05 02 03 05 04 07 04 05 04 04.42
04 James Madison 14 12 14 17 09 08 09 10 18 15 09 17 12.67
05 James Monroe 12 18 15 16 15 11 15 13 14 16 08 16 14.08
06 John Quincy Adams 11 13 16 19 17 16 12 18 19 20 17 25 16.9
07 Andrew Jackson 06 06 07 06 13 09 11 08 13 06 13 10 09
08 Martin Van Buren 15 17 20 18 21 21 22 21 30 23 24 27 21.58
09 William Henry Harrison — — — 38 26 35 28 35 37 — 36 — 33.57
(7 rankings)
10 John Tyler 22 25 28 29 34 33 34 34 36 34 37 35 31.75
11 James K. Polk 10 08 12 11 12 13 14 11 12 10 11 09 11.08
12 Zachary Taylor 25 24 27 28 29 34 33 29 28 31 34 33 29.58
13 Millard Fillmore 24 26 29 31 32 32 35 36 35 35 38 36 32.41
14 Franklin Pierce 27 28 31 35 35 36 37 37 39 37 39 38 34.92
15 James Buchanan 26 29 33 36 37 38 39 40 41 39 41 40 36.58
16 Abraham Lincoln 01 01 01 01 03 02 02 01 01 02 02 02 01.58
17 Andrew Johnson 19 23 32 32 38 39 40 38 40 36 42 37 34.67
18 Ulysses S. Grant 28 30 35 30 36 37 38 38 33 32 35 29 33.42
19 Rutherford B. Hayes 13 14 22 22 22 23 24 26 25 22 27 24 22
20 James Garfield — — — 33 25 30 27 30 29 — 33 — 29.57
(7 rankings)
21 Chester A. Arthur 17 21 26 24 24 26 26 32 28 26 30 26 25.5
22, 24 Grover Cleveland 08 11 17 13 18 17 19 17 16 12 20 12 15
23 Benjamin Harrison 21 20 23 25 31 29 28 31 31 27 32 30 27.33
25 William McKinley 18 15 18 10 19 19 18 17 15 14 19 14 16.33
26 Theodore Roosevelt 07 07 05 04 05 05 03 05 04 05 03 05 04.83
27 William Howard Taft 16 16 19 20 20 20 21 24 20 19 21 20 19.67
28 Woodrow Wilson 04 04 06 07 06 06 06 06 06 11 06 11 06.58
29 Warren G. Harding 29 31 36 37 39 40 41 38 38 37 40 39 37.33
30 Calvin Coolidge 23 27 30 27 30 31 36 33 27 25 29 23 28.42
31 Herbert Hoover 20 19 21 21 27 28 29 24 34 29 31 31 26.17
32 Franklin D. Roosevelt 03 03 02 02 01 01 01 02 02 03 01 03 02
33 Harry S Truman — 09 08 08 07 07 07 07 05 07 07 07 07.18
(11 rankings)
34 Dwight D. Eisenhower — 22 11 09 11 12 08 09 09 09 10 08 10.73
(11 rankings)
35 John F. Kennedy — — 13 14 (tie) 08 10 10 15 08 18 14 15 12.5
(10 rankings)
36 Lyndon B. Johnson — — 10 12 14 15 13 12 10 17 15 18 13.6
(10 rankings)
37 Richard Nixon — — 34 34 28 25 23 32 25 33 26 32 29.2
(10 rankings)
38 Gerald R. Ford — — 24 23 23 27 32 27 23 28 28 28 26.3
(10 rankings)
39 Jimmy Carter — — 25 26 33 24 25 19 22 30 25 34 26.3
(10 rankings)
40 Ronald Reagan — — — — 16 22 20 26 11 08 16 06 13.88
(8 rankings)
41 George H. W. Bush — — — — — 18 31 22 20 21 22 21 22.14
(7 rankings)
42 Bill Clinton — — — — — — 16 23 21 24 18 22 20.67
(6 rankings)
43 George W. Bush — — — — — — — — — — 23 19 21
(2 rankings)

[edit] Presidents by average scholar rank

Abraham Lincoln is often considered the greatest president for his leadership during the American Civil War and his eloquence in speeches such as the Gettysburg Address.
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Abraham Lincoln is often considered the greatest president for his leadership during the American Civil War and his eloquence in speeches such as the Gettysburg Address.
# President Political party Average ranking Noted for:
1 Abraham Lincoln Republican 1.58 Skillful leadership during the Civil War to preserve the Union and abolish slavery, Gettysburg Address, Emancipation Proclamation, Thirteenth Amendment abolishing slavery and involuntary servitude, Homestead Act
2 Franklin D. Roosevelt Democrat 2 Leadership during World War II and Great Depression, fireside chats, New Deal, including SEC, Social Security, unemployment insurance, Civilian Conservation Corps, extensive infrastructure investments through the Works Progress Administration and other agencies, rural electrification, FDIC, Federal Housing Administration, Fair Labor Standards Act, Federal Open Market Committee, National Labor Relations Act, Good Neighbor policy with Latin America, Lend-Lease to be the "Arsenal of Democracy," Four Freedoms, Atlantic Charter, Manhattan Project, Japanese American internment, G.I. Bill, creation of the United Nations, overcame paraplegia, won presidency four times, Imperial Presidency
3 George Washington Federalist-leaning non-partisan 2.83 First President, founding father of the republic, establishment of many precedents through acts such as Judiciary Act of 1789, Residence Act of 1790, Bank Act of 1791, Coinage Act of 1792, Naval Act of 1794, establishment of the United States Cabinet, response towards the Whiskey Rebellion, relinquished power uneventfully after two terms. Only unanimously elected President.
4 Thomas Jefferson Democratic-Republican 4.42 Set precedent for peaceful transfer of power between rival political parties, Louisiana Purchase, Lewis and Clark Expedition, intellectual leadership for liberty, separation of church and state advocate, states' rights, wrote the Declaration of Independence
5 Theodore Roosevelt Republican 4.83 Charisma, conservationism, trust-busting, Hepburn Act, safe food regulations, "Square Deal," Panama Canal, Great White Fleet, Nobel Peace Prize for negotiation of peace in Russo-Japanese War
6 Woodrow Wilson Democrat 6.58 World War I leadership, created Federal Reserve, Federal Trade Commission, Clayton Antitrust Act, progressive income tax, lower tarriffs, women's suffrage (reluctantly), Treaty of Versailles, sought 14 points post-war plan, League of Nations (but failed to win U.S. ratification), won Nobel Peace Prize,
7 Harry S Truman Democrat 7.18 World War II and Cold War leadership, Marshall Plan, NATO, Truman Doctrine, desegregation of armed forces, Fair Deal, ordered the use of an atomic bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Korean War.
8 Andrew Jackson Democrat 9 Enhanced power of presidency, defused Nullification crisis, increased political participation by American citizens, "Jacksonian democracy," eliminated national debt, Bank War, Indian Removal Act, Age of Jackson
9 Dwight D. Eisenhower Republican 10.73 Cold War leadership, interstate highway system, era of peace and moderate economic prosperity, emphasized free markets but kept New Deal reforms, enforced Supreme Court desegregation, World War II Supreme Allied Commander
10 James K. Polk Democrat 11.08 Mexican-American War leadership, acquisition of Mexican territories (California, Texas, etc.) and much of the Oregon Territory
11 John Adams Federalist 12.17 Set precedent for peaceful transfer of power between rival political parties, XYZ Affair, established Department of the Navy, Alien and Sedition Acts, prevented war with France
12 John F. Kennedy Democrat 12.5 Cold War leadership, proposed Civil Rights legislation, defused Cuban Missile Crisis, "Ich bin ein Berliner" speech in West Berlin, Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, Project Apollo, Peace Corps, New Frontier, early death left impression of unfulfilled promise
13 James Madison Democratic-Republican 12.67 Blamed for mishandling War of 1812, main architect of United States Constitution
14 Lyndon B. Johnson Democrat 13.6 Vietnam War quagmire, Civil Rights, Voting Rights Act, Great Society: Medicare (United States), Elementary and Secondary Education Act, Higher Education Act of 1965, War on Poverty welfare programs, Head Start, tax cut, booming economy leading to inflation, Wilderness Act, National Endowment for the Arts, National Endowment for the Humanities, Public Broadcasting Act of 1967, Department of Transportation, expanded consumer protection, Model Cities Program, 1965 Immigration Act, clean air/soil/water laws
15 Ronald Reagan Republican 13.88 Cold War leadership, military build-up, Contras, Strategic Defense Initiative, tough policies initially against USSR but then helped peacefully end the Cold War with Mikhail Gorbachev, arms control treaty, economic expansion, advocate of free markets, large tax cuts that ended stagflation but sharply increased huge budget deficits, tax reform, sought welfare reform, "Great Communicator," Berlin Wall speech, slow response to AIDS crisis, increased poverty, scandals including Iran-Contra scandal
16 James Monroe Democratic-Republican 14.08 Monroe Doctrine, Acquired Florida, admission of five states to the Union, Era of Good Feelings, Missouri Compromise, Rush-Bagot Treaty
17 Grover Cleveland Democrat 15 Honest and hardworking, fought corruption, vetoed hundreds of wasteful bills, achieved the Interstate Commerce Commission and civil service reform, violent suppression of strikes, won the popular vote for his reelection but lost the electoral vote, elected president again four years after losing reelection
18 William McKinley Republican 16.33 Spanish-American War, Philippine-American War, and the Annexation of Hawaii, imperialism
19 John Quincy Adams National Republican/Whig 16.9 Presided during the end of the Era of Good Feelings, development of the American System
20 William Howard Taft Republican 19.67 Admittance of New Mexico and Arizona, trust-busting, strengthening of Interstate Commerce Commission, belief in world peace (pacifism)
21 Bill Clinton Democrat 20.67 NAFTA, welfare reform, economic expansion, impeachment, balanced federal budget, deregulation of telecommunications industries, Americorps, Don't Ask, Don't Tell, the Defense of Marriage Act, military intervention in Kosovo and Somalia, extended NATO to Eastern European countries, Waco Siege, Oklahoma City Bombing, attempts on health care reform, Brady Bill
22 George W. Bush Republican 21 September 11, 2001 attacks, War on Terrorism, 2001 war in Afghanistan, PATRIOT Act, Iraq War, Guantanamo Bay detainment camp, No Child Left Behind, tax cuts, Medicare prescription drug benefit, large federal budget deficits, mishandling of Hurricane Katrina response, Marriage Protection Act, withdrawal from the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty, expansion of executive power (unitary executive theory), NSA warrantless surveillance, Military Commissions Act of 2006, Vision for Space Exploration
23 Martin Van Buren Democrat 21.58 Panic of 1837, enforcement of Treaty of New Echota led to displacement of Cherokees
24 Rutherford B. Hayes Republican 22 Compromise of 1877 and Desert Land Act of 1877
25 George H. W. Bush Republican 22.14 Gulf War, president during collapse of Soviet Union, economic recession, broke "No New Taxes" pledge, NAFTA trade treaty
26 Chester A. Arthur Republican 25.5 Revitalization of U.S. Navy, civil service reform
27 (tie) Jimmy Carter Democrat 26.3 Camp David Accords, Iranian hostage crisis, stagflation and energy crisis, image of ineffective leadership, appointed Paul Volcker chairman of the Federal Reserve to end inflation, deregulation legislation, sought energy legislation
27 (tie) Gerald Ford Republican 26.3 Lack of charisma, pardoned Richard Nixon, Whip inflation now, Helsinki Accords
29 Herbert Hoover Republican 26.17 Handling of onset of the Great Depression, handling of Bonus Army demonstration, Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act
30 Benjamin Harrison Republican 27.33 Failure to convince country of his leadership capabilities, tariff issue handling, loss of party leader support
31 Calvin Coolidge Republican 28.42 Lack of interest in exerting executive or federal power (regarded as a strength by some), Kellogg-Briand Pact
32 Richard Nixon Republican 29.2 Vietnam War, Normalization of relations with China, détente, Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty, Clean Water Act, creation of Environmental Protection Agency, wage and price controls, corruption (Watergate scandal, harrassment of opponents via FBI and IRS), resignation to avoid impeachment
33 James A. Garfield Republican 29.57 Brief administration (six months), death prompted the Civil Service Act and modern bureaucracy (limiting the spoils system)
34 Zachary Taylor Whig 29.58 Short term, opposed slavery expansion westward, did not support Compromise
35 John Tyler Whig/none 31.75 Lack of support from any political party, post-presidency service in Confederate House of Representatives
36 Millard Fillmore Whig 32.41 Fugitive Slave Act, lack of leadership during growing sectional divisiveness, Perry expedition and Convention of Kanagawa
37 Ulysses Grant Republican 33.42 Administration (but not Grant himself) corrupt, Civil Rights Act of 1871 (including activities to breakup the Ku Klux Klan), failures during Reconstruction, alcoholism
38 William Henry Harrison Whig 33.57 Briefest administration (30 days)
39 Andrew Johnson Democrat/none 34.67 Impeded Reconstruction, vetoed civil rights legislation, impeachment
40 Franklin Pierce Democrat 34.92 Failure to avert to Civil War, Kansas-Nebraska Act, Gadsden Purchase, poor leadership, died from alcoholism
41 James Buchanan Democrat 36.58 Failure to avert Civil War, failed to act during secession crisis, Dred Scott v. Sandford, prone to frequent bouts of depression which affected his leadership, ruined his party
42 Warren G. Harding Republican 37.33 Corrupt and short administration, Teapot Dome Scandal, opposed Wilson's League of Nations, moved America into isolationism as president, presided over beginning of the "Roaring Twenties"

[edit] Scholar surveys details

The 1948 poll was conducted by historian Arthur M. Schlesinger, Sr. of Harvard University. [1] The 1962 survey was also conducted by Schlesinger, who surveyed 75 historians; the results of this survey are given in the book The Complete Book of U.S. Presidents by William A. Degregorio. Schlesinger's son Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr. conducted another poll in 1996, not currently on the above chart.

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 President Eisenhower, who was ranked #22 in 1962, but was ranked #9 in the 1982 survey.

Andrew Johnson (1865-69) routinely receives poor marks due to his handling of Reconstruction
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Andrew Johnson (1865-69) routinely receives poor marks due to his handling of Reconstruction

The Siena Research Institute of Siena College conducted surveys in 1982, 1990, 1994, and 2002. The 1994 survey placed only two Presidents, Franklin Roosevelt and Abraham Lincoln, above 80 points, and placed two Presidents, Andrew Johnson and Warren G. Harding, below 50 points. [2] [3]

The 1996 column shows the results from a poll conducted from 1989 to 1996 by William J. Ridings, Jr. and Stuart B. McIver, and published in the book 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 (leadership qualities, accomplishments & crisis management, political skill, appointments, character & integrity), and the results were tabulated to create the overall ranking.

The C-SPAN Survey of Presidential Leadership was a 1999 survey of academic historians. It found that historians consider Abraham Lincoln, George Washington, and Franklin D. Roosevelt the three best presidents by a wide margin and William Henry Harrison, Andrew Johnson, Franklin Pierce, and James Buchanan the worst. [4]

A 2000 survey by The Wall Street Journal was published in Presidential Leadership: Rating the Best and Worst in the White House, and is also available online. The participants 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, but never balanced. The editors noted that the results of their poll were "remarkably similar" to the "mostly liberal" 1996 Schlesinger poll, with the main difference being the much higher ranking in the 2000 poll of President Ronald Reagan at #8 and lower rankings for the 1960s presidents Lyndon B. Johnson and John F. Kennedy. Franklin D. Roosevelt's ranking remained in the top three. According to the editors, this poll also included responses from more women, minorities, and young professors than the 1996 Schlesinger poll.

Another presidential poll was conducted by The Wall Street Journal in 2005, with James Lindgren of Northwestern University Law School for the Federalist Society. [5] 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." 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 President Bush an overall rating of "average". [6]

[edit] Liberal and conservative raters

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. There is only one difference between the ideologies' top 10 lists - Lyndon B. Johnson (liberals) instead of Dwight Eisenhower (conservatives) - and the "worst 6" lists also differ by only one person, with the conservatives selecting Jimmy Carter as one of the bottom six instead of Calvin Coolidge, the liberals' choice for sixth-worst president.

FDR is consistently mentioned as one of the greatest presidents.
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FDR is consistently mentioned as one of the greatest presidents.
Rankings by Liberals and Conservatives
Rank Liberals (n=190) Conservatives (N=50)
1 Lincoln Lincoln
2 FD Roosevelt Washington
3 Washington FD Roosevelt
4 Jefferson Jefferson
5 T Roosevelt T Roosevelt
6 Wilson Jackson
7 Jackson Truman
8 Truman Wilson
9 LB Johnson Eisenhower
10 John Adams John Adams
...
30 Coolidge Carter
31 Pierce Nixon
32 Buchanan Pierce
33 An. Johnson An. Johnson
34 Grant Buchanan
35 Nixon Grant
36 Harding Harding

Source: Murray and Blessing p 135

[edit] Popular opinion

[edit] C-SPAN viewer survey

C-SPAN asked viewers in 1999 to rank the presidents, and 1,145 people participated. The results of the viewer survey were similar to the results of the 1999 C-SPAN historian survey, with a few notable differences.

  1. Abraham Lincoln
  2. George Washington
  3. Theodore Roosevelt
  4. Franklin D. Roosevelt
  5. Thomas Jefferson
  6. Ronald Reagan
  7. Harry S. Truman
  8. Dwight D. Eisenhower
  9. James Monroe
  10. James Madison
  11. John Adams
  12. John F. Kennedy
  13. Woodrow Wilson
  14. Andrew Jackson
  15. John Quincy Adams
  16. George H.W. Bush
  17. James Polk
  18. William McKinley
  19. Lyndon Baines Johnson
  20. Richard Nixon

[edit] ABC poll

An ABC News poll about presidential greatness, taken 16-20 February 2000, asked 1012 adults nationwide, "Who do you think was the greatest American president?" [7]

  1. Abraham Lincoln (19%)
  2. John Kennedy (17%)
  3. Franklin Roosevelt (11%)
  4. No opinion (10%)
  5. Ronald Reagan (9%)
  6. George Washington (8%)
  7. Bill Clinton (7%)
  8. Theodore Roosevelt (4%)
  9. George H.W. Bush (4%)
  10. Thomas Jefferson (3%)
  11. Harry Truman (2%)
  12. Richard Nixon (2%)
  13. Jimmy Carter (1%)
  14. Dwight Eisenhower (1%)
Ronald Reagan has fared well in recent public opinion polls about presidential greatness.
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Ronald Reagan has fared well in recent public opinion polls about presidential greatness.

[edit] Washington College poll

A Washington College poll about presidential greatness, taken 11 February 2005, asked 800 adults nationwide, "Thinking about all the presidents of the United States throughout history to the present, who would you say was America's greatest president?"[8]

  1. Abraham Lincoln (20%)
  2. Ronald Reagan (15%)
  3. Franklin D. Roosevelt (12%)
  4. John F. Kennedy (11%)
  5. Bill Clinton (10%)
  6. Other/Don't Know (9%)
  7. George W. Bush (8%)
  8. George Washington(6%)
  9. Theodore Roosevelt (3%)
  10. Dwight Eisenhower (3%)
  11. Jimmy Carter (2%)
  12. Thomas Jefferson (2%)
  13. Richard Nixon (1%)
  14. John Adams (<1%)
  15. Andrew Jackson (<1%)
  16. Lyndon Johnson (<1%)

[edit] Gallup poll

A Gallup poll about presidential greatness, taken 7-10 February 2005, asked 1008 adults nationwide, "Who do you regard as the greatest United States president?" [9]

  1. Ronald Reagan (20%)
  2. Bill Clinton (15%)
  3. Abraham Lincoln (14%)
  4. Franklin D. Roosevelt (12%)
  5. John F. Kennedy (12%)
  6. Other/None/No opinion (5%)
  7. George Washington (5%)
  8. George W. Bush (5%)
  9. Jimmy Carter (3%)
  10. Harry Truman (2%)
  11. Theodore Roosevelt (2%)
  12. Thomas Jefferson (2%)
  13. George H.W. Bush (1%)
  14. Dwight Eisenhower (1%)
  15. Richard Nixon (1%)

[edit] Quinnipiac University poll

A Quinnipiac University poll, taken May 23-30, 2006, asked 1,534 registered American voters to pick the best and worst U.S. President of the last 61 years. [10].

"Thinking about the United States Presidents we have had since World War II – Harry Truman, Dwight Eisenhower, John Kennedy, Lyndon Johnson, Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, George Bush Senior, Bill Clinton, and George W. Bush, which one would you consider the best president?"

  1. Ronald Reagan (28%)
  2. Bill Clinton (25%)
  3. John Kennedy (18%)
  4. Harry Truman (7%)
  5. Dwight Eisenhower (5%)
  6. Jimmy Carter (5%)
  7. Don't Know/No Answer (4%)
  8. George W. Bush (3%)
  9. George H. W. Bush (2%)
  10. Lyndon Johnson (1%)
  11. Richard Nixon (1%)
  12. Gerald Ford (1%)

"Which of these eleven presidents we have had since World War II would you consider the worst president - Harry Truman, Dwight Eisenhower, John Kennedy, Lyndon Johnson, Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, George Bush Senior, Bill Clinton, and George W. Bush?"

  1. George W. Bush (34%)
  2. Richard Nixon (17%)
  3. Bill Clinton (16%)
  4. Jimmy Carter (13%)
  5. Don't Know/No Answer (5%)
  6. Lyndon Johnson (4%)
  7. Ronald Reagan (3%)
  8. George H. W. Bush (3%)
  9. Gerald Ford (2%)
  10. Harry Truman (1%)
  11. John Kennedy (1%)
  12. Dwight Eisenhower (<1%)

[edit] Other perspectives

[edit] Rank of Masonic U.S. Presidents

See also: List of Presidents of the United States, U.S. Presidents, and Freemasonry.

Fifteen U.S. Presidents are confirmed Freemasons: George Washington, James Monroe, Andrew Jackson, James Polk, James Buchanan, Andrew Johnson, James Garfield, William McKinley, Theodore Roosevelt, William Howard Taft, Warren G. Harding, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Harry S. Truman, Lyndon Johnson and Gerald Ford.

Considering all Scholar Rankings listed above, the average ranking of the Masonic U.S. Presidents is 15.7, which would place them among the best third of their class (top 36 percentile).

[edit] Libertarian views

While no survey of libertarian historians has appeared, two libertarian economists, Richard Vedder and Lowell Gallaway, created their own rankings by using only the percentage increase in government spending and increase in price index as negative indicators (the lower the better). Slavery was not considered. The postwar presidencies of Andrew Johnson and Grant, Harding, and Monroe rank best (Vedder and Gallaway, Table 4, Variant 1, p. 19).

[edit] References

  • Thomas A. Bailey, Presidential Greatness (1966), a non quantitative appraisal by leading historian
  • Degregorio, William A. The Complete Book of U.S. Presidents. 4th ed. New York: Avenel, 1993. Contains the results of the 1962 and 1982 surveys.
  • Faber, Charles and Richard Faber. The American Presidents Ranked by Performance (2000)
  • Felzenberg, Alvin S. “There You Go Again: Liberal Historians and the New York Times Deny Ronald Reagan His Due,” Policy Review, March—April 1997.
  • Melvin G. Holli. The American Mayor: The Best & the Worst Big-City Leaders (1999)
  • Miller, Nathan. Star-Spangled Men America's Ten Worst Presidents (1999)
  • Murray, Robert K. and Tim H. Blessing. Greatness in the White House: Rating the Presidents, from Washington Through Ronald Reagan (1994)
  • Pfiffner, James P. ; "Ranking the Presidents: Continuity and Volatility" White House Studies, Vol. 3, 2003 pp 23+
  • Ridings, William J., Jr. and Stuart B. McIver. Rating the Presidents: A Ranking of U.S. leaders, from the Great and Honorable to the Dishonest and Incompetent. Secaucus, NJ: Carol Publishing, 1997. ISBN 0-8065-1799-9.
  • Schlesinger, Jr. Arthur M. "Ranking the Presidents: From Washington to Clinton," Political Science Quarterly (1997) 112:179-90
  • Skidmore, Max J. Presidential Performance: A Comprehensive Review (2004)
  • Skidmore, Max J. "Ranking and Evaluating Presidents: The Case of Theodore Roosevelt" White House Studies. Volume: 1. Issue: 4. 2001. pp 495+.
  • Taranto, James and Leonard Leo, eds. Presidential Leadership: Rating the Best and Worst in the White House. New York: Wall Street Journal Books, 2004. ISBN 0-7432-5433-3, for Federalist Society surveys.
  • Vedder, Richard and Gallaway, Lowell, "Rating Presidential Performance" in Reassessing the Presidency: The Rise of the Executive State and the Decline of Freedom ed. John V. Denson, Mises Institute, 2001. ISBN 0-945466-29-3

[edit] External links


Lists of Presidents and Vice Presidents of the United States
Presidential lists of order Order of service | Birthday  | Birth | Death | Age at ascension | Longevity | Presidents' Wives by Longevity | Military rank | Post-presidency length | Term length | Height | Historical rankings
Presidential personal life lists First names | Middle names | Last names | Nicknames | Genealogical relationship | College education | Military service | Pets | Place of birth | Place of primary affiliation | Previous occupation | Religious affiliation | Residences
Presidential professional life lists Political affiliation | Political occupation | Inaugurations | Doctrines | Pardons | Vetoes | Control of Congress | Served one term or less | Served more than one term | Assassination attempts | Currency appearances | Libraries
Vice President lists Term length | Order by birth | Tie-breaking votes | Longevity 
Succession Line of succession | Designated survivor
Elections Order by Electoral College margin | 2000 Electors | 2004 electors
Candidates Democratic tickets | Republican tickets | Height | Who lost their home state | Former presidents who ran again
Unsuccessful candidates Military service | Who received at least one electoral vote
Fictional Fictional Presidents | Fictional Vice Presidents | Fictional Presidential candidates | Fictional presidential succession
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