Historical rankings of presidents of the United States: Difference between revisions
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| 12 || [[John F. Kennedy]] || Democrat || 12.5 || [[Cold War]] leadership; proposed [[Civil Rights Act of 1964|Civil Rights]] legislation; early death left impression of unfulfilled promise |
| 12 || [[John F. Kennedy]] || Democrat || 12.5 || [[Cold War]] leadership; proposed [[Civil Rights Act of 1964|Civil Rights]] legislation; early death left impression of unfulfilled promise |
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| 13 || [[James Madison]] || Democratic-Republican || 12.67 || |
| 13 || [[James Madison]] || Democratic-Republican || 12.67 || Blamed for failing to prevent the [[War of 1812]]; presided over [[Era of Good Feelings]]post bellum |
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| 14 || [[Lyndon B. Johnson]] || Democrat || 13.6 || [[Vietnam War]] failure; [[Civil Rights Act of 1964|Civil Rights]]; [[Great Society]] |
| 14 || [[Lyndon B. Johnson]] || Democrat || 13.6 || [[Vietnam War]] failure; [[Civil Rights Act of 1964|Civil Rights]]; [[Great Society]] |
Revision as of 20:28, 2 June 2006
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.
These standings vary, though three Presidents—in chronological order, George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, and Franklin D. Roosevelt—always are ranked at the top of the known lists. Normally ranking just below those three are Presidents Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt, and Woodrow Wilson. The remaining "top 10" ranks are often rounded out by 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 L.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]
Surveys of scholars
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.
# | 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 | ||
1 | George Washington | 2 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 2.83 |
2 | John Adams | 9 | 10 | 9 | 14 (tie) | 10 | 14 | 12 | 14 | 16 | 13 | 12 | 13 | 12.17 |
3 | Thomas Jefferson | 5 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 4 | 7 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 4.42 |
4 | James Madison | 14 | 12 | 14 | 17 | 9 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 18 | 15 | 9 | 17 | 12.67 |
5 | James Monroe | 12 | 18 | 15 | 16 | 15 | 11 | 15 | 13 | 14 | 16 | 8 | 16 | 14.08 |
6 | John Quincy Adams | 11 | 13 | 16 | 19 | 17 | 16 | 12 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 17 | 25 | 16.9 |
7 | Andrew Jackson | 6 | 6 | 7 | 6 | 13 | 9 | 11 | 8 | 13 | 6 | 13 | 10 | 9 |
8 | Martin Van Buren | 15 | 17 | 20 | 18 | 21 | 21 | 22 | 21 | 30 | 23 | 24 | 27 | 21.58 |
9 | William Henry Harrison | — | — | — | 38 | 26 | 35 | 28 | 35 | 37 | — | 36 | — | 33.57 (7 rankings) 37.08 (12 rankings, non-rank=42) |
10 | John Tyler | 22 | 25 | 28 | 29 | 34 | 33 | 34 | 34 | 36 | 34 | 37 | 35 | 31.75 |
11 | James K. Polk | 10 | 8 | 12 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 11 | 12 | 10 | 11 | 9 | 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 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1.58 |
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) 34.75 (12 rankings, non-rank=42) |
21 | Chester A. Arthur | 17 | 21 | 26 | 24 | 24 | 26 | 26 | 32 | 28 | 26 | 30 | 26 | 25.5 |
22, 24 | Grover Cleveland | 8 | 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 | 7 | 7 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 3 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 5 | 4.83 |
27 | William Howard Taft | 16 | 16 | 19 | 20 | 20 | 20 | 21 | 24 | 20 | 19 | 21 | 20 | 19.67 |
28 | Woodrow Wilson | 4 | 4 | 6 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 11 | 6 | 11 | 6.58 |
29 | Warren G. Harding | 29 | 31 | 36 | 37 | 39 | 40 | 41 | 38 | 41 | 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 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 2 |
33 | Harry S. Truman | — | 9 | 8 | 8 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 5 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7.18 (11 rankings) |
34 | Dwight D. Eisenhower | — | 22 | 11 | 9 | 11 | 12 | 8 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 10 | 8 | 10.73 (11 rankings) |
35 | John F. Kennedy | — | — | 13 | 14 (tie) | 8 | 10 | 10 | 15 | 8 | 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 | 8 | 16 | 6 | 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) |
Presidents by average scholar rank
# | President | Political Party | Average ranking | Likely contributing factors for very high or very low ranking (not provided by scholars) |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Abraham Lincoln | Republican | 1.58 | Emancipation Proclamation, American Civil War leadership |
2 | Franklin D. Roosevelt | Democrat | 2 | Leadership during World War II and Great Depression; New Deal legislation; rural electrification; Social Security |
3 | George Washington | Federalist-leaning non-partisan | 2.83 | First President, founder of the Republic, established many precedents |
4 | Thomas Jefferson | Democratic-Republican | 4.42 | Intellectual leadership, Louisiana Purchase, states-rights |
5 | Theodore Roosevelt | Republican | 4.83 | Charisma, conservationism, trust-busting "Square Deal," Panama Canal |
6 | Woodrow Wilson | Democrat | 6.58 | World War I leadership; major legislation including (reluctant) support for women's suffrage |
7 | Harry S Truman | Democrat | 7.18 | World War II and Cold War leadership; Marshall Plan; desegregation of armed forces |
8 | Andrew Jackson | Democrat | 9 | Enhanced power of executive; handling of Nullification crisis; Bank War |
9 | Dwight Eisenhower | Republican | 10.73 | World War II leadership; Cold War leadership; interstate highway system; economic prosperity |
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 |
12 | John F. Kennedy | Democrat | 12.5 | Cold War leadership; proposed Civil Rights legislation; early death left impression of unfulfilled promise |
13 | James Madison | Democratic-Republican | 12.67 | Blamed for failing to prevent the War of 1812; presided over Era of Good Feelingspost bellum |
14 | Lyndon B. Johnson | Democrat | 13.6 | Vietnam War failure; Civil Rights; Great Society |
15 | Ronald Reagan | Republican | 13.88 | Hastened end of Cold War; economic expansion; "The Great Communicator" |
16 | James Monroe | Democratic-Republican | 14.08 | Monroe Doctrine |
17 | Grover Cleveland | Democrat | 15 | American Federation of Labor and Interstate Commerce Act |
18 | William McKinley | Republican | 16.33 | |
19 | John Quincy Adams | National Republican/Whig | 16.9 | |
20 | William Howard Taft | Republican | 19.67 | |
21 | Bill Clinton | Democrat | 20.67 | |
22 | George W. Bush | Republican | 21 | |
23 | Martin Van Buren | Democrat | 21.58 | |
24 | Rutherford B. Hayes | Republican | 22 | |
25 | George H. W. Bush | Republican | 22.14 | |
26 | Chester Arthur | Republican | 25.5 | |
27 (tie) | Jimmy Carter | Democrat | 26.3 | Handling of Iranian hostage crisis and energy crisis |
27 (tie) | Gerald Ford | Republican | 26.3 | Uncharismatic; pardoned Richard Nixon |
29 | Herbert Hoover | Republican | 26.17 | Handling of onset of the Great Depression; handling of Bonus Army demonstration |
30 | Benjamin Harrison | Republican | 27.33 | |
31 | Calvin Coolidge | Republican | 28.42 | Disinterest in exerting executive or federal power (regarded as a strength by some) |
32 | Richard Nixon | Republican | 29.2 | Corrupt administration, notably the Watergate scandal; resignation to avoid impeachment |
33 | James A. Garfield | Republican | 29.57 | Brief administration |
34 | Zachary Taylor | Whig | 29.58 | Short term; did not support Compromise |
35 | John Tyler | Whig/none | 31.75 | Lack of support from any political party |
36 | Millard Fillmore | Whig | 32.41 | Fugitive Slave Act, lack of leadership during growing sectional divisiveness |
37 | Ulysses Grant | Republican | 33.42 | Corrupt administration; failure of Reconstruction |
38 | William Henry Harrison | Whig | 33.57 | Very brief administration (30 days) |
39 | Andrew Johnson | Democrat | 34.67 | Impeded Reconstruction, impeachment |
40 | Franklin Pierce | Democrat | 34.92 | Failure to avert Civil War; overall weak leadership |
41 | James Buchanan | Democrat | 36.58 | Failure to avert Civil War; ruined his party; weak leadership; prone to frequent bouts of depression which invariably affected his leadership abilities |
42 | Warren G. Harding | Republican | 37.33 | Corrupt and short administration |
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.
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 of President Ronald Reagan in the 2000 poll. 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])
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 shows the two groups had only small differences in ranking the best and worst 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
Popular opinion
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. The survey had a margin of error of +/- 2.5 percentage points.[7].
"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?"
- Ronald Reagan (28%)
- Bill Clinton (25%)
- John Kennedy (18%)
- Harry Truman (7%)
- Dwight Eisenhower (5%)
- Jimmy Carter (5%)
- Don't Know/No Answer (4%)
- George W. Bush (3%)
- George H. W. Bush (2%)
- Lyndon Johnson (1%)
- Richard Nixon (1%)
- 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?"
- George W. Bush (34%)
- Richard Nixon (17%)
- Bill Clinton (16%)
- Jimmy Carter (13%)
- Don't Know/No Answer (5%)
- Lyndon Johnson (4%)
- Ronald Reagan (3%)
- George H. W. Bush (3%)
- Gerald Ford (2%)
- Harry Truman (1%)
- John Kennedy (1%)
- Dwight Eisenhower (<1%)
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]
- Abraham Lincoln (20%)
- Ronald Reagan (15%)
- Franklin D. Roosevelt (12%)
- John F. Kennedy (11%)
- Bill Clinton (10%)
- Other/Don't Know (9%)
- George W. Bush (8%)
- George Washington (6%)
- Theodore Roosevelt (3%)
- Dwight Eisenhower (3%)
- Jimmy Carter (2%)
- Thomas Jefferson (2%)
- Richard Nixon (1%)
- John Adams (<1%)
- Andrew Jackson (<1%)
- Lyndon Johnson (<1%)
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?" This poll had a margin of error of plus or minus three percent.[9]
- Ronald Reagan (20%)
- Bill Clinton (15%)
- Abraham Lincoln (14%)
- Franklin D. Roosevelt (12%)
- John F. Kennedy (12%)
- Other/None/No opinion (5%)
- George Washington (5%)
- George W. Bush (5%)
- Jimmy Carter (3%)
- Harry Truman (2%)
- Theodore Roosevelt (2%)
- Thomas Jefferson (2%)
- George H.W. Bush (1%)
- Dwight Eisenhower (1%)
- Richard Nixon (1%)
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?" This poll had a margin of error of plus or minus three percent.[10]
- Abraham Lincoln (19%)
- John Kennedy (17%)
- Franklin Roosevelt (11%)
- No opinion (10%)
- Ronald Reagan (9%)
- George Washington (8%)
- Bill Clinton (7%)
- Theodore Roosevelt (4%)
- George H.W. Bush (4%)
- Thomas Jefferson (3%)
- Harry Truman (2%)
- Richard Nixon (2%)
- Jimmy Carter (1%)
- Dwight Eisenhower (1%)
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.
- 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 0806517999.
- 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 0743254333, for federalist surbeys.
External link
- "Ranking Presidents: Utter Nonsense Or Useful Analysis?, 2001 column by John Dean