Survey of 154 scholars places 45th president behind even ‘historically calamitous chief executives’ linked to civil war
Donald Trump finished 45th and rock bottom of a list ranking US presidents by greatness, trailing even “historically calamitous chief executives” who failed to stop the civil war or botched its aftermath.
Worse for the likely Republican nominee this year, his probable opponent, Joe Biden, debuted at No 14.
“Biden’s most important achievements may be that he rescued the presidency from Trump, resumed a more traditional style of presidential leadership and is gearing up to keep the office out of his predecessor’s hands this fall,” Justin Vaughn and Brandon Rottinghaus, the political scientists behind the survey, wrote in the Los Angeles Times.
Here’s the actual list, PDF warning: http://www.brandonrottinghaus.com/uploads/1/0/8/7/108798321/presidential_greatness_white_paper_2024.pdf
The headline makes it sound like Biden is the 14th worst, he’s the 14th best. Not a fan of this headline.
George Washington as the greatest president and James Buchanan as the least great. There are also several presidents where partisan polarization is evident – Reagan, George H.W. Bush, Obama, and Biden – but interestingly not for Bill Clinton. Table 1: Overall Presidential Greatness Ratings and Rankings 2024 Rank President 2024 Rating Change 2015-2024 vs Change 2018-2024
1 Lincoln 93.87
2 FD Roosevelt 90.83 Up 1 Up 1
3 Washington 90.32 Down 1 Down 1
4 T Roosevelt 78.58
5 Jefferson 77.53
6 Truman 75.34 Up 1
7 Obama 73.8 Up 9 Up 1
8 Eisenhower 73.73 Down 1 Down 2
9 LB Johnson 72.86 Up 3 Up 1
10 Kennedy 68.37 Up 4 Up 6
11 Madison 67.16 Up 2 Up 1
12 Clinton 66.42 Down 4 Up
13 J Adams 62.66 Up 2
14 Biden 62.66
15 Wilson 61.8 Down 5 Down 4
16 Reagan 61.62 Down 5 Down 7
17 Grant 60.93 Up 9 Up 4
18 Monroe 60.15 Up 2 Down 3
19 GHW Bush 58.54 Down 2 Down 2
20 JQ Adams 55.41 Up 2 Up 4
21 Jackson 54.7 Down 12 Down 3
22 Carter 54.26 Up 4 Up 4
23 Taft 51.67 Down 3 Down 1
24 McKinley 51.23 Down 3 Down 5
25 Polk 49.83 Down 6 Down 5
26 Cleveland 48.31 Down 3 Down 3
27 Ford 46.09 Down 3 Down 2
28 Van Buren 45.46 Down 3 Down 13
29 Hayes 41.15 Up 1 Up 1
30 Garfield 40.98 Up 1 Up 5
31 Harrison 40.64 Down 2 Up 1
32 GW Bush 40.43 Up 3 Down 1
33 Arthur 39.61 Down 1 Down 4
34 Coolidge 39.38 Down 7 Down 6
35 Nixon 36.41 Down 1 Down 2
36 Hoover 34.08 Up 2 Down 2
37 Tyler 32.99 Down 1
38 Taylor 32.97 Down 5 Down 2
39 Fillmore 30.33 Down 2 Down 1
40 Harding 27.76 Up 2 Down 1
41 Harrison 26.01 Down 2 Up 1
42 Pierce 24.6 Down 2 Down 1
43 Johnson 21.56 Down 2 Down 3
44 Buchanan 16.71 Down 1 Down 1
45 Trump 10.92 Down 1
Reagan as 16th kinda puts the whole poll into question.
People love Reagan, probably because they heard he was a great president. Or more likely, the people who voted weren’t effected by his policies.
Obama above Kennedy? GTFO