OPINION I OpEd Contributors How Does Trump Stand Up Against the Best - and Worst — Presidents? Brandon Rottinghaus and Justin Vaughn, Wl}t ^teto Ifrrfc Qtitnti Online, June 24, 2024 [originally published February 19, 2018] https://www.nytimes.eom/interactive/2018/02/19/opinion/how-does-trump-stack-up- aqainst-the-best-and-worst-presidents.html?searchResultPosition^3 6/24/24, 4:48 PM Opinion | How Does Trump Stack Up Against the Best — and Worst — Presidents? - The New York Times Angus Greig Where does Donald Trump rank on the list of American presidents? We surveyed presidential politics experts to sketch out a first draft of Trump's place in presidential history. Since our previous survey in 2014, some presidential legacies have soared (Barack Obama's stock has climbed into the Top 10), while others have fallen (Andrew Jackson toppled to 15, out of the Top 10). And President Trump? Let's say that, according to the 170 members of the American Political Science Association's Presidents and Executive Politics section who filled out our survey, he has at least three years to improve on an ignominious debut. Presidential Greatness Rankings James Buchanan, who was at the helm as the United States careened into civil war, was dislodged from his position as our nation's worst president by our current president, Trump. https://www.nytimesxom/interadive/2018/02/19/opinion/how-does-trump-stack-up-against-the-best-and-worst-presidents.html?searchResultPosition=3 2/9 6/24/24, 4:48 PM Opinion | How Does Trump Stack Up Against the Best — and Worst — Presidents? - The New York Times His Oval Office predecessor, Barack Obama, shot into the Top 10, up from 18th in the previous survey. Ulysses S. Grant also got a bump, up seven places from 2014, perhaps owing to a strong assist from Ron Chernow's recent masterpiece. The biggest declines were for Bill Clinton, arguably the result of contemporary scorn for his treatment of women, and Andrew Jackson, for evolving attitudes on his treatment of Native Americans. 6/24/24, 4:48 PM Opinion | How Does Trump Stack Up Against the Best — and Worst — Presidents? - The New York Times Overall rankings. Presidents since World War II in boldface. TOP 10 IN 2018 1. Lincoln 2. Washington 3. F.D. Roosevelt 4. T. Roosevelt 5. Jefferson 6. Truman 7. Eisenhower 8. Obama 9. Reagan 10. L.B. Johnson 0 = FAILURE 50 = AVERAGE 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. 23. 24. 25. 26. 27. 28. 29. 30. 31. 32. 33. 34. Wilson Madison Clinton J. Adams Jackson Kennedy G.H.W. Bush Monroe McKinley Polk Grant Taft J.Q. Adams Cleveland Ford Carter Van Buren Coolidge Hayes G.W. Bush Arthur B. Harrison Nixon Garfield BOTTOM 10 35. Taylor 36. Hoover 37. Tyler 38. Fillmore 39. Harding 40. A. Johnson 41. Pierce 42. W.H. Harrison 43. Buchanan 44. Trump 100 = GREAT • 95 • 93 • 89 81 • 80 ► 75 74 #71 69 69 ..#67. • 64-- • 64 • 63 ■ #62 • 62 • 61 • 61 • 55 • 54 • 53 • 52 #52 »51 47 45 44 # 42 #42 #40 #40 »38 37 37 .#■33-# 33 ••••31 --#28 • 25 #25 ..#..23 -# 19 ► 15--12 Presidents whose rank changed since last survey 2014 RANK CHANGE IN RANKING UP OR DOWN 8. Clinton 9. Jackson 10. Wilson -5 -6 -1 11. Reagan +2 12. L.B. Johnson +2 13. Madison +1 14. Kennedy -2 15. J. Adams +1 16. Monroe -2 18. Obama 19. Polk 20. Taft 21. McKinley 22. J.Q. Adams +10 -1 -2 +2 -1 23. Cleveland -1 24. Ford -1 25. Van Buren -2 27. Coolidge -1 28. Grant +7 29. B. Harrison -3 30. Hayes +1 31. Garfield -3 32. Arthur +1 33. Taylor -2 34. Nixon +1 35. G.W. Bush +5 36. Tyler -1 37. Fillmore -1 38. Hoover +2 39. WH. Harrison-3 40. Pierce -1 41. A. Johnson +1 42. Harding +3 Methodology: Each expert was invited to rate each president on a 0-100 scale, with 0 = failure, 50 = average, and 100 = great. Scores were then averaged for each president, with presidents then ranked in order of highest average to lowest. https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2018/02/19/opinion/how-does-trump-stack-up-against-the-best-and-wo rst-presidents.html?searchResultPosition=3 4/9 6/24/24, 4:48 PM Opinion | How Does Trump Stack Up Against the Best — and Worst — Presidents? - The New York Times Greatness Rankings by Party On partisan-votes lines, Democrats ranked Ronald Reagan nine places lower than Republicans, while Democrats place Obama 10 places higher. Counting only Republican votes, William McKinley — best known for winning the Spanish-American war, for defeating William Jennings Bryan twice in contests for the White House and for being assassinated by the anarchist Leon Czolgosz — holds a spot in the Top 10. Independents admire George H.W Bush, ranking him higher than Obama. Trump doesn't get much of a lift from Republican-only vote: Even in their eyes, he's a bottom-five president. 6/24/24, 4:48 PM Democratic scholars Presidents since World War II in boldface. Opinion | How Does Trump Stack Up Against the Best - Independents/other These scholars skew somewhat to the right. TOP 10 0 1. Lincoln 2. F.D. Roosevelt 3. Washington 4. T. Roosevelt 5. Jefferson 6. Obama 7. Truman 8. L.B. Johnson 9. Eisenhower 10. Wilson 11. Madison 12. Kennedy 13. Clinton 14. Reagan 15. J. Adams 16. Monroe 17. Jackson 18. G.H.W. Bush) 19. Grant 20. J.Q. Adams 21. Polk 22. McKinley 23. Cleveland 24. Carter 25. Taft 26. Ford AVG. 100 • 96 • 94 • 93 • 83 • 82 • 78 • 78 ► 75 >74 172 • 67 • 67 • 66 • 65 • 64 • 62 • 62 • 59 ► 53 • 53 • 52 • 50 49 ■I-48--48 46 27. Van Buren ...............44 28. Hayes 29. Arthur 30. G.W. Bush 31. Nixon 32. B. Harrison 33. Coolidge 34. Garfield BOTTOM 10 35. Taylor 36. Tyler 37. Hoover 38. A. Johnson 39. Fillmore 40. Pierce 41. Harding 42. W.H. Harrison 43. Buchanan 44. Trump 39 39 37 37 - 36 36 ■■34 - and Worst — Presidents? - The New York Times Republican scholars AVG. 100 1. Lincoln ..........................«94 2. Washington ■■■•■91 3. F.D. Roosevelt • 83 4. T. Roosevelt *79 5. Jefferson ■■■ »79 6. Eisenhower •77 7. Reagan •75 ■■ 8. Truman • 74— 9. Madison 10. J. Adams 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. 23. 24. 25. 26. 27. 28. 29. 30. 31. 32. 33. 34. ► 65 »64 G.H.W. Bush «64 Obama »63 L.B. Johnson *63 Clinton 9 62 Wilson «62 McKinley ........•-61-- Jackson •öl Monroe •60 Kennedy - 9 58 Taft +56 Polk 956 Grant «54 Cleveland ■■■ «54 J.Q.Adams »52 Coolidge ......«50 Ford 49 Van Buren ......• 47- Hayes ■ ■ •45 ■ ■ ■ Arthur ■■■•W4- Garfield 42 G.W. Bush Carter B. Harrison Taylor Lighter circles = below average Zi 42 41 40 37 31 31 •29 27 26 24 23 19 16 8 35. Hoover «37 36. Nixon •3i> 37. Tyler «32 38. Fillmore »30 39. Harding »26 40. Pierce «25 41. A. Johnson »23 42. W.H. Harrison ■• 19 43. Trump 16 44. Buchanan I • • • 14 AVG. 100 1. Washington ...........................«94 2. Lincoln .............. ...........«94 3. F.D. Roosevelt »83 4. T. Roosevelt ...#77. 5. Reagan ■■■•76 6. Jefferson • 70 7. Eisenhower #68 8. Truman «67 9. McKinley »64 10. Jackson «64 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. 23. 24. 25. 26. 27. 28. 29. 30. 31. 32. 33. 34. G.H.W. Bush ■■•63 Wilson .....«61 Polk .....«60 Taft ■■■■•60- Clinton ■■■ ■•59-- Obama • 57 J.Adams — •57 Monroe -956 L.B. Johnson — •56— Cleveland ••• ■ ■■•■55 ■■■ Coolidge Madison G.W. Bush Kennedy Grant Ford J.Q. Adams Hayes Nixon Hoover B. Harrison Carter Van Buren Arthur : t »52 • 52 »52 »50 I 49 49 49 44 42 41 39 39 38 ■ 36 35. Garfield 36. Taylor 37. Tyler 38. Harding 39. Fillmore 40. Trump 41. A. Johnson 42. Pierce 43. W.H. Harrisoh 36 34 .....33 ■32 29 25 ► 21-•19-19 44. Buchanan 14 Methodology: Each expert was allowed to self-identify as either Republican, Democrat, Independent, or Other. The results of those who self-identified were later analyzed independently to allow comparisons across partisan groups. https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2018/02/19/opinion/how-does-trump-stack-up-against-the-best-and-wo rst-presidents.html?searchResultPosition=3 6/9 6/24/24, 4:48 PM Opinion | How Does Trump Stack Up Against the Best — and Worst — Presidents? - The New York Times Next on Mt. Rushmore Which president deserves to have his likeness carved next into Mt. Rushmore's granite cliff? Franklin Delano Roosevelt was the overwhelming favorite, selected by two-thirds of our respondents. Franklin Roosevelt Lyndon Johnson William McKinley 66% Methodology: Respondents were asked if they were to add one president to those currently represented on Mt. Rushmore, who would it be, and then allowed to select any past or current president. The number and percentage of times each president was selected was then calculated. Mt. Rushmore by Party It wasn't just Democratic support that would carve F.D.R. on Mt. Rushmore: All groups, including Republicans, named him as most deserving of that honor. Roosevelt, the godfather of presidential liberalism, received more than twice as many votes from Republicans as Ronald Reagan, his conservative counterpart. https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2018/02/19/opinion/how-does-trump-stack-up-against-the-best-and-wo rst-presidents.html?searchResultPosition=3 7/9 6/24/24, 4:48 PM Opinion | How Does Trump Stack Up Against the Best — and Worst — Presidents? - The New York Times Democratic scholars' vote: Franklin Roosevelt Barack Obama Lyndon Johnson James Madison n 11 3 3 8 Others Independent/others' vote: Franklin Roosevelt Ronald Reagan Dwight Eisenhower William McKinley 57% 9 9 6 19 Others Republicans' vote: Franklin Ronald James Roosevelt Reagan Madison 43% 19 10 29 Others Methodology: Using the previously discussed self-identified partisanship breakdowns, the number and percentage of times each partisan group selected each president was calculated in the same way as the overall results. Trump's initial rating places him in an ignominious category, but dozens of presidents have had slow starts and have course corrected to improve their public esteem. Beyond his reputation or ranking, Donald Trump's very presidency may alter perceptions of presidential legacies as his unique approach to the office continues to surprise. Brandon Rottinghaus is a professor of political science at the University of Houston. Justin S. Vaughn is an associate professor ofpolitical science and director of the Center for Idaho History and Politics at Boise State University. https://www.nytimesxom/interartive/2018/02/19/opinion/how-does-trum 8/9 6/24/24, 4:16 PM Total Scores/Overall Rankings | C-SPAN Survey on Presidents 2021 C-SPAN S SCHEDULE C TV NETWORKS # RADIO ® PODCASTS □ APP cheated bv cable in 1370 All Series v American History TV Book TV Washington Journal Campaign 2024 Congress Executive LOGIN D ★ * * PRESIDENTIAL HISTORIANS SURVEY 2021 * ★ * ★ * Survey Links ■ All Presidents TTotal Scores/Overall Rankings ■ Survey Participants ■ Survey Advisors ■ Methodology ■ Press Room Individual Leadership Characteristics ■ Public Persuasion ■ Crisis Leadership ■ Economic Management ■ Moral Authority ■ International Relations ■ Administrative Skills ■ Relations with Congress ■ Vision / Setting an Agenda ■ Pursued Equal Justice For All ■ Performance Within Context of Times Historians Survey Results Category Total Scores/Overall Rankings President 1 2021 Final Overall Rankings Score 2017 2009 2000 Abraham Lincoln 897 1 1 1 1 George Washington 851 2 2 2 3 Franklin D. Roosevelt 841 3 3 3 2 Theodore Roosevelt 785 4 4 4 4 Dwight D. Eisenhower 734 5 5 8 9 Harry S. Truman 713 6 6 5 5 Thomas Jefferson 704 7 7 7 7 John F. Kennedy 699 8 8 6 8 Ronald Reagan 681 9 9 10 11 BarackObama 664 10 12 NA NA Lyndon B. Johnson 654 11 10 11 10 James Monroe 643 12 13 15 14 Woodrow Wilson 617 13 11 9 6 William McKinley 612 14 16 16 15 John Adams 609 15 19 17 16 James Madison 604 16 17 20 18 John Quincy Adams 603 17 21 19 19 James K. Polk 599 18 14 12 12 William J. Clinton 594 19 15 14 21 Ulysses S. Grant 590 20 22 23 33 George H. W. Bush 585 21 20 18 20 Andrew Jackson 568 22 18 13 13 William Howard Taft 543 23 24 24 24 Calvin Coolidge 535 24 26 26 27 Grover Cleveland 523 25 23 21 17 Jimmy Carter 506 26 27 25 22 James A Garfield 506 27 29 28 29 Gerald R. Ford 498 28 25 22 23 George W. Bush 495 29 33 36 NA Chester A. Arthur 472 30 35 32 32 https://www.c-span.org/presidentsurvey2021/?page=overall 1/3 6/24/24, 4:16 PM Total Scores/Overall Rankings | C-SPAN Survey on Presidents 2021 Richard M. Nixon 464 31 28 27 26 Benjamin Harrison 462 32 30 30 31 Rutherford B. Hayes 456 33 31 33 25 Martin Van Buren 455 34 34 31 30 Zachary Taylor 449 35 32 29 28 Herbert Hoover 396 36 36 34 34 Warren G. Harding 388 37 40 38 38 Millard Fillmore 378 38 37 37 35 John Tyler 354 39 39 35 36 William Henry Harrison 354 40 38 39 37 Donald J. Trump 312 41 NA NA NA Franklin Pierce 312 42 41 40 39 Andrew Johnson 230 43 42 41 40 James Buchanan 227 44 43 42 41 Resource Links ■ Watch the Washington Journal segment announcing the 2021 survey results ■ Watch the four survey advisers discuss the 2021 survey on the Washington Journal ■ Listen to The Weekly podcast discussing the 2021 survey ■ View full results from C-SPAN's 2021 Survey of Presidential Leadership ■ View full results from C-SPAN's 2017 Survey of Presidential Leadership ■ View full results from C-SPAN's 2009 Survey of Presidential Leadership ■ View full results from C-SPAN's 2000 Survey of Presidential Leadership ■ Compare category rankings from all four C-SPAN surveys THE A COMPANION WEBSITE TO THE NEW BOOK FROM C SPAN VIEW fit SHARE PRESIDENTIAL HISTORIANS SURVEY * * GALLERY OF INSIGHTS about c-span Our Mission Our History Cameras In The Court Milestones Leadership Jobs 13 In The Community Video Library Viewer Guide resources C-SPAN Classroom Blog Series A-Z Press Center JrAQs Contact Us Shop C-SPAN's Book Collection World Legislatures MyC-SPAN Login C-SPAN NowApp 6 Download 0 # Download 0 ©C-SPAN Podcasts follow c-span □ □ □ © © 2022 National Cable Satellite Corporation https://www.c-span.org/presidentsurvey2021/?page=overall | Copyrights and Licensing | Terms and Conditions | Privacy 2/3 2/20/24, 4:28 PM OPINION Experts rank Biden among the best presidents. Trump? Not so much - Los Angeles Times Opinion: We know how voters feel about Trump and Biden. But how do the experts rank their presidencies? Wax figures of American presidents at Madame Tussauds in Washington. Scholars rated Trump even worse than Andrew Johnson, front row, right, William Henry Harrison and James Buchanan, back row, fourth and fifth from left, respectively. (Jacquelyn Martin / Associated Press) BY JUSTIN VAUGHN AND BRANDON ROTTTNGHAUS FEB. 18,2024 3:30 AM PT Presidents Day occurs at a crucial moment this year, with the presidency on the cusp of crisis as we inexorably shuffle toward a rematch between the incumbent and his predecessor. It's the sort of contest we haven't seen since the 19th century, and judging by public opinion of President Biden and former President Trump, most Americans would have preferred to keep it that way. https://www.latimes.com/opinion/story/2024-02-18/trump-biden-presidents-day-ranking-poll-election-2024 1/3 2/20/24, 4:28 PM Experts rank Biden among the best presidents. Trump? Not so much - Los Angeles Times But the third installment of our Presidential Greatness Project, a poll of presidential experts released this weekend, shows that scholars don't share American voters' roughly equal distaste for both candidates. Biden, in fact, makes his debut in our rankings at No. 14, putting him in the top third of American presidents. Trump, meanwhile, maintains the position he held six years ago: dead last, trailing such historically calamitous chief executives as James Buchanan and Andrew Johnson. In that and other respects, Trump's radical departure from political, institutional and legal norms has affected knowledgeable assessments not just of him but also of Biden and several other presidents. OPINION Opinion: Panicking over polls showing Donald Trump ahead of President Biden? Please stop Jan. 24, 2024 The overall survey results reveal stability as well as change in the way scholars assess our nation's most important and controversial political office. Great presidents have traditionally been viewed as those who presided over moments of national transformation, led the country through major crises and expanded the institution of the presidency. Military victories, economic growth, assassinations and scandals also affect expert assessments of presidential performance. The presidents at the top of our rankings, and others like ours, reflect this. Hallowed leaders such as Abraham Lincoln, Franklin Delano Roosevelt and George Washington consistently lead the list. Our latest rankings also show that the experts' assessments are driven not only by traditional notions of greatness but also by the evolving values of our time. OPINION Op-Ed: Worst President Ever. Jan. 13, 2021 One example is the continuing decline in esteem for two important presidents, Andrew Jackson and Woodrow Wilson. Their reputations have consistently suffered in recent years as modern politics lead scholars to assess their early 19th and 20th century presidencies ever more harshly, especially their unacceptable treatment of marginalized people. More acutely, this survey has seen a pronounced partisan dynamic emerge, arguably in response to the Trump presidency and the Trumpification of presidential politics. https://www.latimes.com/opinion/story/2024-02-18/trump-biden-presidents-day-ranking-poll-election-2024 2/3 2/20/24, 4:28 PM Experts rank Biden among the best presidents. Trump? Not so much - Los Angeles Times Proponents of the Biden presidency have strong arguments in their arsenal, but his high placement within the top 15 suggests a powerful anti-Trump factor at work. So far, Biden's record does not include the military victories or institutional expansion that have typically driven higher rankings, and a family scandal such as the one involving his son Hunter normally diminishes a president's ranking. 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. Trump's position at the bottom of our rankings, meanwhile, puts him behind not only Buchanan and Johnson but also such lowlights as Franklin Pierce, Warren Harding and William Henry Harrison, who died a mere 31 days after taking office. Trump's impact goes well beyond his own ranking and Biden's. Every contemporary Democratic president has moved up in the ranks — Barack Obama (No. 7), Bill Clinton (No. 12) and even Jimmy Carter (No. 22). Yes, these presidents had great accomplishments such as expanding healthcare access and working to end conflict in the Middle East, and they have two Nobel Prizes among them. But given their shortcomings and failures, their rise seems to be less about reassessments of their administrations than it is a bonus for being neither Trump nor a member of his party. Indeed, every modern Republican president has dropped in the survey, including the transformational Ronald Reagan (No. 16) and George H.W. Bush (No. 19), who led the nation's last decisive military victory. Academics do lean left, but that hasn't changed since our previous surveys. What these results suggest is not just an added emphasis on a president's political affiliation, but also the emergence of a president's fealty to political and institutional norms as a criterion for what makes a president "great" to the scholars who study them. As for the Americans casting a ballot for the next president, they are in the historically rare position of knowing how both candidates have performed in the job. Whether they will consider each president's commitment to the norms of presidential leadership, and come to rate them as differently as our experts, remains to be seen. Justin Vaughn is an associate professor of political science at Coastal Carolina University. Brandon Rottinghaus is a professor ofpolitical science at the University of Houston. https://www.latimes.com/opinion/story/2024-02-18/trump-biden-presidents-day-ranking-poll-election-2024 3/3