Presidential Elections | 2008

last updated 2 Oct 2023

In a 2000 American Perspective Article, "Where Have You Gone, Franklin Roosevelt?", Michael Nelson says:
In 1948 Professor Arthur M. Schlesinger, Sr. called on 55 of his fellow historians to grade each president (excluding the incumbent, Harry S. Truman) as either "great," "near great," "average," "below average," or a "failure." When Schlesinger averaged each president's grades, Abraham Lincoln, George Washington, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Thomas Jefferson, Woodrow Wilson, and Andrew Jackson scored as great presidents, Ulysses S. Grant and Warren G. Harding were rated as failures, and the rest fell in between.

In his second survey in 1962, Truman ended up in ninth place as a near-great president in the company of John Adams and Theodore Roosevelt. Dwight D. Eisenhower ranked 22nd. Republicans howled that Schlesinger had packed the jury with Democrats.

His son, commissioned a study in 1996. Eisenhower's stock has risen since the 1960s (he now regularly shows up among the top 10) but less because of any new appreciation of what long was thought to be his passive style of leadership than because of recent archival research that shows him to have been a deceptively strong "hidden-hand" leader.

David H. Donald, noted biographer of Lincoln, relates that when he met John F. Kennedy in 1961, Kennedy voiced his deep dissatisfaction and resentment with historians who had rated some of his predecessors. Kennedy said, "No one has a right to grade a President—even poor James Buchanan—who has not sat in his chair, examined the mail and information that came across his desk, and learned why he made his decisions."
There have been other criticisms of presidential rankings.

A 2000 survey by The Wall Street Journal 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. According to the editors, this poll included responses from more women, minorities, and young professors than the 1996 Schlesinger poll. The editors noted that the results of their poll were "remarkably similar" to the 1996 Schlesinger poll, with the main difference in the 2000 poll being the lower rankings for the 1960s presidents Lyndon B. Johnson and John F. Kennedy, and higher ranking of President Ronald Reagan at 8th. Franklin Roosevelt still ranked in the top three.

Rankings are based on averages of 6 quantitative rankings by groups of scholars from 1996 to 2016 as listed at Historical rankings at Wikipedia.

Sources included, Schlesinger, Sienna College, C-SPAN, the Wall Street Journal, The Institute for the Study of the Americas (located in the University of London's School of Advanced Study), The American Political Science Association (APSA), 538

To compute the 10 pt. rating I averaged the 7 most recent rankings at Historical rankings of presidents of the United States | Wikipedia and sorted them from low to high. They fell into groups and I gave them scores with 10's to the best and 1's to the worst. There are 3 10s, 4 9s and 5 8s.

Pty - Party: F- Federalist, D-R - Democratic-Republican, R-W National Republican/Whig, W - Whig R - Republican, D - Democrat
No. Name Pty State Dates Rat-
ing
Previous
1 Washington, George F VA 1789-97 10 General
2 Adams, John F MA 1797-1801 7 VP - Founding Father from MA
3 Jefferson, Thomas D-R VA 1801-09 9 Founding Father from VA
4 Madison, James D-R VA 1809-17 7 Founding Father - Representative from VA -Father of the Constitution
5 Monroe, James D-R VA 1817-25 7 VA Senator
6 Adams, John Quincy R/W MA 1825-29 6 MA Monroe's Secy of State
7 Jackson, Andrew D TN 1829-37 6 TN War of 1812 General
8 Van Buren, Martin D NY 1837-41 5 In Jackson's cabinet
9 Harrison, William Henry W IN -1841 2 Governor of IN
10 Tyler, John W VA 1841-45 2 VP
11 Polk, James D TN 1845-49 6 Congressman from TN
12 Taylor, Zachary W MS 1849-50 3 Mexican War General
13 Fillmore, Millard W NY 1850-53 2 VP - Succeeded
14 Pierce, Franklin D NH 1853-57 1 NH Senator
15 Buchanan, James D PA 1857-61 1 PA Senator and Polk's Secretary of State
16 Lincoln, Abraham R IL 1861-65 10 IL Congressman
17 Johnson, Andrew D IN 1865-69 1 TN Senator, VP succeeded
18 Grant, Ulysses S. R OH 1869-77 5 Civil War Union General
19 Hayes, Rutherford B. R OH 1877-81 4
20 Garfield, James R OH 1881-81 4 Ohio Senator
21 Arthur, Chester R NY 1881-85 4 VP - Succeeded
22,24 Cleveland, Grover D NY 1885-89, 1893-97 5 NY Governor
23 Harrison, Benjamin R IN 1889-93 4 Senator from Indiana
25 McKinley, William R OH 1897-1901 6 Congressman, OH Governor
26 Roosevelt, Theodore R NY 1901-09 9 NY Governor - VP Succeeded
27 Taft, William H. R OH 1909-13 5 Roosevelt's Secretary of War
28 Wilson, Woodrow D NJ 1913-21 8 NJ Governor
29 Harding, Warren R OH 1921-23 1 Governor of Ohio
30 Coolidge, Calvin R MA 1923-29 4 MA Governor
31 Hoover, Herbert R IA 1929-33 3 Coolidge's Secretary of Commerce
32 Roosevelt, Franklin D. D NY 1933-45 10 Governor of NY
33 Truman, Harry S D MO 1945-53 9 Senator from MO, VP Succeeded
34 Eisenhower, Dwight R TX/NY 1953-61 9 General - President of Columbia U.
35 Kennedy, John F. D MA 1961-63 8 MA Senator
36 Johnson, Lyndon D TX 1963-69 8 TX Senator, VP Succeeded
37 Nixon, Richard R CA 1969-74 4 CA Senator, VP
38 Ford, Gerald R MI 1974-77 5 MI Congressman, VP Succeeded
39 Carter, Jimmy D GA 1977-81 5 GA Governor
40 Reagan, Ronald R CA 1981-89 8 CA Governor
41 Bush, George H.W. R TX 1989-93 6 VP
42 Clinton, William J. D AR 1993-2001 81 AR Governor
43 Bush, George W. † R TX 2001-08 3 TX Governor
43 Obama, Barack D IL 2009-2016 8 IL Senator
44 Trump, Donald * R NY 2017-2020 1 Developer, Talk Show Host
* Trump had the lowest average. Trump tied for last with James Buchanan (1921) in 1 survey and, Andrew Johnson (1865) in another.

1. Clinton would have got a 7 based on the average of 7 surveys used in this list, but in the Sienna College Expert Poll below Bill Clinton was ranked higher than 3 of the 5 who got scores of 8 in the average of polls above, so I gave him an 8.

Average: Republicans - 5.0, Democrats - 5.9

To compute the 10 pt. rating I averaged the 7 most recent rankings at Historical rankings of presidents of the United States | Wikipedia and sorted them from low to high. They fell into groups and I gave them scores with 10's to the best and 1's to the worst.
The wikipedia page lists rankings from a variety of organizations who survey presidential politics experts to come up with the rankings.

The 7 rankings were from:
American Political Science Association (APSA) 2015
Presidential History Network (PHN) 2016
C-SPAN 2017
American Political Science Association (APSA) 2018
Siena College Research Institute 2018
C-SPAN 2021 Presidental Historians Survey
Siena Siena College Research Institute2022

Historical rankings of presidents of the United States - Wikipedia Wikipedia page lists rankings from a variety of organizations who survey presidential politics experts to come up with the rankings.

The top ten
Rank President Rating
1 Abraham Lincoln 10
2 George Washington 10
3 Franklin D. Roosevelt 10
4 Theodore Roosevelt 9
5 Thomas Jefferson 9
6 Dwight D. Eisenhower 9
7 Harry S. Truman 9 Recent rankings
10 tie John F. Kennedy 8 16, 10, 8, 9
Lyndon B. Johnson 8 10, 16, 11, 8
Barack Obama 8 8, 17, 10, 11
Woodrow Wilson 8 8, 11, 11,13,13
Ronald Reagan 8 9, 13, 9, 18
Note: Bill Clinton would be in this list according the Siena College Expert Poll below.


Siena College Research Institute Presidential Expert Poll 1982-2010
See Siena College Research Institute Presidential Expert Poll 1982-2010 | Wikipedia for a full list.


We've listed only presidents since FDR.
Abbreviations
Bg = Background
PL = Party leadership
CAb = Communication ability
RC = Relations with Congress
CAp = Court appointments
HE = Handling of economy
L = Luck
AC = Ability to compromise
WR = Willing to take risks
EAp = Executive appointments
OA = Overall ability
Im = Imagination
DA = Domestic accomplishments
Int = Integrity
EAb = Executive ability
FPA = Foreign policy accomplishments
LA = Leadership ability
IQ = Intelligence
AM = Avoid crucial mistakes
EV = Experts' view
O = Overall
Presidents since FDR
Overall is rank amongst all presidents. 1 is best.
Listed in order of decreasing ovrall rank.
PresidentPolitical party BgPLCAbRCCApHELACWREApOAImDAIntEAbFPALAIQAMEVO

Franklin D. Roosevelt

Democratic

5

1

1

2

2

1

5

2

3

3

2

4

3

16

3

1

3

10

4

2

1

Harry S. Truman

Democratic

35

15

14

20

15

6

11

15

6

7

7

15

7

8

8

6

9

17

8

6

9

Dwight D. Eisenhower

Republican

12

17

21

10

9

11

8

5

20

17

11

20

13

9

7

9

7

19

5

7

10

John F. Kennedy

Democratic

13

19

4

13

12

7

27

6

10

6

14

7

15

35

13

17

11

11

16

14

11

Bill Clinton

Democratic

22

11

8

25

11

3

10

4

18

11

10

10

10

41

15

18

14

9

34

15

13

Barack Obama

Democratic

32

21

7

18

13

17

16

10

13

14

18

6

16

12

16

22

16

8

21

18

15

Lyndon B. Johnson

Democratic

15

3

16

1

5

10

28

9

12

12

9

12

5

34

12

43

15

21

37

16

16

Ronald Reagan

Republican

34

5

5

7

31

21

3

14

11

31

19

18

23

26

20

13

8

36

13

17

18

George H. W. Bush

Republican

11

27

33

23

34

32

26

16

29

27

27

31

28

20

22

14

22

24

18

22

22

Gerald Ford

Republican

27

25

35

17

22

36

31

17

35

23

31

33

30

15

32

27

30

34

26

25

28

Richard Nixon

Republican

18

20

26

36

38

25

34

33

14

37

22

19

24

43

24

11

29

16

43

37

30

Jimmy Carter

Democratic

31

39

27

39

20

40

38

31

25

21

29

21

29

7

36

29

35

13

36

30

32

George W. Bush

Republican

36

23

42

32

41

42

18

42

19

41

40

40

38

39

39

42

38

42

38

39

39

The rankings here are in line with others except that Bill Clinton came out higher than LBJ, Reagan and Obama.
Clinton was ranked #3 amongst all presidents on handling of the economy, and #4 on ability to compromise. That was higher than all the recent presidents but FDR. I couldn't find the weightings on the categories, but I suspect those 2 had high weights.

See: Siena College Research Institute Presidential Expert Poll


A 2021 Gallup poll asked 1,023 American adults the following question about the 10 most recent presidents: "How do you think each of the following presidents will go down in history—as an outstanding president, above average, average, below average, or poor?"
asked 1,023 American adults the following question: "How do you think each of the following presidents will go down in history—as an outstanding president, above average, average, below average, or poor?" Sorted by weighted average from worst to best
President Weighted
Average
John F. Kennedy 3.83
Barack Obama 3.45
Ronald Reagan 3.41
Bill clinton 3.08
George H. W. Bush 3.06
George W. Bush 2.91
Jimmy Carter 2.81
Donald Trump 2.30
Richard Nixon 2.14
 
Princeton University political scientist, Fred I. Greenstein, focuses his 2000' book The Presidential Difference on "emotional intelligence"--a president's ability to "manage his emotions and turn them to constructive purposes." [Note: This was written 20 years before Donald Trump and couldn't be more applicable in 2020]Greenstein also looks at five other, less important, leadership traits.
He judges three of FDR's five Democratic successors to be deficient in emotional intelligence (Lyndon B. Johnson, Jimmy Carter, and Clinton), but faults only one of the five modern Republicans (Richard Nixon).
Tops with a positive score in all five leadership traits was Nixon. Eisenhower, Ford, Regan and Kennedy also had an overall positive score in that order. Truman, Johnson, George H.W. Bush, Clinton and Carter had a negative average.

Nelson says "Although Greenstein claims to have "avoided presidential rankings,". Surely the historians were right to place Kennedy, Johnson, and Truman above Nixon and Ford, in contrast to Greenstein's arrangement. But they were wrong to rank Reagan with the average presidents (as they did in Schlesinger, Jr.'s 1996 survey), just as Greenstein is right to rate him more highly."

The greatness of the presidents in Landy and Milkis's ("Presidential Greatness") hall of fame--Washington, Jefferson, Jackson, Lincoln, and FDR--has less to do with power than with purpose. Great presidents are "conservative revolutionaries" who in uncertain times "teach the nation about the need for great change but also about how to reconcile change with American constitutional traditions and purposes.


Midterm Approval Ratings
Midterm Approval Ratings
2012 at RealClearPolitics.com

Presidental Job Approval rating eisenhower nixon, regan clinton bush

Job Approval
See: George W. Bush Approval Ratings at Gallup
and a summary of other rankings at the Roper Center

Job Approval   Job Approval Presidental Job Approval rating eisenhower nixon, regan clinton bush

Appointments:
Male White Government experience Former generals Billionaires
George W. Bush First confirmed cabinet 83% 74% 96% 4% 0%
Barack Obama First confirmed cabinet 65% 52% 87% 4% 0%
Donald Trump Nominees as of Jan. 26, 2017 82% 86% 55% 9% 9%
Source: Trump’s $6 Billion Cabinet: Bloomberg.com

Misc:

Books:

Links:
U.S. Economics - Budget - Spending - Deficit - Taxes
National Monuments established by presidents
Where Have You Gone, Franklin Roosevelt? by Michael Nelson for the American Perspective Nov., 2000
Historical rankings of United States Presidents at Wikipedia
Sienna polls 1982-2010
Historical rankings of United States Presidents at Answers.com
Gallup Public Poll
What Makes a President Great?, 2005 poll for the Federalist Society by James Lindgren, published in the Wall Street Journal
How would you rank the last 10 presidents (Trump-LBJ) in terms of public speaking skills? - Quora

Return to Politics