last updated 20 October 2024

Presidential ratings have been going on for over 50 years.
Previous surveys have ranked ordered presidents from 1 (Usually FDR or Jefferson) to 42 (Buchanan or Andrew Johnson) and now Trump and Biden.
See Trump vs Biden below.

The Presidential Greatness Project Expert Survey used responses from 154 experts.
They asked respondents to rate each president on a scale of 0-100 for their overall greatness, with 0=failure, 50=average, and 100=great. We then averaged the ratings for each president and ranked them from highest average to lowest.

Siena College Research Institute Presidential Expert Poll Ranked presidents by quartile in 20 categories and computed an overall ranking by weighting these scores.
I computed a 10 pt. rating by combined scores from these two survies and rank ordered them assigning ratings from 1 to 10 like grading on the curve looking for groupings in the scores and ended with more 5s and 6s than 9s and 10s or 1's , which you would expect. Below are the top half (23 presidents) and presidents since FDR in the in the lower half Presidential Greatness Poll

Rank	President	Rating	2024 PGP Rank- score
1	Abraham Lincoln	10	1-93.9
2	Franklin D. Roosevelt	10	2-90.8
3	George Washington	10	3-90.3
4	Theodore Roosevelt	9	4-78.6
5	Thomas Jefferson	9	5-77.5
6	Harry S. Truman	8	6-75.3
7	Dwight D. Eisenhower	8	8-73.7
9	Lyndon B. Johnson	8	9-72.9
8	Barack Obama	8	7-73.8
10	John F. Kennedy	8	10-68.4
11	James Madison	7	11-67.2
12	Bill Clinton	7	12-66.4
13	John Adams	7	13-62.7
14	Ronald Reagan	7	16-61.6
15	Joe Biden	7	14-62.7
16	Woodrow Wilson	7	15-61.8
17	Grant	6	17-60.9
18	Monroe	6	18-60.2
19	GHW Bush	6	19-58.5
21	John Quincey Adams	6	21-55.4
21	Andrew Jackson	6	21-54.7
22	Jimmy Carter	6	22-54.3
23	Taft	5	23-51.7
27	Ford, Gerald	4	27-40.9
32	Bush, George W.	3	32-40.3
35	Nixon, Richard	3	35-36.41
45	Donald Trump	1	45-10.9

Biden came out with a rating of 7 along with Ronald Regan, Bill Cinton, John Adams and Woodrow Wilson.
Trump was a 1 with presidents like Warren Harding,the last #1 in 1921.

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

Biden vs Trump
Biden 7 out of 10
In the 20 categories above Biden was in the top half for all presidents for all except Communication (verbal, written), Relationship with congress, and Luck.

Biden was in the top quartile for all presidents for Integrity, Ability to compromise, Court Appointments, and and Executive Appointments,
In the top 1/3 for Handling the economy.

Trump 1 out of 10.
. Trump was in bottom quartile for all except, Luck, Willing to take risks and Party Leadership.

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.

There have been numerous studies since then.

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

My latest iteration uses two new rankings by Siena College in 2022 using over 141 scholars ranking them on 20 different categories and the 2023 Presidential Greatness Project Expert Survey was conducted online from November 15 to December 31, 2023. Respondents included current and recent members of the Presidents & Executive Politics Section of the American Political Science Association, which is the foremost organization of social science experts in presidential politics, as well as scholars who had recently published peer-reviewed academic research in key related scholarly journals or academic presses. They had 154 contributors.

Presidents like Grant and Eisenhower have risen in the ranking since those earlier surveys.
In recent surveys George H. W. Bush, Bill Clinton, Barack Obama and Lyndon Johnson moved up. Regan has moved down.
Joe Biden entered at #14 in 1 survey and #19 in another.

I computed a 10 pt. rating by combined scores from these two survies and rank ordered them assigning ratings from 1 to 10 like grading on the curve with a normal distribution looking for groupings in the scores and ended with more 5s and 6s and than 9s and 10s or 1's, which you would expect.

Pty - Party: F- Federalist, D-R - Democratic-Republican, R-W National Republican/Whig, W - Whig R - Republican, D - Democrat

Score	10	9	8	7	6	5	4	3	2	1
Number	3	2	5	7	6	5	6	3	3	5

Rank	President	Rating	2022 Siena	2024 PGP

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	6	VA Senator
6	Adams, John Quincy	R/W	MA	1825-29	7	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	5	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	6	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	7	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	8	Senator from MO, VP Succeeded
34	Eisenhower, Dwight	R	TX/NY	1953-61	8	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	6	GA Governor
40	Reagan, Ronald	R	CA	1981-89	7	CA Governor
41	Bush, George H.W.	R	TX	1989-93	6	VP
42	Clinton, William J.	D	AR	1993-2001	7	AR Governor
43	Bush, George W.	R	TX	2001-08	3	TX Governor
44	Obama, Barack	D	IL	2009-2016	8	IL Senator
45	Trump, Donald	R	NY	2017-2020	1	Developer, Talk Show Host
46	Biden, Joe	D	DE	2021-2024	7	Delaware Senator, Vice President

Average: Republicans - 4.9, Democrats - 5.7

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

The top half - 23 presidents

Rank	President	Rating	2022 Siena	2024 PGP
1	Abraham Lincoln	10	2	1-93.9
2	Franklin D. Roosevelt	10	1	2-90.8
3	George Washington	10	3	3-90.3
4	Theodore Roosevelt	9	4	4-78.6
5	Thomas Jefferson	9	5	5-77.5
6	Harry S. Truman	8	7	6-75.3
7	Dwight D. Eisenhower	8	6	8-73.7
9	Lyndon B. Johnson	8	8	9-72.9
8	Barack Obama	8	11	7-73.8
10	John F. Kennedy	8	9	10-68.4
11	James Madison	7	10	11-67.2
12	Bill Clinton	7	14	12-66.4
13	Woodrow Wilson	7	13	15-61.8
14	Ronald Reagan	7	18	16-61.6
15	Joe Biden	7	19	14-62.7
16	John Adams	7	16	13-62.7
17	Grant	6	21	17-60.9
18	Monroe	6	12	18-60.2
19	GHW Bush	6	20	19-58.5
21	John Quincey Adams	6	17	21-55.4
21	Andrew Jackson	6	23	21-54.7
22	Jimmy Carter	6	24	22-54.3
23	Taft	5	25	23-51.7
45	Donald Trump	1	43	45-10.9

PGP - Presidential Greatness Project

PGP ratings of Trump by Party and Ideology:

Republican	41
Democrat	45
Independent	45
Conservative	43
Liberal	45
Moderate	45

American Presidents: Greatest and Worst | Siena College Research Institute
Siena 2022 published at Siena at Historical rankings of presidents of the United States | Wikipedia
Siena ranks: Monroe 12, Polk 15, Mckinley 22

Presidents since FDR
See Siena at Historical rankings of presidents of the United States | Wikipedia for a full list.
Overall is rank amongst all presidents. 1 is best.

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Abbreviations Bg: Background   (family, education, experience) Im: Imagination Int: Integrity IQ: Intelligence L: Luck WR: Willing to take risks AC: Ability to compromise

EAb: Executive ability LA: Leadership ability CAb: Communication ability   (speak, write) OA: Overall ability PL: Party leadership RC: Relationship with Congress CAp: Court appointments

HE: Handling of U.S. economy EAp: Executive appointments DA: Domestic accomplishments FPA: Foreign policy accomplishments AM: Avoid crucial mistakes PV: Present overall view   [the average of polled experts] O: Overall rank   [average of individual parameters]

Presidents since FDR

President	Party	ATTRIBUTES						ABILITIES					ACCOMPLISHMENTS								AVERAGE
		Bg	Im	Int	IQ	L	WR	AC	EAb	LA	CAb	OA	PL	RC	CAp	HE	EAp	DA	FPA	AM	PV	O
Franklin D. Roosevelt	Dem	1	2	14	10	6	2	2	2	1	2	2	1	2	2	1	2	2	1	4	2	1
Harry S. Truman	Dem	28	13	8	19	11	9	13	8	8	14	10	12	15	12	7	9	8	3	7	5	7
Dwight D. Eisenhower	Dem	11	20	4	16	4	18	5	5	5	18	7	9	6	5	6	12	7	7	3	6	6
John F. Kennedy	Dem	12	5	27	12	27	10	8	14	7	3	12	16	12	13	9	4	14	12	15	10	9
Lyndon B. Johnson	Dem	16	10	31	18	18	6	6	6	9	16	6	3	1	4	8	6	3	39	35	9	8
Richard Nixon	Dem	17	21	44	17	36	12	21	25	27	26	25	23	32	26	22	30	16	14	41	36	28
Gerald Ford	Dem	24	33	13	30	32	32	15	30	30	35	30	28	20	23	38	22	33	26	29	28	30
Jimmy Carter	Dem	21	19	2	11	40	26	24	31	29	24	26	37	37	18	34	16	25	23	32	23	24
Ronald Reagan	Dem	36	18	24	35	3	13	17	19	10	7	21	6	8	21	21	28	21	16	17	19	18
George H. W. Bush	Dem	8	27	17	22	24	27	12	17	22	28	19	24	17	36	26	20	27	8	12	22	20
Bill Clinton	Dem	19	12	40	9	10	17	4	16	16	9	11	13	18	7	5	14	12	18	33	13	14
George W. Bush	Dem	20	35	34	41	23	22	32	37	35	37	37	21	22	34	39	37	34	41	38	35	35
Barack Obama	Dem	18	7	6	7	14	21	10	11	15	6	8	19	27	9	10	8	10	19	9	8	11
Donald Trump	Dem	45	43	45	45	17	23	44	44	43	43	43	32	42	43	41	45	43	45	43	44	43
Joe Biden	Dem	15	22	12	27	34	24	9	21	25	30	23	25	31	10	14	10	19	21	16	20	19

See Siena College Research Institute Presidential Expert Poll 1982-2010 | Wikipedia for a full list.
More detail at American Presidents: Greatest and Worst | Siena College Research Institute

Trump and Biden
In the president scores above, where presidents were given a score from 1-10, Joe Biden was a 7 the same as Ronald Regan, Bill Clinton, Woodrow Wilson and several others.
Trump was a 1.

Biden
Of the 20 attributes ranked
Biden was in the top half for all presidents for all categories except
Communication (verbal, written), Relationship with congress, and Luck

Biden was in the top quartile for all presidents for
Integrity, Ability to compromise, Court Appointments, and Executive Appointments,

In the top 1/3 for
Handling the economy

Trump
Only Andrew Johnson and James Buchanan scored lower overall that Trump
Trump was above average in only
Luck, willingness to take risks and party leadership.
He was last in Integrity, IQ and Foreign Policy Accomplishments.

Trump's ranking in the PGP rankings by respondent party and ideology:
Republican: #41
Democrat: #45
Independent: #45
Conservative: #43
Liberal: #45
Moderate: #45

Category	Biden	Trump
Economy	4	1
Integrity	4	1
Ability to Compromise	5	1
Foreign Policy Accomplishments	4	1
Willing to take risks	2	4
overall Ability	4	1
Luck	2	4
Overall	4	1
PGP Rank * (1-10)	7	1

* Presidential Expert Poll
Joe Biden was a 7 the same as Ronald Regan, Bill Clinton, Woodrow Wilson and several others.
Trump was 1 (lowest) the same as James Buchanan, Andrew Johnson, and others in the 19th century.

2023 Survey of Scholars Finds Lincoln Remains America's Greatest President
Lincoln was rated the greatest president with an average score of 93.9/100, followed by FDR (90.8), Washington (90.3), Theodore Roosevelt (78.6), Thomas Jefferson (77.5), Harry Truman (75.3), Obama (73.8), Dwight Eisenhower (73.7), Lyndon Johnson (72.9) and John F. Kennedy (68.4).
Biden was #15.

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
Siena polls 1982-2010
Michael Beschloff interview on rankings with Joy Reid on MSNBC
He says, " Lots of racist presidents, Theodore Roosevelt, Woodrow Wilson, Andrew Jackson who was also responsible for the trail of tears (displacement of 60,000 American Indians) should be lower.
He seemed to agree with Biden at (#15). He said there were elements of greatness in Biden, similar to Harry Truman (#6) including decades of experience, and willingness to make tough calls like Harry Truman (but he's not Truman)

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