| Presidential Elections | 2008 |
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last updated 5 July 2024
Presidential ratings have been going on for over 50 years.
The Presidential Greatness Project Expert Survey used responses from 154 experts.
Siena College Research Institute Presidential Expert Poll Ranked presidents by quartile in 20 categories and computed an overall ranking by weighting these scores.
Trump was a 1 with presidents like Warren Harding,the last #1 in 1921. Sienna ranking by categories:
 Presidents since FDR
See Siena College Research Institute Presidential Expert Poll 1982-2010 | Wikipedia
for a full list.
Biden
Biden was in the top quartile for all presidents for
Integrity, Ability to compromise, Court Appointments, and and Executive Appointments, 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.
| 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 |
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|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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 | Joe Biden | 7 | 19 | 14-62.7 |
| 15 | Ronald Reagan | 7 | 18 | 16-61.6 |
| 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 |
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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] |
| 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 and Bill Clinton.
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.
| President | Weighted Average | Commun- ication Rank | Overall Rank |
John F. Kennedy | 3.83 | 3 | 9 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Barack Obama | 3.45 | 6 | 11 |
| Ronald Reagan | 3.41 | 7 | 18 |
| Bill clinton | 3.08 | 9 | 14 |
| George H. W. Bush | 3.06 | 28 | 20 |
| George W. Bush | 2.91 | 37 | 35 |
| Jimmy Carter | 2.81 | 24 | 24 |
| Donald Trump | 2.30 | 43 | 45 |
| Richard Nixon | 2.14 | 26 | 28 |
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
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
