These are the top 25 US presidents, according to historians and biographers (and why you won’t find Trump on the list)

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Presidents ranked from worst to best – CBS News

Best presidents list U.S. Presidents ranked from worst to best By Elisha Fieldstadt May 30, 2022 / 9:38 AM / CBS NEWS / Getty Images Who is the best president of all time? Who is the worst?It’s official: Donald Trump is not going down in history as America’s best president — or the worst. According to the latest available survey of presidential historians, there are some presidents who delivered worse performances during their tenure in the White House.How many? Who are they? And where would other recent presidents, such as George W. Bush, Bill Clinton and Barack Obama, rank on such a list? Here are the results of a sweeping survey of historians, political scientists and presidential scholars maintained by CSPAN. Since 2000, the CSPAN Presidential Historians Survey has ranked presidents across 10 categories, ranging from economic management to moral authority.Biographical information for each president from WhiteHouse.gov and the Miller Center at the University of Virginia.  44. James Buchanan (1857-1861) Bettmann/Getty Historians have criticized Buchanan over his poor crisis leadership.He couldn’t seem to grasp the enormity of America’s divisions over slavery, ignoring the strife and letting the issue fester in the years leading up to the Civil War. 43. Andrew Johnson (1865-1869) AP/Library of Congress Historians gave Johnson the lowest ratings overall.Johnson, who became president when Lincoln was assassinated, clashed with fellow Republicans over Reconstruction in the wake of the Civil War. He often tried to sidestep Congress and became the first president ever to face impeachment, but was acquitted by one vote. This 1865-1880 photo, made available by the Library of Congress, shows a damaged glass negative of President Andrew Johnson.  42. Franklin Pierce (1853-1857) Whitehouse.gov History has judged Pierce unfavorably for policies that helped put the nation on the path to civil war.He signed into law the Kansas-Nebraska Act, which allowed residents of new territories to decide on the legality of slavery for themselves. 41. Donald Trump (2017-2021) ROBYN BECK/AFP via Getty Images Donald Trump has the dubious honor of being the only U.S. president to face impeachment twice. His highest rankings were in public persuasion (32) and economic management (34). The historians ranked him in last place (44) for moral authority and administrative skills. 40. William Henry Harrison (1841) Albert Gallatin Hoit/National Portrait Gallery Harrison’s presidency was marked by organizational chaos. At the time, it was common for job seekers to simply show up at the White House and ask for a meeting with the chief executive — and they did. In one letter, Harrison complained, “I am so much harassed by the multitude that calls upon me that I can give no proper attention to any business of my own.”Overall, historians have little to judge Harrison on, given that he died on his 32nd day in office.  39. John Tyler (1841-1845) Whitehouse.gov Tyler, the first vice president ever elevated to the presidency when his predecessor died, was a strong advocate of states’ rights. He later joined the Southern Confederacy. 38. Millard Fillmore (1850-1853) Whitehouse.gov Fillmore ascended to the presidency in July 1850 after the death of President Zachary Taylor. Historians fault Fillmore for signing the Fugitive Slave Act, which required that escaped slaves be returned to their enslavers. Harrison was not his party’s nominee for re-election. 37. Warren G. Harding (1921-1923) / Getty Images Harding’s presidency benefited from an economic boost, fed in part by the growing mass production of “motor cars.”But scandals plagued Harding’s time in office, particularly the infamous Teapot Dome scandal, in which cronies profited from secret oil deals, keeping him low in the rankings.  36. Herbert Hoover (1929-1933) AP Hoover’s economic management rating drags down his ranking. Months after his election, the stock market crashed…

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America's Best and Worst Presidents Ranked

America’s Best and Worst Presidents Ranked Modern U.S. presidents such as Barack Obama and Ronald Reagan rank near the top of the best leaders in American history, while Donald Trump is closer to the bottom, according to the latest survey of presidential historians. The five highest rated presidents, according to the C-SPAN survey, are Abraham Lincoln, George Washington, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Theodore Roosevelt and Dwight D. Eisenhower. The bottom five include William Henry Harrison, Donald Trump, Franklin Pierce, Andrew Johnson and James Buchanan. What the presidents at the very top of the list have in common is that most faced monumental challenges related to the nation’s survival. Lincoln presided over the Civil War and kept the country from breaking apart. Washington, America’s first president, helped nurture the budding democracy by not becoming king and stepping down after serving as president. Franklin Roosevelt presided over America during World War II and Eisenhower negotiated an end to the Korean War. “They were all president during critical periods in American history,” says Cassandra Newby-Alexander, dean of the College of Liberal Arts and a professor of history at Norfolk State University, who took part in the survey. “And all of them, from John F. Kennedy (8th), all the way up to Abraham Lincoln (1st) created some idealized vision of America.” Source: C-SPAN The presidents were judged on the vision they had for America, public persuasion, crisis leadership, economics, moral authority, foreign affairs, administrative skills, relationship with Congress, pursuit of equal justice and their performance within the context of the time they led the country. Political scientist Robert Kaufman, a professor of public policy at Pepperdine University, who also took part in the survey, says it is important to make a distinction between greatness and an effective president. “Not all very effective presidents can be great, in my estimation, because greatness also depends upon the magnitude of the challenge,” he says. “Theodore Roosevelt, at the beginning of the 20th century, and Bill Clinton, at the end, were effective, but never faced the type of challenge that would lend itself to greatness.” The man at the bottom of the list, James Buchanan, is often ranked as one of the worst U.S. presidents. His refusal to take a side on slavery, while at times siding with slaveholders, is thought to have inflamed divisions within the country ahead of the Civil War. James Buchanan, 15th President of the United States (1857-1861) Both Kaufman, who calls himself a Republican, and Newby-Alexander feel Truman (6th) might be the most under-rated president. Both point to his fight for civil rights while Kaufman also praises the 33rd president for “laying the successful architecture for winning the Cold War.” Overall, Newby-Alexander says, the survey results reflect a conventional view. “If you consider the average age of historians, they tend to be older, they tend to be white and they tend to be male, so that actually leads to many of them having a somewhat traditionalist perspective,” she says, pointing out how high Theodore Roosevelt (4th) and Woodrow Wilson (13th) ranked despite their well-established racist views and actions. “Under their administrations, we had the largest number of concentrated lynchings that went unpunished than any other time in American history,” she says. “[Wilson’s] the one who strictly segregated the federal government. That did not exist before. He segregated the Navy. That did not exist before. He initiated a lot of very retrograde policy during a critical period in American history.” FILE – President-elect Woodrow Wilson and President William Howard Taft laugh on the White House steps before departing together for Wilson’s inauguration in Washington, D.C., U.S. in March 1913. The passage of time…

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The Top 25 Presidents in US History, According to Historians

These are the top 25 US presidents, according to historians and biographers (and why you won’t find Trump on the list) US Markets Loading… H M S Updated 2020-07-02T13:31:00Z Historians say Abraham Lincoln, George Washington, and FDR were the top 3 US presidents. Getty Images Abraham Lincoln was voted the best US president in a survey where nearly 100 historians and biographers rated past commanders in chief on 10 leadership qualities.Notable best presidents included George Washington at No. 2, John F. Kennedy at No. 8, and Barack Obama at No. 12.Although Donald Trump isn’t included in the survey, recent national polls indicate that registered voters consider him to be energetic, but not even-tempered.Visit Business Insider’s homepage for more stories. Historians agree: Abraham Lincoln was the best US president.For C-SPAN’s most recent Presidential Historians Survey, conducted in 2017, nearly 100 historians and biographers rated 43 US presidents. The survey is released after a sitting president’s term, so C-SPAN will likely include current President Donald Trump in its next round of the ranking, after he leaves office.Although the usual election fervor has been overshadowed by the COVID-19 pandemic, President Trump has still been campaigning and holding reelection rallies around the country. In Tulsa, Oklahoma,  he spoke to an arena of about 6,200 attendees on June 22, 2020, followed by another rally with 3,000 people on June 23 in Phoenix, Arizona.A June 30 national poll from the Pew Research Center shows that the incumbent president is currently trailing behind his Democratic opponent, Joe Biden, with only months to go before the November election. According to the poll, 54% of registered voters say they’d support Biden or “lean toward voting for him” if the election were held right now — 44% of those surveyed say the same for President Trump. In terms of personal qualities, the voters surveyed consider President Trump to be more courageous and energetic than Biden, while Biden pulls ahead of the president in being honest, even-tempered, and a good role model.The 2017 C-SPAN survey measured 10 qualities of presidential leadership: public persuasion, crisis leadership, economic management, moral authority, international relations, administrative skills, relations with Congress, vision, pursued equal justice for all, and performance within the context of his times.Read more: 50 maps that explain how America lives, spends, and believesScores in each category were then averaged, and the 10 categories were given equal weighting in determining the presidents’ total scores. George Washington came in at No. 2, followed by Franklin D. Roosevelt at No. 3. George H. W. Bush ranked at No. 20, beating out his son George W. Bush who came in at No. 33. Other notable commanders in chief included John F. Kennedy at No. 8, Ronald Reagan at No. 9, and Barack Obama at No. 12. While some historians weren’t shocked that Obama didn’t rank higher overall on the list — “That Obama came in at No. 12 his first time out is quite impressive,” Douglas Brinkley of Rice University said — others were surprised by his lower-than-expected leadership rankings, including No. 7 in moral authority and No. 8 in economic management.”But, of course, historians prefer to view the past from a distance, and only time will reveal his legacy,” said Edna Greene Medford of Howard University.Here are the top 25 presidents, according to historians surveyed by C-SPAN. Rachel Gillett contributed to a previous version of this story. 25. Gerald R. Ford (38th president) ranked well for his moral authority and relations with Congress. Gerald R. Ford with his wife, Betty. Karl Schumache/Reuters Gerald R. Ford turned down two NFL contracts when he graduated college in order to attend law school at Yale University. 24. William Howard Taft (27th president) ranked well for his administrative skills and international relations. William Howard Taft. Hulton Archive / Stringer / Getty Images Eight years after his presidency, William Howard Taft became Chief Justice of the US, and is the only person to have held positions in both offices. 23. Grover Cleveland (22nd and 24th president) ranked well for his public persuasion…

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American Presidents: Greatest and Worst

American Presidents: Greatest and Worst Siena’s 7th Presidential Expert Poll 1982 – 2022 Top Five, Rushmore Plus 1 Remain Unchanged; FDR, Lincoln, Washington, Teddy Roosevelt & JeffersonWorst Five Again – Andrew Johnson, Buchanan, Trump, Harding & PierceBiden Enters Ranking 19th, LBJ Moves into Top Ten, Obama 11th, Ike firmly 6th, Ronald Reagan rated 18th Best President Press Release     Rankings, Charts and Tables     Graphics     Survey Instrument Loudonville, NY – For the seventh time since its inception in 1982, the Siena College Research Institute’s (SCRI) Survey of U.S. Presidents finds that experts rank Franklin D. Roosevelt, Abraham Lincoln, George Washington, Theodore Roosevelt and Thomas Jefferson as the United States’ top five chief executives. The 141 participating presidential scholars agree with their peers over the last 40 years naming the same five leaders as America’s finest. For the second time, scholars include Donald Trump along with Andrew Johnson, James Buchanan, Warren Harding and Franklin Pierce in the bottom five. Joseph Biden enters the ranking after only a year in office at 19th rated highly on his ability to compromise (9th), court appointments (10th), executive appointments (10th) and integrity (12th) but lower on luck (34th), his relationship with Congress (31st) and his communication ability (30th). Lyndon Johnson is ranked 8th, entering the top 10 for the first time due to his work with Congress (1st) and court appointments (4th) but weighed down by foreign policy accomplishments (39th) and avoiding crucial mistakes (35th). Barack Obama is in 11th position, his highest ever, Dwight Eisenhower is once again rated the 6th best president and Ronald Reagan remains in the top twenty at 18th scoring highly on luck (3rd), party leadership (6th), communication (7th) and relationship with Congress (8th). “The scholars that participate in this study have changed over 40 years but the top five – FDR, Abe, Washington, Teddy and Jefferson remain carved in granite year after year. In fact, this year a large plurality of 41% say that if we added onto Rushmore, it should be FDR’s face gracing the South Dakota hills,” according to Don Levy, SCRI’s director. “Four of the worst rated presidents, Andrew Johnson, James Buchanan, Warren Harding and Franklin Pierce have been in the bottom five in each of the seven surveys. History appears to have spoken about those four presidents. Joined now by Donald Trump who gets higher scores for luck, willingness to take risks and party leadership, it is too early to say how history will ultimately rate Mr. Trump. Despite a third, a plurality, saying Trump contributed most of any president to weakening the office, a few would like to see Trump rather than FDR added to Rushmore,” according to Levy. Scholars rate presidents on each of twenty categories that include attributes – background, imagination, integrity, intelligence, luck and willingness to take risks, abilities – compromising, executive ability, leadership, communication, and overall ability and accomplishments – party leadership, relationship with Congress, court appointments, handling the economy, executive appointments, domestic accomplishments, foreign policy accomplishments and avoiding mistakes. Theodore Roosevelt is rated highest on attributes, Lincoln tops the list on abilities and Franklin Roosevelt leads on accomplishments. “While some have questioned the results of this survey, we note that participating scholars for over 40 years have been incredibly consistent in naming the top and most of the bottom presidents. Some presidents like Grant, Eisenhower and Lyndon Johnson have risen and others like Andrew Jackson and Woodrow Wilson have dropped as time took a longer look at their record. Some have argued that the rankings favor Democrats over Republicans but Lincoln and Theodore Roosevelt are in the top five, and Eisenhower is sixth. We don’t ask the historians and political scientists that respond to name their political ideology, just to painstakingly rate each of 45 individual presidents on 20 attributes, abilities and accomplishments,” Levy explained. Survey Odds and Ends• By 44-35%, scholars believe the office of President…

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Who are the 10 best best U.S. presidents? Here's how experts …

Who are the 10 best best U.S. presidents? Here’s how experts ranked themSTATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — Can you guess the top 10 presidents in American history? That is, according to a group of more than 100 experts.Data journalism website Stacker recently released a list of the “best U.S. presidents all of time” drawing from C-SPAN’s most recent June 2021 ranking of 44 American presidents.C-SPAN’s Presidential Historians Survey is based on data from “historians, professors and other professional observers of the presidency.”In 2021, 142 experts completed the survey in which they rated the presidents on a scale from one to 10 – one being “not effective” and 10 being “very effective” – in 10 categories:Public persuasionCrisis leadershipEconomic managementMoral authorityInternational relationsAdministrative skillsRelations with CongressVision/setting an agendaPursued equal justice for allPerformance within context of timesThe first Presidential Historians Survey was released in 2000 followed by updates in 2009, 2017 and 2021. President Joe Biden was excluded from the most recent edition because he is still in office.Find out which presidents made the top 10 below. Click here for the full list.10. Barack Obama44th president (Jan. 20, 2009-Jan. 20, 2017)Overall C-SPAN score: 664Fun fact: This was President Obama’s first time making the top 10. In the 2017 update, Obama ranked 12th.The U.S.’s first Black president received his highest scores in political persuasion, moral authority and pursued equal justice for all. He ranked third overall in the pursued equal justice for all category behind Abraham Lincoln and Lyndon B. Johnson.9. Ronald Reagan40th president (Jan. 20, 1981-Jan. 20, 1989)Overall C-SPAN score: 681The longest peacetime period without recession or depression recorded in U.S. history took place during Reagan’s time in office. The actor-turned-politician received his highest scores in political persuasion and vision/ability to set an agenda, ranking fifth overall in each category.8. John F. Kennedy35th president (Jan. 20, 1961-Nov. 22, 1963)Overall C-SPAN score: 699JFK ranked seventh in four of the 10 categories. Aside from being assassinated in his third year, Kennedy is known for the Bay of Pigs Invasion and the Cuban Missile Crisis. His work to mitigate the nuclear arms crisis may have contributed to his highest score in political persuasion, ranking sixth in the category overall.7. Thomas Jefferson3rd president (March 4, 1801-March 4, 1809)Overall C-SPAN score: 704Fun fact: Jefferson has ranked seventh in all four editions of the list.The primary author of the Declaration of Independence is also known for acquiring the Louisiana Territory – land including 15 current states – from Napoleon in the Louisiana Purchase Treaty in 1803. Jefferson’s highest scores were in vision/ability to set an agenda, performance within context of the times and congressional relations, in which he ranked fifth overall.6. Harry S. Truman33rd president (April 12, 1945-Jan. 20, 1953)Overall C-SPAN score: 713Truman entered office following the death of FDR in 1945. His highest scores were in crisis leadership and international relations. Truman made the call to drop atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.5. Dwight D. Eisenhower34th president (Jan. 20, 1953-Jan. 20, 1961)Overall C-SPAN score: 734Eisenhower is credited with negotiating a truce in the Korean War. The former army general’s highest scores were in moral authority, fourth in the category, and international relations, fifth in the category.4. Theodore Roosevelt26th president (Sept. 14, 1901-March 4, 1909)Overall C-SPAN score: 785Roosevelt, who became president following the assassination of President William McKinley, was known for his “big stick” foreign policy approach. Roosevelt received the Nobel Peace Prize for negotiating peace in the Russia-Japanese War (1904-1905). His top scores were in political persuasion, third in the category, and vision/ability to set an agenda, which he ranked 4th in overall.3. Franklin D. Roosevelt32nd president (March 4, 1933-April 12, 1945)Overall C-SPAN score: 841FDR, a three-term president, ranked first in political persuasion and international relations. He’s best known for his New Deal in the wake of the Great Depression and leading the nation during World War II.2. George Washington1st president (April 30, 1789-March 4, 1797)Overall C-SPAN score: 851America’s…

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Experts Rank the Best Us Presidents of All Time | Stacker

Experts rank the best US presidents of all time David Hume Kennerly // Getty Images Since George Washington was sworn in as the country’s first president in 1789, his presidential successors have made many integral and difficult decisions to help shape this country. Civil and international wars, economic crises, and deep-rooted bigotry are just a few major installments our presidents have had to tackle. It’s common to debate the efficacy, personalities, and politics of these office-holders during their terms, and opinions run far and wide many years later when analyzing past performance. The expectations of the president have evolved over time. Jeremi Suri of the University of Texas LBJ School of Public Affairs asserts in his book, “The Impossible Presidency,” that the White House has progressively taken on such infeasible demands—particularly in the most recent 24-hour news cycle—that the president cannot possibly please everyone. Drawing upon recent “disenchantment” with presidents, Suri discusses the limitations inherent in the day-to-day details and duties of the office; we often don’t recognize the near-impossible task of leaders meeting the big-picture goals they’d set out to conquer on the campaign trail. President Joe Biden has received constant criticism, largely for his handling of the Russia-Ukraine war. Biden requested Congress provide an additional $33 billion to assist Ukraine with economic and humanitarian efforts to fight off a Russian invasion that was initiated in February 2022. There’s been some pushback from Congress, as Biden also requested $22.5 billion in funds for COVID-19 relief efforts the following month. Despite these increasingly impossible expectations, some presidents have certainly made more of a mark than others. To show you how they line up, Stacker drew on C-SPAN’s most recent June 2021 ranking of 44 U.S. presidents. According to C-SPAN, the survey was devised by academic advisers with a 1-10 scale of “not effective” to “very effective” based on performance in 10 categories: public persuasion, crisis leadership, economic management, moral authority, international relations, administrative skills, congressional relations, ability to set an agenda, the pursuit of equal justice for all, and overall performance within the context of the times. In 2022, 142 respondents participated in the survey, up from 91 in 2017. Continue reading to see why some presidents remain household names while others all but fade into the background of American history. You may also like: LGBTQ+ history before Stonewall 1 / 44 Public Domain // Wikimedia Commons #44. James Buchanan – 15th president (March 4, 1857-March 4, 1861) – Political party: Democratic – Overall C-SPAN score: 227 — Political persuasion score: 21.8 (#43) — Crisis leadership score: 16.1 (#44) — Economic management score: 27.8 (#43) — Moral authority score: 19.1 (#43) — International relations score score: 30.5 (#44) — Administrative skills score: 30.5 (#42) — Congressional relations score: 25.6 (#43) — Vision/ability to set an agenda score: 19.1 (#44) — Pursued equal justice for all score: 17.9 (#44) — Performance within context of the times score: 19.1 (#44) Though he intended to maintain peace between the pro-slavery South and anti-slavery North, James Buchanan did little to prevent the conflict. A few days before he was elected, the Supreme Court passed the Dred Scott decision, denying the federal government power to regulate slavery in U.S. territories and depriving African Americans the rights of citizens. Hopeful that this decision would somehow smooth over the issue of slavery, Buchanan had worked to lobby a fellow Pennsylvanian Supreme Court justice to vote with the Southern majority. The Supreme Court gave Buchanan a heads up as far as their decision, and it became public that Buchanan supported it—arousing a heated reaction among abolitionists. Congressional Republicans were not happy with Buchanan’s proposed legislation and did everything they could to hinder his…

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Experts rank the best U.S. presidents of all time – ABC27

ABC27 (STACKER) — Since George Washington was sworn in as the country’s first president in 1789, United States presidents have made many integral and difficult decisions to help shape this country. Civil and international wars, economic crises, and deep-rooted bigotry are just a few major installments that our presidents have had to tackle. It’s common to debate the efficacy, personalities, and politics of these office-holders during their terms, and opinions run far and wide many years later when analyzing past performance.   The expectations of the president have evolved over time. Jeremi Suri of the University of Texas LBJ School of Public Affairs asserts in his book, “The Impossible Presidency,” that the White House has progressively taken on such infeasible demands—particularly in the most recent 24-hour news cycle—that the president cannot possibly please everyone. Drawing upon recent “disenchantment” with presidents, Suri discusses the limitations inherent in the day-to-day details and duties of the office; we often don’t recognize the near-impossible task of leaders meeting the big-picture goals they’d set out to conquer on the campaign trail. Get daily news, weather, breaking news and alerts straight to your inbox! Sign up for the abc27 newsletters here Despite these increasingly impossible expectations, some presidents have certainly made more of a mark than others—and Stacker draws on C-SPAN’s most recent 2017 ranking of 43 U.S. presidents to show you how they line up. Donald Trump is not included in this ranking, as the survey is conducted once a new president assumes office, so the next will be in either 2021 or 2025. According to C-SPAN, the survey was devised by academic advisers with a 1–10 scale of “not effective” to “very effective” based on performance in 10 categories: political persuasion, crisis leadership, economic management, moral authority, international relations, administrative skills, congressional relations, ability to set an agenda, the pursuit of equal justice for all, and overall performance within the context of the times. Ninety-one participants in total agreed to the survey, which was given to various historians and professional observers. Continue reading to see the reasons why some presidents remain household names while others all but fade into the background of American history. 43. James Buchanan 15th president (Served from: March 4, 1857–March 4, 1861)Political party: DemocraticOverall C-SPAN score: 245— Political persuasion score: 23.9 (#43 out of 43)— Crisis leadership score: 17.4 (#43 out of 43)— Economic management score: 30.1 (#42 out of 43)— Moral authority score: 20.5 (#43 out of 43)— International relations score: 32.1 (#43 out of 43)— Administrative skills score: 34.0 (#41 out of 43)— Congressional relations score: 28.4 (#42 out of 43)— Vision/ability to set an agenda score: 19.7 (#43 out of 43)— Pursued equal justice for all score: 18.4 (#43 out of 43)— Performance within context of the times score: 20.4 (#43 out of 43) Though he intended to maintain peace between the pro-slavery South and anti-slavery North, Buchanan did little to prevent the conflict. A few days before he was elected, the Supreme Court passed the Dred Scott decision, denying the federal government power to regulate slavery in U.S. territories and depriving African Americans the rights of citizens. Hopeful that this decision would somehow smooth over the issue of slavery, Buchanan had worked to lobby a fellow Pennsylvanian Supreme Court justice to vote with the Southern majority. The Supreme Court gave Buchanan a heads up as far as their decision, and it became public that Buchanan supported it—arousing a heated reaction among abolitionists. Congressional Republicans were not happy with Buchanan’s proposed legislation, and did everything they could to hinder his agenda. This set the tone for what would become Buchanan’s unfortunate legacy: his inability to calm the explosive relationship between the North and South that led to the Civil War. This, along with his low marks for crisis leadership are what landed him at the bottom of this list. 42. Andrew Johnson 17th president (Served from: April 15, 1865–March 4, 1869)Political party: National UnionOverall C-SPAN score: 275— Political persuasion score: 24.9 (#42 out of 43)— Crisis leadership score:…

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Who Were the Best and Worst Presidents Ever—and How Do …

Who Were the Best and Worst Presidents Ever—and How Do Historians Decide? Abraham Lincoln (left) claimed first place, while William Henry Harrison (right) came in 40th. National Portrait Gallery United States presidential history is rife with complexity: each leader governed according to (or against) his own mores, channeled his unique skills (or lack thereof), was buffeted by the social, economic, and political winds of his time, and made decisions both good and bad for the nation. How can historians wring order from the chaos? It helps to start with a list. Since 2000, at the end of each administration, C-SPAN has asked a group of presidential scholars to rank each U.S. president on a scale of 1 (least effective) to 10 (most effective) in ten areas: public persuasion, crisis leadership, economic management, moral authority, international relations, administrative skills, relations with Congress, vision/setting an agenda, pursuit of equal justice for all and performance within the context of the times. These anonymized scores are then averaged to produce a list of presidents ranked from best to worst. The fourth such report card, published this week, considers all 44 presidents no longer in office: from George Washington, who maintained his number 2 position, to Donald J. Trump, who debuted at a dismal 41st place. Trump was not ranked worst overall, though some historians, such as survey participant and NYU historian Tim Naftali, argued he should be. The 45th president earned his highest scores in “public persuasion”; in the categories for “moral authority” and “administrative skills,” he ranked last. As Gillian Brockell notes for the Washington Post, Trump beat out only three people: Franklin Pierce, Andrew Johnson and James Buchanan, who came in dead last. All three men have been widely condemned by historians for severely mishandling the beginnings and aftermath of the Civil War, the worst crisis in national history, as Jeremy Stahl writes for Slate. Buchanan’s “disastrous” presidency and failure to confront the budding Confederacy led to secession and civil war, per Slate. As journalist Robert W. Merry told Smithsonian magazine’s Megan Gambino in 2012, the 15th president exacerbated ongoing debates about slavery, to the point that it “festered and got worse.” Historians ranked President James Buchanan last in this year’s C-SPAN presidential survey, which orders presidents from best to worst. NPG By comparison, Buchanan’s successor, Abraham Lincoln, maintained his tight grip on the top spot for leading the nation through the Civil War and abolishing slavery. He’s the standalone figure in a string of worst-ranked presidents that stretches from 1837 to 1869, notes the Post. In general, time tends to be on the side of presidents like Ronald Reagan and Dwight Eisenhower, who were unpopular with historians at the time of leaving office but are highly ranked on 2021’s survey, as participant and Lyndon Johnson historian Mark K. Updegrove points out in a New York Times op-ed. With regards to recent presidents, George W. Bush debuted at 36th place in 2009 but jumped 7 places this year to spot 29; and Barack Obama rose two spots to break into the top 10 presidents this year. Ulysses S. Grant also seems to be on track for a kind of redemption: He rose 13 places to number 20 this year, a jump that Brockell of the Post attributes in part to a spate of sympathetic biographies that give him more credit for the Reconstruction. “Grant is having his Hamilton moment,” quipped Rice University historian and survey adviser Douglas Brinkley in the C-SPAN statement. New information and shifting social mores can also have the opposite effect on a president’s reputation, per Updegrove in the Times. Andrew Jackson fell from number 13 to number 22 this year, perhaps a sign that historians are taking his well-documented role as the engineer of a genocide against…

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