TABLE 1.
RATINGS OF U.S. PRESIDENTS
By Scholars
Schlesinger Poll (1948)
Great
1. Lincoln
2. Washington
3. F. Roosevelt
4. Wilson
5. Jefferson
6. Jackson
Schlesinger Poll (1962)
Great
1. Lincoln
2. Washington
3. F. Roosevelt
4. Wilson
5. Jefferson
Near great
7. T. Roosevelt
8. Cleveland
9. J. Adams
10. Polk
Near great
6. Jackson
7. T. Roosevelt
8. Polk / Truman (tie)
9. J. Adams
10. Cleveland
Average
11. J. Q. Adams
12. Monroe
13. Hayes
14. Madison
15. Van Buren
16. Taft
17. Arthur
18. McKinley
19. A. Johnson
20. Hoover
21. B. Harrison
Average
11. Madison
12. J. Q. Adams
13. Hayes
14. McKinley
15. Taft
16. Van Buren
17. Monroe
18. Hoover
19. B. Harrison
20. Arthur / Eisenhower
21. A. Johnson
Below average
22. Tyler
23. Coolidge
24. Fillmore
25. Taylor
26. Buchanan
27. Pierce
Below average
22. Taylor
23. Tyler
24. Fillmore
25. Coolidge
26. Pierce
27. Buchanan
Failure
28. Grant
29. Harding
Failure
28. Grant
29. Harding
Dodder Poll (1970)
Accomplishments of
administration
1. Lincoln
2. F. Roosevelt
3. Washington
4. Jefferson
5. T. Roosevelt
6. Truman
7. Wilson
8. Jackson
9. L. Johnson
10. Polk
11. J. Adams
12. Kennedy
13. Monroe
14. Cleveland
15. Madison
16. Taft
17. McKinley
18. J. Q. Adams
19. Hoover
20. Eisenhower
21. Andrew Johnson
22. Van Buren
23. Arthur
24. Hayes
25. Tyler
26. B. Harrison
27. Taylor
28. Buchanan
29. Fillmore
30. Coolidge
31. Pierce
32. Grant
DiClerico Poll (1977)
10 Greatest
1. Lincoln
2. Washington
3. F. Roosevelt
4. Jefferson
5. T. Roosevelt
6. Wilson
7. Jackson
8. Truman
9. Polk
10. J. Adams
Tribune Poll (1982)
10 Best Presidents
1. Lincoln (best)
2. Washington
3. F. Roosevelt
4. T. Roosevelt
5. Jefferson
6. Wilson
7. Jackson
8. Truman
9. Eisenhower
10. Polk (10th best)
Ten worst presidents
1. Harding (worst)
2. Nixon
3. Buchanan
4. Pierce
5. Grant
6. Fillmore
7. A. Johnson
8. Coolidge
9. Tyler
10. Carter (10th worst)
Murray Poll (1982)
Presidential rank
1. Lincoln
2. F. Roosevelt
3. Washington
4. Jefferson
5. T. Roosevelt
6. Wilson
7. Jackson
8. Truman
9. John Adams
10. Lyndon Johnson
11. Eisenhower
12 Polk
13. Kennedy
14. Madison
15. Monroe
16. John Quincy Adams
17. Cleveland
18. McKinley
19. Taft
20. Van Buren
21. Hoover
22. Hayes
23. Arthur
24. Ford
25. Carter
26. B. Harrison
27. Taylor
28. Tyler
29. Fillmore
30. Coolidge
31. Pierce
32. Andrew Johnson
33. Buchanan
34. Nixon
35. Grant
CNN Poll (Feb. 2000)
Presidential Rank
1. Abraham Lincoln
2. Franklin Delano Roosevelt
3. George Washington
4. Theodore Roosevelt
5. Harry S. Truman
6. Woodrow Wilson
7. Thomas Jefferson
8. John F. Kennedy
9. Dwight Eisenhower
10. Lyndon B. Johnson
11.Ronald Reagan
12. James K. Polk
13. Andrew Jackson
14. James Monroe
15 William McKinley
16. John Adams
17. Grover Cleveland
18. James Madison
19. John Quincy Adams
20. George Bush
21. Bill Clinton
22. Jimmy Carter
23. Gerald R. Ford
24. William Howard Taft
25. Richard M. Nixon
26 Rutherford B. Hayes
27. Calvin Coolidge
28. Zachary Taylor
29. James Garfield
30. Martin Van Buren
31. Benjamin Harrison
32. Chester Arthur
33. Ulysses S. Grant
34. Herbert Hoover
35. Millard Fillmore
36. John Tyler
37. William Henry Harrison
38. Warren Harding
39. Franklin Pierce
40. Andrew Johnson
41. James Buchanan
Note: These ratings result from surveys of scholars ranging in number from 55 to 950.
Sources:
Henry J. Abraham, Justices and Presidents: Appointments to the Supreme Court, 2d
ed. (New York: Oxford University Press, 1985), 380-383.
Arthur Murphy, "Evaluating the Presidents of the United States," Presidential Studies
Quarterly, Vol. 14 (1984), pp. 117-126.
Jack Nelson, "Lincoln, FDR Ranked 1-2 in Leadership Poll," Los Angeles
Times,February 21, 2000, p. A17.