Where does Donald Trump rank on the list of American presidents?
We surveyed presidential politics experts to sketch out a first draft of Trump’s place in presidential history.
Since our previous survey in 2014, some presidential legacies have soared (Barack Obama’s stock has climbed into the Top 10), while others have fallen (Andrew Jackson toppled to 15, out of the Top 10).
And President Trump? Let’s say that, according to the 170 members of the American Political Science Association’s Presidents and Executive Politics section who filled out our survey, he has at least three years to improve on an ignominious debut.
James Buchanan, who was at the helm as the United States careened into civil war, was dislodged from his position as our nation’s worst president by our current president, Trump.
His Oval Office predecessor, Barack Obama, shot into the Top 10, up from 18th in the previous survey. Ulysses S. Grant also got a bump, up seven places from 2014, perhaps owing to a strong assist from Ron Chernow’s recent masterpiece.
The biggest declines were for Bill Clinton, arguably the result of contemporary scorn for his treatment of women, and Andrew Jackson, for evolving attitudes on his treatment of Native Americans.
The survey's top 10:
- Lincoln
- Washington
- FDR
- Teddy Roosevelt
- Jeffeson
- Truman
- Eisenhower
- Obama
- Reagan
- LBJ
The rehabilitation of Dubya continues as well, he's up to 30 now, when ten years ago historians had him down with Buchanan and the like. On the "greatness" score, Lincoln is a 95, where Trump is a 12, if that tells you anything. Obama came in at 71. Most US presidents ended up in the middle between 35 and 65. These days Nixon doesn't even make the bottom ten.
Trump really has redefined the American presidency, hasn't he?
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