Presidential scholars ranked Joe Biden 14th while Donald Trump was last in a new poll ranking presidents.
The Presidential Greatness Survey was voted on by presidential scholars and experts of all political ideologies, who were asked to rank all presidents on a scale of 0 to 100.
Who is the greatest president of all time?
The greatest president in the history of the United States was determined to become Abraham Lincoln. FDR rose to second place and George Washington to third.
Here’s what emerged from the survey:
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The results of this ranking are quite similar to those of our previous polls (published in 2015 and 2018): Abraham Lincoln is again at the top of the list (95.03 on average), followed by Franklin Delano Roosevelt (90.83), George Washington (90.32), Teddy Roosevelt (78.58), Thomas Jefferson (77.53), Harry Truman (75.34), Barack Obama (73.8) and Dwight Eisenhower (73.73).
The most notable changes in this order are Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s move to 2nd place from third place last year, and Dwight Eisenhower’s return to 8th place from 6th place last year. The bottom of the ranking is also relatively stable. Donald Trump has the lowest score (10.92), behind James Buchanan (16.71), Andrew Johnson (21.56), Franklin Pierce (24.6), William Henry Harrison (26.01) and Warren Harding ( 27.76).
What is most noteworthy about the remaining presidents concerns who has risen and who has fallen over time. Since our initial survey, several presidents have seen significant changes in their rankings. Barack Obama rose 9 positions (from #16 to #7), as did Ulysses S. Grant (from #26 to #17), while Andrew Jackson fell 12 positions (from #9 to #21) and Calvin Coolidge dropped 12 positions (from #9 to #21). 7 places (from n.27 to n.34).
Biden is ahead of every Republican president except Eisenhower. Interestingly, each of the last three Democratic presidents ranks in the top 15. Barack Obama is in 7th place, Bill Clinton in 12th, and Joe Biden in 14th.
Of the last three Republican presidents, George H. W. Bush is the tallest at 19. George W. Bush is at 32 and Donald Trump is last at 45.
Donald Trump is considered the worst president in the history of the United States
It is not difficult to understand why Trump was the last in the history of the United States. Trump has more impeachments (2) than legislative accomplishments (0). Trump lost the election and tried to overthrow the government while in office. Trump has mismanaged the coronavirus pandemic and is only the second president in history to leave office, losing more jobs than he created.
Trump’s record as president is abysmal, but Republicans are about to nominate him as their presidential standard-bearer. Republicans are about to pit the worst president in history against someone who is on track to become one of the best.
Whatever the media believes, this election has the potential to be a complete disaster for Republicans.
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Jason is the managing editor. He is also a member of the White House press pool and a congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a bachelor’s degree in political science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.
Awards and professional memberships
Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and the American Political Science Association