In a recent survey of which scholars and social science experts were asked to rank every U.S. president — from George Washington to Joe Biden — from best to worst, former one-term president Donald Trump naturally came in last. As in the worst American president ever.
Right above the nethermost twice-impeached president was James Buchanan in 44th place, with Andrew Johnson nipping at Buchanan's heels. This differs from the 2021 Presidential Historians Survey in which Trump was only the 41st worst president, with Buchanan taking the loser's crown.
Meanwhile, President Biden, surprisingly, came in at 14th place in this latest survey — a bit higher than might be expected — while Abraham Lincoln topped the list as the all-time best president, followed by Franklin D. Roosevelt in 2nd place and George Washington in 3rd. Of some of other most recent presidents, Barack Obama took the 7th spot, George Bush Jr. ranked 32nd, Bill Clinton was in 12th place, and Ronald Reagan was in 16th.
"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," says the online survey, conducted by the 2024 Presidential Greatness Project Expert Survey via Qualtrics. Although the survey was sent to 525 respondents, only 154 responses were useable and thus included in the results.
From Meidas Touch News:
Interestingly, while some presidents saw significant shifts in their rankings over time, Trump's position remained consistently dismal. Since the project's initial survey, conducted years prior, Trump failed to garner any upward momentum, unlike notable rises seen by other presidents like Barack Obama and Ulysses S. Grant.
Partisan and ideological differences among respondents also shed light on the dynamics at play. While there were some distinctions, such as Republicans and Conservatives ranking George Washington as the greatest president and James Buchanan as the least great, Trump's abysmal ranking seemed to transcend party lines, with both Republicans and Democrats agreeing on his historical failure.
Even amongst solely Republicans, Trump netted out at number 41 on the list of presidents out of 45 who have served the office. Meanwhile, those who identified as Conservatives ranked Trump 43, while those who identified as independents ranked him dead last at 45, matching his overall ranking.
