Presidential rankings according to 65 historians and professional observers of the presidency surveyed by the cable channel C-SPAN. Participants ranked each president by 10 leadership attributes.
President 2009 rank 2000 rank
Abraham Lincoln 1 1
George Washington 2 3
Franklin D. Roosevelt 3 2
Theodore Roosevelt 4 4
Harry S. Truman 5 5
John F. Kennedy 6 8
Thomas Jefferson 7 7
Dwight D. Eisenhower 8 9
Woodrow Wilson 9 6
Ronald Reagan 10 11
Lyndon B. Johnson 11 10
James K. Polk 12 12
Andrew Jackson 13 13
James Monroe 14 14
Bill Clinton 15 21
William McKinley 16 15
John Adams 17 16
George H.W. Bush 18 20
John Quincy Adams 19 19
James Madison 20 18
Grover Cleveland 21 17
Gerald R. Ford 22 23
Ulysses S. Grant 23 33
William Howard Taft 24 24
Jimmy Carter 25 22
Calvin Coolidge 26 27
Richard M. Nixon 27 25
James A. Garfield 28 29
Zachary Taylor 29 28
Benjamin Harrison 30 31
Martin Van Buren 31 30
Chester A. Arthur 32 32
Rutherford B. Hayes 33 26
Herbert Hoover 34 34
John Tyler 35 36
George W. Bush 36 NA
Millard Fillmore 37 35
Warren G. Harding 38 38
William Henry Harrison 39 37
Franklin D. Pierce 40 39
Andrew Johnson 41 40
James Buchanan 42 41
On the Net:
http://www.c-span.org/PresidentialSurvey/default.aspx
Former President George W. Bush, who left office last month, was ranked 36th out of the 42 men who had been chief executive by the end of 2008, according to a survey conducted by the cable channel C-SPAN.
Bush scored lowest in international relations, where he was ranked 41st, and in economic management, where he was ranked 40th. His highest ranking, 24th, was in the category of pursuing equal justice for all. He was ranked 25th in crisis leadership and vision and agenda setting.
In contrast, Lincoln was ranked in the top three in each of the 10 categories evaluated by participants.
In C-SPAN's only other ranking of presidents, in 2000, former President Bill Clinton jumped six spots from No. 21 to 15. Other recent presidents moved positions as well: Ronald Reagan advanced from No. 11 to 10, George H.W. Bush rose from No. 20 to 18 and Jimmy Carter fell from No. 22 to 25.
This movement illustrates that presidential reputations are influenced by present-day concerns, said survey adviser and participant Edna Medford.
"Today's concerns shape our views of the past, be it in the area of foreign policy, managing the economy or human rights," Medford said in a statement.
After Lincoln, the academics rated George Washington, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Theodore Roosevelt and Harry Truman as the best leaders overall. The same five received top spots in the 2000 survey, although Washington and Franklin D. Roosevelt swapped spots this year.
Rated worst overall were James Buchanan, Andrew Johnson, Franklin Pierce, William Henry Harrison and Warren G. Harding.
The survey was conducted in December and January. Participants ranked each president on a scale of one, "not effective" to 10, "very effective," on a list of 10 leadership qualities including relations with Congress, public persuasion and moral authority.