History isn't static. We like to think of it as a finished book, dusty and unchangeable, but when it comes to the rankings of presidents of the United States, the leaderboard is constantly shifting. It’s a bit like a slow-motion sports draft where the players have been retired for a century but their stats keep getting updated by people who weren't even born when they played.
Honestly, if you asked a group of historians in 1950 who the best presidents were, you’d get a very different list than you would today. Context changes. Values evolve. What we once ignored—like a president’s record on civil rights or their treatment of Native Americans—now carries immense weight in these scholarly surveys.
Take Ulysses S. Grant. For decades, he was the "drunk general" who presided over a corrupt administration. He was basically a bottom-tier dweller. Now? He's soaring. In the 2021 C-SPAN Presidential Historian Survey, Grant jumped to 20th place. That is a massive climb from where he sat twenty years ago. Why? Because historians are finally looking past the "Lost Cause" narrative and focusing on his genuine efforts to protect the rights of formerly enslaved people during Reconstruction.
The "Granite" Top Five: Why They Won't Budge
There is a group at the top that basically has tenure. You've got your Lincoln, your Washington, and your FDR. They are the heavy hitters. In almost every major poll—whether it's the Siena College Research Institute or the Presidential Greatness Project—these names rotate in the top three spots like a game of musical chairs where nobody ever loses.
Abraham Lincoln is usually the undisputed heavyweight champion. It’s hard to beat "saved the Union and ended slavery" as a resume bullet point. In the 2024 Presidential Greatness Project survey, Lincoln held the #1 spot with a score of 93.87 out of 100. He is the gold standard for "Crisis Leadership," a category historians obsess over.
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Then you have George Washington and Franklin D. Roosevelt. Interestingly, FDR has been gaining ground on Washington lately. Some scholars argue that while Washington started the office, FDR invented the modern version of it. He led the country through the Great Depression and World War II, two of the biggest "make or break" moments in American history. If you're a fan of the big-government, active-executive style, FDR is your guy.
The rest of the top tier usually looks like this:
- Theodore Roosevelt: The "Rough Rider" who brought the presidency into the 20th century.
- Thomas Jefferson: Though he’s been slipping a bit due to a much-needed reckoning with his history as a slaveholder.
- Dwight D. Eisenhower: The "Ike" bump is real. He’s moved from a "mediocre general turned politician" in the 60s to a top-tier statesman today.
Why Some Presidents Are Falling Fast
If the top is stable, the middle and bottom are a mess. Andrew Jackson is the biggest "loser" of the 21st century. Seriously, he’s plummeted. In 2015, he was ranked 9th by some experts. By 2024? He’s down to 21st. The reason is pretty straightforward: his role in the Trail of Tears and the forced removal of Native Americans is no longer treated as a footnote. It’s now seen as a defining part of his legacy.
Woodrow Wilson is another one in the "reputation freefall." He used to be a lock for the top ten because of his Visionary League of Nations ideas. Now, his blatant racism and the segregation of the federal workforce under his watch have dragged him down to the middle of the pack.
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It turns out that being a "great" leader in 1920 doesn't always translate to being a "great" leader when viewed through the lens of 2026 values.
The Bottom of the Barrel
Who are the "worst" presidents? There's actually a lot of consensus here. It’s usually the guys who failed to stop the Civil War or the ones who actively tried to roll back progress after it.
- James Buchanan: Usually #1 (or #45) on the bad list. He basically watched the country fall apart and said, "Not my problem."
- Andrew Johnson: He took over after Lincoln and spent his time fighting Congress to ensure Reconstruction failed. He was the first president to be impeached, and historians haven't forgiven him for his opposition to civil rights.
- Franklin Pierce: Another pre-Civil War president who was essentially "out of his depth" while the nation burned.
- Donald Trump: In recent surveys like the 2024 Presidential Greatness Project and the 2022 Siena Poll, Trump has consistently ranked in the bottom three. Scholars cite a disregard for institutional norms and the events of January 6th as heavy anchors on his ranking.
The Recency Bias and the "Ike" Effect
There is a thing called recency bias. We either love or hate the current guy too much to be objective. That's why scholars usually wait a few decades before "finalizing" a rank.
Joe Biden entered the 2024 rankings at #14. That's pretty high for a first-timer, often attributed to what scholars call "stability of norms" after a chaotic period. Barack Obama has also seen a steady climb, now sitting comfortably in the top ten in many polls.
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But look at George W. Bush. When he left office in 2009, he was ranked near the bottom (#36 in C-SPAN’s poll). Today? He’s climbed up to 29th. It’s not that the Iraq War suddenly became a success; it’s that his "Moral Authority" and "Administrative Skills" are being viewed more favorably in comparison to what followed. We call this the "Ike Effect." Eisenhower was considered a "do-nothing" president until the 1980s when people realized "doing nothing" was actually "carefully maintaining peace."
How These Lists Are Actually Made
Most of these rankings aren't just "vibes." Groups like C-SPAN or the American Political Science Association (APSA) use specific criteria. They ask experts to rate presidents on:
- Public Persuasion: Can they talk the country into a big idea?
- Crisis Leadership: How do they handle the "3 AM phone call"?
- Economic Management: Did people have jobs?
- Moral Authority: Did they set a good example?
- International Relations: Did they play well with others?
It’s an imperfect science. Most historians lean liberal, which critics argue biases the results toward presidents who expanded the federal government (like the Roosevelts). Conservative-leaning scholars often rank presidents like Calvin Coolidge or Ronald Reagan much higher than their liberal counterparts.
Actionable Insights for History Buffs
If you want to understand the rankings of presidents of the United States beyond just a list of names, you've got to look at the why.
- Check the source: A poll from the Federalist Society will look very different from a poll of Ivy League history professors.
- Look for the "Movers": Don’t just look at who is #1. Look at who moved 10 spots in 10 years. That tells you more about how our culture is changing than the top of the list does.
- Read the "Failures": We often learn more about the presidency by reading about James Buchanan than we do by reading about Lincoln. Failure highlights the limits of the office.
The real takeaway? These rankings are a mirror. They don't just tell us about the men who lived in the White House; they tell us about what we, as a country, value right now. Whether it's a focus on "Equal Justice" or "Economic Growth," the leaderboard will keep changing as long as we keep changing.
To get a deeper sense of how these figures shaped the country, you should compare the C-SPAN 2021 results with the 2024 Presidential Greatness Project report. Seeing where they disagree—like the 10-spot gap you sometimes see for someone like Bill Clinton—is where the real history happens.