Ranking the Presidents: The Final Results!
And now, the moment you've all been waiting for, the results of the one and only 
potus_geeks historical ranking of the Presidents. Thanks for taking the time to participate in this project for me. I appreciate the time each of you took to rate all 43 Presidents. Before I get to the results, let's see how we compare in comparison to others who have undertaken this task. In 2008, a group of history professors did their own rankings, and they came up with the following top 10 list:
1. Lincoln
2. Washington
3. Franklin D. Roosevelt
4. Jefferson
5. Theodore Roosevelt
6. Eisenhower
7. Truman
8. Reagan
9. Polk
10. Wilson
The 10 worst on their list were:
33. Fillmore
34. Garfield
35. Harding
36. Hoover
37. George W. Bush
38. Nixon
39. William Henry Harrison
40. Van Buren
41. Pierce
42. Buchanan
You can find their entire list here, along with my own list, compiled in April of 2010. The funny thing is that if I had to do it all over again, I know my rankings would be different today, given all that I've learned since then. This page on Wikipedia has a number of other sets of rankings of the presidents done over the years by everyone from C-Span to the Wall Street Journal to the Chicago Tribune. But you don't care about that, you just want to how the members of this group ranked the Presidents. So without further adieu, here are your results.
I've listed them from 1 to 43, along with their mean grade. No one scored a 9 or higher, and some of the results are surprising, but knowing the level of expertise of the members of this group, I know that this is the definitive list. Here goes:
8 or Higher
1. George Washington (8.82)
2. Abraham Lincoln (8.30)
3. Theodore Roosevelt (8.00)
7 to 7.99
4. Franklin Delano Roosevelt (7.88)
Dwight D. Eisenhower (7.88)
6. Thomas Jefferson (7.45)
7. James Monroe (7.40)
6 to 6.99
8. Harry S. Truman (6.62)
9. Ulysses S. Grant (6.50)
10. Barack Obama (6.42)
11. John Adams (6.18)
12. William Howard Taft (6.11)
13. James K. Polk (6.09)
14. Ronald Reagan (6.08)
5 to 5.99
15. William McKinley (5.90)
16. Lyndon B. Johnson (5.88)
Gerald Ford (5.88)
18. James Madison (5.82)
19. Chester Alan Arthur (5.80)
20. John Quincy Adams (5.73)
21. James Garfield (5.62)
22. Bill Clinton (5.58)
23. Zachary Taylor (5.56)
24. George H. W. Bush (5.50)
25. John Tyler (5.27)
26. John F. Kennedy (5.25)
27. Calvin Coolidge (5.22)
28. Woodrow Wilson (5.11)
29. Benjamin Harrison (5.00)
Richard Nixon (5.00)
4 to 4.99
31. George W. Bush (4.91)
32. Warren Harding (4.89)
33. Andrew Jackson (4.82)
34. Rutherford Hayes (4.80)
35. Grover Cleveland (4.67)
36. William Henry Harrison (4.50)
37. Jimmy Carter (4.42)
38. Herbert Hoover (4.11)
39. Martin Van Buren (4.00)
Less than 4
40. Millard Fillmore (3.10)
41. Andrew Johnson (2.80)
42. Franklin Pierce (2.30)
43. James Buchanan (2.00)
I think this is a wonderful list produced from a good cross-section of intelligent opinions. The ones that may seem surprising really aren't when one considers the totality of that President's actions, good and bad. For example, even though James Garfield and William Henry Harrison had brief terms in office, the judgement of this community is a fair one when one considers the ideals and aspirations of each of these men. This is a terrific result!
The title of "Worse President Ever" goes, as it usually does, to James Buchanan, while George Washington is recognized for all of his firsts and most importantly for injecting strength into a very fragile newborn republic, and doing so under pressure from all sides. Can you imagine how things may have turned out if his successors had followed Washington's idea of a nation without political parties?
I sincerely want to thank all of you for participating in this project.Thank you for playing along with my geekery. As always, your input is greatly appreciated!
potus_geeks historical ranking of the Presidents. Thanks for taking the time to participate in this project for me. I appreciate the time each of you took to rate all 43 Presidents. Before I get to the results, let's see how we compare in comparison to others who have undertaken this task. In 2008, a group of history professors did their own rankings, and they came up with the following top 10 list:1. Lincoln
2. Washington
3. Franklin D. Roosevelt
4. Jefferson
5. Theodore Roosevelt
6. Eisenhower
7. Truman
8. Reagan
9. Polk
10. Wilson
The 10 worst on their list were:
33. Fillmore
34. Garfield
35. Harding
36. Hoover
37. George W. Bush
38. Nixon
39. William Henry Harrison
40. Van Buren
41. Pierce
42. Buchanan
You can find their entire list here, along with my own list, compiled in April of 2010. The funny thing is that if I had to do it all over again, I know my rankings would be different today, given all that I've learned since then. This page on Wikipedia has a number of other sets of rankings of the presidents done over the years by everyone from C-Span to the Wall Street Journal to the Chicago Tribune. But you don't care about that, you just want to how the members of this group ranked the Presidents. So without further adieu, here are your results.
I've listed them from 1 to 43, along with their mean grade. No one scored a 9 or higher, and some of the results are surprising, but knowing the level of expertise of the members of this group, I know that this is the definitive list. Here goes:
8 or Higher
1. George Washington (8.82)
2. Abraham Lincoln (8.30)
3. Theodore Roosevelt (8.00)
7 to 7.99
4. Franklin Delano Roosevelt (7.88)
Dwight D. Eisenhower (7.88)
6. Thomas Jefferson (7.45)
7. James Monroe (7.40)
6 to 6.99
8. Harry S. Truman (6.62)
9. Ulysses S. Grant (6.50)
10. Barack Obama (6.42)
11. John Adams (6.18)
12. William Howard Taft (6.11)
13. James K. Polk (6.09)
14. Ronald Reagan (6.08)
5 to 5.99
15. William McKinley (5.90)
16. Lyndon B. Johnson (5.88)
Gerald Ford (5.88)
18. James Madison (5.82)
19. Chester Alan Arthur (5.80)
20. John Quincy Adams (5.73)
21. James Garfield (5.62)
22. Bill Clinton (5.58)
23. Zachary Taylor (5.56)
24. George H. W. Bush (5.50)
25. John Tyler (5.27)
26. John F. Kennedy (5.25)
27. Calvin Coolidge (5.22)
28. Woodrow Wilson (5.11)
29. Benjamin Harrison (5.00)
Richard Nixon (5.00)
4 to 4.99
31. George W. Bush (4.91)
32. Warren Harding (4.89)
33. Andrew Jackson (4.82)
34. Rutherford Hayes (4.80)
35. Grover Cleveland (4.67)
36. William Henry Harrison (4.50)
37. Jimmy Carter (4.42)
38. Herbert Hoover (4.11)
39. Martin Van Buren (4.00)
Less than 4
40. Millard Fillmore (3.10)
41. Andrew Johnson (2.80)
42. Franklin Pierce (2.30)
43. James Buchanan (2.00)
I think this is a wonderful list produced from a good cross-section of intelligent opinions. The ones that may seem surprising really aren't when one considers the totality of that President's actions, good and bad. For example, even though James Garfield and William Henry Harrison had brief terms in office, the judgement of this community is a fair one when one considers the ideals and aspirations of each of these men. This is a terrific result!
The title of "Worse President Ever" goes, as it usually does, to James Buchanan, while George Washington is recognized for all of his firsts and most importantly for injecting strength into a very fragile newborn republic, and doing so under pressure from all sides. Can you imagine how things may have turned out if his successors had followed Washington's idea of a nation without political parties?
I sincerely want to thank all of you for participating in this project.Thank you for playing along with my geekery. As always, your input is greatly appreciated!