While many of us have long believed that Donald Trump will go down in history as the worst president the United States has ever elected, a just released survey from the Presidential Greatness Project suggests that the 45th president is indeed the bottom of the barrel when it comes to American leaders.
Newsweek reports the purpose of the survey was to “create a ranking of presidential greatness that covered all presidents from George Washington to Joe Biden.”
Respondents were asked to rate each U.S. president on a scale of zero to 100 for their “overall greatness,” with zero being failure, 50 being average and 100 being great. The ratings were averaged for each president and then ranked from highest average to lowest.
Lincoln placed first with a 95.03 average, followed by Franklin Delano Roosevelt in at No. 2 with 90.83, George Washington at No. 3 with 90.32, Teddy Roosevelt at No. 4 with 78.58 and Thomas Jefferson at No. 5 with 77.53, the survey results show.
The latest results come from 54 responses from scholars “whose work engages presidential politics” and who are members of the American Political Science Association. The survey was conducted online in November and December of 2023.
Just how badly did Trump do when compared to other U.S. heads of state? So much so that he rated lower than James Buchanan, who consistently ranks near the bottom of similar polls.
Trump received the lowest rating with a 10.92 average, behind James Buchanan at No. 44 with 16.71, Andrew Johnson at No. 43 with 21.56, Franklin Pierce at No. 42 with 24.6, William Henry Harrison at No. 41 with 26.01 and Warren Harding at No. 40 with 27.76, according to the Presidential Greatness Project.
President Joe Biden was ranked in the top third of the list, placing at No.14 with a rating of 62.7.
The new survey also ranks Trump as the “most polarizing” president in the 247 year history of the United States.
In 2019, as he was about to be impeached, Trump proudly declared himself to be the “greatest of all presidents.”
“‘Not only have the Democrats not advanced key pieces of legislation that would help the economy, but the polls, especially in early states, are showing that voters are tuning out.’ @PeteHegseth They don’t want our greatest of all presidents impeached!”
Greatest of all presidents? Not even close.
