Survey Tops Lincoln 1st. In Presidential Rankings

Lincoln first in presidential rankings
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It is President's Day, and what better day to hold a presidential ranking survey? This is C-SPAN's second "Historians Presidential Leadership Survey," first done in 2000.

The presidential rankings are done using the following individual leadership categories:

  • Public Persuasion
  • Crisis Leadership
  • Economic Management
  • Moral Authority
  • International Relations
  • Administrative Skills
  • Relations with Congress
  • Vision/Setting An Agenda
  • Pursued Equal Justice For All
  • Performance Within Context of Times

Abraham Lincoln finished first in the 2000 presidential ranking, and finished first again. George Washington and FDR swapped places; FDR dropped to #3 while Washington rose to #2.

George W. Bush falls in at #36, so amazingly to some, there are several Presidentials with rankings less than his. They are: Millard Fillmore, Warren G. Harding, William Henry Harrison (because of pneumonia, he had only about a month in office), Franklin Pierce, Andrew Johnson, and James Buchanan.

Readers, what would your presidential ranking be? Feel free to comment.

Michael Santo's picture

Posted February 16th, 2009 by Michael Santo