In a poll of US historians, Abraham Lincoln won the title of best president.
American historians have once again responded to the assessment of the superiority of the country’s presidents For the survey of the Presidential Greatness project. American newspapers also reported on the matter The New York Times and Los Angeles Times.
Historians estimate that the best of the presidents is Abraham Lincoln. Behind him in second place Franklin D. Roosevelt and on the third George Washington.
For the first time, the president of the Democratic Party was included in the list Joe Biden ranked No. 14 in the survey. Former Republican president Donald Trump ranked last. Trump’s ranking remained the same compared to the previous survey conducted six years ago.
The professors who carried out the research Justin Vaughn and Brandon Rottinghaus write in the Los Angeles Times that Biden’s high ranking on the list suggests that opposing Trump has been a significant factor in his entry into the top 15 presidents. The historians who responded to the survey consider Biden’s most important achievement to be ousting Trump in 2020.
– So far, Biden’s achievements do not include military victories or institutional expansion, which have generally led to higher rankings, the professors write in the Los Angeles Times.
The professors also state that “Trump’s radical deviation from political, institutional and legal norms has affected experts’ assessments not only of himself, but also of Biden and several other presidents.”
Trump’s influence is evident in the results: all current Democratic presidents rose on the list, while all current Republican presidents fell on the list. For example Barack Obama rose from 8th to 7th place and Bill Clinton from 14 to 12, while for example Ronald Reagan the ranking fell by seven and George HW Bush in two places.
Those who answered the survey are of the American Political Science Association (APSA) Presidents & Executive Politics division members and non-association researchers who have recently published peer-reviewed academic research in the most important related scientific publications.
A total of 154 responses were received to the survey, and the respondents rated the superiority of each president on a scale of 0–100. The answers were averaged and ordered from the highest average to the lowest.