List of presidential rankings

Presidential rankings according to 65 historians and professional observers of the presidency surveyed by the cable channel C-SPAN. Participants ranked each president by 10 leadership attributes.

President: 2009 rank, 2000 rank

Abraham Lincoln: 1, 1

George Washington: 2, 3

Franklin D. Roosevelt: 3, 2

Theodore Roosevelt: 4, 4

Harry S. Truman: 5, 5

John F. Kennedy: 6, 8

Thomas Jefferson: 7, 7

Dwight D. Eisenhower: 8, 9

Woodrow Wilson: 9, 6

1. Other political news of note
   1. White House aides learned of IRS details in April, but didn’t tell Obama

      The White House first learned of a draft report detailing abuses by IRS officials in targeting conservative groups in late April, though the top administration spokesman maintained on Monday that President Barack Obama was not notified of the emerging controversy at that time.

   2. Senate panel gives green light to test biometric exit program
   3. Competency questions pile up for White House
   4. White House defends IRS handling, McConnell asserts 'culture of intimidation'
   5. Immigration officers' union to oppose Senate bill

Ronald Reagan: 10, 11

Lyndon B. Johnson: 11, 10

James K. Polk: 12, 12

Andrew Jackson: 13, 13

James Monroe: 14, 14

Bill Clinton: 15, 21

William McKinley: 16, 15

John Adams: 17, 16

George H.W. Bush: 18, 20

John Quincy Adams: 19, 19

James Madison: 20, 18

Grover Cleveland: 21, 17

Gerald R. Ford: 22, 23

Ulysses S. Grant: 23, 33

William Howard Taft: 24, 24

Jimmy Carter: 25, 22

Calvin Coolidge: 26, 27

Richard M. Nixon: 27, 25

James A. Garfield: 28, 29

Video: Lincoln's legacy impacts President Obama Zachary Taylor: 29, 28

Benjamin Harrison: 30, 31

Martin Van Buren: 31, 30

Chester A. Arthur: 32, 32

Rutherford B. Hayes: 33, 26

Herbert Hoover: 34, 34

John Tyler: 35, 36

George W. Bush: 36, NA

Millard Fillmore: 37, 35

Warren G. Harding: 38, 38

William Henry Harrison: 39, 37

Franklin D. Pierce: 40, 39

Andrew Johnson: 41, 40

James Buchanan: 42, 41