The top three are always the same on President’s Day: the bottom, not as much

The order may change, but the names do not

Attempting to rank the U.S. presidents in terms of their historical significance is never an easy task, but historians do it regularly. In fact, they demonstrate a tremendous amount of significance, as long as they are historical, and not popularity contests like that of C-SPAN.

The most credible one of these is one compiled by an academic historical organization. The is the Siena University Survey of U.S. Presidents. Here is the overview of the rankings,

Beginning one year after a new President takes office, the survey, conducted since 1982, ranks all 44 Presidents in 20 different categories, and provides an overall ranking of best to worst according to historians, political scientists and presidential scholars. Experts rank the attributes, abilities, and accomplishments of each President.

Siena University research website

What makes this such a strong analysis is how comprehensive it is, and the group includes people from all ideological perspectives. There is a consistency with this that is not present in those that include the popularity segment of present US people.

The consistency is seen at the top of the charts. The three who are always present, from first on, are George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, and Franklin D. Roosevelt. Those are the “great” presidents as they are called.

However, the order in which they are ranked may vary. For instance, FDR was first in the 2022 survey, with Lincoln second and Washington third. However, in the previous one, in 2016, Washington was first, FDR second, and Lincoln third.

Some of the earlier rankings had Theodore Roosevelt in the top 3, with Washington sliding down somewhat.

About George

One of the challenges about George Washington is that there is a tendency to view him as the general who won the war and became the father of our country. This does not necessarily evaluate his presidency, as it does with Lincoln and Roosevelt.

So, he has dropped somewhat as some historians are making a critical analysis about him, particularly since he was also a slave owner.

About Abe

Honest Abe will always be known as the president who won the Civil War and kept the nation together, along with freeing the slaves. However, he is despised in the Civil War south, though that does not necessarily include the historians.

Lincoln was aided in his historical evaluations by the acclaimed biography entitled “Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln,” which  enhanced Lincoln's reputation by highlighting his emotional intelligence, magnanimity, and strategic brilliance in managing a cabinet of political opponents. It cemented his image as a secure, empathetic leader who prioritized the national cause over personal ego.” That was also written by Doris Kearns Goodwin.

Why is FDR ranked higher now?

The reality is that both George and Abe have solid monuments in Washington, D.C. There is an FDR Memorial, but it is not nearly as imposing as the other three.

Why not? Perhaps, because he is considered a modern president, one of the 20th and not the 18th or 19th Centuries.

The second is that his role in winning the Second World War has become much clearer to historians. Without a strong, courageous and ingenious leader, who was willing to let the generals fight the fight, and not the politicians, we would not have won the war and Hitler and Hirohito would have been victorious.

Some people blamed FDR for not taking steps in the 1930s to prevent Hitler from asserting control over Europe, but that is not accurate either. Historians point out that Congress and the Republican isolationists in America prevented him from doing so — until the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor in December 1941.

Once that happened, FDR went before Congress and had war declared on both countries, and then led the battle to destroy both countries.

He led us out of the Great Depression, too, but the WWII effort has been most impressive with the historians.

The Near-Greats

After the top three, the near greats are generally considered to be the remainder of those in the top 10. For the Siena study, it includes Theodore Roosevelt, Thomas Jefferson, and Harry S. Truman. The ones who have moved up in this category are Dwight D. Eisenhower, Lyndon Johnson, and John F. Kennedy. Barack Obama is listed as 11th.

The Bottom Dwellers, familiar names

Two presidents have traditionally been at the bottom of the list, and that is because of their involved in the Civil War and the post Civil War. James Buchanan did nothing to prevent the war, and he is always ranked in one of the bottom two spots. The other is Andrew Johnson, who was impeached after the assassination of Abraham Lincoln.

However, they are joined by Donald Trump, who was ranked 43rd out of 45. It will be interesting to see where he will be placed when the next Siena study comes out in 2028.