Historical rankings of presidents of the United States

In the 1920s, sculptor Gutzon Borglum and President Calvin Coolidge selected George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt and Abraham Lincoln (L to R) to appear on Mount Rushmore—it later became an iconic symbol of presidential greatness, chosen to represent the nation's birth, growth, development and preservation, respectively.

In political studies, surveys have been conducted in order to construct historical rankings of the success of the presidents of the United States. Ranking systems are usually based on surveys of academic historians and political scientists or popular opinion. The scholarly rankings focus on presidential achievements, leadership qualities, failures, and faults.[1][2][3] Popular-opinion polls typically focus on recent or well-known presidents.

  1. ^ Maranell, Gary M. (June 1970). "The Evaluation of Presidents: An Extension of the Schlesinger Polls". The Journal of American History. 57 (1): 104–113. doi:10.2307/1900552. JSTOR 1900552. S2CID 154631219.
  2. ^ William J. Ridings Jr. and Stuart B. McIver. Rating the Presidents: A Ranking of U.S. leaders, from the Great and Honorable to the Dishonest and Incompetent Archived January 3, 2021, at the Wayback Machine. 2000. ISBN 0806521511.
  3. ^ "Americans Say Reagan Is the Greatest U.S. President". Gallup. February 18, 2011. Archived from the original on March 14, 2012. Retrieved March 16, 2012.