Trump was not worst president, US historians say

The top ranked living former president was Barack Obama, who rose from 12th to 10th.

Some historians believe it’s too early to take a dispassionate view of Donald Trump’s single term. Picture: AFP

Donald Trump is not the worst president ever, a survey of American historians has found. He is only fourth-worst, while Abraham Lincoln is the best.

Out of 10 characteristics of good leadership, Trump got his best marks for public persuasion (32nd out of 44) and economic management (34th). He came last, however, for moral authority and administrative skills.

The top-ranked living former president was Barack Obama, who rose from 12th to 10th.

The survey is held whenever the White House changes hands by C-Span, a cable network company that transmits government proceedings.

The company asked 142 historians to rate the US presidents out of 100 in each of 10 categories. Bottom ranking went to James Buchanan, the Democrat who as Lincoln’s predecessor is widely blamed for leading the country into civil war.

Buchanan has come last in all four surveys since they began in 2000.

Mark Updegrove, a historian who took part in the survey, said that it was too early to take a dispassionate view of Trump’s single term.

“Time has been good to (Dwight) Eisenhower and (Ronald) Reagan,” he told The New York Times. “Historians have come to focus more on the triumphs of their leadership: Eisenhower’s deft foreign policy management, ensuring that the Cold War didn’t become hot, and Reagan’s productive partnership with his Soviet counterpart Mikhail ­Gorbachev.”

Eisenhower and Reagan were ranked fifth and ninth respectively in the latest survey. Second ranking behind Lincoln was given to George Washington, followed by Franklin Roosevelt and Theodore Roosevelt. The second-worst president was judged to be Andrew Johnson, the Democrat successor to Lincoln and the first president to be impeached. He held on to power by a single vote after his Senate trial.

The other president placed narrowly below Trump was Franklin Pierce, a pro-slavery Democrat. Like the rest of the bottom four, he was a one-term president. All four came below William Henry Harrison, who died in 1841 from a fever after 31 days in office.

Lincoln topped seven of the category rankings: crisis leadership, economic management, moral authority, administrative skills, vision, pursued equal justice for all and performance within context of the times.

The remaining three categories were topped by Franklin Roosevelt (public persuasion and international relations) and Washington (relations with Congress).

Mr Updegrove added: “For Mr Trump, whose administration was marked by chaos, discord and division – much of his own making – it may take longer for greater even-handedness to take hold.

“All things considered, it’s difficult to see Mr Trump emerging from the ratings basement.”

He said that Trump’s presidency would be most remembered for his careless handling of the pandemic and his persistent unfounded claims that the 2020 election was stolen.

Among other living former presidents, Bill Clinton was 19th, falling four places from the 2017 survey; Jimmy Carter was 26th, up from 27th; and George W. Bush was 29th, up from 33rd.

Edna Greene Medford, a professor of history at Howard University who participated in the survey, said: “Despite the fact that we’ve become more aware of the historical implications of racial injustice in this country ... we still have slaveholding presidents at or near the top of the list.

“So even though we may be a bit more enlightened about race today, we are still discounting its significance when evaluating these presidents.”

Douglas Brinkley, professor of history at Rice University and a survey adviser, said that Trump’s 2021 impeachment probably affected other presidents’ results.

The Times