Best-known U.S. president

[⛄]

Imagine every US citizen was asked to recite the list of U.S. presidents - irrespective of order, time in office and given name.

Which presidents would come out as most famous, and which as least famous?
And what be the most common incorrect answer?

[SWE]

Most Americans would probably be able to name the following:

Abraham Lincoln
George Washington
FDR
Theodore Roosevelt
Thomas Jefferson
JFK
Richard Nixon
Ronald Reagan
Any of the presidents during their life time

[Meursault]

Of the dead ones - because the obvious answer is either Clinton, Bush or Obama - it's either one of the fellows on paper currency or Kennedy.

[Blue3]

Washington, Lincoln... Kennedy, Nixon... Carter, Reagan, Bush I, Clinton, Bush II, Obama.

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

Washington and Lincoln are the obvious first two with FDR third.  The era of Kennedy worship is coming to a close tho not yet at an end.  I suspect in a century, he'll be about as relevant to most people as Garfield (the president, not the cat) or McKinley.

[⛄]

Washington and Lincoln are the obvious first two with FDR third.  The era of Kennedy worship is coming to a close tho not yet at an end.  I suspect in a century, he'll be about as relevant to most people as Garfield (the president, not the cat) or McKinley.

I think Obama and Bush would get even more mentions.

Who's the best-known non-president btw?

Benjamin Franklin?
Al Gore would also get many (deliberate) mentions I think.

[H.E. VOLODYMYR ZELENKSYY]

I think Ben Franklin is easily the #1 non-President. Maybe Hamilton too, since he's on the $10 bill.

[TDAS04]

Lincoln, Washington, Obama, Bush (W), Clinton, Kennedy, FDR (roughly that order) could be the most commonly named presidents.

Tyler, Taylor, Pierce, Hayes, would all likely be among the 10 least commonly named, though the least commonly named could be someone other than these four.

Benjamin Franklin would probably be the person most commonly mistaken as a president.

[⛄]

Benjamin Franklin would probably be the person most commonly mistaken as a president.

Everybody says this (and so do I).
Why do you think this is?

[H.E. VOLODYMYR ZELENKSYY]

Benjamin Franklin would probably be the person most commonly mistaken as a president.

Everybody says this (and so do I).
Why do you think this is?

He's on the $100 bill, he's a pretty cool guy, he's IIRC the only major Founding Father to not be President.

[Blue3]

Benjamin Franklin would probably be the person most commonly mistaken as a president.

Everybody says this (and so do I).
Why do you think this is?

He's on the $100 bill, he's a pretty cool guy, he's IIRC the only major Founding Father to not be President.

Well, him and Hamilton.

[H.E. VOLODYMYR ZELENKSYY]

Benjamin Franklin would probably be the person most commonly mistaken as a president.

Everybody says this (and so do I).
Why do you think this is?

He's on the $100 bill, he's a pretty cool guy, he's IIRC the only major Founding Father to not be President.

Well, him and Hamilton.

Well, yeah, but I doubt Hamilton is as sexy as Franklin to most Americans (except my aunt).

[Amenhotep Bakari-Sellers]

TR, FDR, Kennedy and Obama

Older prez
Jefferson
Washington
Lincoln

[Blue3]

I wonder who the best-known U.S. presidents to NON-Americans would be...

[Oldiesfreak1854]

I wonder who the best-known U.S. presidents to NON-Americans would be...

I'm guessing Obama...

[politicus]

I wonder who the best-known U.S. presidents to NON-Americans would be...

For Denmark, but I think it would be fairly typical of Northern Europe.

1. Obama
2. Kennedy
3. Reagan
4. Clinton
5. Dubya

Washington is not very well knowwn here, unless you are a history buff. Lincoln is the best known of the pre-1945 Presidents.

[Meursault]

I would assume Wilson is remembered more in Europe than in the States.

[Del Tachi]

1.  Obama
2.  Dubya
3.  Lincoln
4.  Clinton
5.  Washington

[Mr. Morden]

I wonder who the most recent US president would be who would get less than 50% name recognition in a poll of all American adults.

(I guess it depends on how you phrase the question.  If you ask people to list as many presidents as they can think of, hardly anyone is going to name Calvin Coolidge.  But if you asked "Who was Calvin Coolidge?" you'd get a fair number who'd recognize the name as that of someone who was president a long time ago.)

[Okay, maybe Mike Johnson is a competent parliamentarian.]

(I guess it depends on how you phrase the question.  If you ask people to list as many presidents as they can think of, hardly anyone is going to name Calvin Coolidge.  But if you asked "Who was Calvin Coolidge?" you'd get a fair number who'd recognize the name as that of someone who was president a long time ago.)

I think that's almost certainly true of most or all post-Jefferson, pre-World War II, non-Jackson, Lincoln, or Roosevelt presidents. (It's probably also true of some post-World War II presidents, and maybe Jackson too.) I don't think there are all that many presidents whose names most Americans wouldn't recognize even when prompted.

[Del Tachi]

I wonder who the most recent US president would be who would get less than 50% name recognition in a poll of all American adults.

Would it be Gerald Ford?  He is a pretty unmemorable guy...

Before that I say the best bets are Truman, Hoover, Coolidge and Harding.

[RR1997]

1. Barack Obama
2. Abraham Lincoln
3. George W. Bush
4. George Washington
5. Bill Clinton

[Middle-aged Europe]

I wonder who the best-known U.S. presidents to NON-Americans would be...

For Denmark, but I think it would be fairly typical of Northern Europe.

1. Obama
2. Kennedy
3. Reagan
4. Clinton
5. Dubya

I agree, but I'd rank them in that order:

1) Obama
2) JFK
3) Dubya
4) Clinton
5) Reagan

Basically, the four most recent two-term presidents in reverse chronological order.

And JFK never gets old, because he's first president who was actually cool, because he was a Berliner, and because he got shot.

[beaver2.0]

Obama.

[MASHED POTATOES. VOTE!]

Everybody in Warsaw knows there was a guy named Woodrow Wilson, because there is a plaza and metro station named after him. But just few would know who the hell he was, I presume