C-SPAN Presidential Historians Survey 2017: Obama debuts at #12

[Blue3]

I winged it.

1. Abraham Lincoln
2. George Washington
3. Ronald Reagan
4. Franklin Roosevelt
5. Thomas Jefferson
6. Andrew Jackson
7. Theodore Roosevelt
8. Harry Truman
9. James Madison
10. John F. Kennedy


11. Richard Nixon
12. James Polk
13. James Monroe
14. Dwight Eisenhower
15. George H.W. Bush
16. William McKinley
17. John Adams
18. George W. Bush
19. Bill Clinton
20. Calvin Coolidge


21. Woodrow Wilson
22. Chester Arthur
23. Ulysses Grant
24. Grover Cleveland
25. Barack Obama
26. Lyndon Johnson
27. Gerald Ford
28. Rutherford Hayes
29. William Howard Taft
30. John Tyler


31. Jimmy Carter
32. Zachary Taylor
33. Benjamin Harrison
34. John Quincy Adams
35. James Garfield
36. William Henry Harrison
37. Herbert Hoover
38. Warren Harding
39. Franklin Pierce
40. Martin Van Buren


41. Millard Fillmore
42. James Buchanan
43. Andrew Johnson

George W. Bush, John Adams, Wilson, Arthur, Grant, and Cleveland... all before Obama? Really??

I wouldn't out McKinley, Coolidge, Jackson, or Nixon before him either.

[🦀🎂🦀🎂]

Lincoln
Jefferson
Washington

Arthur
Teddy
Grant
LBJ
Eisenhower
Truman
Obama
Taylor
Jackson
Van Buren
Taft
Madison
Quincy
Monroe
Carter
Clinton

Adams
Garfield
Ford
Kennedy
Bush Sr
Cleveland
McKinley
Coolidge
Harrison (Benjamin)
Hoover
Harrison (coatless)
Harding

Wilson
Reagan
Tyler
Polk
Nixon
Failmore
Bush Jr
Johnson, Andrew
Buchanan

Basically a list without much thought (I winged it right now), but they are grouped into "broad FF's who mostly had a good influence, sorta" "ok, but not really good, normally wasted their potential in office due to abject personality flaws or excessive cherry consumption" "mediocre, mostly forgettable of people who didn't stick round to do much damage" and "people who actively had a negative and destructive impact upon the United States and it's people".

[Bismarck]

This list is clearly full of biases, there is no way Obama should be ahead of HW Bush or Bill Clinton. Also Jackson fell five points presumably because Trump is associated with him. James Madison is too high, he should be bottom ten for sure. Coolidge and Harding are too low (although with Harding that's the norm)

[m4567]

Obama is ranked pretty high for a debut. Very cool.

[Gass3268]

This list is clearly full of biases, there is no way Obama should be ahead of HW Bush or Bill Clinton. Also Jackson fell five points presumably because Trump is associated with him. James Madison is too high, he should be bottom ten for sure. Coolidge and Harding are too low (although with Harding that's the norm)

HW and Clinton didn't prevent a Depression.

[Reaganfan]

I winged it.

1. Abraham Lincoln
2. George Washington
3. Ronald Reagan
4. Franklin Roosevelt
5. Thomas Jefferson
6. Andrew Jackson
7. Theodore Roosevelt
8. Harry Truman
9. James Madison
10. John F. Kennedy


11. Richard Nixon
12. James Polk
13. James Monroe
14. Dwight Eisenhower
15. George H.W. Bush
16. William McKinley
17. John Adams
18. George W. Bush
19. Bill Clinton
20. Calvin Coolidge


21. Woodrow Wilson
22. Chester Arthur
23. Ulysses Grant
24. Grover Cleveland
25. Barack Obama
26. Lyndon Johnson
27. Gerald Ford
28. Rutherford Hayes
29. William Howard Taft
30. John Tyler


31. Jimmy Carter
32. Zachary Taylor
33. Benjamin Harrison
34. John Quincy Adams
35. James Garfield
36. William Henry Harrison
37. Herbert Hoover
38. Warren Harding
39. Franklin Pierce
40. Martin Van Buren


41. Millard Fillmore
42. James Buchanan
43. Andrew Johnson

George W. Bush, John Adams, Wilson, Arthur, Grant, and Cleveland... all before Obama? Really??

I wouldn't out McKinley, Coolidge, Jackson, or Nixon before him either.

Absolutely.

John Adams is a founder, Wilson led us during WW1, Arthur was a vastly better President than many realize. Grant was a great General during the Civil War. George W. Bush was President on 9/11 which has historical impact which will only grow in the coming decades. Grover Cleveland...meh...you might be right about that.

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

Wilson led us during into WW1,

FTFY
If it had not been for his sham neutrality in WW1, we could've stayed out. We also could have avoided the October Revolution.

[🦀🎂🦀🎂]

I winged it.

1. Abraham Lincoln
2. George Washington
3. Ronald Reagan
4. Franklin Roosevelt
5. Thomas Jefferson
6. Andrew Jackson
7. Theodore Roosevelt
8. Harry Truman
9. James Madison
10. John F. Kennedy


11. Richard Nixon
12. James Polk
13. James Monroe
14. Dwight Eisenhower
15. George H.W. Bush
16. William McKinley
17. John Adams
18. George W. Bush
19. Bill Clinton
20. Calvin Coolidge


21. Woodrow Wilson
22. Chester Arthur
23. Ulysses Grant
24. Grover Cleveland
25. Barack Obama
26. Lyndon Johnson
27. Gerald Ford
28. Rutherford Hayes
29. William Howard Taft
30. John Tyler


31. Jimmy Carter
32. Zachary Taylor
33. Benjamin Harrison
34. John Quincy Adams
35. James Garfield
36. William Henry Harrison
37. Herbert Hoover
38. Warren Harding
39. Franklin Pierce
40. Martin Van Buren


41. Millard Fillmore
42. James Buchanan
43. Andrew Johnson

George W. Bush, John Adams, Wilson, Arthur, Grant, and Cleveland... all before Obama? Really??

I wouldn't out McKinley, Coolidge, Jackson, or Nixon before him either.

Absolutely.

John Adams is a founder, Wilson led us during WW1, Arthur was a vastly better President than many realize. Grant was a great General during the Civil War. George W. Bush was President on 9/11 which has historical impact which will only grow in the coming decades. Grover Cleveland...meh...you might be right about that.

This seems like strange logic, like saying Lord North was a great PM because the hugely historically important American Revolution happened on his watch.

[The_Doctor]

My list, mix of personal and historical minded objectivity. Note: I wouldn't have voted for some of the lists of the "greats," but they had a measurably major impact on American society. See: Andrew Jackson, Barack Obama, Woodrow Wilson, or Franklin Roosevelt. However, they had an undeniably major impact in how we see our American society today.

Realigning Presidents / Major Presidents

1.   Abraham Lincoln (R-Illinois). Civil War. Slavery. Enough said. Lincoln will always be #1, even in 2300 AD. The prairie lawyer from Illinois is sui generis among American leaders.
2.   Franklin D. Roosevelt (D-New York). Great Depression. World War II.
3.   Ronald Reagan (R-California). Cold War. Reagan Revolution; our current realigning President.
4.   Thomas Jefferson (D-Virginia). Founding Father. Agrarian Era Founder.
5.   George Washington (F-Virginia). First President.

Significant / Confirming Presidents

6.   William McKinley (R-Ohio). Started the second political Industrial Era from 1896-1932.   
7.   Woodrow Wilson (D-New Jersey). Father of the Progressive state. Overshadows his racism, which is highly common for his era (not that I excuse it or like either element).
8.   Theodore Roosevelt (R-New York). First President to exert American strength overseas and is credited with starting some of the populist reforms. Major environmentalist.
9.   Andrew Jackson (D-Tennessee). Took power from the Founding Elites and was the first president to put our system on a democratic footing (albeit a racist one).
10.   James Madison (D-Virginia). Founder of the Constitution. Gets him high up on this list. Also the whole negotiating a fairly decent deal when the British invaded us in 1812.
11.   Lyndon B. Johnson (D-Texas). Great Society, Civil Rights. Long run: they will be remembered more than Vietnam.
12.   Barack Obama (D-Illinois). ObamaCare. Forerunner of the next great Democratic majority like Wilson and has some of the founding progressive ideas that will be seen down the line in much stronger form.
13.   Dwight D. Eisenhower (R-Pennsylvania). Interstate Highway; his shaping of our foreign policy would be seen all the way to the 1980s.
14.   John Adams (F-Massachusetts). Founding Father. Father of the U.S. Navy. Noted for his peaceful transfer of power to Jefferson. Downside: Alien and Sedition Acts. 
15.   James Polk (D-Tennessee). Accomplished major things in his one term; brought Texas into the Union; Mexican-American War concluded successfully.

Substantive Achievements

16.   Harry S Truman (D-Missouri). Started us on the right foot during the Cold War and set up much of the modern national security apparatus.
17.   George H.W. Bush (R-Texas). Wound down the Cold War officially in the way Reagan wanted.
18.   Chester A. Arthur (R-New York). Civil service reform (Pendleton Act).
19.   John Calvin Coolidge (R-Massachusetts). Led the nation during the Roaring 20s and presided over an era of considerable economic growth and technological progress. Subsequent Great Depression knocks him down a few places but his achievements during this time as the most successful conservative president of the 20th century (along with Reagan) cannot be understated.
20.   Gerald R. Ford (R-Michigan). His healing of the nation after Watergate and his exemplary conduct during his years at the helm cannot be understated. Since it was so short, he's down to like, near halfway.

Average

21.   Bill Clinton (D-Arkansas). He did OK for his time, generally acted like a liberal Republican President.
22.   John F. Kennedy (D-Massachusetts). Started off with a lot of promise but LBJ is the one who gets or should get the credit for the New Frontier becoming an actual reality instead of just words. Credit for NASA mission. But JFK was more bluster than action.
Inconsequential Presidencies
23.   James Monroe (D-Virginia). Well, uh, Era of Good Feelings.
24.   John Quincy Adams (F-Massachusetts). Uh, OK president.
25.   Martin van Buren (D-New York). Don't remember much.
26.   William Henry Harrison (W-Ohio). He died 30 days into the White House. Which is still the record.
27.   John Tyler (I-Virginia). Who?
28.   Zachary Taylor (W-Ohio). Who?
29.   Millard Fillmore (W-New York). Who?
30.   Rutherford B. Hayes (R-Ohio). Who?
31.   James Garfield (R-Ohio). Who? Died in office after 6 months and nobody remembers this.
32.   Grover Cleveland (D-New York). Generally inconsequential President hemmed in by the Lincoln-McKinley Industrial Republican dominance.
33.   Benjamin Harrison (R-Ohio). Who? At least he didn't die like his grandfather did in office.
34.   William H. Taft (R-Ohio). Uh. Fattest President in American history.
35.   Warren G. Harding (R-Ohio). Who?

Leaning HP

36.   Franklin Pierce (D-New Hampshire). The country began falling apart on his watch.
37.   Ulysses S. Grant (R-Illinois). I mean, the Grant Administration wasn't that great. He was a FF person in general, but a terrible President. We didn't fall apart (again) on his watch so he's not a total HP.
38.   Jimmy Carter (D-Georgia). General failure as a President and saw a realigning President replace him.

Major HP

39.   Herbert C. Hoover (R-Iowa). Great Depression.
40.   George W. Bush (R-Texas). I hate to place him here because I like W, and I voted for him. But the country repudiated him and in 2016, the Republican Party repudiated his legacy. It's hard not to see how W ranks well. But I still like W. Iraq, Katrina, and the Great Economic Crash of 2008 all are going to be part of his legacy.
41.   Andrew Johnson (D-Tennessee). Got impeached, and severely hurt the reunification of the Union and acted like a douchewad.
42.   Richard M. Nixon (R-California). Watergate. Again, painful, because I like Nixon and thought he was a decent president personally. But that's just his legacy.
43.   James Buchanan (D-Pennsylvania). The Civil War happened on his watch. Enough said.
44.   Donald J. Trump (R-New York). Where I expect him to be as he totals the country and we all end up screaming as we hurtle off the cliff. 

[SWE]

Not going to try to be even a little bit objective

Abraham Lincoln
JQA
Grant
Taylor
FDR
Washington
Arthur
Harding
Carter
Jefferson
Taft
Ford
Van Buren
Cleveland
TR
Harrison
Coolidge
Adams
Monroe
Bush I
Obama
Eisenhower
LBJ
Clinton
Hoover
Tyler
Madison
Truman
JFK
Hayes
Fillmore
Jackson
McKinley
Wilson
Pierce
Bush II
Reagan
Johnson
Buchanan
Polk
Nixon
Trump