List of presidential rankings

Historians rank the 42 men who have held the office

Video

Survey names Buchanan worst U.S. president
Feb. 15: James Buchanan, the 15th president of the United States, placed last in C-SPAN’s ranking of former commanders-in-chief. NBC’s Lester Holt reports.

Nightly News

Video: White House

Instituting a war surtax
Nov. 23: Playbook: If President Barack Obama chooses to send more troops to Afghanistan, should the U.S. government raise taxes to pay for it? Rep. Eric Massa, D-N.Y., discusses.

Billboard compares Obama to jihadist

'I will not rest' until businesses are hiring

Obama reveals plan to boost math, science

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updated 12:37 a.m. ET Feb. 16, 2009

Presidential rankings according to 65 historians and professional observers of the presidency surveyed by the cable channel C-SPAN. Participants ranked each president by 10 leadership attributes.

President: 2009 rank, 2000 rank

Abraham Lincoln: 1, 1

George Washington: 2, 3

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Franklin D. Roosevelt: 3, 2

Theodore Roosevelt: 4, 4

Harry S. Truman: 5, 5

John F. Kennedy: 6, 8

Thomas Jefferson: 7, 7

Dwight D. Eisenhower: 8, 9

Woodrow Wilson: 9, 6

Ronald Reagan: 10, 11

Lyndon B. Johnson: 11, 10

James K. Polk: 12, 12

Andrew Jackson: 13, 13

James Monroe: 14, 14

Bill Clinton: 15, 21

William McKinley: 16, 15

John Adams: 17, 16

George H.W. Bush: 18, 20

John Quincy Adams: 19, 19

James Madison: 20, 18

Grover Cleveland: 21, 17

Gerald R. Ford: 22, 23

Ulysses S. Grant: 23, 33

William Howard Taft: 24, 24

Jimmy Carter: 25, 22

Calvin Coolidge: 26, 27

Richard M. Nixon: 27, 25

James A. Garfield: 28, 29

Video
Lincoln's legacy impacts President Obama
Feb 11: President Barack Obama has long looked to President Abraham Lincoln for inspiration. Now, Obama will help celebrate the bicentennial of Lincoln's birth. NBC's Chuck Todd reports.
Nightly News
Zachary Taylor: 29, 28