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.

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Video: White House

Senate Democrats push toward critical health vote
Dec. 20: Snow may have paralyzed much of Washington, but it couldn’t keep the caucus from clinching enough votes to move forward on health care reform. NBC’s Mike Viquiera reports.

12 Gitmo detainees transferred

Axelrod: Congress will pass health bill

Axelrod: Dean's critique 'doesn't square up'

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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