# The greatest US presidents (C-SPAN historians' ranking)

The top 20 of C-SPAN's 2021 Presidential Historians Survey, in which 142 historians rated every president on ten qualities of leadership. Lincoln came first for the fourth survey in a row.

- 60 votes · 23 items
- Apr 3, 2025 · sftimetraveler
- https://even.best/en/l/779/the-greatest-us-presidents-c-span-historians-ranking

## Top 20

1. **Abraham Lincoln** (6 · ▲6 ▼0) — 16th, 1861-1865. Preserved the Union in the Civil War and ended slavery.
2. **Ronald Reagan** (5 · ▲5 ▼0) — 40th, 1981-1989. Presided over the end of the Cold War.
3. **Barack Obama** (5 · ▲5 ▼0) — 44th, 2009-2017. The first African-American president; the Affordable Care Act.
4. **James Monroe** (5 · ▲5 ▼0) — 5th, 1817-1825. The Monroe Doctrine.
5. **Franklin D. Roosevelt** (4 · ▲4 ▼0) — 32nd, 1933-1945. The New Deal and World War II; elected four times.
6. **Dwight D. Eisenhower** (4 · ▲4 ▼0) — 34th, 1953-1961. Former Allied commander; built the Interstate highways.
7. **John Quincy Adams** (4 · ▲4 ▼0) — 6th, 1825-1829. Son of John Adams.
8. **Ulysses S. Grant** (3 · ▲4 ▼1) — 18th, 1869-1877. The Union general who won the Civil War.
9. **James Madison** (3 · ▲3 ▼0) — 4th, 1809-1817. "Father of the Constitution".
10. **George Washington** (2 · ▲3 ▼1) — 1st, 1789-1797. Commander of the Revolution and the first president.
11. **Theodore Roosevelt** (2 · ▲3 ▼1) — 26th, 1901-1909. Trust-buster and creator of national parks.
12. **Harry S. Truman** (2 · ▲2 ▼0) — 33rd, 1945-1953. Ended WWII and launched the Marshall Plan.
13. **Thomas Jefferson** (2 · ▲2 ▼0) — 3rd, 1801-1809. Author of the Declaration of Independence; the Louisiana Purchase.
14. **John F. Kennedy** (2 · ▲2 ▼0) — 35th, 1961-1963. The Cuban Missile Crisis and the race to the Moon.
15. **Lyndon B. Johnson** (1 · ▲1 ▼0) — 36th, 1963-1969. Civil Rights Act and the Great Society.
16. **Woodrow Wilson** (1 · ▲1 ▼0) — 28th, 1913-1921. Led the US in WWI and proposed the League of Nations.
17. **Bill Clinton** (0 · ▲1 ▼1) — 42nd, 1993-2001. Presided over the economic boom of the 1990s.
18. **William McKinley** (0 · ▲0 ▼0) — 25th, 1897-1901. Assassinated in 1901.
19. **James K. Polk** (0 · ▲0 ▼0) — 11th, 1845-1849. Expanded the US to the Pacific.
20. **George H. W. Bush** (0 · ▲0 ▼0) — 41st president (1989-1993), who oversaw the end of the Cold War and the Gulf War.
21. **Grover Cleveland** (0 · ▲0 ▼0) — 22nd and 24th president, the only one besides Trump to serve two non-consecutive terms.
22. **Andrew Jackson** (0 · ▲0 ▼0) — 7th president (1829-1837), founder of the Democratic Party; his ranking has fallen over the years.
23. **John Adams** (-1 · ▲0 ▼1) — 2nd, 1797-1801. Founding Father and first vice-president.

How is this ranking ordered? By people's votes: each ▲ adds a point and each ▼ takes one away. Anyone can vote and add what is missing.