Help
Sign In
history
September 2009 
Historians Survey of Presidential Leadership
Posted on Feb 16th, 2009
by 
Andrei
Andrei
from my buddy JLJ
C-SPAN released the results of its second Historians Survey of Presidential Leadership. 65 presidential historians ranked the 42* former occupants of the White House on ten attributes of leadership. Guiding this effort was a team of academic advisors: Douglas Brinkley from Rice University; Edna Greene Medford, from Howard University; and Richard Norton Smith, from George Mason University.
They're ranked by category (Public Persuasion, Crisis Leadership, Economic Management, Moral Authority, International Relations, Administrative Skills, Relations with Congress, Vision / Setting an Agenda, Pursued Equal Justice For All, Performance Within Context of Times) and overall.
Here goes:
Best Overall (Top 10)
1. Abraham Lincoln
2. George Washington
3. Franklin D. Roosevelt
4. Theodore Roosevelt
5. Harry S. Truman
6. John F. Kennedy
7. Thomas Jefferson
8. Dwight D. Eisenhower
9. Woodrow Wilson
10. Ronald Reagan
2. George Washington
3. Franklin D. Roosevelt
4. Theodore Roosevelt
5. Harry S. Truman
6. John F. Kennedy
7. Thomas Jefferson
8. Dwight D. Eisenhower
9. Woodrow Wilson
10. Ronald Reagan
Selected Categories:
Economic Management (Top 10)
Economic Management (Top 10)
1. George Washington
2. Abraham Lincoln
3. Bill Clinton
4. Theodore Roosevelt
5. Franklin D. Roosevelt
6. John F. Kennedy
7. Woodrow Wilson
8. Dwight D. Eisenhower
9. Thomas Jefferson
10. Harry S. Truman
2. Abraham Lincoln
3. Bill Clinton
4. Theodore Roosevelt
5. Franklin D. Roosevelt
6. John F. Kennedy
7. Woodrow Wilson
8. Dwight D. Eisenhower
9. Thomas Jefferson
10. Harry S. Truman
Pursued Equal Justice for All (Top 10)
1. Abraham Lincoln
2. Lyndon B. Johnson
3. Harry S. Truman
4. Bill Clinton
5. Jimmy Carter
6. John F. Kennedy
7. Franklin D. Roosevelt
8. Theodore Roosevelt
9. Ulysses S. Grant
10. Dwight D. Eisenhower
2. Lyndon B. Johnson
3. Harry S. Truman
4. Bill Clinton
5. Jimmy Carter
6. John F. Kennedy
7. Franklin D. Roosevelt
8. Theodore Roosevelt
9. Ulysses S. Grant
10. Dwight D. Eisenhower
Where's GWB???
Worst Overall (Top 10)
32. Rutherford B. Hayes
33. Herbert Hoover
34. John Tyler
35. George W. Bush
36. Millard Fillmore
38. Warren G. Harding
39. William Henry Harrison**
40. Franklin D. Pierce
41. Andrew Johnson
42. James Buchanan
33. Herbert Hoover
34. John Tyler
35. George W. Bush
36. Millard Fillmore
38. Warren G. Harding
39. William Henry Harrison**
40. Franklin D. Pierce
41. Andrew Johnson
42. James Buchanan
GWB Totals:
Public Persuasion: 36
Crisis Leadership: 25
Economic Management: 40
Moral Authority: 35
International Relations: 41
Administrative Skills: 37
Relations with Congress: 36
Vision / Setting an Agenda: 25
Pursued Equal Justice For All: 24
Crisis Leadership: 25
Economic Management: 40
Moral Authority: 35
International Relations: 41
Administrative Skills: 37
Relations with Congress: 36
Vision / Setting an Agenda: 25
Pursued Equal Justice For All: 24
Performance Within Context of Times: 36
* Grover Cleveland served two non-concurrent terms, hence why Obama is #44
** William Henry Harrison should get a pass; sworn in on March 4, 1841, he caught pneumonia on his inauguration day, spent his term in bed, and died a month later on April 4, 1841.
Access: PublicTagged with: presidents, history
