The top place went to Lincoln, but this year there was a new runner-up

By Samuel Benson

A new survey of over 150 scholars offered their take on the greatest U.S. president ever. Their choice? Abraham Lincoln.

The 2024 Presidential Greatness Project Expert Survey, commissioned by a pair of political scientists from the University of Houston and Coastal Carolina University, asked 154 political scientists and other experts to rate each U.S. president on a scale of 0 to 100 for their overall “greatness.” The totals for each president were averaged then ranked.

Lincoln finished first, with an average rating of 93.87; Franklin Delano Roosevelt finished second (90.83); George Washington, third (90.32). Teddy Roosevelt (78.58) and Thomas Jefferson (77.53) rounded out the top five.

When defining “greatness,” scholars think beyond what they view as a “good” president, said Justin Vaughn, a professor of political science at Coastal Carolina and one of the survey’s organizers. “A great president is one who expanded the institution of the president, who presided over a growth in American power or who led the country through a crisis — those types of things,” Vaughn said. “It goes beyond whether or not you agreed with the president’s politics, or whether or not you think he was ‘good.’”

When offering their ratings, the scholars were given no instructions, other than to give them a numerical rating for their “overall greatness.” Rounding out the top 10 were Harry Truman (75.34), Barack Obama (73.8), Dwight Eisenhower (73.73), Lyndon B. Johnson (72.86) and John F. Kennedy (68.37).

President Joe Biden (62.66) was ranked the 14th greatest president, while Ronald Reagan (61.62) ranked 16th. Other recent presidents didn’t fare as well, with George H.W. Bush (58.54) in 19th place, and his son George W. Bush (40.43) 32nd.

The lowest-ranked president was Donald Trump (10.92).

This is the third iteration of the Presidential Greatness Project survey, with previous studies conducted in 2015 and 2018. There is consistency through many of the results, though there were a handful of significant changes.

https://www.deseret.com/u-s-world/2024/2/18/24075337/the-greatest-u-s-president-rankings