C-Span Releases Its Rankings Of The Best Presidents. Trump’s Spot Might Shock You

Former President Donald Trump ranks among some of the worst presidents in American history, according to C-SPAN’s new presidential leadership survey, released Wednesday.

The results of the Historians Survey of Presidential Leadership, taken after every change of a presidential administration, landed Trump at 41st on the list, only ranking above Franklin Pierce, Andrew Johnson, and James Buchanan. It marks the first time the 45th president has appeared on the list.

The 142 historians who participated in the survey were asked to rate each president according to 10 individual leadership characteristics: public persuasion, crisis leadership, economic management, moral authority, international relations, administrative skills, relations with congress, vision/setting an agenda, pursued equal justice for all and performance within the context of times.

C-SPAN’s 2021 Historians Survey of Presidential Leadership

Recent Debut Rankingshttps://t.co/51PjAwPliK #cspanPOTUSsurvey pic.twitter.com/gdIHYWjMn0

— CSPAN (@cspan) June 30, 2021

The former president received his highest ratings in “public persuasion” and “economic management,” but ranked very poorly in “moral authority” and “administrative skills,” receiving the worst ratings of any U.S. president. Trump is one of only a few presidents to only serve a single term and is the only president to be impeached twice. (RELATED: ‘New Leadership Is Needed’: Trump Mocks GOP Senators Failing To Negotiate With White House)

C-SPAN announced in a press release that there was a 50% increase in the number of historians and professional observers of the presidency who participated since 2017.

“C-SPAN’s success in assembling a truly diverse group of historians and professional observers of the presidency only strengthens an already strong poll,” said Amity Shlaes, chairman of the Calvin Coolidge Foundation.

Former President Barack Obama moved from 12th to 10th since 2017, falling just behind Presidents Ronald Reagan and John F. Kennedy. Former President George W. Bush now ranks 29th after ranking 33rd in 2017 and 36th in 2009.

President Abraham Lincoln retained his spot at the top of the list with President George Washington coming in second.