Point 1: Responding to a recent survey of presidential scholars and historians, Joe Biden placed 14th on the list of the best presidents in American history. This is a surprising ranking, given the numerous crises that his presidency has faced, along with his consistently low approval ratings.
Point 2: The 2024 Presidential Greatness Project Expert Survey, developed by the American Political Science Association, placed Biden in the top third of the list, essentially tying him with Founding Father and America’s second President, John Adams.
Point 3: The survey also ranked Donald Trump as the worst president, placing him at 45th.
Point 4: While the survey lists Abraham Lincoln as the best president, it ranked George Washington third, behind Franklin Delano Roosevelt.
Point 5: Unique placements included Jimmy Carter ranked 22nd and former President Barack Obama ranked 7th.
Point 6: An interesting note is that Biden received differing rankings based on the political ideology of the respondents. Democrats placed him 13th while Republicans and conservatives ranked him 30th.
Point 7: Despite the survey results, Biden’s approval ratings are lower than those of his predecessor. Even among Democrats, there is doubt about whether he should stay in the race.
Point 8: A similar survey in 2018 ranked Trump as the worst president after only one year in office.
This survey raises questions about the objectivity of these rankings and the way experts’ opinions may affect the way history is presented and understood.
