The C-SPAN ranking of presidents by historians was released half-a-year ago, but it has been getting a lot of attention in the news lately. I thought it might be interesting to look at how the historians ranked those presidents who served from right before the war, through the Civil War, and during Reconstruction. Nearly 150 American historians participated.
The top rated president of the era was no surprise: Abraham Lincoln. He was also rated Number 1 among all presidents. Lincoln got the highest marks of any president for Crisis Leadership, Setting the Agenda, Moral Authority, Economic Management, Pursuing Equality, and “Performance Within the Context of the Times.” He was ranked second among all presidents for “Public Persuasion.” Although he had no experience at all in foreign relations, Lincoln was ranked third in that category.
In case you are wondering, Washington ranked second overall, right behind Lincoln.
The next highest rated was Ulysses S. Grant. The former General Grant was the only other president from this era to finish above the halfway mark. Grant was ranked Number 20 among all 44 presidents overall. Grant got high marks for pursuing equal justice, and bad marks for administrative skills. He also got good grades for Crisis Management and Relations With Congress. Grant’s ranking has improved consistently over the last two decades. In 2000 he was ranked #33 but by 2009 he had risen to #23. I think the improvement in his reputation came with higher values being placed on Black civil rights and the publication of scholarly reassessments by Brooks Simpson and others.
The third highest rated from this period is Rutherford B. Hayes. While he was in Third Place in this cohort, he was ranked 33rd overall among presidents, which tells you that after Lincoln and Grant there is an extremely sharp fall-off. Hayes came into office after the drawn-out Election of 1876 which had its own outbreaks of violence and accusations of fraud. In individual characteristics Hayes did not rank above average in any category. His best category was Economic Management, but there should be a proviso that African American economic security began a long decline during his administration.
Now we get to the truly bad presidents. Andrew Johnson and James Buchanan were not only the two lowest ranked of the Civil War/Reconstruction presidents, they were ranked as the two worst of all-time.
Andrew Johnson was ranked second-worst. Coming in at 43rd on the list of 44 did not mean he was not rated as the worst president on some characteristics. He was worst in relations with Congress, viciously attacking individual members and being impeached by the House of Representatives. A miserable presidential speaker, Johnson also ranked worst in public persuasion. Johnson went from the hope of the Republic after Lincoln’s murder to a disappointment.
The absolute worst president was James Buchanan, according to the historians. He ranked worst in four categories, the most of any president. Buchanan was ranked 44th out of 44 presidents in Crisis Management, Foreign Relations, Setting the Agenda, Pursuing Equality, and “Performance Within the Context of the Times.” So even in a period with some lackluster presidents, Buchanan did not live-up to admittedly low standards.
Have an opinion on how these five presidents rank? Let us know in the comments.
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Ulysses S. Grant greatest foreign affairs achievement, setting aside the very significant achievement of settling the *Alabama* Claims dispute through arbitration, arguably occurred after he was president. His two-years-long world tour, undertaken after he left the White House, was a first for any former America president. He met with various world leaders in Europe and Asia.
I don’t believe any past president should be ranked in a survey such as this until they have been out of office for 25 years. There just isn’t enough historical perspective and the lens with which we view them is too clouded.