United States Presidency Centre
UK Survey of US Presidents
Results

Positive Historical Significance of Legacy

Did the president’s legacy have positive benefits for
America’s development over time?

Category
Ranking
President
Score
Overall
Ranking
1
Abraham Lincoln, 1861-1865
9.37
2
2
Franklin Delano Roosevelt, 1933-1945
9.32
1
3
George Washington, 1789-1797
9.18
3
4
Thomas Jefferson, 1801-1809
8.16
4
5
Woodrow Wilson, 1913-1921
7.43
6
6
Harry S. Truman, 1945-1953
7.32
7
7
Theodore Roosevelt, 1901-1909
7.28
5
8
Lyndon Baines Johnson, 1963-1969
6.53
11
9
Andrew Jackson, 1829-1837
6.4
9
10
James Madison, 1809-1817
6.38
14
11
Dwight David Eisenhower, 1953-1961
6.34
10
12
John Adams, 1797-1801
6.26
12
13
John Fitzgerald Kennedy, 1961-1963
6.23
15
14
James Monroe, 1817-1825
6.18
13
15
Ronald Wilson Reagan, 1981-1989
5.89
8
16
William Jefferson Clinton, 1993-2001
5.57
19
17
William McKinley, 1897-1901
5.46
17
18
James Earl Carter, Jr., 1977-1981
5.38
18
19
John Quincy Adams, 1825-1829
5.22
20
20
James Knox Polk, 1845-1849
5.22
16
21
Grover Cleveland, 1885-1889
5.06
21
22
George Herbert Walker Bush, 1989-1993
4.71
22
23
William Howard Taft, 1909-1913
4.18
25
24
Gerald Rudolph Ford, 1974-1977
4.11
24
25
Martin Van Buren, 1837-1841
4.06
27
26
Ulysses Simpson Grant, 1869-1877
3.95
29
27
Richard Milhous Nixon, 1969-1974
3.89
23
28
Herbert Clark Hoover, 1929-1933
3.78
26
29
Calvin Coolidge, 1923-1929
3.56
28
30
Chester Alan Arthur, 1881-1885
3.48
32
31
Rutherford Birchard Hayes, 1877-1881
3.48
30
32
Millard Fillmore, 1850-1853
3.19
35
33
Benjamin Harrison, 1889-1893
3.04
34
34
Zachary Taylor, 1849-1850
3
33
35
George Walker Bush, 2001-2009
2.75
31
36
Andrew Johnson, 1865-1869
2.54
36
37
Warren Gamaliel Harding, 1921-1923
2.52
38
38
John Tyler, 1841-1845
2.46
37
39
Franklin Pierce, 1853-1857
2.18
39
40
James Buchanan, 1857-1861
2.11
40