Voters’ list of the 10 best presidents:

[Locutus]

1. Abraham Lincoln, +27 points (28 percent place in top-2, 1 percent place in bottom-2)
2. Ronald Reagan, +25 points (31 percent place in top-2, 6 percent place in bottom-2)
3. Franklin D. Roosevelt, +22 points (23 percent place in top-2, 1 percent place in bottom-2)
4. John F. Kennedy, +19 points (19 percent place in top-2, 0 percent place in bottom-2)
5. (tie) George Washington, +15 points (16 percent place in top-2, 1 percent place in bottom-2)
5. (tie) Bill Clinton, +15 points (28 percent place in top-2, 13 percent place in bottom-2)
7. Thomas Jefferson, +6 points (6 percent place in top-2, 0 percent place in bottom-2)
8. (tie) Teddy Roosevelt, +5 points (5 percent place in top-2, 0 percent place in bottom-2)
8. (tie) Harry S. Truman, +5 points (5 percent place in top-2, 0 percent place in bottom-2)
10. Dwight D. Eisenhower, +4 points (5 percent place in top-2, 1 percent place in bottom-2)




Voters’ list of the 10 worst presidents:

33. (tie) Andrew Johnson, -2 points (0 percent place in top-2, 2 percent place in bottom-2)
33. (tie) Warren G. Harding, -2 points (0 percent place in top-2, 2 percent place in bottom-2)
33. (tie) Calvin Coolidge, -2 points (0 percent place in top-2, 2 percent place in bottom-2)
36. (tie) Lyndon B. Johnson, -3 points (1 percent place in top-2, 4 percent place in bottom-2)
36. (tie) Gerald Ford, -3 points (1 percent place in top-2, 4 percent place in bottom-2)
38. Herbert Hoover, -4 points (0 percent place in top-2, 4 percent place in bottom-2)
39. George H.W. Bush, -9 points (4 percent place in top-2, 13 percent place in bottom-2)
40. Jimmy Carter, -20 points (5 percent place in top-2, 25 percent place in bottom-2)
41. Richard Nixon, -24 points (2 percent place in top-2, 26 percent place in bottom-2)
42. Barack Obama, -25 points (11 percent place in top-2, 36 percent place in bottom-2)
43. George W. Bush, -39 points (4 percent place in top-2, 43 percent place in bottom-2)



sausage/charts and graphs:

Likely Voters: Carter Was a Better President than Obama | The Weekly Standard

http://www.thedailybeast.com/content/dam/dailybeast/2012/6/29/Poll-Final.pdf

 

[WLDB]

Id put James Buchanan in the worst group. Lyndon Johnson and Richard Nixon would probably look a lot better if not for Vietnam. Their domestic policies were pretty decent.

 

[damngrumpy]

Ronald Reagan is largely responsible for the mess they are in. he started the idea
that we didn't have to have regulations, competent trained people do a job for a
a decent wage and taxes should be low and trickle down to the rest of us.
Of course the regulations are relaxed and in some cases non existent. We have
people in nice looking uniforms at airport security, some can barely read and write
and some are illegal aliens. The advantage is they work cheap but security is
suspect at best.
Trickle down didn't work the rich horded their money away and some even went
off shore.
All those roads and bridges and a school system falling apart is due to low taxes
and repairs being put off for decades so they are more expensive to fix.
Reagan was one of the best elected con men history has ever known.
Kennedy was not that great either and his personal life was a mess
Bush was a fool, Clinton demonstrated the best and worse in a President and
Carter and Lydon Johnson were light years ahead of most of them, they saw the
serous problems coming and the message fell of deaf ears.
Every President has their moment in the sun though, and most don't realize that
if Nixon had not gone to China America would still have its trained labour force
working in factories at home.
If is funny what people will determine is great even when it is filled with folly

 

[Colpy]

Kennedy does not belong in the top ten, not even close.

Neither does Bill Clinton.

Neither LBJ, nor either of the Bush boys belong in the bottom ten.

LBJ moved civil rights ahead by leaps and bounds, despite his being a southern Democrat. In that one aspect of his Presidency, he stands beside Lincoln.

 

[Walter]

I'd have Washington on top; without him there is no US.

 

[WLDB]

Kennedy does not belong in the top ten, not even close.

His handling of the Cuban Missile Crisis may have prevented a nuclear war. If Nixon had been in the oval office when that happened I doubt it would have had a very pleasant ending. Aside from that, I'd agree. He didn't do a whole lot.

I'd have Washington on top; without him there is no US.

As President he wasnt all that impressive. He set down some precedents that others have followed but he was pretty average as a President. Hell, even as a General he was not that impressive. He was very lucky.

Being first doesnt make one the best.

Neither does Bill Clinton.

Agreed. Seeing his name there was a bit of a head scratcher.

Id say its too soon yet to really judge either Bush II or Obama. It isnt looking good though.

 

[taxslave]

I can't believe ronnie raygun made the best list. Sure that wasn't a misprint and he should have been # 3 on the worst. Right behind junior and tricky dick?

 

[EagleSmack]

As President he wasnt all that impressive. He set down some precedents that others have followed but he was pretty average as a President. Hell, even as a General he was not that impressive. He was very lucky.

Being first doesnt make one the best.
.

Actually as a General he wasn't even that lucky. He lost quite a bit.

However he did one thing that allowed the rebellion to go on. He kept an army in the field. He did not allow his army to disband or be destroyed.

 

[Kreskin]

Were those polled the ones who got fooled twice?

George Bush's "Fool Me Once" Gaffe - YouTube

 

[gopher]

Interesting that Republican Teddy Roosevelt is near the top since his ideas were adopted as the Democratic party agenda from the 1920s to today.

As for Reagan, he was said to have increased taxes 11 times - had it been anyone else they'd be among the bottom feeders on that list.

 

[Spade]

There is a top ten? Miracle on Pennsylvania Avenue.

 

[JLM]

Those lists are to be taken with a grain (pound) of salt, every one you see is different. What makes me very suspicious of this list is the worse 5 presidents have been ones serving in the past 40 years. Does anyone really think the criteria for presidents today are the same as in George Washington's day?

Kennedy does not belong in the top ten, not even close.

Neither does Bill Clinton.

Neither LBJ, nor either of the Bush boys belong in the bottom ten.

LBJ moved civil rights ahead by leaps and bounds, despite his being a southern Democrat. In that one aspect of his Presidency, he stands beside Lincoln.

You got most of that right, although I think Abe tends to get a little over rated because of one issue. He was a stellar person but probably a fairly average president.

 

[Bar Sinister]

Those lists are to be taken with a grain (pound) of salt, every one you see is different. What makes me very suspicious of this list is the worse 5 presidents have been ones serving in the past 40 years. Does anyone really think the criteria for presidents today are the same as in George Washington's day?



You got most of that right, although I think Abe tends to get a little over rated because of one issue. He was a stellar person but probably a fairly average president.

Right. Asking a number of historically ignorant voters to list the 10 best or 10 worst presidents is problematic at best. Being president is not necessarily a popularity contest except at election time. It is what they do and the circumstances in which they do it that make good or bad presidents.

In regards to Lincoln you do realize that he saved the US from vampires.