Presidential Rankings

An unsurpassed ability to take risks, communicate, lead his party and handle the nation’s economy helped keep President Franklin D. Roosevelt in first place in a ranking of the country’s 43 presidents.

The Siena Research Institute’s 2010 Presidential Expert Poll ranked FDR number one. His cousin and fellow New Yorker, Theodore Roosevelt, came in second, ahead of Abraham Lincoln for the first time.

President Barack Obama came in 15th, within the range of where the country’s sitting chief executives show up in the poll.

“The respondents have been very cautious so new presidents are between 15th and 20th. They don’t want to anoint someone who’s been in office less than a year,” said Tom Kelly, Siena College emeritus professor of history and American studies, and co-director of the study.

Rounding out the top five are Lincoln in third, George Washington in fourth and Thomas Jefferson in fifth. The same five presidents have held the top positions with FDR always in first and Washington always in fourth. The others have moved up and down.

Full TimeUnion.com Article

If you are interested, all the details are in this pdf.  George W. Bush even makes one of the lists, I would tell you, but that takes all the suspense out of it.

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2 Responses to Presidential Rankings

  1. dan says:

    I've read a considerable amount about FDR and would rank him near the top but still Lincoln's relentless and successful efforts to hold the Union together cost him his life; you can't ask more than that of a president.

    In time, as Dubya's presidency is studied more fully, I believe he will drop even further in the polling. They may have to create a special category for him.

  2. Scott says:

    Just by the rankings you can see this list is composed by our academia elite. I'm surprise you did not have your progressive darling Obama as number 1 with an artist rendering for Mount Rushmore.

    Can you please get out in the real world and see how it really works rather than sitting around thinking you are smarter then society as a whole. Your progression toward socialism is not the way this country was formed or what we chose now. The only way Obama was elected was the backing by the media, your frat brothers. The proof is that your top 10 includes Wilson a proven racist.

    What happens when you darling is in for one term only?

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