These are the top 25 US presidents, according to historians and biographers

• Nearly 100 historians and biographers rated past commanders in chief on 10 leadership qualities.

• Abraham Lincoln was voted the best US president.

• Donald Trump didn’t make the top 25 — he’s No. 41.

Historians agree: Abraham Lincoln was the best US president.

For C-SPAN’s most recent Presidential Historians Survey, conducted in 2021, nearly 100 historians and biographers rated the former US presidents.

The 2021 Presidential Historians Survey, which was released after Donald Trump’s first term in the White House, measured 10 qualities of presidential leadership: public persuasion, crisis leadership, economic management, moral authority, international relations, administrative skills, relations with Congress, vision, pursued equal justice for all, and performance within the context of his times.

Scores in each category were then averaged, and the 10 categories were given equal weighting in determining the presidents’ total scores.

After his first term, Donald Trump didn’t make the top 25 — he ranked at No. 41. Jimmy Carter also missed the top 25, coming in at No. 26.

C-SPAN normally releases its Presidential Historians Survey after a sitting president’s term. The 2021 survey did not include Joe Biden since he was still in office when it was conducted.

However, a C-SPAN spokesperson told Business Insider that the 2025 survey, which would have included Biden, has been postponed.

“Upon consultation with our survey’s advisory team of historians, C-SPAN has decided to postpone this cycle’s presidential leadership survey,” Robin Newton, C-SPAN’s media relations specialist, told Business Insider. “The consensus is that with a former president returning to office, conducting the survey now would turn it from historical analysis to punditry.”

A different presidential survey called the Presidential Greatness Project also ranked Lincoln as the best president, followed by Franklin D. Roosevelt at No. 2 and Washington at No. 3. Published in 2024 by Professor Brandon Rottinghaus from the University of Houston and Professor Justin S. Vaughn from Coastal Carolina University, the project surveyed 154 members of the American Political Science Association and other political scholars. The Presidential Greatness Project ranked Biden at 14th and Trump in last place at 45th.

Here are the top 25 presidents, according to historians surveyed by C-SPAN. The full list can be found here.

25. Grover Cleveland (22nd and 24th president) ranked well for his public persuasion and administrative skills.

Before President Trump, Grover Cleveland was the only US president to serve non-consecutive terms in office.

24. Calvin Coolidge (30th president) earned strong scores in moral authority and administrative skills.

Coolidge took office after President Warren G. Harding’s sudden death in 1923. He gained popularity for his frugality, helping usher the US into a period that became known as “Coolidge prosperity.”

23. William Howard Taft (27th president) ranked well for his administrative skills and international relations.

Eight years after his presidency, William Howard Taft became Chief Justice of the US and is the only person to have held positions in both offices, according to the White House.

22. Andrew Jackson (seventh president) had strong public persuasion during his tenure, according to historians.

Jackson’s supporters helped found the Democratic party after he lost the 1824 presidential election, despite getting the popular vote.

21. George H. W. Bush (41st president) ranked high in how he handled international relations.

Bush conducted military operations in Panama and the Persian Gulf during his tenure.

20. Ulysses S. Grant (18th president) ranked well for his public persuasion and international relations.

Ulysses S. Grant led the Union Armies during the American Civil War, ultimately defeating the Confederacy.

19. Bill Clinton (42nd president) ranked high for economic management.

Federal government spending fell during Clinton’s presidency, and more jobs were created during his presidency than any other.

18. James K. Polk (11th president) ranked highly for his crisis leadership and administrative skills.

Polk led the US to victory in the two-year Mexican-American War.

17. John Quincy Adams (sixth president) ranked well for his moral authority and relations with other countries.

John Quincy Adams won the 1824 election against Andrew Jackson despite losing the popular and electoral races. Because none of the candidates won a majority of electoral votes, the House of Representatives chose the president.

16. James Madison (fourth president) ranked highly for “moral authority.”

James Madison drafted and helped ratify the Bill of Rights before becoming president.

15. John Adams (second president) also ranked highly for his moral authority and economic management.

Adams is known as “the father of the American Navy” for championing US naval forces and establishing the Department of the Navy in 1798.

14. William McKinley Jr. (25th president) ranked highly for his relations with Congress.

With the help of Congress, McKinley passed the Dingley Act, the highest protective tariff in US history.

13. Woodrow Wilson (28th president) ranked highly for his “vision,” according to historians.

Wilson led the country during World War I and was instrumental in crafting the League of Nations, a precursor to the United Nations.

12. James Monroe (fifth president) ranked highly for his handling of international relations.

The president lent his name to the Monroe Doctrine, which asserted that Latin America was within the US sphere of influence.

11. Lyndon B. Johnson (36th president) ranked highly for his relations with Congress.

Johnson passed legislation including Medicare and Medicaid programs, the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

10. Barack Obama (44th president) ranked highly for his pursuit of equal justice for all.

Obama won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2009.

9. Ronald Reagan (40th president) ranked highly for his public persuasion.

Domestically, Reagan is best known for cutting income taxes via two different federal laws: the Economic Recovery Tax Act of 1981 and the Tax Reform Act of 1986.

8. John F. Kennedy (35th president) ranked highly for public persuasion.

Kennedy became the youngest man and first Catholic elected president.

7. Thomas Jefferson (third president) ranked highly for his relations with Congress and his vision.

Jefferson vastly expanded the US borders through the Louisiana Purchase with France.

6. Harry S. Truman (33rd president) ranked highly for his crisis leadership and how he his pursued equal justice for all.

Truman took over as president when Franklin Delano Roosevelt died. He led the US through the final stages of World War II.

5. Dwight D. Eisenhower (34th president) ranked highly for his moral authority.

Eisenhower founded NASA and signed a law that would create the Interstate Highway System.

4. Theodore Roosevelt (26th president) ranked highly for his public persuasion.

Mount Rushmore depicts Roosevelt’s face alongside George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and Abraham Lincoln.

3. Franklin D. Roosevelt (32nd president) ranked highly for his public persuasion and handling of international relations.

FDR is the only president to have served more than two terms, dying in April 1945 at the start of his fourth term.

2. George Washington (first president) ranks highly for his economic management, moral authority, and performance within the context of his times.

Washington remains the only president to not have been affiliated with a political party during his time in office.

1. Abraham Lincoln (16th president) ranks best for his crisis leadership, administrative skills, vision, and pursued equal justice for all.

Lincoln’s leadership during the Civil War helped abolish slavery and save the Union from breaking apart, establishing him as the best president in US history according to historians.

C-SPAN’s full presidential ranking can be found here.

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