America is a country of surveys, to be honest. If you follow the American media closely, you can see they conduct and announce results of surveys on numerous subjects almost every day. In a democracy, surveys are the pulse of public opinion because they give a fair idea about their troubles, their happiness, and of course what they think about their leaders. In a recent survey conducted by a well-known American university, they have found out who are the best and the worst US Presidents to date. The list is long so we have decided to include only the Top 10 US Presidents to Date in this article.
In this shortened list you may find that there are none or very few US presidents from the modern era. But, then these are the results of the survey and we have not intervened in that list at all and thus we are presenting the results as they are shown in the survey. So let us check who, according to Americans is their top 10 US Presidents to Date.
No. 10 – John F. Kennedy (JFK) (1961 – 1963)
As per the survey and historians’ views, John F. Kennedy, or JFK was one of the most popular US Presidents of all time. Apart from having huge public attention towards himself, he was skillful and visionary as well. John F. Kennedy was also good at crisis management both at the domestic and at the international level. Kennedy will be known for neutralizing the Cuban missile crises and standing up for progress on civil rights in the US. John F. Kennedy also inspired Americans to put a man on the moon.
No. 9 – Harry Truman (1945 – 1953)
There are two ways one can see Harry Truman as the President of the United States. On the one hand, the American historians regard him very high for his shrewd international policy that helped the country a lot, but at the same time, Harry Truman wasn’t a popular President when he left the office. On one hand, he ordered to nuke Hiroshima and Nagasaki to end the World War but within no time it was Harry Truman who signed the charter of United Nations to preserve world peace.
No. 8 – James Monroe (1817 – 1825)
As per American historians, James Monroe was one of the most skillful presidents of the United States. He carved out Monroe Doctrine that asked the European nations to stop thinking about colonizing the Western Hemisphere or even interfering in their internal matters.
No. 7 – James Madison (1809 – 1817)
James Madison is considered to be one of the most intelligent Presidents the United States of America has ever seen. He brought the feeling of nationalism among the Americans during his tenor while declaring the war against Great Britain in 1812. Later James Madison claimed that the US got a huge success in that war.
No. 6 – Dwight D. Eisenhower (1953 – 1961)
Dwight D. Eisenhower was part of World War II by serving the US Military. He took some bold steps during his presidency. Eisenhower ended the war in Korea that lasted very long; he also ended the racial segregation in the US Armed forces. Apart from these two steps, he took many unpopular decisions at the home front to make home security stronger than ever before.
No. 5 – Thomas Jefferson (1801 – 1809)
This survey was conducted under various categories and under the intelligence and vision category, Thomas Jefferson has scored the most number points. As we all know Thomas Jefferson was one of the most important persons for the Declaration of Independence, where he wrote “all men are created equal.” By submerging Louisiana into the United States of America’s territory he expanded the boundaries of the country. It is a known fact that during Thomas Jefferson’s time the national debt was slashed by one-third.
No. 4 Theodore Roosevelt (Teddy) (1901 – 1909)
Just like JFK, Theodore ‘Teddy’ Roosevelt is one of the most popular US Presidents to date. He is also known for taking risks to get things done in the national interest. When Theodore Roosevelt became the president of the country he was the youngest ever to hold office. He put the energy and excitement within the US Congress to pass some monumental reforms. Theodore Roosevelt also had one of the strongest foreign policies of all time.
No. 3 – Abraham Lincoln (1861 – 1865)
In this particular survey, among all the US Presidents to date, Abraham Lincoln is positioned at No. 3, considering his ability and leadership qualities, but in an exclusive survey conducted by historians, Lincoln stood at No. 1. Abraham Lincoln is known for his humanitarian works. Lincoln was president when the US was going through a testing time of Civil War, yet he stood firm and kept the nation united. Abraham Lincoln is also credited for 1863’s Emancipation Proclamation that abolished slavery from the country forever.
No. 2 – Franklin D. Roosevelt (1933 – 1945)
The longest-serving president of the United States is Franklin D. Roosevelt. He is known for his leadership qualities both at the party and international levels. His handling of foreign relations is considered to be ‘one of its kind.’ Franklin D. Roosevelt took over the office when the US was going through the great depression and he took the country back on track. FDR also lead the country during the Second World War and almost won it before he died. Franklin D. Roosevelt is the only US president in the history of the nation, who almost completed four terms. FDR died before completing his fourth term.
No. 1 – George Washington (1789 – 1797)
George Washington, the first president of the United States of America has always taken a moral high ground whenever he had to take tough decisions. He is also known for his economic skills and the way he started the journey of a recently independent nation. George Washington fought really hard for the creation of the US constitution. Despite being ranked at the top position, historians say that George Washington was not happy at all at the time of leaving his office as he was sad about the way the US was divided into political lines. George Washington set the precedence by retiring at the end of the second term in the office.
At the beginning of the article, we mentioned that there will be no US President from the modern era featured in this list, but the survey certainly has a few modern era US Presidents in their list.
Here are some of the noteworthy US Presidents and their ranks who got mentioned in the survey.
Ronald Reagan (1981 – 1989) at No. 13
Bill Clinton (1993 – 2001) at No. 15
Barack Obama (2009 – 2017) at No. 17
George H.W. Bush (1989 – 1993) at No. 21
George W. Bush (2001 – 2009) at No. 33
Donald Trump (2017 – 2021) at No. 42
Did you like this article? Do you also have your favorite US President? Do let us know your views in the comments section given below.
eChhapu
