US Presidents, Ranked

Preserved the Union through the Civil War and issued the Emancipation Proclamation, a decisive step toward ending American slavery. Tops nearly every scholarly ranking ever conducted.

Set the precedent for peaceful transfer of power by voluntarily stepping down after two terms, defining the office itself. The indispensable founder.

Led the nation through the Great Depression and WWII, building the New Deal and modern federal state. Only president elected four times.

Trust-busting progressive who vastly expanded federal conservation and national parks, and brokered the end of the Russo-Japanese War, winning a Nobel Peace Prize.

Authored the Declaration of Independence and doubled the nation's size via the Louisiana Purchase. His slaveholding permanently complicates the legacy.

Built the Interstate Highway System, presided over 1950s prosperity, and warned against the military-industrial complex. Steady Cold War hand.

Ended WWII, launched the Marshall Plan and NATO, and desegregated the armed forces by executive order. Left office unpopular but soared in later reappraisal.

Passed the Civil Rights Act, Voting Rights Act, Medicare and Medicaid. Vietnam escalation shattered his presidency and drove him from seeking reelection.

Navigated the Cuban Missile Crisis and committed the nation to the Apollo moon program. A thin, tragically short record buoyed by enduring mystique.

Reshaped conservatism and helped wind down the Cold War, but ran huge deficits and was tainted by the Iran-Contra scandal.

Passed the Affordable Care Act and steered recovery from the 2008 financial crisis. Ranks highly among historians for a consequential first term.

Father of the Constitution and a key architect of the Bill of Rights, but as president stumbled into the poorly-managed War of 1812 that saw Washington burned.

Presided over a booming economy and budget surpluses, but was impeached over the Lewinsky scandal, only the second president so charged.

Kept the young nation out of war with France but signed the speech-chilling Alien and Sedition Acts. A one-term Founding Father.

Fought hard for Black civil rights and crushed the Klan during Reconstruction, but his administration drowned in corruption scandals.

Opened relations with China and created the EPA, but resigned in disgrace over the Watergate cover-up, the only president to do so.

His limited response to the 1929 crash proved inadequate as the Great Depression deepened, and shantytowns were derisively nicknamed 'Hoovervilles.'

Sabotaged Reconstruction, vetoed civil-rights protections for freed slaves, and was the first president ever impeached. Consistently ranked among the worst.

Dithered as the nation fractured, doing little to stop secession and leaving Lincoln a country already breaking apart. Routinely ranked dead last.

His administration was consumed by the Teapot Dome bribery scandal, and he died in office in 1923 amid the wreckage. A byword for corrupt cronyism.