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Presidential Politics Experts Rate Trump Worst President, Obama Eighth Best

Donald Trump listens as Barack Obama speaks in White House / Getty
Donald Trump listens as Barack Obama speaks in White House / Getty
February 19, 2018

A survey of presidential politics experts released Monday rated Donald Trump the worst U.S. president in history despite him only being in office for one year, while naming Barack Obama the eighth-best president.

According to the New York Times, 170 members of the American Political Science Association’s Presidents and Executive Politics section filled out a survey commissioned by professors Brandon Rottinghaus and Justin S. Vaughn.

In their last survey in 2014, Obama was rated 18th, meaning he moved up 10 spots in four years. Trump took the bottom spot once occupied by James Buchanan, the president before Abraham Lincoln as the country neared the Civil War.

Obama was one spot ahead of Ronald Reagan (No. 9) in the new list.

Democratic-leaning scholars rated Trump the worst president, while independent scholars rated him second-worst and Republican scholars rated him fifth-worst. Obama was named the sixth-best president by Democratic scholars, 12th-best by independent scholars and 16th-best by Republican scholars.

While Trump is the 45th president, Grover Cleveland was the country's 22nd and 24th president, meaning Trump is the 44th different man to hold the office.

Bill Clinton rated No. 13 in the new survey—down from No. 8 in 2014—and George W. Bush was rated No. 35, up from No. 40 in 2014.

The top three presidents were Lincoln, George Washington and Franklin D. Roosevelt.