As if it wasn’t bad enough that Donald Trump is cooped up at Mar-a-Lago watching his second impeachment trial on TV, a poll has more dire news for the disgraced former president.
According to a new survey from the Economist/YouGov, a plurality of Americans view Barack Obama as the best president in U.S. history, just edging out the 16th president, Abraham Lincoln.
The poll shows that 18 percent of American adults call Obama the best president in history, while 17 percent give that title to Lincoln.
Who was the best President in U.S. history?
Obama 18%
Lincoln 17%
Trump 13%
Roosevelt 12%
Reagan 10%
Washington 9%
Kennedy 6%
Roosevelt 3%
Clinton 2%
Jefferson 2%@YouGovAmerica/@TheEconomist, Adults, 2/6-9https://t.co/jcUx18cvba— Political Polls (@Politics_Polls) February 12, 2021
When it comes to which president was the worst in American history, it wasn’t even close as a near-majority of American adults – 46 percent – give that title to the twice-impeached 45th president, Donald Trump.
Who was the worst President in U.S. history?
Trump 46%
Obama 24%
Nixon 5%
George W. Bush 4%
Clinton 4%
Carter 3%
Wilson 2%
Johnson 2%
George Bush 2%
Buchanan 1%@YouGovAmerica/@TheEconomist, Adults, 2/6-9https://t.co/jcUx18cvba— Political Polls (@Politics_Polls) February 12, 2021
Historians and scholars agree: Trump is the worst
While polling can provide interesting snapshots of the current political climate, it’ll likely be up to scholars and historians to determine which presidents were the best and the worst.
On that score, public opinion isn’t off by much.
According to a survey of scholars conducted by the New York Times, Trump is dead last in the ranking of presidents. Obama, on the other hand, clocks in at an impressive number eight, joining greats like Abraham Lincoln and George Washington in the top 10.
Donald Trump’s presidency will forever be remembered as a cyclone of corruption and incompetence that very nearly sent democracy crumbling to the ground. But what will likely anger Trump the most about his legacy is that it will never measure up to that of Barack Obama – or any other president for that matter.
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Sean Colarossi currently resides in Cleveland, Ohio. He earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in Journalism from the University of Massachusetts Amherst and was an organizing fellow for both of President Obama’s presidential campaigns. He also worked with Planned Parenthood as an Affordable Care Act Outreach Organizer in 2014, helping northeast Ohio residents obtain health insurance coverage.
