Opinion | How Does Trump Stack Up Against the Best — and Worst — Presidents?<br />Presidents whose rank changed since last survey<br />On partisan-votes lines, Democrats ranked Ronald Reagan nine places lower than Republicans, while Democrats place Obama 10 places higher.<br />Counting only Republican votes, William McKinley — best known for winning the Spanish-American war, for defeating William Jennings Bryan twice in contests for the White House<br />and for being assassinated by the anarchist Leon Czolgosz — holds a spot in the Top 10.<br />Since our previous survey in 2014, some presidential legacies have soared (Barack Obama’s stock has climbed<br />into the Top 10), while others have fallen (Andrew Jackson toppled to 15, out of the Top 10).<br />James Buchanan, who was at the helm as the United States careened into civil war, was dislodged<br />from his position as our nation’s worst president by our current president, Trump.<br />Let’s say that, according to the 170 members of the American Political Science Association’s Presidents<br />and Executive Politics section who filled out our survey, he has at least three years to improve on an ignominious debut.<br />Presidents since World War II in boldface<br />Which president deserves to have his likeness carved next into Mt.<br />Roosevelt, the godfather of presidential liberalism, received more than twice as<br />many votes from Republicans as Ronald Reagan, his conservative counterpart.
