Gallup Poll: Honest Abe, JFK Among Greatest U.S. Presidents

Gallup News Service ^ | 5/16/03 | Joseph Carroll

[Jean S]

PRINCETON, NJ -- An Unfinished Life, historian Robert Dallek's new book about the life of President John F. Kennedy, was released this week. The book, among other things, illustrates the gravity of Kennedy's medical problems, describes an alleged affair with a White House intern, and speculates about how Kennedy would have handled the Vietnam War. The publication of this new Kennedy biography raises the question of where Kennedy ranks in the eyes of Americans.

Lincoln, Kennedy Have Slight Edge on Greatest U.S. President This Year

An April CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll asked Americans: "Who do you regard as the greatest United States president?"

Abraham Lincoln gets the most mentions from Americans at 15%, but not by a significant margin over the second-place finisher, Kennedy (13%). Two recent presidents, Bill Clinton and Ronald Reagan, as well as the current president, are all mentioned by 10% or more of the public. Other presidents earning mentions from more than 5% of the public include Franklin D. Roosevelt and George Washington.

Gallup has asked this question four times since 1999, and over that period, Lincoln and Kennedy have typically rated near the top of the list. In 1999, Lincoln had a six-percentage-point lead over Washington, Kennedy, Reagan, and Clinton. Kennedy led the pack the next year, with a small four-percentage-point lead over Lincoln. Polling in 2001 and 2003 has found no clear-cut victor among the presidents mentioned, but Lincoln and Kennedy still appear near the top of the list. Reagan, with 18%, actually had the most mentions in 2001, probably due in part to the fact that the poll was conducted around celebrations of his 90^th birthday.

Who do you regard as the greatest United States president?

	Apr 5-6, 2003	Feb 9-11, 2001	Feb 14-15, 2000	Feb 1999
	%	%	%	%
Abraham Lincoln	15	14	18	18
John Kennedy	13	16	22	12
Bill Clinton	11	9	5	12
George W. Bush	11	--	--	--
Ronald Reagan	10	18	11	12
Franklin Roosevelt	9	6	12	9
George Washington	7	5	5	12
Harry Truman	4	6	3	4
Jimmy Carter	3	4	3	3
Theodore Roosevelt	2	2	3	3
George Bush (the elder)	2	3	3	5
Thomas Jefferson	2	1	3	2
Dwight Eisenhower	1	1	3	2
Richard Nixon	1	1	2	2
Other	2	5	3	1
None	1	2	*	1
No opinion	6	7	4	2
2000-2001 questions asked of half sample.

Republicans, Democrats Vary Substantially on Greatest U.S. President

The latest polling finds dramatic (but not necessarily surprising) differences between the Republicans' and Democrats' choices for the greatest president in history. Three Democratic presidents -- Kennedy (25%), Clinton (21%), and Franklin Roosevelt (13%) -- are Democrats' most frequent choices as the greatest president. Lincoln is the only Republican president identified by a large number of Democrats, with 9% saying he is the greatest president.

Among Republicans in this poll, 23% mention the current president. Lincoln is mentioned by 20%, 18% mention Reagan, and 9% mention Washington. No more than 3% of Republicans nominate any Democratic president as the greatest of all time.

Independents have a more mixed view, with Lincoln, Kennedy, Clinton, and Franklin Roosevelt each getting between 11% and 16% of the votes.

	Republicans	Independents	Democrats
	%	%	%
Abraham Lincoln	20	16	9
John Kennedy	3	13	25
Bill Clinton	2	12	21
George W. Bush	23	6	3
Ronald Reagan	18	8	3
Franklin Roosevelt	3	11	13
George Washington	9	8	4
Harry Truman	3	5	3
Jimmy Carter	1	3	6
Theodore Roosevelt	2	3	2
George H.W. Bush	3	2	*
Thomas Jefferson	1	2	2
Dwight Eisenhower	2	1	*
Richard Nixon	2	1	--

Age Impacts Vote for Greatest President in U.S. History

There are interesting and significant differences in choice of greatest U.S. president by age. Americans tend to select a leader from the formative years of their generation. The only exceptions, once again, are Washington and Lincoln, who rank fairly high among people in all age groups despite the fact that both served long before any person living today was born.

Clinton is far and away the most likely to be selected as the greatest president among 18- to 29-year-olds; nearly 3 in 10 respondents in this age group mention him. Younger Americans are at least three times more likely than any other age group to cite Clinton as the best president. Lincoln and the current President Bush each get 10% of the mentions from people in the 18- to 29-year-old age group, getting only about one-third of the mentions Clinton does among younger Americans.

Americans aged 30 to 49 are essentially divided in their opinions on the greatest president, but Reagan, who was in office when these people were mainly in their teens, 20s, and 30s, is more likely to be mentioned by this age group than any others. Lincoln, Kennedy, and Reagan are essentially tied, with just about one in six mentioning them. Twelve percent mention the current president.

One in five Americans between the ages of 50 and 64 mention Kennedy as the greatest president, significantly more than in any other age group. Those in this age bracket also hold Lincoln in high regard.

For Americans aged 65 and older, Franklin Roosevelt and Lincoln are essentially tied as the greatest U.S. president, named by 19% and 17%, respectively. Also scoring high among this age group are the current President Bush, Harry Truman, and Kennedy.

	18- to 29- year-olds	30- to 49- year-olds	50- to 64- year-olds	65 and older
	%	%	%	%
Abraham Lincoln	10	16	17	17
John Kennedy	7	14	21	10
Bill Clinton	29	8	8	6
George W. Bush	10	12	9	12
Ronald Reagan	7	14	8	8
Franklin Roosevelt	4	6	10	19
George Washington	8	6	8	5
Harry Truman	2	2	4	10
Jimmy Carter	2	4	3	1
Theodore Roosevelt	5	2	3	1
George H.W. Bush	3	3	*	*
Thomas Jefferson	1	2	2	*
Dwight Eisenhower	1	1	1	1
Richard Nixon	--	2	*	1

Higher Educated Americans Pick Lincoln as Greatest U.S. President

"Honest Abe" is the top choice as the greatest U.S. president among Americans with college degrees or postgraduate education. Roughly one in five adults with degrees in higher education pick Lincoln as the greatest president, while fewer Americans with only some college or a high school diploma or less mention Lincoln.

No other president comes close to Lincoln among adults with a college degree or postgraduate education. Reagan, Franklin Roosevelt, and Kennedy trail Lincoln, each mentioned by roughly 1 in 10 Americans at these levels of education.

Those with some college or a high school diploma or less show no consensus as to the greatest president.

	Post- graduate education	College graduate only	Some college education	High school diploma or less
	%	%	%	%
Abraham Lincoln	20	21	13	13
John Kennedy	11	12	13	15
Bill Clinton	5	6	13	14
George W. Bush	5	8	9	16
Ronald Reagan	12	8	12	10
Franklin Roosevelt	12	11	7	8
George Washington	7	8	8	5
Harry Truman	4	4	4	3
Jimmy Carter	3	4	3	2
Theodore Roosevelt	2	2	4	2
George H.W. Bush	2	3	2	2
Thomas Jefferson	5	4	1	*
Dwight Eisenhower	*	2	1	1
Richard Nixon	1	--	2	1

Survey Methods

These results are based on telephone interviews with a randomly selected national sample of 1,009 adults, aged 18 and older, conducted April 5-6, 2003. For results based on this sample, one can say with 95%confidence that the maximum error attributable to sampling and other random effects is ±3 percentage points. In addition to sampling error, question wording and practical difficulties in conducting surveys can introduce error or bias into the findings of public opinion polls.

[Savage Beast]

BUSH

LINCOLN

JEFFERSON

WASHINGTON

grant harding
johnson
carter
clinton

[ChinaGotTheGoodsOnClinton]

Lets not forget to credit Kennedy with Vietnam and Bay of Pigs which remain historic lowpoints for the strength of American Forces.

[nopardons]

And the Unions ( STEEL ) had him and the nation on the ropes. The tax cut helped, but the business cycles were upset by the vast numbers of stikes, whilst JFK was president.

[Tall_Texan]

A number of observations:

1) Wonder how the results would skew if you told them JFK f*cked a TEENAGED intern while president. Note: this poll was taken before that revelation.

2) Every president since WWII is mentioned *except* LBJ. Why?

3) Lincoln's popularity can be condensed into the four-word phrase every grade shcool kid has learned "Lincoln freed the slaves". No president, not even Washington, has their identitiy sewn into such a tidy and magnanimous phrase. It would be rare to find someone who credits Lincoln with his role in conducting the Civil War or the torturous demands on his personal life while in Washington, etc. This four-word cliche is all most remember about him.

4) Somebody find the 2% of Republicans that believe Clinton was the greatest president and quickly remove them from the gene pool PLEASE! How could they possibly be Republicans and make such a claim? Conversely, you know the Democrats are already stealing raw data to locate the 3% of their affiliated members that feel that way about Reagan. I'm sure if they find them, they'll be shuttled off to concentration camps or, at the very least, have their AM radios taken away.

5) I wouldn't equate the slide of various presidents (particularly Republicans) without first factoring in the impact of George W. Bush. That 11% percent came from somewhere and it is mostly from Reagan, Bush's father and Nixon.

6) Excusing the timing of Reagan's popularity in 2001 seems specious since he would have his birthday at the same time every year - and its not like he's brought out in public to celebrate them. No, I think it has to do with the Clinton Fatigue our country felt at the time, as well as uncertainty on what sort of president Bush43 would become. America wanted a president to make them proud again and Reagan was the best recent example.

7) If I had been polled I would have answered Reagan each time, even today, while admitting to some areas where he fell short, he did so much to revive his party, his country, and that country's place in the world that I shudder to think what we'd be like today had he lost in 1980 and 1984.

[rmmcdaniell]

The truth ( FACTS ) concerning his presidency have been oblitterated/hidden.

Aaach!! another freeper is starting to adopt f.christian's writing style.

[nopardons]

HUNH ?

No,I certainly am not.

[Jean S]

Please don't go there. Don't ruin my perfectly good thead with old feuds.

[Tall_Texan]

BTW does this mean we are going to have to suffer thru the 40th anniversary of the magic bullet?

Yes, because Kennedy is the Elvis of presidents - bigger dead than he ever was alive. And secondly, because there's still no consensus on who shot him so the murder mystery endures. Interesting, isn't it, that the heavy-handed rush to judgement meant to stifle any doubt as to who was the murderer has been turned on its head into creating the most enduring murder mystery of all time. Ask 20 people and you might get 20 different theories.

[Tall_Texan]

And, for you stat hounds, notice how Truman's support is equally strong among Republicans as Democrats and even higher among Independents. Oh if Truman had only come out in favor of abortion, he might score better with the 'Rats.

While I'd have trouble classifying Truman as "great", I admire what he had to go through as the Accidental President - Hiroshima, the Marshall Plan, Korea, etc. He had a lot of chances to do terrible harm to our country and managed to sidestep most of them.

[The Other Harry]

I'm becoming convinced that I live in a country full of morons. I can't believe what a see in polls at times.

Yes indeed. I think the main thing this polls goes to show is how ingorant out population has become.

That's unfortunate.

[MarkDel]

JeanS and Eveyone Else,

This poll is ridiculous. If you want to see a more scientifi poll conducted recently by C-Span, check out the link below. This is a poll of C-Span viewers, but also on that site are other polls of historians broken down on a number of issues.

http://www.americanpresidents.org/survey/viewer/overall.asp

[libertylover]

I think the answers are a result of the respondent’s educations. Kennedy and Lincoln are the most mentioned in public school history classes.

To be thought of as a "great president" by large numbers of peoples requires that the president in question be in office at a time when the nation itself is in great peril, and of course we have to come through it OK, as we've always done. Thus Lincoln (Civil War), Roosevelt (WWII), and Kennedy (Cuban missile crises) are always near the tops of these lists.

[MarkDel]

Savage Beast,

That's a pretty good list you put together there, Here's My Top 10 and Bottom 10

The Best 10 Presidents
1. Abraham Lincoln
2. George Washington
3. Ronald Reagan
4. Franklin Roosevelt
5. Thomas Jefferson
6. George W. Bush
7. Theodore Roosevelt
8. Richard Nixon
9. Andrew Jackson
10. Harry Truman
Honorable Mention to James Madison, who was only a decent President, but his writings in the Federalist Papers are perhaps the definitive work in poltical theory.

WORST 10 Presidents
1. Jimmy Carter
2. Jimmy Carter
3. Jimmy Carter
4. Jimmy Carter
5. Jimmy Carter
6. Lyndon Johnson
7. Bill Clinton
8. Herbert Hoover
9. Warren Harding
10. Franklin Pierce

[Oldeconomybuyer]

I'm becoming convinced that I live in a country full of morons. I cant believe what a see in polls at times.

I read/heard recently that 95% of the folks called to participate in telephone polls hang up or don't participate. The majority of the 5% who partake in political polls are either lonely morons happy to be talking to anybody, or partisan activists from either the left or right. It then boils down to sampling - which side had more participants, the left or right.

It's pretty clear this poll tilted left BIGTIME.

[Oldeconomybuyer]

...Eleanor Clift used the word "sweet" to describe JFK's recently discovered affair...

I wonder if Ms Clift would consider it "sweet" if her 19-year old daughter was "polled" by her employer.

[William McKinley]

This poll was rigged.

[faithincowboys]

Don't you think that people like Jayson Blair come up with these results? They find what they want irrespective of data. I can't believe that more people cited Bill Clinton than Reagan. I am sure that there are so many people (Democrats included) who have contempt for Scumbubba.

This is Barabara Streisand if I've ever seen it.

[WarrenC]

That's why this poll says a lot more about the respondents than maybe we wanted to know. Funny how the Democrats love JFK, but his ideas about tax cuts and strong defense would have leave any current candidate with no chance of winning his party's nomination.

[snooker]

" ... I can't believe G. Washington scored so low. "

who is George Washington?

results == survey population. Survey morons, get moronic results.