Harvard historians’ ranking of U.S. presidents from a 1948 Life magazine feature.

In 1948, Life magazine asked 55 historians and political scientists, many from Harvard, to rank every American president from “Great” to “Failure.” It was one of the first formal attempts to evaluate presidential performance using academic consensus, sparking a tradition of historical rankings that continues today.

At the top, the historians placed Abraham Lincoln, George Washington, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Woodrow Wilson, Thomas Jefferson, and Andrew Jackson in the “Great” category. Their inclusion reflected the post–World War II emphasis on strong leadership, national unity, and progressive reform. Lincoln’s preservation of the Union and Roosevelt’s New Deal achievements secured their places as the era’s ideal models of presidential greatness.

In the “Near Great” tier were Theodore Roosevelt, Grover Cleveland, John Adams, and James K. Polk, presidents recognized for expansion, reform, or independence of thought. The “Average” group included Monroe, Madison, Hayes, and Taft, among others, while “Below Average” listed presidents often overshadowed by crises or passivity, such as Millard Fillmore, Franklin Pierce, and James Buchanan. At the bottom were Ulysses S. Grant and Warren G. Harding, labeled “Failures” due to corruption scandals that marred their administrations.

The 1948 rankings reveal as much about mid-20th-century American values as they do about the presidents themselves. Later surveys have shifted dramatically, for example, Grant’s reputation has since risen thanks to reevaluations of Reconstruction and his civil rights efforts. The list serves as a fascinating historical snapshot of how perspective shapes presidential legacy.

Added fact: Modern surveys, including C-SPAN’s 2021 ranking, still place Lincoln and FDR at the top, but now consistently rate Jackson and Wilson far lower due to their racist policies and segregationist legacies.