Poll: Kennedy, Reagan 'good presidents'

NEW YORK, March 1 (UPI) -- Presidents John Kennedy and Ronald Reagan top the list of good presidents determined by U.S. adults in an Angus Reid poll released Tuesday.

The online survey asked participants their opinions about a dozen current and former presidents.

Results indicated Kennedy garnered the biggest proportion of mentions as a "Good President" with 80 percent, followed by Reagan with 72 percent. Results indicate President Bill Clinton was third with 65 percent, followed by President Dwight D. Eisenhower, 61 percent, and President Harry S. Truman with 57 percent.

Rounding out the list were Jimmy Carter, 47 percent; George H. W. Bush, 44 percent; Barack Obama, 41 percent; Gerald Ford, 37 percent; Lyndon B. Johnson, 33 percent; George W. Bush, 30 percent; and Richard M. Nixon, 24 percent.

A majority of respondents said they though George W. Bush and Nixon as "bad presidents," with 55 percent and 54 percent, respectively, Angus Reid said.

Republicans were nearly universal in their praise for Reagan, with 92 percent of GOP supporters considering him a "good president," results indicated. Kennedy was the most popular among Democrats, capturing 88 percent of the positive vote. Independents also ranked Kennedy first, with 80 percent.

Angus Reid Public Opinion, with offices in New York, conducted the online survey Feb. 18-19 among 1,010 U.S. adults who are panelists of its Springboard America. The margin of error is 3.1 percentage points.