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Historians rank Trump worst president in history, Lincoln the best

Former president Donald Trump speaks when he arrives at Manhattan Criminal Court at 100 Centre Street to attend a hearing in New York City on Thursday. Photo by John Angelillo/UPI
1 of 3 | Former president Donald Trump speaks when he arrives at Manhattan Criminal Court at 100 Centre Street to attend a hearing in New York City on Thursday. Photo by John Angelillo/UPI | License Photo

Feb. 19 (UPI) -- A new survey of historians ranks Donald Trump the worst president in U.S. history.

Trump has touted his poll numbers against President Joe Biden ahead of a potential rematch in November. However, the 2024 Presidential Greatness Project Expert Survey, conducted by Qualtrics, has Biden significantly ahead of the former president.

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The survey was conducted online among more than 500 members of the American Political Science Association, an organization of professionals in the field. Respondents rated Biden at 62.66 on a scale of 100 for overall greatness, good for 14th out of 45 presidents.

Abraham Lincoln scored the highest rating at 93.87, followed by Franklin Delano Roosevelt at 90.83 and George Washington at 90.32.

Trump scored 10.92. Fifteenth President James Buchanan, the second-worst rated president, scored 16.71.

The survey asked respondents to rate all presidents with 0 being considered "failure," 50 being "average" and 100 being "great."

Republicans and conservatives notably rank Trump worse than Biden, as well. Trump ranked 41st and 43rd by Republicans and conservatives, respectively. Meanwhile, Biden was ranked 30th by both.

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Republicans and conservatives ranked Washington the greatest president, while Democrats ranked him third and independents, second.

Democrats, independents, liberals and moderates rated Lincoln as the greatest president and Trump the worst.

Trump was also rated the most polarizing president. He was identified as among the most polarizing presidents more than twice as many times as any other president. Washington was rated the least polarizing. Jimmy Carter was also among the least polarizing presidents.

Carter was also ranked the most underrated president. John F. Kennedy and Ronald Reagan were ranked as the most overrated.

Barack Obama's ranking has seen one of the biggest increases since the survey began in 2015, moving up nine spots to seventh. His rating this year is 73.8. Andrew Jackson on the other hand has fallen 12 places to 21st with a rating of 54.7.

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