Lincoln, FDR Ranked 1-2 in Leadership Poll

By JACK NELSON

Feb. 21, 2000 12 AM PT

CHIEF WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT

WASHINGTON —

Historians who were surveyed about the leadership qualities of the 41 presidents of the United States judged Abraham Lincoln to be No. 1, followed by Franklin D. Roosevelt, George Washington, Theodore Roosevelt and Harry S. Truman.

The survey, whose results will be released by C-SPAN to coincide with Presidents Day, ranked a majority of the most recent presidents in the middle of the pack. George Bush ranked 20th; Bill Clinton, 21st; Jimmy Carter, 22nd; Gerald R. Ford, 23rd, and Richard Nixon, 25th.

Bunched in a higher category were John F. Kennedy, eighth; Dwight D. Eisenhower, ninth; Lyndon B. Johnson, 10th; and Ronald Reagan, 11th. Others in the top 10 were Woodrow Wilson, ranked sixth, and Thomas Jefferson, seventh.

Three of the top five presidents served in the 20th century, as did five of the next six. Among the 24 presidents who served before 1900, only Lincoln, Washington and Jefferson were ranked in the top 10.

Judging the presidents on 10 qualities of leadership were 58 historians from across the political spectrum who contributed to C-SPAN’s yearlong television series, “American Presidents: Life Portraits.”

President Clinton, only the second president in history to be impeached, would have ranked higher in the overall standings if he had not rated rock-bottom--41st--in moral authority and 36th in relations with Congress. Although the House voted two articles of impeachment against Clinton growing out of the Monica S. Lewinsky sex scandal, the Senate voted last year, mostly along party lines, to acquit him.

Nixon, who resigned in 1974 rather than endure certain impeachment and probable Senate conviction for his role in the Watergate scandal, ranked 40th in moral authority.

Clinton, who aides say has been concerned about the legacy he will leave after his second term ends in January, earned his best scores in the categories of pursuing equal justice, 5th; economic management, 5th; and public persuasion, 11th.

He ranked in the middle (20th to 22nd) in the remaining five categories: crisis leadership, international relations, administrative skills, performance in the context of the times and vision/agenda setting.

A team of four historians and academics supervised C-SPAN’s survey: Douglas Brinkley, director of the Eisenhower Center at the University of New Orleans; Howard University historian Edna Greene Medford; Richard North Smith, director of the Gerald R. Ford Museum and Library; and John Splaine, education professor at the University of Maryland.

Brinkley suggested that the survey makes it clear that Truman has joined the pantheon of great American presidents. “His face should be chiseled on Mount Rushmore right next to Theodore Roosevelt.”

Survey responses were tabulated by averaging all the responses in each category for each president. Each of the 10 categories was given equal weight.

Lincoln, with a total score of 900, was first in five categories: crisis leadership, administrative skills, vision/agenda setting, pursuing equal justice for all and performance in context of times. He ranked second in moral authority, third in public persuasion and economic management, and fourth in international relations and relations with Congress.

Franklin D. Roosevelt earned a score of 876 by ranking first in three categories--public persuasion, economic management and international relations--and second in four others--crisis leadership, relations with Congress and vision/agenda setting.

Washington ranked first in moral authority and second in economic management, administrative skills and performance within context of times, for a score of 842.

The highest category ratings for Theodore Roosevelt, whose score was 810, were second for public persuasion and third for both moral authority and international relations.

Truman’s highest ratings were third for pursuing equal justice and fourth for crisis leadership. His total score was 753.

Lyndon B. Johnson was the only president other than Lincoln, Franklin Roosevelt and Washington to rank first in a category--congressional relations. He also ranked second in pursuing equal justice. Although his prosecution of the Vietnam War earned him poor marks in international relations (36th) and moral authority (28th), his total score of 655 was still good enough to land him in 10th place overall.

Reagan’s highest ratings were fourth for public persuasion and eighth for both congressional relations and vision/agenda setting. His lowest was 32nd for administrative skills. His total score was 634.

The historians rated James Buchanan, the nation’s 15th president, as its worst. He had a total score of 259 and finished last in four categories: crisis leadership, vision/agenda setting, pursuing equal justice and performance within the context of the times.

Andrew Johnson, who was impeached but acquitted by a single vote in the Senate in 1868, ranked next to last overall.

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Ranking the Presidents

Following is a list ranking the 41 U.S. presidents based on a survey of 58 scholars to be released Monday by public affairs cable television channel C-SPAN.

1. Abraham Lincoln

2. Franklin Delano Roosevelt

3. George Washington

4. Theodore Roosevelt

5. Harry S. Truman

6. Woodrow Wilson

7. Thomas Jefferson

8. John F. Kennedy

9. Dwight Eisenhower

10. Lyndon Baines Johnson

11. Ronald Reagan

12. James Polk