Press Contact: Corporate Communications The Harris Poll 212-539-9600 Press.TheHarrisPoll@Nielsen.com Presidents' Day Poll: Lincoln Seen as Best President, Reagan as Best Since World War II NEW YORK, N.Y. As the nation continues to celebrate our Presidents by commemorating Presidents' Day and the birth of President George Washington, pluralities of Americans see President Abraham Lincoln as the best president ever and President Ronald Reagan as the best president since World War II. A new Harris Poll also finds that attitudes to more recent presidents are highly polarized by party, with Democrats having much more positive attitudes to Presidents Kennedy, Clinton and Obama, and Republicans having much more positive attitudes to President Reagan. When asked who they think was the worst president since World War II, a plurality which includes half of all Republicans name President Barack Obama, followed by Presidents George W. and Nixon. These are some of the results of The Harris Poll of 2,319 U.S. adults ages 18+ surveyed online between uary 24 and February 3, 2017. Best and Worst Presidents since World War II When asked who the best president was since World War II, the largest proportion of Americans (25%), including 51% of Republicans, choose Ronald Reagan. He is followed by presidents John F. Kennedy (16%), Franklin D. (16%) and Barack Obama (15%). When asked to choose the worst president since World War II, the largest number (24%), including 50% of Republicans, pick Barack Obama, followed by presidents George W. (16%) and Richard Nixon (16%). These perceptions of more modern presidents - like so many other attitudes today - are highly polarized by party, and the more recent the president, the more polarized the opinions. The percentages of each party who see the following as the best presidents are: Reagan - 51% of Republicans vs. 6% of Democrats; Kennedy - 21% of Democrats vs. 9% of Republicans; - 19% of Democrats vs. 10% of Republicans; and, Obama - 29% of Democrats vs. 3% of Republicans. Almost a quarter (24%) of Democrats see George W. as the worst president, compared to only 5% of Republicans. Nearly half of all Republicans (48%) think Barack Obama was the worst president, compared to 7% of Democrats. Best President ever When it comes to picking the best president in the history of the United States, no one president receives 20% or more of the vote. President Lincoln (19%) tops the list, followed by presidents Obama (15%, including 30% of Democrats), Washington (14%), Reagan (13%), Kennedy (8%) and Franklin (7%). Those polled were also asked to pick their second choice. When those who chose a president as their first or second choice are added together, the rank order is more or less the same, with Lincoln (31%) topping the list, followed by Obama (26%), Reagan (24%), Kennedy (19%), Washington (18%), Clinton (14%) and Franklin (12%).
No other president received more than 5% of the vote. With the exceptions of presidents Washington and Lincoln, very few Americans picked any presidents before World War II. TABLE 1 BEST PRESIDENT SINCE WORLD WAR II "Looking at the list of presidents since World War II, which one do you think is the best president?" Base: All adults Party ID Republican Democrat Independent 2008 2010 2012 2017 % % % % % % % Ronald Reagan 25 25 25 25 51 6 25 John Kennedy 15 14 15 16 9 21 16 Franklin 21 22 19 16 10 19 18 Barack NA 4 4 15 3 29 11 Obama Bill Clinton 11 11 12 6 1 9 5 Dwight 4 4 4 3 5 2 2 Harry Truman 4 4 4 3 3 3 4 George W. 2 1 2 2 4 1 1 George H.W. 1 1 1 1 3 1 * Jimmy Carter 3 2 2 1 1 1 2 Richard Nixon 2 1 1 1 1 * 1 Lyndon 1 2 1 * * 1 * Johnson Gerald Ford 1 * 1 * 1 * - Not sure 10 9 10 11 8 7 14 Note: Totals may not add to 100% because of rounding. TABLE 2 WORST PRESIDENT SINCE WORLD WAR II Looking at the list of presidents since World War II, which one do you think was the worst president?
Base: All adults Party ID Republican Democrat Independent 2008 2010 2012 2017 % % % % % % % Barack NA 15 22 24 48 7 22 Obama George W. 34 31 27 16 5 24 18 Richard Nixon 10 10 12 16 8 25 12 Bill Clinton 17 6 5 8 9 7 6 Ronald 3 3 4 5 4 5 5 Reagan Jimmy Carter 13 10 5 5 3 3 9 George H.W. 2 3 4 4 3 6 3 John Kennedy 2 3 2 3 3 3 3 Gerald Ford 1 1 1 2 2 3 1 Lyndon 3 2 2 2 2 2 1 Johnson Harry Truman * 1 2 1 1 1 * Dwight 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 Franklin 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 Not sure 13 10 12 14 10 11 17 Note: Totals may not add to 100% because of rounding. TABLE 3 BEST PRESIDENTS IN HISTORY Which one of the following presidents do you think was the best president in our history and which one was second best? Base: All adults Best or Second Best Best Second Best 2008 2010 2012 2017 % % % % % %
Abraham Lincoln 33 32 32 31 19 12 Barack Obama NA 9 8 26 15 11 Ronald Reagan 25 25 26 24 13 12 John Kennedy 22 17 21 19 8 11 George 18 19 21 18 14 4 Washington Bill Clinton 17 17 19 14 5 9 Franklin 22 22 17 12 7 5 Theodore 6 6 5 5 2 3 Thomas Jefferson 8 7 6 5 2 3 George W. 5 4 5 5 1 4 George H.W. 2 2 2 4 1 4 Dwight 4 5 4 3 1 2 Jimmy Carter 3 3 3 3 1 2 Harry Truman 6 4 5 3 1 2 Richard Nixon 3 2 2 1 * 1 John Adams 1 2 2 1 * 1 Andrew Jackson 1 1 1 1 * 1 Lyndon Johnson 1 1 1 1 * 1 Woodrow Wilson * * * 1 * * Calvin Coolidge * * * 1 * * Gerald Ford 1 1 * * * * Not sure 9 9 12 9 9 12 Note: Totals for best and second best may not add to 100% because of rounding. Note: In this question the list included all presidents since Franklin and the other presidents in the table, but not any other presidents
Methodology This Harris Poll was conducted online within the United States between uary 24 and February 3, 2017 among 2,319 adults (aged 18 and over). Figures for age, sex, race/ethnicity, education, region and household income were weighted where necessary to bring them into line with their actual proportions in the population. Propensity score weighting was also used to adjust for respondents' propensity to be online. All sample surveys and polls, whether or not they use probability sampling, are subject to multiple sources of error which are most often not possible to quantify or estimate, including sampling error, coverage error, error associated with nonresponse, error associated with question wording and response options, and post-survey weighting and adjustments. Therefore, The Harris Poll avoids the words "margin of error" as they are misleading. All that can be calculated are different possible sampling errors with different probabilities for pure, unweighted, random samples with 100% response rates. These are only theoretical because no published polls come close to this ideal. Respondents for this survey were selected from among those who have agreed to participate in Harris Poll surveys. The data have been weighted to reflect the composition of the adult population. Because the sample is based on those who agreed to participate in our panel, no estimates of theoretical sampling error can be calculated. These statements conform to the principles of disclosure of the National Council on Public Polls. The results of this Harris Poll may not be used in advertising, marketing or promotion without the prior written permission of The Harris Poll. The Harris Poll #7, February 22, 2017 By Humphrey Taylor, Chairman Emeritus, The Harris Poll About The Harris Poll Begun in 1963, The Harris Poll is one of the longest running surveys measuring public opinion in the U.S. and is highly regarded throughout the world. The nationally representative polls, conducted primarily online, measure the knowledge, opinions, behaviors and motivations of the general public. New and trended polls on a wide variety of subjects including politics, the economy, healthcare, foreign affairs, science and technology, sports and entertainment, and lifestyles are published weekly. Want Harris Polls delivered direct to your inbox? Click here!