Former president Donald Trump has been named as the worst president in US history in a new YouGov poll, while his predecessor Barack Obama was voted the best.
The results of the survey show the polarization of US political opinions at the end of the Trump presidency and as he is facing an impeachment trial in the Senate over the Capitol insurrection.
Asked who they felt was the worst president in history, 46 per cent of respondents named Mr. Trump. The survey was conducted between 6 and 9 February with almost 1,500 participants.
Mr. Obama was named the worst president by 24 per cent of respondents, while former president Richard Nixon – who left office in ignominy after the Watergate scandal – was named the worst by 5 per cent of people.
Respondents in the survey were also asked who they thought was the best president in history, and here the results were much closer. Mr. Obama narrowly topped the list on 18 percent, followed by 17 percent who voted for Abraham Lincoln.
But then Mr. Trump was voted as the best by 13 percent, making him third in the list ahead of Franklin D Roosevelt.
The poll also looked at the different aspects related to Mr. Trump’s impeachment trial in the wake of the Capitol riots, and the mandate was largely against him.
About 43 percent of the participants felt he had “a lot” of responsibility for the violent siege of the Capitol that left five people dead, while 30 per cent said that he had none.
About 41 percent of the participants strongly approved of Mr. Trump’s impeachment by the US House of Representatives, while 35 per cent strongly opposed the proceedings. And about 47 per cent believe that the US Senate should vote to convict Mr. Trump for the insurrection while 42 per cent voted against it.
Over half the participants (53 per cent) were opposed to the idea of Mr. Trump running for president again. A total of 37 per cent said they would support it.
In political studies, surveys have been conducted in order to construct historical rankings of the success of the presidents of the United States. Ranking systems are usually based on surveys of academic historians and political scientists or popular opinion. The rankings focus on presidential achievements, leadership qualities, failures, and faults.
Abraham Lincoln, Franklin D. Roosevelt, and George Washington are most often listed as the three highest-rated presidents among historians. The remaining places within the Top 10 are often rounded out by Theodore Roosevelt, Thomas Jefferson, Harry S. Truman, Woodrow Wilson, Dwight D. Eisenhower, Andrew Jackson, and John F. Kennedy. More recent presidents such as Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton are often rated among the greatest in public opinion polls, but do not always rank as highly among presidential scholars and historians. The bottom 10 often include James Buchanan, Warren G. Harding, Andrew Johnson, Franklin Pierce, Millard Fillmore, William Henry Harrison, John Tyler, Zachary Taylor, George W. Bush, and Donald Trump.
Public opinion polls evaluate recent presidents only.
A Gallup poll taken January 4–15, 2021, asked 1,023 adults in the United States the following question: "How do you think each of the following presidents will go down in history—as an outstanding president, above average, average, below average, or poor?”
