As we reflect on the country's leaders this President's Day, one survey shows love for POTUS is not equal across all those who have held the title.
Barbara Perry is a professor in presidential studies at the University of Virginia's Miller Center; she joined KNX News to discuss how President's Day became a holiday and how some presidents fared on this year's survey.
Perry said it all started in the late 1800s as a celebration of George Washington's birthday. Then, she said, some states began celebrating Abraham Lincoln's birthday.
"Because we certainly celebrated Washington's birthday as a national holiday, and in some places, they celebrated Lincoln's birthday," Perry said; it became the holiday we know today.
With the release of the Official Results of the 2024 Presidential Greatness Project Expert Survey, even after all these years, Lincoln is still considered one of the best, tanking the number one spot.
In Perry's expert opinion, this makes sense saying, "Usually he and Washington and FDR are the top three at sometimes different ranks, but I think for Lincoln saving the union saving our constitution, he has to go up at number one."
Overall Presidential Greatness Ratings and Rankings from Official Results of the 2024 Presidential Greatness Project Expert SurveyBrandon Rottinghaus, University of Houston Justin S. Vaughn, Coastal Carolina University
Overall Presidential Greatness Ratings and Rankings from Official Results of the 2024 Presidential Greatness Project Expert SurveyBrandon Rottinghaus, University of Houston Justin S. Vaughn, Coastal Carolina University
As for Biden's position at #14, Perry said, ranking a president so close to his time in office, or in Biden's case, still in office, is a bit premature. However, "Given what happened on January the sixth of 2021 that our ship of state as it's sometimes used, metaphorically, was listing badly... and so just the very fact that he righted that ship of state much as Lincoln had to save the union. I think you could give him credit for that."
She also points out that even if someone disagrees with his policies, he has passed several bipartisan policies, which is also worth something, especially in today's political climate.
On the other hand, former President Trump was placed at the bottom of the overall ranking list, and Perry said that ranking is premature too.
"Usually, those of us who participate in these things would say you've got to wait a little while before you rank people because you have to see what their administrations accomplished in the longer run, certainly for historians," said Perry.
With that said, Perry believes Trump's actions on January the 6th may have pushed him over the edge, and whether you agree with his political ideology or not, he may have gone "a bridge too far."
You can find the full report here. How did your favorite POTUS stack up?
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