Presidential Greatness and Political Science: Assessing the 2014 APSA Presidents and Executive Politics Section Presidential Greatness Survey

Abstract

Debates about presidential greatness have been with us for decades, facilitated in part by numerous systematic surveys of scholars with expertise in American history and politics. Nevertheless, the voice of political scientists in this debate has been relatively muted when compared particularly with the role that historians have had in making these determinations. This article introduces and assesses results of a recent effort to capture the attitudes of political science presidency experts about presidential greatness. By surveying the membership of the APSA Presidents and Executive Politics section, we could identify and then compare specifically the attitudes of political scientists against the growing body of ratings and rankings of a phenomenon with long-standing interest and importance.

Presidential Greatness in a Polarized Era: Results from the Latest Presidential Greatness Survey

“…Table 1 presents the average rating of each president, ranked from highest to lowest rating. The top rankings are similar to those from a previous survey (Rottinghaus and Vaughn 2017): Abraham Lincoln again topped the list (μ=95), followed by George Washington (93), Franklin Delano Roosevelt (89), Theodore Roosevelt (81), Thomas Jefferson (80), Harry Truman (75), and Dwight Eisenhower (74). After these first seven places, however, several differences emerge.…”

“…He is followed by Ronald Reagan (69), Lyndon Johnson (69), Woodrow Wilson (67), and James Madison (64). Next is Bill Clinton at 14th (64), who dropped five places since the previous survey (Rottinghaus and Vaughn 2017). Clinton is followed by John Adams (63) and Andrew Jackson (62), who dropped six places to 15th.…”

Achievement motivation and presidential effectiveness

“…For example, there have been achievement motivated presidents who continue to be widely revered by scholars, historians and the public (e.g. Theodore Roosevelt, Woodrow Wilson; Rottinghaus and Vaughn, 2017), others who I believe had the potential to be held in higher regard (e.g. Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan), and those who were more or less ineffective (e.g.…”

“…Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan), and those who were more or less ineffective (e.g. Richard Nixon; Rottinghaus and Vaughn, 2017). Interestingly, however, such stark differences in perceptions across these presidents have never been predicated on whether they were low or high in achievement motivation.…”