President Donald Trump has shared his own ranking of U.S. presidents on Truth Social, placing himself alone in a category labeled “The Greatest” above Abraham Lincoln, George Washington and Franklin D. Roosevelt.
The chart, posted to Trump’s account on Thursday, groups presidents into categories ranging from “Great” and “Near Great” to “Failures.” Trump occupies the top tier by himself, while Lincoln, Washington, Roosevelt, Woodrow Wilson, Thomas Jefferson and Andrew Jackson are placed in the next-highest category.
The post offers a glimpse into how Trump views America’s past commanders in chief and comes as his standing among Republican voters continues to surpass that of previous GOP presidents. A recent poll found Republican respondents were significantly more likely to name Trump as the president they most admired than either Ronald Reagan or Lincoln.
The chart shared by Trump closely resembles a famous presidential ranking published by LIFE magazine in November 1948. The rankings were compiled by historian Arthur M. Schlesinger Sr., who surveyed 55 historians and grouped presidents into categories including “Great,” “Near Great,” “Average,” “Below Average” and “Failures.” Trump’s version appears to retain most of Schlesinger’s original rankings while adding himself in a standalone category labeled “The Greatest” and placing former Presidents Joe Biden, Barack Obama and Jimmy Carter among the “Failures.”
Schlesinger’s original survey ranked Lincoln, Washington, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Woodrow Wilson, Thomas Jefferson and Andrew Jackson as America’s six “great” presidents. Harry Truman was not included because he was still serving as president when the survey was conducted.
Truth Social/ @realDonaldTrump
Trump’s Ranking Reflects His View of Presidential History
Beyond granting himself the top spot, Trump’s list highlights several presidents he has praised throughout his political career.
Andrew Jackson, who Trump has frequently cited as one of his presidential inspirations in his first term, was placed in the “Great” category alongside Washington and Lincoln. William McKinley, whose use of tariffs Trump has repeatedly pointed to when discussing trade policy, was ranked “Average.”
The ranking also elevated Woodrow Wilson, placing him among Trump’s “Great” presidents despite Wilson receiving increasingly mixed assessments from modern historians. In recent years, debates over Wilson’s record on racial segregation and civil liberties have prompted some universities and institutions to reconsider how he is commemorated. At the same time, several prominent presidents were omitted entirely. Reagan, Dwight D. Eisenhower, John F. Kennedy, Harry Truman, Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush did not appear anywhere on the chart.
The absence of Reagan is likely to attract particular attention. For decades, Reagan was viewed by many conservatives as the modern Republican standard-bearer, a status increasingly challenged by Trump’s dominance of the party. But Reagan was far from the only notable omission. Eisenhower routinely ranks near the top of modern surveys of presidential historians, while Kennedy remains one of the most recognizable and widely remembered figures in American political history.
The rankings also differ sharply from those produced by presidential historians. In the 2024 Presidential Greatness Project survey, Abraham Lincoln ranked first, followed by Franklin D. Roosevelt, George Washington, Theodore Roosevelt and Thomas Jefferson. Trump, who placed himself at the top of his own ranking, finished last in the historians’ survey, while Reagan ranked 16th.
Trump Has Overtaken Reagan Among Republican Voters
Trump’s ranking comes as polling suggests he has eclipsed many of the Republican Party’s most revered historical figures among GOP voters.
A CNN poll conducted by SSRS found that 53 percent of Republicans named Trump as the Republican president they admire most, compared with 18 percent for Reagan and 8 percent for Abraham Lincoln. The survey found Trump was also the second most admired president among Americans overall, behind only Barack Obama.
A separate Elon University poll reached a similar conclusion. Nearly three in 10 Republicans, 29 percent, said Trump was the best president in U.S. history, ahead of Lincoln at 25 percent and George Washington at 14 percent.
The findings highlight Trump’s unique standing within the modern Republican Party. While recent national polls have placed his overall approval rating in the mid-30s, Republican voters continue to view him more favorably than many of the presidents who traditionally occupied the party’s “top tier,” including Reagan and Lincoln.
That context makes Trump’s omission of Reagan particularly notable. Reagan has long been regarded as the modern standard-bearer of American conservatism, but polling suggests many Republicans now view Trump as the dominant figure in the party’s history.
Obama and Biden Among Trump’s ‘Failures’
At the opposite end of the ranking, Trump grouped former Presidents Joe Biden and Barack Obama in a category labeled “Failures.” They were joined by Jimmy Carter, Warren Harding and Ulysses S. Grant.
The ranking comes as the Trump administration has drawn attention for its treatment of recent presidents on the official White House website.
The administration’s online “Hall of Presidents” biography for Obama describes the former president as “one of the most divisive political figures in American History,” while Biden’s profile refers to him as “by far, the worst President in American History.” The biographies have attracted scrutiny from historians and critics who argue they depart from the more neutral tone traditionally used in official presidential profiles.
Contact Newsweek editors on this story: Rebecca Flood and Emma Lee-Sang