# Trump Worst American President According to New York Times Poll of Experts **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [February 20, 2018, 3:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-worst-american-president-according-to-new-york-times-poll-of-experts/809167 "2018-02-20T03:42:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![PastTense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pasttense/32/14550_2.png) [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2018, 3:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-worst-american-president-according-to-new-york-times-poll-of-experts/809167/1 "2018-02-20T03:42:09Z")
The New York Times has published a list of Presidential ratings from the 170 members of the American Political Science Association’s Presidents and Executive Politics section: > **[Opinion | How Does Trump Stack Up Against the Best — and Worst — Presidents?...](https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2018/02/19/opinion/how-does-trump-stack-up-against-the-best-and-worst-presidents.html)** > > How scholars of politics rate the presidents — including the current one. Here are the rankings of the post World War II Presidents: 6 Truman 7 Eisenhower 8 Obama 9 Reagan 10 LB Johnson 13 Clinton 16 Kennedy 17 GHW Bush 25 Ford 26 Carter 30 G W Bush 33 Nixon 44 Trump So according to them Trump is the worst President in American history. [And Obama is a surprisingly high 8th] And remember: > [@](#): > > Trump won whites with a college degree 49% to 45%. > **[Behind Trump’s victory: Divisions by race, gender, education](https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2016/11/09/behind-trumps-victory-divisions-by-race-gender-education/)** > > Donald Trump's win followed a campaign that revealed deep divisions that were as wide and in some cases wider than in previous elections. This last point I find extremely depressing. ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2018, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-worst-american-president-according-to-new-york-times-poll-of-experts/809167/2 "2018-02-20T03:48:41Z")
It is impressive that the education gap among whites in 2012 was only 11 points, but it was 35 points in 2016. I don’t agree with Obama being 8th. LBJ was a better president than he was. ---
**Author:** ![Two\_Many\_Cats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8dc957/32.png) [@Two\_Many\_Cats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Two_Many_Cats)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2018, 5:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-worst-american-president-according-to-new-york-times-poll-of-experts/809167/3 "2018-02-20T05:45:49Z")
Eisenhower seventh? Other than the national highway system which was a side effect of the cold war, what did Eisenhower do but play golf and let McCarthy run rampant? ---
**Author:** ![blue\_infinity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blue_infinity/32/2817_2.png) [@blue\_infinity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blue_infinity)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2018, 5:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-worst-american-president-according-to-new-york-times-poll-of-experts/809167/4 "2018-02-20T05:58:52Z")
> [@Two\_Many\_Cats](#): > > what did Eisenhower do but play golf and let McCarthy run rampant? He directed the CIA to overthrow the democratic governments of Iran and Guatemala. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2018, 7:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-worst-american-president-according-to-new-york-times-poll-of-experts/809167/5 "2018-02-20T07:45:03Z")
You hear that, Little Donny? Everyone is calling and writing letters saying what a LOSER you are. The world is laughing at you. **SAD!** ---
**Author:** ![PlaceboTarget](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/placebotarget/32/1073_2.png) [@PlaceboTarget](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PlaceboTarget)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2018, 8:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-worst-american-president-according-to-new-york-times-poll-of-experts/809167/6 "2018-02-20T08:32:23Z")
Is this news supposed to do anything else than entertain? I wonder if consulting political experts on the quality of a president can help society. If political experts are so good at identifying the best man for the job, maybe they should replace the electors. If replacing electors is undemocratic, then maybe political experts should offer counsel to these electors, or to the people choosing the electors. I mean, at the time of the elections, not after the fact. If political experts’ verdict does not play an important role in the elections, I wonder what their social role really is. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2018, 8:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-worst-american-president-according-to-new-york-times-poll-of-experts/809167/7 "2018-02-20T08:48:19Z")
OK, but is he the worst president possible? Game on! ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2018, 9:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-worst-american-president-according-to-new-york-times-poll-of-experts/809167/8 "2018-02-20T09:10:17Z")
While I do think Trump is headed for the bottom of the list to fight it out with Buchanan, it’s still too early to make any kind of definitive call and “greatness” is a rather ill-defined metric. ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2018, 10:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-worst-american-president-according-to-new-york-times-poll-of-experts/809167/9 "2018-02-20T10:29:21Z")
I’m surprised it took over a year for anyone to come to this conclusion. It’s like looking at a pile of ashes and telling someone that their house is on fire. ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Feldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lord_feldon/32/341_2.png) [@Lord\_Feldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Feldon)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2018, 10:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-worst-american-president-according-to-new-york-times-poll-of-experts/809167/10 "2018-02-20T10:33:36Z")
The rehabilitation of George W. Bush is weird. He actually did a lot of the bad stuff people are merely afraid Trump will do. ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2018, 10:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-worst-american-president-according-to-new-york-times-poll-of-experts/809167/11 "2018-02-20T10:49:53Z")
However, if you average their rating of Trump with his own self-rating, Trump comes in as the 22½th best president. ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2018, 10:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-worst-american-president-according-to-new-york-times-poll-of-experts/809167/12 "2018-02-20T10:57:33Z")
> [@PlaceboTarget](#): > > Is this news supposed to do anything else than entertain? I wonder if consulting political experts on the quality of a president can help society. Honestly no, other than: a) saying that academics have a consensus POV about Trump; and b) reminding us of the comparisons we might consider - so this is a long view of Trump’s badness instead of just an in-your-face daily dose that can be hard to put in perspective. ---
**Author:** ![Bill\_Door](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/50afbb/32.png) [@Bill\_Door](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bill_Door)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2018, 11:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-worst-american-president-according-to-new-york-times-poll-of-experts/809167/13 "2018-02-20T11:20:03Z")
I don’t think it’s fair to judge Trump alongside other presidents. That’s not what he does. It’s like judging the dancing bear in the circus alongside Gene Kelly. We need a different metric for Trump; I mean, did they really judge Caligula’s horse Incitatus on how well he served as consul? ---
**Author:** ![Ravenman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ravenman/32/2929_2.png) [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2018, 11:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-worst-american-president-according-to-new-york-times-poll-of-experts/809167/14 "2018-02-20T11:59:20Z")
> [@PlaceboTarget](#): > > Is this news supposed to do anything else than entertain? I wonder if consulting political experts on the quality of a president can help society. If political experts are so good at identifying the best man for the job, maybe they should replace the electors. If replacing electors is undemocratic, then maybe political experts should offer counsel to these electors, or to the people choosing the electors. I mean, at the time of the elections, not after the fact. If political experts’ verdict does not play an important role in the elections, I wonder what their social role really is. I question the “social role” of Trump voters who couldn’t foresee this disaster happening. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2018, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-worst-american-president-according-to-new-york-times-poll-of-experts/809167/15 "2018-02-20T14:32:20Z")
Quite a few \*wanted \*to just shake things up, no matter the results. Well, things are indeed shaken up, folks. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2018, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-worst-american-president-according-to-new-york-times-poll-of-experts/809167/16 "2018-02-20T15:21:57Z")
I think it’s slightly interesting that the last two Democratic presidents, both of whom were highly ranked in this poll and elsewhere, were followed by Republican presidents, both of whom were poorly ranked in this poll and elsewhere. ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2018, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-worst-american-president-according-to-new-york-times-poll-of-experts/809167/17 "2018-02-20T15:25:21Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > I think it’s slightly interesting that the last two Democratic presidents, both of whom were highly ranked in this poll and elsewhere, were followed by Republican presidents, both of whom were poorly ranked in this poll and elsewhere. I tend to assume the GOP media echo chamber motivating the most radicalized members to vote in primaries is the reason for this. ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2018, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-worst-american-president-according-to-new-york-times-poll-of-experts/809167/18 "2018-02-20T15:27:09Z")
I think this can be chalked up partly to recency bias, but also cannot think of whom the historians \*would \*rank lower. ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2018, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-worst-american-president-according-to-new-york-times-poll-of-experts/809167/19 "2018-02-20T15:31:40Z")
I would have ranked Reagan much lower and I would have ranked George HW Bush higher. I think Reagan was a disaster who ushered in an era of fiscal irresponsibility and I think George HW Bush doesn’t get enough credit for his handling of he dissolution of the Soviet Union (I say this as a lifelong Democrat). Had Bush the elder not given Gorbachev the space he needed, Bush could have very easily triggered a catastrophic backlash. But yeah, Trump has done catastrophic and permanent damage to the nation. ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2018, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-worst-american-president-according-to-new-york-times-poll-of-experts/809167/20 "2018-02-20T16:22:06Z")
Trump is not only a bad president, he is also (not coincidentally) a terrible person. People sometimes comment that he hasn’t actually don’t much that is terrible (yet) [see post 10] but merely occupying the Oval Office while being such a rancid piece of shit\* is\* damaging. And, when you consider the actual performance, he has allowed Russia’s interference in our elections to go unchecked, he has appointed unqualified people (and criminals) to high positions, he has alienated our allies and sucked up to our adversaries, and he has dramatically increased the civil unrest in this country by bringing out the worst in all of us through his example. (the Florida high school students being a notable exception) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-worst-american-president-according-to-new-york-times-poll-of-experts/809167.md?page=2)