Gallup Poll: Honest Abe, JFK Among Greatest U.S. Presidents

Gallup News Service ^ | 5/16/03 | Joseph Carroll

[Jean S]

PRINCETON, NJ -- An Unfinished Life, historian Robert Dallek's new book about the life of President John F. Kennedy, was released this week. The book, among other things, illustrates the gravity of Kennedy's medical problems, describes an alleged affair with a White House intern, and speculates about how Kennedy would have handled the Vietnam War. The publication of this new Kennedy biography raises the question of where Kennedy ranks in the eyes of Americans.

Lincoln, Kennedy Have Slight Edge on Greatest U.S. President This Year

An April CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll asked Americans: "Who do you regard as the greatest United States president?"

Abraham Lincoln gets the most mentions from Americans at 15%, but not by a significant margin over the second-place finisher, Kennedy (13%). Two recent presidents, Bill Clinton and Ronald Reagan, as well as the current president, are all mentioned by 10% or more of the public. Other presidents earning mentions from more than 5% of the public include Franklin D. Roosevelt and George Washington.

Gallup has asked this question four times since 1999, and over that period, Lincoln and Kennedy have typically rated near the top of the list. In 1999, Lincoln had a six-percentage-point lead over Washington, Kennedy, Reagan, and Clinton. Kennedy led the pack the next year, with a small four-percentage-point lead over Lincoln. Polling in 2001 and 2003 has found no clear-cut victor among the presidents mentioned, but Lincoln and Kennedy still appear near the top of the list. Reagan, with 18%, actually had the most mentions in 2001, probably due in part to the fact that the poll was conducted around celebrations of his 90^th birthday.

Who do you regard as the greatest United States president?

	Apr 5-6, 2003	Feb 9-11, 2001	Feb 14-15, 2000	Feb 1999
	%	%	%	%
Abraham Lincoln	15	14	18	18
John Kennedy	13	16	22	12
Bill Clinton	11	9	5	12
George W. Bush	11	--	--	--
Ronald Reagan	10	18	11	12
Franklin Roosevelt	9	6	12	9
George Washington	7	5	5	12
Harry Truman	4	6	3	4
Jimmy Carter	3	4	3	3
Theodore Roosevelt	2	2	3	3
George Bush (the elder)	2	3	3	5
Thomas Jefferson	2	1	3	2
Dwight Eisenhower	1	1	3	2
Richard Nixon	1	1	2	2
Other	2	5	3	1
None	1	2	*	1
No opinion	6	7	4	2
2000-2001 questions asked of half sample.

Republicans, Democrats Vary Substantially on Greatest U.S. President

The latest polling finds dramatic (but not necessarily surprising) differences between the Republicans' and Democrats' choices for the greatest president in history. Three Democratic presidents -- Kennedy (25%), Clinton (21%), and Franklin Roosevelt (13%) -- are Democrats' most frequent choices as the greatest president. Lincoln is the only Republican president identified by a large number of Democrats, with 9% saying he is the greatest president.

Among Republicans in this poll, 23% mention the current president. Lincoln is mentioned by 20%, 18% mention Reagan, and 9% mention Washington. No more than 3% of Republicans nominate any Democratic president as the greatest of all time.

Independents have a more mixed view, with Lincoln, Kennedy, Clinton, and Franklin Roosevelt each getting between 11% and 16% of the votes.

	Republicans	Independents	Democrats
	%	%	%
Abraham Lincoln	20	16	9
John Kennedy	3	13	25
Bill Clinton	2	12	21
George W. Bush	23	6	3
Ronald Reagan	18	8	3
Franklin Roosevelt	3	11	13
George Washington	9	8	4
Harry Truman	3	5	3
Jimmy Carter	1	3	6
Theodore Roosevelt	2	3	2
George H.W. Bush	3	2	*
Thomas Jefferson	1	2	2
Dwight Eisenhower	2	1	*
Richard Nixon	2	1	--

Age Impacts Vote for Greatest President in U.S. History

There are interesting and significant differences in choice of greatest U.S. president by age. Americans tend to select a leader from the formative years of their generation. The only exceptions, once again, are Washington and Lincoln, who rank fairly high among people in all age groups despite the fact that both served long before any person living today was born.

Clinton is far and away the most likely to be selected as the greatest president among 18- to 29-year-olds; nearly 3 in 10 respondents in this age group mention him. Younger Americans are at least three times more likely than any other age group to cite Clinton as the best president. Lincoln and the current President Bush each get 10% of the mentions from people in the 18- to 29-year-old age group, getting only about one-third of the mentions Clinton does among younger Americans.

Americans aged 30 to 49 are essentially divided in their opinions on the greatest president, but Reagan, who was in office when these people were mainly in their teens, 20s, and 30s, is more likely to be mentioned by this age group than any others. Lincoln, Kennedy, and Reagan are essentially tied, with just about one in six mentioning them. Twelve percent mention the current president.

One in five Americans between the ages of 50 and 64 mention Kennedy as the greatest president, significantly more than in any other age group. Those in this age bracket also hold Lincoln in high regard.

For Americans aged 65 and older, Franklin Roosevelt and Lincoln are essentially tied as the greatest U.S. president, named by 19% and 17%, respectively. Also scoring high among this age group are the current President Bush, Harry Truman, and Kennedy.

	18- to 29- year-olds	30- to 49- year-olds	50- to 64- year-olds	65 and older
	%	%	%	%
Abraham Lincoln	10	16	17	17
John Kennedy	7	14	21	10
Bill Clinton	29	8	8	6
George W. Bush	10	12	9	12
Ronald Reagan	7	14	8	8
Franklin Roosevelt	4	6	10	19
George Washington	8	6	8	5
Harry Truman	2	2	4	10
Jimmy Carter	2	4	3	1
Theodore Roosevelt	5	2	3	1
George H.W. Bush	3	3	*	*
Thomas Jefferson	1	2	2	*
Dwight Eisenhower	1	1	1	1
Richard Nixon	--	2	*	1

Higher Educated Americans Pick Lincoln as Greatest U.S. President

"Honest Abe" is the top choice as the greatest U.S. president among Americans with college degrees or postgraduate education. Roughly one in five adults with degrees in higher education pick Lincoln as the greatest president, while fewer Americans with only some college or a high school diploma or less mention Lincoln.

No other president comes close to Lincoln among adults with a college degree or postgraduate education. Reagan, Franklin Roosevelt, and Kennedy trail Lincoln, each mentioned by roughly 1 in 10 Americans at these levels of education.

Those with some college or a high school diploma or less show no consensus as to the greatest president.

	Post- graduate education	College graduate only	Some college education	High school diploma or less
	%	%	%	%
Abraham Lincoln	20	21	13	13
John Kennedy	11	12	13	15
Bill Clinton	5	6	13	14
George W. Bush	5	8	9	16
Ronald Reagan	12	8	12	10
Franklin Roosevelt	12	11	7	8
George Washington	7	8	8	5
Harry Truman	4	4	4	3
Jimmy Carter	3	4	3	2
Theodore Roosevelt	2	2	4	2
George H.W. Bush	2	3	2	2
Thomas Jefferson	5	4	1	*
Dwight Eisenhower	*	2	1	1
Richard Nixon	1	--	2	1

Survey Methods

These results are based on telephone interviews with a randomly selected national sample of 1,009 adults, aged 18 and older, conducted April 5-6, 2003. For results based on this sample, one can say with 95%confidence that the maximum error attributable to sampling and other random effects is ±3 percentage points. In addition to sampling error, question wording and practical difficulties in conducting surveys can introduce error or bias into the findings of public opinion polls.

[baseballfanjm]

I meant SHOWS how smart. Don't know how that K0 got there.

[virgil]

If it weren't for George Washington there would not be a US. I can't think of a President who served this country more than Washington.

[Tall_Texan]

My favorite quote, which I'm probably going to butcher, was by someone who said, "If all the people who hated the Kennedys was at Dealy Plaza that day, It would have sounded like Omaha Beach on D-Day".

Yes, "The Onion" once ran a cover that said:

JFK ASSASSINATED IN DALLAS BY MAFIA, CIA, CASTRO, RUSSIANS, LBJ, NIXON, FBI, SECRET SERVICE, DALLAS POLICE, THE KLAN, FREEMASONS...

[Shooter 2.5]

[breakem]

Obviously taken at a sex offender treatment facility.

[Shooter 2.5]

I was over there today and one of the peddlers said there were two people shooting from the book depository.

Yeah, whatever. Make your bucks from the tourists. Sarcasm.

[Tall_Texan]

LBJ, after retirement, once leaked to Cronkite that he thought Castro had it done. I don't think you'll get much argument that the Warren Commission's primary purpose was to convince everyone that the now-dead Oswald acted alone because it 1) it exonerated Washington for having done nothing to stop the murder and 2) halted pressure that might have led to military conflict with either Russia or Cuba and a potential nuclear showdown.

[Shooter 2.5]

2) halted pressure that might have led to military conflict with either Russia or Cuba and a potential nuclear showdown.

It what??? What kind of pressure did it release to point to a defector who just returned from Russia? If anything, the garbage that was printed pointing to anyone else was devised to take pressure off of Russia so the Cold War wouldn't go hot. All it took was finger pointing at anyone else. Nothing had to be proven. The tinhats took care of the rest.

[Eva]

You should know that when Bill Clinton got elected two times that this is definitely a country of morons. At least JFK had to be assassinated to make the top two, Clinton did nothing and he is still number 3?

[Billy_bob_bob]

Allright! Another Grover Cleveland fan. Glad to meet you.

[foreverfree]

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