Trump ranks himself ‘The Greatest’ president, puts Biden and Obama among ‘Failures’

WASHINGTON, DC: President Donald Trump on Thursday, August 27, declared himself as “the greatest” president in the history of the United States in a presidential ranking he posted to Truth Social.

The graphic placed Trump alone at the top as the only “The Greatest” tier president while ranking several predecessors, including former President Joe Biden and former President Barack Obama, among “Failures.” It also left nearly a dozen presidents entirely off the ranking. 

Trump places himself above ‘Great’ presidents

The ranking divides presidents into six categories: “The Greatest,” “Great,” “Near Great,” “Average,” “Below Average” and “Failures.” Trump is the only president placed in the top category in the graphic.

The “Great” tier includes former presidents Abraham Lincoln, George Washington, Franklin D Roosevelt, Woodrow Wilson, Thomas Jefferson and Andrew Jackson. Theodore Roosevelt, Grover Cleveland, John Adams and James K Polk are listed as “Near Great.”

The “Average” category includes Bill Clinton, John Quincy Adams, James Monroe, Rutherford B Hayes, James Madison, Martin Van Buren, William Howard Taft, Chester A Arthur, William McKinley, Andrew Johnson, Herbert Hoover and Benjamin Harrison.

John Tyler, Calvin Coolidge, Millard Fillmore, Zachary Taylor, James Buchanan and Franklin Pierce are placed in the “Below Average” tier. Trump’s “Failures” category, however, includes Biden, Obama, Ulysses S Grant, Warren G Harding and Jimmy Carter.

The graphic does not include William Henry Harrison, James A Garfield, Harry S Truman, Dwight D Eisenhower, John F Kennedy, Lyndon B Johnson, Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, Ronald Reagan, George HW Bush or George W Bush.

has previously offered differing assessments of some of those presidents. During an appearance on Second Lady Usha Vance’s podcast, he called Lyndon Johnson a “tough cookie,” described Reagan as “high quality” and referred to the two Bush presidents as “the Bushies.” 

The president also joked about Taft, whom his new ranking places in the “Average” category, saying, “I have to be careful, 'cause I don't want to supersede his record.”

Trump’s graphic appears to alter 1948 ‘LIFE’ ranking

The ranking posted by Trump appeared to be based on a presidential survey published by 'LIFE' magazine in 1948. The original poll surveyed 55 experts in American history and government and divided presidents into categories including “great,” “near great” and “failures.”

The original ranking also placed Lincoln, Washington, Franklin D Roosevelt, Wilson, Jefferson and Jackson in the “great” category, with Lincoln receiving all 55 votes for the top rank.

The four presidents judged “near great” were Theodore Roosevelt, Cleveland, John Adams and Polk. The original “failures” category contained only Grant and Harding.