Best President in History?

C-SPAN tries to Answer.

This C-Span survey summarizes the scores these presidential historians and biographers gave U.S. presidents. Notice that in addition to an overall ranking, presidents are ranked in 10 categories that shed light on their presidencies. Peruse the ratings and rankings and answer the questions that follow.

 

Questions for Completion: 

1. In the Total Score/ Overall Rankings, notice which presidents are at the top of the list, and those at the bottom. Why so?

2. Pick a category, like Public Persuasion or Economic Management, and see which presidents fared well or fell to the bottom. What events, or presidential actions may have contributed to these rankings?

3. Take note of the Survey Participants and read the Methodology. Describe one step and evaluate the survey’s  overall methodology.

4. Take one more lap through the survey data and results. What was the biggest surprise to you? What score for which president wasn’t what you expected? Why?