Donald Trump's presidency is now behind us. But the debate over how bad a president he was has only just begun.
A new Pew poll sheds some light on how Trump's presidency currently ranks -- and the returns are not great for the billionaire businessman. A total of 53% of those polled say that Trump was either a "terrible" (41%) or "poor" (12%) president, while 35% call him either "great" (18%) or "good" (17%).
As you might expect, how you feel about Trump's presidency is largely dependent on the party with which you identify. Almost 9 in 10 Democrats say Trump was a "terrible" (72%) or "poor" (17%) president. More than 6 in 10 Republicans call Trump a "great" (37%) or "good" (36%) president.
While it's a bit early to draw conclusions about Trump's legacy and how history will remember him, this poll is far from the only evidence that suggests that the 45th President may wind up toward the bottom of rankings of the 44 men who have held the office. (Grover Cleveland was both the 22nd and 24th president, and these rankings don't yet count President Joe Biden.)
In 2019, Siena College released its latest rankings, the result of the combined views of 159 presidential scholars who rated each of the presidents on 20 different aspects of the job. (The categories range from "integrity" to "willing to take risks" to "luck.") In those rankings, Trump placed third to last -- behind only James Buchanan and Andrew Johnson.
The other major recent study of best (and worst) presidents came in 2018. Known as the "Presidents & Executive Politics Presidential Greatness Survey," this one polled 170 members of the American Political Science Association. Trump ranked dead last in this survey, trailing James Buchanan, William Henry Harrison, Franklin Pierce and Andrew Johnson.
It's worth noting that how you are perceived in the immediate aftermath of your presidency is not always how your legacy settles. (George H.W. Bush's time in office, for example, is far more favorably regarded now than it was when he lost to Bill Clinton in 1992.)
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