Former President Barack Obama is ranked as the 12th best U.S. president in C-SPAN’s new survey of presidential historians, The Washington Examiner reports. It is Obama’s first time appearing in the rankings, which do not include presidents who are currently serving.
“Although 12th is a respectable overall ranking, one would have thought that former President Obama’s favorable rating when he left office would have translated into a higher ranking in this presidential survey,” historian Edna Greene Medford said in a statement.
Another historian, Douglas Brinkley, called Obama’s appearance at number 12 “impressive.” As Medford noted, his relatively “low” number could be because “historians prefer to view the past from a distance, and only time will reveal his legacy.”
The presidents were also ranked on their individual skills. Regarding Obama, Medford wrote: “I am especially surprised that he was ranked at 7th in moral authority (despite heading a scandal-free administration); 19th in administrative skills; and 8th in economic management (despite having helped to save the auto industry and significantly reducing unemployment).”
Source: TIME | Jeva Lange
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