© EPA/ AARON SCHWARTZ / POOL Lincoln led the evaluation of US presidents.
The majority of US citizens believe Abraham Lincoln, the 16th President of the United States, was a remarkable leader, whereas Donald Trump is positioned closer to the bottom of the rankings, as per a new YouGov survey released on Friday, The Hill reports.
According to the research, 74% of American voters viewed Lincoln—commonly known as “Honest Abe”—as “exceptional” or “better than average.” An additional 12% considered him an “average” president, 11% expressed indecision, and a mere 3% assessed him as “worse than average.”
John F. Kennedy and George Washington secured the second and third positions, with 66% of participants categorizing Kennedy as “exceptional” or “above average,” while 65% assigned an identical rating to the nation’s initial president.
Not just the ballroom: Trump decorated Lincoln's bathroom with marble during the shutdown
Conversely, a mere 35% of those surveyed graded Donald Trump’s presidential term as “outstanding” or “above average.” Concurrently, 54% perceive his time in office as “poor” or “below average.” Another 9% referred to him as a “run-of-the-mill” president, with 2% expressing uncertainty.
Nevertheless, Trump surpassed Joe Biden and Richard Nixon, who occupied the lowest positions on the list of the 20 most renowned American presidents. Biden was deemed “exceptional” or “above average” by 23% of respondents, as opposed to Nixon’s mere 12%. Simultaneously, 50% of participants appraised Biden’s presidency as “poor” or “below average,” compared to Nixon’s 48%.
The researchers highlight that members of the Republican and Democratic parties assess recent presidents more positively than their political adversaries, while those who existed before the majority of current voters—encompassing Washington, Lincoln, Kennedy, John Adams, Andrew Jackson, Theodore Roosevelt, and Franklin Roosevelt—are evaluated with less political slant.
Within the Democratic demographic, Barack Obama, Franklin Roosevelt and Jimmy Carter garnered the top marks, while Republicans placed George Washington, Ronald Reagan and the incumbent president in the highest ranks.
Meanwhile, Trump’s approval rating is decreasing. A Pew Research Center poll that was published late last month revealed that his approval rating had diminished to 37 percent, with 94 percent of Democrats and 25 percent of Republicans expressing disapproval of his job execution.
Moreover, fifty-three percent of participants register their discontent with his policies on immigration, according to a poll by Reuters/Ipsos. A study from AP-NORC disclosed that six out of ten independent voters disapprove of his methodology on the matter.
Republicans within Congress harbor worries that a negative reaction to Trump’s deportation strategies and economic stewardship might result in the party losing seats and control of Congress in the elections scheduled for November.
“Republicans have justification for concern regarding the midterm elections,” stated one legislator, speaking anonymously. “The atmosphere seems to be evolving, and it appears as though it will transition very soon.”
The YouGov survey was administered from February 2 to 5 among a cohort of 2,255 participants. The margin of error amounts to 3 percentage points.