Americans overwhelmingly view former President Abraham Lincoln as an “outstanding” leader, while President Trump ranks near the bottom, according to a new poll.
The YouGov survey, released Friday, found that 74 percent of U.S. voters collectively rank Lincoln, known affectionately as Honest Abe, as “outstanding” or “above average.” Another 12 percent said he was “average” while 11 percent were unsure. Just 3 percent called the 16th president “below average.”
Lincoln was followed by former Presidents John F. Kennedy and George Washington. About 66 percent ranked Kennedy as “outstanding” or “above average,” while 65 percent said the same of the nation’s first leader, the poll found.
Less than 4 in 10 respondents, 35 percent, ranked Trump as “outstanding” or “above average.” Instead, 54 percent viewed his presidency as “poor” or “below average.” Another 9 percent placed him in the “average” category while 2 percent were unsure.
Trump, however, bested former Presidents Joe Biden and Richard Nixon — who fell at the bottom — in YouGov’s rankings of 20 of the most well-known commanders in chief.
Biden’s handling of the job was viewed as “outstanding” or “above average” by 23 percent of survey takers while Nixon brought in just 12 percent. On the flip side, Biden and Nixon were ranked “poor” or “below average” by 50 percent and 48 percent of respondents, respectively, according to the survey.
Pollsters noted that Republicans and Democrats hold more positive views of more recent presidents within their respective party compared to those on the other side of the aisle. There is less politicization for presidents who served before many voters were born, including Washington, Lincoln, Kennedy, John Adams, Andrew Jackson, Theodore Roosevelt and Franklin D. Roosevelt (FDR).
Democrats ranked former President Obama, FDR and Jimmy Carter the highest, and Republicans ranked Washington, Ronald Reagan and the sitting president as their top choices.
Trump has seen his polling drop over his handling of the presidency and on issues key to his election success and agenda. A Pew Research Center poll released late last month shows that his approval is down at 37 percent, with 94 percent of Democrats and 25 of Republicans who said they do not approve of his job performance.
The president’s handling on immigration is also facing disapproval at 53 percent, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll also from late last month. AP-NORC found that 6 in 10 independents disapprove of Trump’s handling of the issue.
Congressional Republicans have voiced fear that backlash to Trump’s deportation agenda and his handling of the economy could cost them seats and leadership in November’s midterms.
“Republicans are right to be worried about the midterms,” a lawmaker who requested anonymity told The Hill last week. “You can feel when the water temperature changes, and it feels like it’s going to change in a second.”
The YouGov poll was conducted in two separate surveys from Feb. 2-5 and included 2,255 respondents. The margin of error is 3 percentage points.
