As a follow-up to the “Ranking The Presidents” series, I wanted to run a comparison between my ranking and several other Presidential Rankings that have been done over the years.

As a gauge, I will compare my ranking to the following five surveys/polls:

- Murray-Blessing Survey of Historians (1982; does not include Reagan -> Bush)

- Ridings-McIver Poll (1996; does not include George W. Bush)

- CSPAN Poll (1999; does not include George W. Bush)

- Siena Poll (2002)

- Wall Street Journal Poll (2005)

I chose these due to the fact that they are all recent enough to provide a great deal of feedback on most of the Presidents (surprisingly, I even found two that included George W. Bush). I also felt as if there was some level of diversity between the sources.

The comparison will include the average of the five surveys/polls, the “high and low” rank between the five, and the difference between their average ranking and my placement of each President within the ranking.

A brief summary…

* I had 12 Presidents who were either “Even,” or 1 spot (or less) off of the average.

* I had 20 Presidents who were between 1.1 and 4.9 spots off of the average.

* I had 8 Presidents who were 5 spots or more off of the average.

* Grover Cleveland was counted together at #’s 21-20.

* 2 Presidents were not “officially” ranked, but were “assigned” #’s 42-43. Remember, James Garfield and William Henry Harrison were not ranked in this list due to having served less than six months in office.

* I had 11 Presidents who were ranked outside of the “high-low” range provided by the 5 polls.

For any ranking within +/- 2 positions (spots) of the average, the “difference” has been underlined. For any ranking more than +/- 5 positions (spots) off the average, the “difference” has been labeled in bold.

“THE THIRSTY QUILL” RANK     5 Poll Avg. (High-Low)    Difference

#1: George Washington                                  2.8         (1-4)                 +1.8 spots

#2: Franklin Delano Roosevelt                    2.0         (1-3)                     Even                      

#3: Abraham Lincoln                                      1.4         (1-2)                  -1.6 spots

#4: Ronald Reagan                                        14.8       (6-26)                +10.8 spots

#5: James Madison                                        13.6       (9-18)               +8.6 spots

#6: Thomas Jefferson                                     4.8        (4-7)                  -1.2 spots

#7: Andrew Jackson                                      10.2        (7-13)               +3.2 spots

#8: Theodore “Teddy” Roosevelt                    4.4        (3-5)                  -3.6 spots

#9: Dwight D. Eisenhower                              9.4        (8-11)                     Even

#10: James Monroe                                      13.2       (8-16)                 +3.2 spots

#11: Harry S. Truman                                    6.8        (5-8)                   -4.2 spots

#12: John F. Kennedy                                  13.0       (8-15)                    +1 spot

#13: Woodrow Wilson                                    7.0        (6-11)                  -6 spots

#14: James K. Polk                                       11.0        (9-12)                  -3 spots

#15: Lyndon B. Johnson                               13.2        (10-19)               -1.8 spots

#16: George W. Bush                                   20.5       (18-23)                +4.5 spots

#17: John Adams                                         12.8       (9-16)                  -4.2 spots

#18: William McKinley                                  16.6       (14-19)                -1.4 spots

#19: William Taft                                          20.8       (19-24)               +1.8 spots

#21/20: Grover Cleveland                            16.4        (12-20)              -3.6 spots

#22: George H.W. Bush                                21.3        (20-22)               -0.7 spots

#23: Herbert Hoover                                     28.2         (21-34)             +5.2 spots

#24: Martin Van Buren                                 24.4         (20-30)                  Even

#25: John Quincy Adams                             19.0         (16-25)                -6 spots

#26: Rutherford B. Hayes                             24.8         (22-27)               -1.2 spots

#27: Gerald Ford                                          26.0         (23-28)                -1 spot

#28: Calvin Coolidge                                    28.4         (23-33)                  Even

#29: Zachary Taylor                                     30.2         (27-34)               +1.2 spots

#30: Benjamin Harrison                                29.4         (23-32)               -0.6 spots

#31: Chester Arthur                                     28.4          (26-32)              -2.6 spots

#32: Jimmy Carter                                         25.0        (19-34)                -7 spots

#33: John Tyler                                             34.0         (28-37)                 + 1 spot         

#34: Ulysses S. Grant                                    34.0        (29-38)                     Even

#35: Millard Fillmore                                     34.8        (29-38)                 -0.2 spots

#36: Franklin Pierce                                       36.8        (31-39)                     Even

#37: James Buchanan                                     39.0        (33-41)                 +2 spots

#38: Richard Nixon                                        29.8         (25-34)                -8.2 spots

#39: Bill Clinton                                             21.0         (18-23)                -18 spots

#40: Warren Harding                                     38.2         (36-40)                 -1.8 spots

#41: Andrew Johnson                                     37.8         (32-42)                -3.2 spots

#42*: James Garfield                                       ****          ******                    *******

#43*: William Henry Harrison                          ****          ******                    *******