President Donald Trump has apparently decided that history should no longer wait for historians. In a recent Truth Social post, Trump placed himself alone in a newly created “The Greatest” category in a ranking of U.S. presidents, putting Abraham Lincoln, Franklin D. Roosevelt and George Washington one level below him in the “Great” category. The move has produced an amusing clash between presidential self-confidence and the rather less flattering verdicts of academic historians.
The ranking was presented as a six-tier chart ranging from “The Greatest” to “Failures.” It appears to be an altered version of a presidential ranking published in Life magazine in 1948, with Trump added at the top and several more recent presidents inserted elsewhere. The chart also leaves out a number of presidents, meaning that America’s presidential history has apparently been given something of a selective editing job.
Donald Trump Gives Himself the Crown, History Keeps Its Own Scorecard
The satire almost writes itself: Trump has effectively appointed himself chairman of the committee responsible for awarding Trump the presidential greatness trophy. His chart places Washington, Lincoln and FDR in the “Great” category, Theodore Roosevelt and Grover Cleveland among the “Near Great,” while Joe Biden, Barack Obama and Jimmy Carter appear among the “Failures.” Bill Clinton, meanwhile, receives an “Average” verdict—an especially interesting position considering Trump’s long history of political attacks against him.
The problem for Donald Trump’s self-assessment is that independent academic rankings tell a dramatically different story. The 2024 Presidential Greatness Project survey, involving 154 usable expert responses, placed Abraham Lincoln first and Donald Trump last among the 45 presidents evaluated. A 2026 research paper analysing the survey gives Lincoln an average score of 95.03 out of 100, compared with Trump’s 10.92. Franklin D. Roosevelt and George Washington followed Lincoln in second and third place.
Historians Deliver a Reality Check
The academic verdict has not been limited to one survey. Siena Research Institute’s 2022 study placed Trump 43rd out of 45 presidents, ahead of only James Buchanan and Andrew Johnson. The study evaluates presidents across numerous areas, including integrity, intelligence, leadership, executive ability, communication, domestic achievements, foreign policy and economic management. In that assessment, Trump’s historical reputation was hardly approaching Mount Rushmore territory.
Donald Trump’s supporters can certainly argue that presidential greatness is not a settled mathematical formula and that historical reputations can change with time. That is a fair point: presidents are reassessed as new evidence emerges and public attitudes evolve. But for now, the contrast remains spectacular. Trump has awarded himself the gold medal, while the academic scoreboard has placed him at the bottom. Whether future historians eventually rewrite that verdict—or simply file the self-ranking under “presidential confidence”—will be a story worth watching.
For OGM News, the episode offers an unusual lesson in political legacy: a president may write his own history, but historians, scholars and future generations still get a vote. President Donald J. Trump’s claim to the “greatest” title may therefore remain one of the more entertaining battles between self-assessment and historical assessment. OGM News will continue to watch for future developments.Research note: The satire above is based on the supplied material and checked against the Presidential Greatness Project, Siena Research Institute and current reporting. I used the 95.03 Lincoln score reported in the 2026 Presidential Studies Quarterly analysis, rather than the conflicting 93.87 figure appearing in some reproductions of the older table.
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