Ratings & Rankings of the Presidents of the United States
How Do US Presidents Rank as Business Leaders? (Part Three of Three)
(This is the third article in a three-series post. Please see the first and second articles in this series by following this link for our notes associated with each President, and this link for our “worst to first” rankings of the US Presidents as leaders.)
Where does your favorite President of the United States rank in terms of business leadership in the new millennium? Could all or any of the US Presidents successfully run a large corporation today? Did they have what it takes to be a true leader or were they more concerned about themselves and their legacy? Were their decisions sound and founded on unwavering principles, or were they constantly swayed by the winds of political expediency and public opinion?
Running the United States and running a large, for-profit corporation have more similarities than differences. Whom would we choose to run our company if we had our pick of the 42 men who served as Presidents of the United States?
The editors at AskTheManager.com scoured the history books and looked deeply at each President’s record as a leader. We ignored the popularity of their decisions and judged these men solely on the traits that we feel make a good leader: the ability to execute; honor; intelligence; character; and, most of all, service.
To determine the final rankings, we graded each President in six weighted categories (below), awarding a score of 1 to 10 in each category. A score of 10 indicates this President showed true and complete leadership in a particular skill set.
The Six Measures of Presidential Leadership
As promised, we bring you the leadership rankings of the Presidents, and the raw scores from each of these six weighted categories:
Humility (H) – Great leaders today avoid the spotlight (unless it benefits their company), give credit to their subordinates, and generally drive their businesses through character and vision rather than ego and pride. We considered the amount of unhealthy ego and overbearing pride in each of the 42 Presidents to help determine the scores in this area.
Delegation (D) – No one person can do it all, that’s why great leaders are also great at delegation. They thrive on allowing others to make decisions, and they empower nearly everyone through their words and their actions. We graded each of the 42 Presidents on their ability to let go and leave some of the duties to their staff.
Integrity (I) – Great leaders are principled, and they adhere to a strict moral and ethical code. They exude character because of their honest, forthright nature; and they never put themselves above the needs of their team or company. Our assessment and category grades are based on each President’s record with respect to character and honesty.
Vision (V) – True leaders have the ability to see beyond the current reality and project an ideal future. They not only create a vision, but they share it, live it and carry it out. We analyzed each President’s ability to both share their vision and execute it, and based our grading on these results.
Success (S) – Great leaders don’t just make everyone feel good, they also execute (i.e., they get the job done). Proper execution leads to success, and great leaders understand this. We graded each of the 42 Presidents on their level of success enjoyed during their term.
Future (F) – When a great leader departs a company, they leave it in better shape than when they arrived. Additionally, because they were driven with an eye on the longer term, the decisions they made during their time in the position continue to have a positive impact into the future. Our assessment of the Presidents includes a grade for how their decisions impacted (or are expected to impact) future generations.
It is critical that we remember that all 42 Presidents were great men (if not necessarily great leaders). They each held the highest office in the land and (good or bad) each brought their own flavor to the job. Every President deserves some measure of respect – if for nothing else than the sheer odds they defied to occupy the office of President.
(The editors of AskTheManager.com are humbled that we live in a country that allows and encourages the criticism of political leaders. We feel truly blessed.)
|
H |
D |
I |
V |
S |
F |
Total |
Rank |
President |
|
9 |
9 |
9 |
10 |
10 |
10 |
96.5 |
1 |
George Washington (1789-1797) |
|
10 |
7 |
10 |
9 |
10 |
10 |
96.0 |
2 |
Abraham Lincoln (1861-1865) |
|
9 |
9 |
10 |
10 |
9 |
10 |
95.0 |
3 |
Thomas Jefferson (1801-1809) |
|
10 |
8 |
10 |
9 |
10 |
9 |
94.0 |
4 |
Harry S Truman (1945-1953) |
|
10 |
9 |
10 |
10 |
9 |
9 |
93.5 |
5 |
John Adams (1797-1801) |
|
10 |
9 |
10 |
9 |
8 |
10 |
93.0 |
6 |
Woodrow Wilson (1913-1921) |
|
10 |
9 |
10 |
10 |
8 |
9 |
91.0 |
7 |
Jimmy Carter (1977-1981) |
|
9 |
9 |
9 |
10 |
10 |
8 |
90.5 |
8 |
Franklin D. Roosevelt (1933-1945) |
|
8 |
8 |
8 |
10 |
10 |
9 |
90.0 |
9 |
James K. Polk (1845-1849) |
|
9 |
8 |
10 |
8 |
9 |
9 |
89.0 |
10 |
Grover Cleveland (1885-89; 93-97) |
|
9 |
10 |
9 |
9 |
9 |
8 |
88.0 |
11 |
Ronald Reagan (1981-1989) |
|
9 |
8 |
8 |
10 |
7 |
10 |
87.0 |
12 |
Dwight D. Eisenhower (1953-1961) |
|
9 |
8 |
9 |
9 |
8 |
9 |
86.5 |
13 (tie) |
William Howard Taft (1909-1913) |
|
9 |
10 |
9 |
10 |
8 |
8 |
86.5 |
13 (tie) |
James Monroe (1817-1825) |
|
8 |
8 |
7 |
10 |
10 |
8 |
86.0 |
15 |
John F. Kennedy (1961-1963) |
|
10 |
9 |
10 |
8 |
9 |
7 |
85.5 |
16 |
Calvin Coolidge (1923-1929) |
|
10 |
9 |
10 |
7 |
9 |
7 |
84.5 |
17 |
Lyndon B. Johnson (1963-1969) |
|
8 |
8 |
9 |
10 |
6 |
10 |
84.0 |
18 |
John Quincy Adams (1825-1829) |
|
10 |
7 |
9 |
8 |
8 |
8 |
83.0 |
19 |
James Madison (1809-1817) |
|
8 |
7 |
6 |
8 |
10 |
8 |
82.0 |
20 |
Andrew Jackson (1829-1837) |
|
8 |
7 |
7 |
7 |
9 |
8 |
79.5 |
21 |
George H. W. Bush (1989-1993) |
|
9 |
10 |
8 |
9 |
7 |
7 |
79.0 |
22 |
Millard Fillmore (1850-1853) |
|
4 |
6 |
7 |
10 |
9 |
9 |
78.5 |
23 |
Theodore Roosevelt (1901-1909) |
|
8 |
9 |
5 |
8 |
7 |
8 |
75.5 |
24 |
William McKinley (1897-1901) |
|
7.9 |
8.0 |
7.2 |
7.8 |
7.3 |
7.4 |
74.5 |
— |
AVERAGE |
|
8 |
8 |
7 |
6 |
7 |
7 |
71.5 |
25 |
Martin Van Buren (1837-1841) |
|
6 |
6 |
9 |
8 |
7 |
7 |
70.5 |
26 |
Chester Arthur (1881-1885) |
|
10 |
9 |
6 |
7 |
6 |
6 |
70.0 |
27 |
Gerald Ford (1974-1977) |
|
9 |
9 |
10 |
9 |
4 |
6 |
69.5 |
28 |
Herbert Hoover (1929-1933) |
|
5 |
8 |
1 |
9 |
9 |
7 |
69.0 |
29 |
Bill Clinton (1993-2001) |
|
9 |
8 |
9 |
7 |
4 |
7 |
68.5 |
30 |
William Henry Harrison (1841) |
|
8 |
7 |
4 |
7 |
7 |
6 |
65.5 |
31 |
Zachary Taylor (1849-1850) |
|
6 |
7 |
8 |
7 |
6 |
6 |
64.0 |
32 |
Benjamin Harrison (1889-1893) |
|
8 |
8 |
7 |
6 |
5 |
6 |
63.5 |
33 |
James A. Garfield (1881) |
|
7 |
7 |
3 |
5 |
6 |
6 |
58.5 |
34 |
Rutherford B. Hayes (1877-1881) |
|
6 |
7 |
2 |
7 |
6 |
6 |
58.0 |
35 |
Ulysses S. Grant (1869-1877) |
|
6 |
6 |
5 |
7 |
5 |
5 |
54.5 |
36 |
George W. Bush (2001-2009) |
|
5 |
7 |
4 |
6 |
4 |
6 |
52.5 |
37 |
Andrew Johnson (1865-1869) |
|
8 |
10 |
8 |
4 |
3 |
3 |
50.5 |
38 |
Franklin Pierce (1853-1857) |
|
5 |
3 |
6 |
5 |
5 |
5 |
49.0 |
39 |
John Tyler (1841-1845) |
|
5 |
9 |
1 |
4 |
4 |
5 |
46.5 |
40 |
Warren G. Harding (1921-1923) |
|
5 |
8 |
2 |
5 |
4 |
4 |
44.5 |
41 |
James Buchanan (1857-1861) |
|
2 |
6 |
1 |
1 |
6 |
6 |
44.0 |
42 |
Richard Nixon (1969-1974) |
It’s important to note that these rankings are based on how these Presidents, their traits, their character and their decisions would impact a Fortune 500 company. Are they capable of true leadership or were they just popular pawns of their party?
As we grow ever closer to the November 4, 2008 Presidential Election, the real question for America is where would Barack Obama, John McCain, Joe Biden or Sarah Palin rank on this list? With the current economic climate and uncertain foreign affairs, it’s clear we need a leader. To view our fantasy rankings of these four Presidential and Vice Presidential hopefuls, please see our post from September 9, 2008 by following this link.