🇺🇸Best Republican Presidents Ranked

Theodore Roosevelt▲ Rising

Theodore Roosevelt broke up monopolies, created national parks, and projected American power abroad with the Panama Canal and Great White Fleet. His energetic trust-busting and conservation legacy still shape federal policy more than a century later.

Term: 1901-1909Years Served: 7.5 yrsRe-elected: ✓Economic Performance: 7/10Overall Legacy: 9/10

added by IJRin 16 rankingsTheodore Roosevelt

Abraham Lincoln▲ Rising

Lincoln held the Union together during the Civil War and signed the Emancipation Proclamation that ended legal slavery. His steady command through the deadliest conflict in U.S. history and the passage of the 13th Amendment set the standard for presidential leadership.

Term: 1861-1865Years Served: 4 yrsRe-elected: ✓Economic Performance: 4/10Overall Legacy: 10/10

added by IJRin 16 rankingsAbraham Lincoln

William McKinley▲ Rising

McKinley led the nation to victory in the Spanish-American War, annexed Hawaii, and presided over rapid industrial growth. His pro-business tariffs and territorial expansion defined the emergence of the United States as a world power.

Term: 1897-1901Years Served: 4.5 yrsRe-elected: ✓Economic Performance: 7/10Overall Legacy: 6/10

added by IJRin 6 rankingsWilliam McKinley

Dwight D. Eisenhower▲ Rising

Eisenhower ended the Korean War, launched the interstate highway system, and balanced budgets while containing Soviet expansion. His steady, low-drama leadership during the early Cold War produced both stability and major infrastructure that still serves the country.

Term: 1953-1961Years Served: 8 yrsRe-elected: ✓Economic Performance: 8/10Overall Legacy: 8/10

added by IJRin 16 rankingsDwight D. Eisenhower

Ronald Reagan▲ Rising

Reagan cut top tax rates, confronted the Soviet Union, and restored national confidence after the 1970s. The economic expansion of the 1980s and the fall of the Berlin Wall during his watch remain his clearest signature achievements.

Term: 1981-1989Years Served: 8 yrsRe-elected: ✓Economic Performance: 8/10Overall Legacy: 8/10

added by IJRin 16 rankingsRonald Reagan

Benjamin Harrison▲ Rising

Harrison signed the Sherman Antitrust Act and expanded the Navy while admitting six new western states. His single term advanced both progressive regulation and American sea power despite a divided Congress.

Term: 1889-1893Years Served: 4 yrsRe-elected: —Economic Performance: 6/10Overall Legacy: 5/10

added by IJRin 6 rankingsBenjamin Harrison

Ulysses S. Grant▲ Rising

Grant defeated the Confederacy as commanding general and then enforced Reconstruction while signing the 15th Amendment. Despite later scandals in his administration, his battlefield victories and civil-rights enforcement earn him a high place among Republican presidents.

Term: 1869-1877Years Served: 8 yrsRe-elected: ✓Economic Performance: 5/10Overall Legacy: 7/10

added by IJRin 10 rankingsUlysses S. Grant

George H. W. Bush▲ Rising

George H. W. Bush managed the peaceful end of the Cold War, assembled the Gulf War coalition, and signed the Americans with Disabilities Act. His pragmatic foreign policy produced clear victories without long-term quagmires.

Term: 1989-1993Years Served: 4 yrsRe-elected: —Economic Performance: 5/10Overall Legacy: 7/10

added by IJRin 5 rankingsGeorge H. W. Bush

Calvin Coolidge▲ Rising

Coolidge cut taxes, reduced federal spending, and maintained peace and prosperity through most of the 1920s. His small-government approach produced budget surpluses and low unemployment until the final months of his term.

Term: 1923-1929Years Served: 5.5 yrsRe-elected: ✓Economic Performance: 8/10Overall Legacy: 5/10

added by IJRin 9 rankingsCalvin Coolidge

James A. Garfield

Garfield won a narrow 1880 election and began pushing civil-service reform before being shot after only months in office. His brief tenure showed promise of cleaning up patronage but ended in tragedy.

Term: 1881Years Served: 0.5 yrsRe-elected: —Economic Performance: —Overall Legacy: 3/10

added by IJRin 4 rankingsJames A. Garfield

George W. Bush

George W. Bush passed major tax cuts and education reform while launching wars in Afghanistan and Iraq after 9/11. His second term was dominated by the financial crisis and prolonged conflicts abroad.

Term: 2001-2009Years Served: 8 yrsRe-elected: ✓Economic Performance: 4/10Overall Legacy: 4/10

added by IJRin 13 rankingsGeorge W. Bush

Rutherford B. Hayes▼ Falling

Hayes ended Reconstruction by withdrawing federal troops from the South and restored honesty to the White House after the Grant scandals. His civil-service reform efforts laid groundwork for later professional government.

Term: 1877-1881Years Served: 4 yrsRe-elected: —Economic Performance: 5/10Overall Legacy: 5/10

added by IJRin 6 rankingsRutherford B. Hayes

Chester A. Arthur▼ Falling

Arthur signed the Pendleton Civil Service Act that ended the spoils system and modernized the Navy. He surprised critics by rising above machine politics to support reform after Garfield's assassination.

Term: 1881-1885Years Served: 3.5 yrsRe-elected: —Economic Performance: 5/10Overall Legacy: 5/10

added by IJRin 4 rankingsChester A. Arthur

Gerald Ford▼ Falling

Ford restored calm after Watergate and Nixon's resignation, then granted conditional amnesty to draft evaders. His steady hand prevented deeper constitutional crisis even though he lost in 1976.

Term: 1974-1977Years Served: 2.5 yrsRe-elected: —Economic Performance: 4/10Overall Legacy: 5/10

added by IJRin 7 rankings

Donald Trump▼ Falling

Trump cut corporate taxes, appointed three Supreme Court justices, and brokered Abraham Accords, yet his term ended with the January 6 Capitol riot and two impeachments. His disruptive style produced both policy wins and historic institutional clashes.

Term: 2017-2021Years Served: 4 yrsRe-elected: —Economic Performance: 6/10Overall Legacy: 3/10

added by IJRin 17 rankingsDonald Trump

Herbert Hoover▼ Falling

Hoover entered office with a reputation as a great engineer and humanitarian yet proved unable to halt the deepening Great Depression. His reluctance to use direct federal relief defined the limits of pre-New Deal governance.

Term: 1929-1933Years Served: 4 yrsRe-elected: —Economic Performance: 1/10Overall Legacy: 2/10

added by IJRin 10 rankingsHerbert Hoover

Warren G. Harding▼ Falling

Harding promised a return to normalcy after World War I and signed the Washington Naval Treaty, but his administration was crippled by the Teapot Dome scandal and personal indiscretions. He died in office before completing a single term.

Term: 1921-1923Years Served: 2.5 yrsRe-elected: —Economic Performance: 6/10Overall Legacy: 2/10

added by IJRin 4 rankingsWarren G. Harding

Richard Nixon▼ Falling

Nixon opened relations with China, created the EPA, and ended the draft, yet his presidency collapsed under the Watergate scandal and resignation. The blend of bold diplomacy and self-inflicted constitutional crisis marks his mixed record.

Term: 1969-1974Years Served: 5.5 yrsRe-elected: ✓Economic Performance: 5/10Overall Legacy: 3/10

added by IJRin 18 rankingsRichard Nixon