Zogby Analytics conducted an online survey of 1,000 adults, and oversamples of 400 adults each (1,200 total) among African American, Hispanic and Asian respondents from 12/30/2024 – 1/1/2025. Surveyed adults were asked to rate the last fifteen presidents of the modern era on a scale of great, near great, average, below average, and failure.
Compared to the separate US sample of 1,000 adults, when it came to rating the top three greatest presidents of the modern era-the last fifteen US presidents going back to Franklin D. Roosevelt, there were similarities, such as majorities of minority groups rating John F. Kennedy, Franklin Delano Roosevelt (FDR) and Ronald Reagan at least near great. While they agreed among those presidents there were slight divergences among certain racial groups.
For example, Whites (51.4% great and near great combined), rated Trump as the third greatest president of the modern era; African Americans rated Barack Obama (79.4% great and near great combined) as the greatest of the last fifteen presidents, followed by JFK (73.8% great and near great combined) and Bill Clinton (62.5% great and near great combined). Hispanics thought very highly of Barack Obama (55.6% great and near great combined) and Asians fell in line with the overall sample of adults; they rated JFK (62.7% great and near great combined), FDR (56.2% great and near great combined) and Reagan (48.2% great and near great combined) the top three greatest presidents, respectively.
When it came to rating the bottom three of the pack, most racial groups agreed, except for one major difference among African Americans. Among White, Hispanic, and Asian respondents, all agreed that Joe Biden, followed by Gerald Ford and Richard Nixon, were the three least greatest presidents of the modern era in that exact order. The only difference was African Americans, who interchanged Joe Biden with Donald Trump, and rated Trump the worst (27.5% great and near great combined), followed by Richard Nixon (26.8% great and near great combined) and Gerald Ford (27.5% great and near great combined).
