31 percent say Barack Obama was the best president of their lifetime: Survey

WLS logo
Thursday, July 12, 2018
Obama tops list of best presidents: Survey
More Americans said Barack Obama did the best job during their lifetime than any other president, according to a new survey from the Pew Research Center.

More Americans said Barack Obama did the best job during their lifetime than any other president, according to a new survey from the Pew Research Center.

Thirty-one percent chose Obama, followed by Ronald Reagan with 21 percent. Bill Clinton came in third with 13 percent, and current President Donald Trump landed in fourth place with 10 percent of the vote. John F. Kennedy rounded out the top five with seven percent.

According to Pew, the survey data revealed a clear generational divide. Millennials were more likely to choose Obama as one of the best presidents of their lifetime, while older generations skewed more heavily toward Reagan.

Results were predictably split down party lines, with Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents more likely to choose Obama, Clinton or Kennedy, while Republicans and Republican-leaning independents tended to choose Reagan, Trump or the Bushes.

In conducting the survey, Pew posed the open-ended question to more than 2,000 adults in early June.