Many of us have suspected that Donald Trump is the worst president that this country has ever had, so it’s nice to get some validation from those in the know. Political scientists and experts on the presidency Brandon Rottinghaus and Justin S. Vaughn surveyed 170 of their colleagues, members of the American Political Science Association, to assemble a complete ranking of all of our presidents. And in what’s likely the least surprising part of the Trump administration, our current executive ranked 44 of 44. (Though Trump’s presidency is the 45th in our nation’s history, he’s the 44th person to hold the post, thanks to good-old Grover "Non-Consecutive Terms” Cleveland.)

The pair wrote about their findings for the The New York Times:

James Buchanan, who was at the helm as the United States careened into civil war, was dislodged from his position as our nation’s worst president by our current president, Trump.

His Oval Office predecessor, Barack Obama, shot into the Top 10, up from 18th in the previous survey. Ulysses S. Grant also got a bump, up seven places from 2014...The biggest declines were for Bill Clinton, arguably the result of contemporary scorn for his treatment of women, and Andrew Jackson, for evolving attitudes on his treatment of Native Americans.

When they looked at their data along party lines, things improved for Trump—a little. While he was dead last among Democratic scholars, he was ranked 43rd by independents, with Buchanan hanging onto last place. Among Republican political scientists, Trump came in at a more forgiving 40th place.

Gabrielle Bruney Gabrielle Bruney is a writer and editor for Esquire, where she focuses on politics and culture.

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