Who is the best president in U.S. history? What Americans say
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- Elon University Poll of 1,000 Americans named Abraham Lincoln the top president at 26%.
- Barack Obama ranked second in the Elon poll with 17% of respondents.
- Stein named Lincoln; Berger and Hall listed Washington among several others.
Who do you think is the best president in our nation’s history?
The Elon University Poll surveyed 1,000 Americans in a new national poll, and asked that very question. It was open-ended, not a list to choose from.
Hello and welcome to our Under the Dome politics newsletter. This edition focuses on the executive branch. I’m Capitol bureau chief Dawn Vaughan. In case you missed it, I wrote about the poll results here, which include what Americans think of our presidents:
After that story published, I also conducted a very small poll posing the same question to the three most powerful politicians in the state: Democratic Gov. Josh Stein, Republican House Speaker Destin Hall and Republican Senate leader Phil Berger.
We’ll get to their answers shortly. Let’s start with the Americans polled by the Elon Poll:
Top 5 best U.S. presidents ever
“Who has been the best president in United States history?”
Here are the top five:
- Abraham Lincoln: 26%,
- Barack Obama: 17%,
- George Washington: 12%,
- Donald Trump: 11%, and
- Franklin D. Roosevelt: 9%
Who Gov. Stein, Speaker Hall and Sen. Berger chose for best president
Now, for who the governor, House speaker and Senate leader told me they think was the best president in U.S. history.
- Stein: Lincoln
- Berger: Washington
- Hall mentioned Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Lincoln, Ronald Reagan and Trump.
Berger explained why he chose the first U.S. president.
“It’s really difficult to narrow it down to one, but I’ve always felt that Washington was the one that kind of set the bar and established a lot of the protocols that have been followed for a very long period of time, and so I’d have to go with him,” Berger said. “Probably second would be Lincoln.”
Hall elaborated on why he chose a list of presidents.
“Here’s a good political answer: Thankfully, we’ve been blessed with a lot of good presidents. I can tell you a few bad ones, but you know, if you look across history, George Washington was great — first one, hard to say much bad about George Washington. All of the sort of the founding father generation — Thomas Jefferson, and those guys,” Hall told The News & Observer.
“Abraham Lincoln did a pretty good job, all things considered. Reagan was great. And I’m a big fan of Donald Trump, and he is not done with his presidency yet, and so I imagine he’s going to be among the greats when he gets done,” he said.
Now, a question for you readers: Who do you think was the best president in U.S. history? Email me at dvaughan@newsobserver.com and let me know. I may share results in a future Under the Dome newsletter.
Catch up on these stories about the governor and legislature
- In first override of 2026, NC lawmakers overturn Gov. Stein’s veto of tax bill
- Top NC lawmakers say budget talks are on schedule. Gov. Stein won’t bet on it
- How bonding with his sons made NC Gov. Josh Stein an ‘intense’ Canes fan
Thanks for reading. Be sure to listen to our Under the Dome podcast. I host a new episode on Tuesdays. Listen wherever you get your podcasts, and catch up on old episodes, too. Plus, now we’re on YouTube as well.
This story was originally published June 7, 2026 at 5:00 AM with the headline "Who is the best president in U.S. history? What Americans say."
