Lincoln still listed as best US president in survey of historians

NEW YORK -- Abraham Lincoln once again topped the list of US presidential leadership while Barack Obama, one month after him leaving office, was ranked the 12th, according to a recent survey of 91 US presidential historians.

It was the third such survey released by the C-SPAN television network, updating previous surveys compiled in 2009 and 2000.

Historians' view of the best US president has remained unchanged since the first survey in 2000, while the bottom spots always went to the men who served just before and just after Lincoln: James Buchanan and Andrew Johnson.

There are 10 criteria on the list by which presidents were judged, including Public Persuasion, Crisis Leadership, Economic Management, etc.

Lincoln was followed by George Washington and Franklin D. Roosevelt in the survey, and Dwight Eisenhower moved into the top five for the first time.

"That Obama came in at Number 12 his first time out is quite impressive. And the survey is surprisingly good news for George W. Bush, who shot up a few notches," said Douglas Brinkley, a history professor at Rice University, in a statement by C-SPAN.