The top 20 presidents in US history, according to historians

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Abraham Lincoln was voted the best president in US history in a survey.
Nearly 100 historians and biographers rated 43 US presidents on 10 qualities of presidential leadership.
Notable best presidents include George Washington at No. 2, Thomas Jefferson at No. 7, and Barack Obama at No. 12.

It should come as little surprise that for the third time in a row, historians agreed that Abraham Lincoln was the best US president.

For C-SPAN's third Presidential Historians Survey, nearly 100 historians and biographers rated 43 US presidents on 10 qualities of presidential leadership: public persuasion, crisis leadership, economic management, moral authority, international relations, administrative skills, relations with Congress, vision, pursued equal justice for all, and performance within the context of his times.

Scores in each category were then averaged, and the 10 categories were given equal weighting in determining the presidents' total scores.

Notable top presidents include George Washington at No. 2, Thomas Jefferson at No. 7, and Barack Obama at No. 12.

While some historians weren't shocked that Obama didn't rank higher overall on the list — "That Obama came in at No. 12 his first time out is quite impressive," Douglas Brinkley of Rice University said — others were surprised by his lower-than-expected leadership rankings, including No. 7 in moral authority and No. 8 in economic management.

"But, of course, historians prefer to view the past from a distance, and only time will reveal his legacy," Edna Greene Medford of Howard University said.

Here are the top 20 presidents, according to historians surveyed by C-SPAN.

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