Memory

Princeton University has just removed Woodrow Wilson's name from its School of Public and International Affairs.  It seemed like a tough call to me--Wilson had significant accomplishments. both as president of Princeton and president of the United States, but also significant negatives.  However, contemporary opinion seems to be overwhelmingly in favor of removing his name and almost no one has anything good to say about him--even Ross Douthat, who favors keeping his name for historical reasons, calls himself a "Wilson-despiser."  That led me to wonder about what the general public thought about Wilson and other presidents.  Between 1956 and 1999, the Gallup Poll occasionally asked "which three United States presidents do you regard as the greatest?"   Of course, most people don't remember all of the presidents, so there's a tendency to pick the current president, or a recent president.  Also, as time goes on, the number of presidents to choose from increases.  Putting those together, you would generally expect a decline for any given president. 

With that in mind, here are some results.  First, the classics:

 

 Next, a second level of 19th and early 20th century presidents:



Support for Theodore Roosevelt and Thomas Jefferson was pretty steady, but Wilson had a sharp decline,. from 13% in 1956 to 5% in 1975, and about 1% in later years. 

Then, some mid-century presidents:



FDR and Eisenhower both decline steadily, but Truman shows an unusual pattern:  he rose from 13% in 1956 to 37% in 1975.  He then declined, but still had almost as much support in 1999, almost 50 years after he left office, as he did in 1956.

Finally, some more recent presidents: 



Kennedy declined, although from a high level--in 1999 he was still second, behind only Lincoln.  The contrast between Regan and Bush is interesting.  Both got 20-30% when they were in office, but Reagan rose after he left office, to 34% in 1999.  Carter started from a low level, but held steady or increased. 

Returning to Wilson, he does have a distinctive pattern--in 1956, he was tied for fifth, behind Lincoln, Washington, FDR, and the current president (Eisenhower), but his support declined rapidly after that.  Truman, and maybe Reagan, stand out as presidents whose reputation grew after they left office.  

It's been more than twenty years since Gallup asked the question, so they ought to try it again.  My guess is that Obama would get a lot of support (35% or 40%) and Kennedy would still be high but would decline because of competition from Obama, who has the same general type of appeal.  Trump would be on the low side for a sitting president (maybe 15%), and Reagan would hold steady or increase. 


[Data from the Roper Center for Public Opinion Research]