Trump updates ranking of US presidents. Top tier is his alone

Trump Revises Presidential Hierarchy, Elevating Reagan and Demoting Hoover

Cybersecarmor.com – On the morning of Sunday, September 6, President Donald Trump took to Truth Social to publish a revised version of his self-authored hierarchy of American presidents — a list he first unveiled on August 27 and has now expanded with additional names, tier adjustments, and a notable reshuffling of who sits at the very bottom.

The original posting placed Trump himself at the apex, tagged with the singular superlative “The Greatest.” Directly beneath him, a second rung labeled “Great” held five figures: George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Thomas Jefferson, and Andrew Jackson. The structure implied a strict, almost feudal ordering in which one living president stood above every predecessor, past and present.

What Changed in the September 6 Revision

The updated graphic introduces several presidents who were entirely absent from the August version. Ronald Reagan, John F. Kennedy, Gerald Ford, and George W. Bush all appear for the first time in the revised chart. Their inclusion broadens the list’s scope considerably, moving it closer to a full census of the office rather than a curated shortlist.

Reagan’s placement draws particular attention. Long regarded as the defining figure of post-1980 American conservatism, the former California governor and 40th president lands in a tier Trump labels “Near Great.” That designation sits one rung below the “Great” group and above the middle strata, effectively acknowledging Reagan’s historical weight while still subordinating him to the five presidents in the upper tier.

The “Near Great” tier, as it now stands, also encompasses Theodore Roosevelt, Grover Cleveland, John Adams, James K. Polk, Woodrow Wilson, and Dwight D. Eisenhower. The grouping mixes expansionist 19th-century leaders with Cold War-era commanders, suggesting that Trump’s criterion for this middle-upper band leans toward figures associated with assertive foreign policy or foundational nation-building.

The Bottom Tier: Where the List Gets Personal

In the August version, the lowest rung — which Trump captioned “Failures” — contained Joe Biden, Barack Obama, Ulysses S. Grant, Warren Harding, and Jimmy Carter. The September revision adds two more names to that bottom shelf: George W. Bush and Herbert Hoover.

The demotion of Hoover is especially conspicuous. In the original chart he occupied the “Average” tier, a middling position. His slide into the “Failures” category within roughly ten days signals either a recalibration of criteria or a deliberate tightening of the list’s lower boundary. Bush’s appearance at the very bottom, despite his own party affiliation and wartime presidency, underscores that the hierarchy operates less along partisan lines than along whatever personal or ideological yardstick Trump applies.

Context and Implications

Presidential rankings have a long tradition in American political culture, from academic surveys to magazine polls. What distinguishes this exercise is its author: a sitting president ranking himself above every predecessor while simultaneously assigning his own party’s recent leaders to the lowest possible category. The move invites debate over whether such a list functions as historical analysis, political branding, or both.

Reagan’s placement in “Near Great” rather than “Great” may also carry intra-party implications. For decades, Republican primary voters have treated Reagan as an untouchable icon. Positioning him below Lincoln, Washington, and FDR — figures spanning both parties — could be read as a statement about which kinds of leadership Trump considers foundational versus merely influential.

The rapid revision cycle — from August 27 to September 6 — also raises the question of whether the list is meant as a fixed historical judgment or as a living document subject to the president’s shifting moods and political calculations. No prior president has published a comparable self-ranked hierarchy, let alone updated it within days.

The Greatest

That single phrase, attached to Trump’s own name at the top of both versions, remains the list’s most contested element. It converts what might otherwise be read as a subjective opinion poll into a declarative claim about historical supremacy — a claim that no peer-reviewed historian, no bipartisan commission, and no prior occupant of the office has endorsed.

Whether the September 6 revision represents a final iteration or merely another draft in an ongoing editorial process remains unclear. What is clear is that the exercise has already generated sustained public discussion about how presidents evaluate their predecessors, who gets to author such evaluations, and what purpose a sitting chief executive serves by placing himself at the summit of the very institution he inhabits.