Over 40 percent of Americans have now voted Barack Obama the best or second-best president of their lifetime, according to the results of a new poll from the Pew Research Center.
The poll questioned people using an open-ended format, asking which president they believe has been the most successful in their lifetimes, using respondents’ first and second choices for the survey’s findings.
Forty-four percent of Americans argued that Obama was either the best or the second-best president in their lifetime, with 33 percent placing their votes for Bill Clinton.
Only 19 percent made the same argument for President Trump, who has held office since 2017.
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The survey noted that Americans’ views on the best president are largely connected to their age. Millennials were much more likely than older generations to vote for Obama as the best president in their lifetime, while older Americans are much more likely to cast their votes for Reagan being the best president.
Sixty-two percent of millennials think that Obama stands as either the best or second-best president in their lifetime. However, about 4 in 10 of the two older generations (baby boomers and the silent generation) stated that Reagan was their preferred president.
Pew makes a point to note that most millennials were born after Reagan was succeeded as president.
The poll shows an interesting divide across party lines. Seventy-one percent of Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents claimed that Obama is the best or second-best president in their lifetime. Meanwhile, 57 percent of Republicans and Republican-leaning independents suggest that Reagan was the best in their lifetime.
The Pew survey was held from June 5 to 12 among a population of 2,002 adults. The survey possesses a margin of error of 2.6 percentage points.
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