| ------- 1948 Poll ------- | ------- 1968 Poll ------- | ------- 1982 Poll ------- | ------- 2000 Poll ------- |
| 1. Abraham Lincoln | 1. Abraham Lincoln | 1. Abraham Lincoln | 1. Abraham Lincoln |
| 2. George Washington | 2. George Washington | 2. Franklin D. Roosevelt | 2. Franklin D. Roosevelt |
| 3. Franklin D. Roosevelt | 3. Franklin D. Roosevelt | 3. George Washington | 3. George Washington |
| 4. Woodrow Wilson | 4. Thomas Jefferson | 4. Thomas Jefferson | 4. Theodore Roosevelt |
| 5. Thomas Jefferson | 5. Theodore Roosevelt | 5. Theodore Roosevelt | 5. Harry Truman |
| 6. Andrew Jackson | 6. Woodrow Wilson | 6. Woodrow Wilson | 6. Woodrow Wilson |
| 7. Theodore Roosevelt | 7. Harry Truman | 7. Andrew Jackson | 7. Thomas Jefferson |
| 8. Grover Cleveland | 8. Andrew Jackson | 8. Harry Truman | 8. John Kennedy |
| 9. John Adams | 9. John Kennedy | 9. John Adams | 9. Dwight Eisenhower |
| 10. James Polk | 10. John Adams | 10. Lyndon Johnson | 10. Lyndon Johnson |
| 11. John Quincy Adams | 11. James Polk | 11. Dwight Eisenhower | 11. Ronald Reagan |
| 12. James Monroe | 12. Grover Cleveland | 12. James Polk | 12. James Polk |
| 13. Rutherford Hayes | 13. James Madison | 13. John Kennedy | 13. Andrew Jackson |
| 14. James Madison | 14. James Monroe | 14. James Madison | 14. James Monroe |
| 15. Martin Van Buren | 15. John Quincy Adams | 15. James Monroe | 15. William McKinley |
| 16. William Taft | 16. Lyndon Johnson | 16. John Quincy Adams | 16. John Adams |
| 17. Chester Arthur | 17. William Taft | 17. Grover Cleveland | 17. Grover Cleveland |
| 18. William McKinley | 18. Herbert Hoover | 18. William McKinley | 18. James Madison |
| 19. Andrew Johnson | 19. Dwight Eisenhower | 19. William Taft | 19. John Quincy Adams |
| 20. Herbert Hoover | 20. Andrew Johnson | 20. Martin Van Buren | 20. George Bush |
| 21. Benjamin Harrison | 21. Martin Van Buren | 21. Herbert Hoover | 21. Bill Clinton |
| 22. John Tyler | 22. William McKinley | 22. Rutherford Hayes | 22. Jimmy Carter |
| 23. Calvin Coolidge | 23. Chester Arthur | 23. Chester Arthur | 23. Gerald Ford |
| 24. Millard Fillmore | 24. Rutherford Hayes | 24. Gerald Ford | 24. William Howard Taft |
| 25. Zachary Taylor | 25. John Tyler | 25. Jimmy Carter | 25. Richard Nixon |
| 26. James Buchanan | 26. Benjamin Harrison | 26. Benjamin Harrison | 26. Rutherford Hayes |
| 27. Franklin Pierce | 27. Zachary Taylor | 27. Zachary Taylor | 27. Calvin Coolidge |
| 28. Ulysses Grant | 28. Calvin Coolidge | 28. John Tyler | 28. Zachary Taylor |
| 29. Warren Harding | 29. Millard Fillmore | 29. Millard Fillmore | 29. James Garfield |
| 30. James Buchanan | 30. Calvin Coolidge | 30. Martin Van Buren | |
| 31. Franklin Pierce | 31. Franklin Pierce | 31. Benjamin Harrison | |
| 32. Ulysses S. Grant | 32. Andrew Johnson | 32. Chester Arthur | |
| 33. Warren Harding | 33. James Buchanan | 33. Ulysses Grant | |
| 34. Richard Nixon | 34. Herbert Hoover | ||
| 35. Ulysses Grant | 35. Millard Fillmore | ||
| 36. Warren Harding | 36. John Tyler | ||
| 37. William H. Harrison | |||
| 38. Warren Harding | |||
| 39. Franklin Pierce | |||
| 40. Andrew Johnson | |||
| 41. James Buchanan |