Joe Biden one of the worst presidents
Executive summary
Public opinion polls from late 2024–early 2025 show large shares of Americans saying Joe Biden will be judged poorly by history: Gallup found 54% expect him to be “below average” or “poor” (a net score of –35, second only to Nixon) [1], and Rasmussen reported 48% of likely voters saying Biden ranks among the nation’s worst presidents [2]. Commentators and opinion writers diverge sharply — some call Biden one of the worst based on policy failures or scandals [3] [4], while others highlight economic gains, job growth and falling crime as counterarguments [5].
1. What the polls actually measure — snapshots of opinion, not history
Gallup’s December survey asked Americans how they think history will judge presidents and found 54% expect Biden to be rated “below average” or “poor,” producing a –35 net score comparable to Richard Nixon’s –42 [1]; Rasmussen’s late-December/early-January likely-voter poll found 48% saying Biden is one of the worst presidents [2]. These are contemporary perceptions reflecting recent events and partisan views, not historians’ final rankings or comprehensive assessments of long-term impact [1].
2. Why critics label Biden “one of the worst” — cited failures and narratives
Opinion writers and some commentators list episodes such as the Afghanistan withdrawal, high inflation and immigration concerns as core grievances that fuel the “worst” label [3] [4]. Conservative outlets and commentators highlighted those and broader claims about economic mismanagement and political controversies to argue for a negative legacy [6] [7]. These criticisms are advanced in letters and opinion pieces rather than scholarly ranking projects [3] [4].
3. Counterarguments: metrics and accomplishments cited by defenders
Other commentators and letter writers push back, pointing to 16 million jobs created, falling violent crime in some measures, a cooling of inflation, strong stock market levels, and lower illegal-immigration rates compared with the previous administration as evidence Biden was not among the nation’s worst presidents [5]. These defenders frame the presidency around economic indicators and governance outcomes rather than isolated crises [5].
4. Expert and scholarly context — rankings remain mixed and evolving
Scholarly polls and long-term rankings differ from snap public-opinion polls; one recent survey of presidential scholars put Donald Trump at the bottom while placing Biden around #14 in one listing, showing that expert assessments can diverge substantially from general-public sentiment [4]. The developer-supplied sources show both short-term public negativity and more moderate scholarly or individual ranking exercises [4] [8].
5. Media and political incentives that shape the story
Republican-leaning outlets and pundits emphasize failures and declare Biden among the worst [2] [7], while other outlets and letter-writers stress achievements [5]. Opinion pieces and partisan commentary often have implicit agendas — for example, pushing narratives useful to political opponents or amplifying grievances after an electoral loss — so readers should note the source’s orientation when interpreting strong claims [6] [4].
6. What’s missing from the current coverage and why it matters
Available sources do not present a comprehensive, longitudinal historical consensus on Biden’s ultimate ranking among presidents; Gallup and Rasmussen capture present public sentiment but not the multidimensional, archival assessments historians use [1] [2]. Long-term legacy judgments typically change over decades, and some experts warn that legacies “almost uniformly improve with the benefit of hindsight,” a point raised in commentary included in the coverage [9].
7. How to evaluate the claim for yourself
If you want to judge the claim “Biden is one of the worst presidents,” weigh contemporaneous polls (Gallup’s –35 net; 54% negative expectations; Rasmussen’s 48% of likely voters) against objective outcome measures (jobs, inflation trends, crime and immigration statistics cited by defenders) and remember to separate opinion pieces from scholarly surveys [1] [2] [5]. Note partisan framing in many sources and that historians’ rankings can shift over time [9] [4].
Bottom line: strong public pessimism about Biden’s legacy is well-documented in recent polls [1] [2], but there is active disagreement in commentary and a lack of long-term historical consensus in the sources provided — making definitive labels like “one of the worst” a matter of contemporary judgment rather than settled historical fact [1] [5].