Donald Trump is among the worst US leaders of all-time, according to a survey of more than 100 presidential historians.

The former commander-in-chief came out 41st in the list, ahead of only Franklin Pierce, Andrew Johnson and James Buchanan.

The C-Span Presidential Historians Survey, now in its fourth edition, is carried out every time there is a transition of power in the US.

This time round, a total of 142 historians and professional observers of America’s highest office ranked each of the 44 former presidents on 10 characteristics of leadership.

They are: public persuasion, crisis leadership, economic management, moral authority, international relations, administrative skills, relations with Congress, vision/setting an agenda, pursued equal justice for all, and performance within the context of the times.

Each participant provided a rating from one (“not effective”) to 10 (“very effective”) for each of the characteristics, with the average of all responses determining a former president’s overall score.

Mr Trump, the only president to be impeached twice, ranks highest in public persuasion (32nd) and economic management (34th), while he places last for moral authority and administrative skills.

Barack Obama, Mr Trump’s predecessor in the Oval Office, is in 10th place, moving up two spots from the last time the survey was carried out in 2017.

Abraham Lincoln, the Republican president who won the Civil War and abolished slavery before being assassinated, comes out on top once more.

In second place is George Washington, who led the Continental Army to victory over the British in the American War of Independence and was America’s first president.

Franklin D Roosevelt, often known by his initials FDR, is third. His “New Deal” programme is credited with reviving the ailing American economy amid the Great Depression of the 1930s.

Theodore Roosevelt, who was in the White House from 1901 to 1909 and vastly expanded the powers of the office, is fourth.

Dwight Eisenhower, who was supreme commander of Allied forces in western Europe during the Second World War and served two terms in the Oval Office from 1953 to 1961, completes the top five.

George W Bush (2001-2009) moves up four places to 29th, while Bill Clinton (1993-2001) drops four places to 19th.

Rising up the ranks is Ulysses S Grant (1869-1877), who jumps 13 places from 33rd to 20th.

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