The American Presidency is increasingly considered the cornerstone of successful government. The responsibilities and power of the office are intriguing to presidential scholars and the average American alike. The legacies president’s leave are valuable because they affect the way we think about our past and the expectations we put on current presidents. Polls seeking attitudes about presidential greatness have been administered to historians and other experts as well as to the American public. These polls provide us with lists of great presidents and presidents who were failures. But they do not provide an explanation for these rankings. This paper examines reasons for the patterns observed in these polls. Using theories developed by Skowronek, Kernell, and Lowi, it tests a series of hypotheses which explain presidential success using environmental forces independent of personality. The results shed light on the issue of whether political dynamics and circumstances or individual ability determines presidential greatness.
