The public might love former President Ronald Reagan, but the nation’s college professors don’t, putting Presidents Obama and Clinton above him on their list of best presidents.
According to a new poll taken on the eve of the Gipper’s 101st birthday February 6, 60 percent of the nation’s elite educators didn’t even put Reagan on their top 10 list.
In the poll done for Young America’s Foundation, which owns the Reagan Ranch in California, 284 professors from a mix of schools including Johns Hopkins University, Duke, Harvard and Texas A & M, gave Reagan a middling grade of C. Obama received a C+, Clinton a B, Jimmy Carter C-, George H.W. Bush C, and his son George W. Bush D.
Liberal leaning college professors have long ‘dissed Reagan, but the survey from The Polling Company found that 61 percent believe Reagan’s presidency was a success.
“The leftist tilt of college professors is well known. However, the fact that President Reagan is now viewed as successful by 61 percent of this group is a testament to the lasting accomplishments of our 40th president,” said Frank Donatelli, chairman of the Reagan Ranch board of governors.
Like the public, the professors put Lincoln, FDR and George Washington at the top of their list. But just 13 percent believe Reagan belongs in the top three. A recent Gallup poll found the the public believed Reagan wat the greatest president in history.
Pollster Kellyanne Conway also asked about Obama in the college poll and 59 percent deemed his presidency a success.
As for the professors, 57 percent self-identified as liberals; 16 percent as conservatives.
