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The Historical Memory of American Presidents in the Mass Public

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  • Jeffrey E. Cohen

    (Department of Political Science, Fordham University, Bronx, NY 10458, USA)

Abstract

This paper investigates public evaluations of past presidents. Since voters generally lack much historical knowledge, such evaluations are not useful indicators of the performance and effectiveness of presidents across history, unlike the greatness evaluations of experts, like historians and presidency scholars. Still, presidents may be concerned about how future generations of voters will think about them. These anticipations may then affect presidential behavior in office. This study uses a Rasmussen poll in 2007 that asked voters their assessment of all the past presidents, from George Washington through to George W. Bush. Results find that voters look upon past presidents more favorably as a larger number of voters have opinions about the president, presidents of the founding generation are looked upon more favorably, and the ratings of experts affect voters’ assessments of past presidents. The conclusion discusses the implications of the results and offers suggestions for future research.

Suggested Citation

  • Jeffrey E. Cohen, 2018. "The Historical Memory of American Presidents in the Mass Public," Social Sciences, MDPI, vol. 7(3), pages 1-14, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jscscx:v:7:y:2018:i:3:p:36-:d:134439
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Jennifer Jerit & Jason Barabas & Toby Bolsen, 2006. "Citizens, Knowledge, and the Information Environment," American Journal of Political Science, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 50(2), pages 266-282, April.
    2. Bartels, Larry M., 1993. "Messages Received: The Political Impact of Media Exposure," American Political Science Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 87(2), pages 267-285, June.
    3. Markus Prior, 2005. "News vs. Entertainment: How Increasing Media Choice Widens Gaps in Political Knowledge and Turnout," American Journal of Political Science, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 49(3), pages 577-592, July.
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