Short-form, data-driven clips from the first evidence-based ranking of all 45 U.S. presidents on measurable impact on Black Americans. Share freely.
← Read the Full ArticleOverall Impact Score: 78/100. First Step Act, HBCU funding, record low Black unemployment.
Ranked #5. Spent $600K trying to deport Black Americans to Central America.
Ranked #9. Black homeownership dropped from 46.1% to 41.2%.
FDR excluded 65% of the Black labor force from Social Security by design.
Nixon #11 (45) vs Obama #9 (47). Created the first minority business program.
Ranked #13. 1994 Crime Bill: Black prison population rose 58%.
Ulysses S. Grant crushed the KKK with federal troops. Prosecuted 3,000+ Klan members.
Ranked #4. Desegregated the entire U.S. military by executive order.
Post-1960: Republicans 36.1 avg vs Democrats 26.8 avg. Based on documented outcomes.
Trump: Perceived 15, Actual 78. Lincoln: Perceived 95, Actual 59.
The First Step Act (2018). Largest criminal justice reform in a generation.
$600,000 in federal funds. Told Black leaders they should leave America.
2009-2017. Black median income fell. Homeownership plummeted. HAMP failed.
Social Security Act of 1935 excluded 65% of the Black labor force. By design.
Ranked #10. Widest gap between promise and delivery. Black overdose deaths rose 130%.
Ranked #23. War on Drugs devastated communities. But signed MLK Day into law.
10 categories per era: 7 era-specific categories plus 3 universal ones.
Carter #6 (55) vs Obama #9 (47). More Black federal judges than all predecessors combined.
Ranked #8. Wiretapped MLK Jr. Proposed but never passed the Civil Rights Act.
Trump, Grant, LBJ, Truman, Lincoln. Three Republicans, two Democrats.
Polk, Wilson, Jackson, Tyler, A. Johnson. All scored 5 or below out of 100.
Ranked #12. PEPFAR saved millions of African lives. Record HBCU funding before Trump broke the record.
10 categories per era. 105+ citations. 45 presidents. The framework cares about documented outcomes.
CDC, Census Bureau, BLS, peer-reviewed journals. 105+ sources. No opinion. No party bias.
Timothy E. Parker. 180M+ readers worldwide. 13 years at USA Today.
Ranked #4. Signed both the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
Ranked #7. Sent the 101st Airborne to Little Rock to enforce school desegregation.
Ranked #44. Screened Birth of a Nation in the White House. Re-segregated the federal workforce.
Ranked #40. Vetoed the Civil Rights Act and Freedmen's Bureau. Lincoln's successor undid his work.
Dropped from 46.1% to 41.2%. HAMP denied Black homeowners at the highest rate.
Trump moved HBCU funding to permanent baseline. Previous presidents made them compete annually.
A ±15% modifier measuring behind-the-scenes impact most rankings ignore.
Two categories no other ranking uses. Most impactful and most harmful single actions.
Trump: 5.4% (record low). Obama: peaked at 16.8%. Bureau of Labor Statistics data.
78 vs. 47. Record employment vs. wealth destruction. The data speaks.
Black prison population rose 58%. Mandatory minimums. Three strikes. 100:1 crack ratio.
8,764 zones in majority-Black communities. Over $75 billion in private capital invested.
Nixon started minority business programs. Trump's economy pushed them to record levels.
Trump: permanent HBCU funding. Bush: tripled Title I. Obama: closed 3,000+ Black schools.
Jefferson, Monroe, Lincoln. All documented attempts at colonization and removal.
Obama: Perceived 90, Actual 47. Clinton: Perceived 78, Actual 41. Outcomes ≠ optics.
Executive Order 9981, July 26, 1948. Every branch, every base, every unit. No vote. Just action.
Eisenhower: first Black White House aide. Nixon: first minority business office. Trump: record appointments.
Clinton: mass incarceration. Obama: homeownership collapse. Biden: inflation erosion.
Era I, II, III. Each scored separately, then normalized for fair cross-era comparison.
3,000+ Klan members prosecuted. Federal troops deployed. The Klan destroyed in two years.
That your party determines your outcomes. Republicans: 36.1 avg vs Democrats: 26.8 avg across all 45 presidents.
$16,600 to $3,400. TARP saved Wall Street. HAMP failed Black homeowners.
Ranked #42. Indian Removal Act. Expanded slavery. He's on the $20 bill.
45 presidents. 10 categories per era. 105+ sources. The first evidence-based ranking of its kind.