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: 80.1/100. First Step Act, HBCU funding, record low Black unemployment.
Ranked #12. Spent $600K trying to deport Black Americans to Central America.
Ranked #11. Black homeownership dropped from 46.1% to 41.2%.
FDR excluded 65% of the Black labor force from Social Security by design.
Nixon #8 (53.6) vs Obama #11 (43.5). Created the first minority business program.
Ranked #17. 1994 Crime Bill: Black prison population rose 58%.
Ulysses S. Grant crushed the KKK with federal troops. Prosecuted 3,000+ Klan members.
Ranked #3. Desegregated the entire U.S. military by executive order.
Post-1960: Republicans 53.3 avg vs Democrats 37.7 avg. Based on documented outcomes.
Trump: Perceived 15, Actual 80.1. Lincoln: Perceived 95, Actual 40.3.
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 #15. Widest gap between promise and delivery. Black overdose deaths rose 130%.
Ranked #14. War on Drugs devastated communities. But signed MLK Day into law.
9 weighted categories: Education, Economic, Housing, Civil Rights, Safety, and more.
Carter #7 (55.4) vs Obama #11 (43.5). More Black federal judges than all predecessors combined.
Ranked #10. Wiretapped MLK Jr. Proposed but never passed the Civil Rights Act.
Trump, Grant, Truman, LBJ, Eisenhower. Three Republicans, two Democrats.
Buchanan, A. Johnson, Pierce, Jackson, Polk. All supported or expanded slavery.
PEPFAR saved millions of African lives. Record HBCU funding before Trump broke the record.
9 categories. 123 citations. 45 presidents. The framework cares about documented outcomes.
CDC, Census Bureau, BLS, peer-reviewed journals. 123 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 #5. Sent the 101st Airborne to Little Rock to enforce school desegregation.
Ranked #38. Screened Birth of a Nation in the White House. Re-segregated the federal workforce.
Ranked #44. 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.
80.1 vs. 43.5. 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 43.5. Clinton: Perceived 78, Actual 27.2. 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: 53.3 avg vs Democrats: 37.7 avg post-1960.
$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. 9 categories. 123 sources. The first evidence-based ranking of its kind.