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No matter how many times #45 tries to tear down former President Obama’s rich legacy, his accomplishments will always be honored and recognized. So much so, that the nation’s first Black president has been named as the 12th best president by a group of prestigious historians.

According to a recent C-SPAN surveyit’s the highest showing for any president this soon after leaving office since Ronald Reagan, who was number nine on the list. The 91 presidential experts praised Obama for his efforts to help legalize marriage equality, his ability to turn around an inherited bad economy and his “moral authority.”  Yet, they believed the 44th president could have done more to strengthen international relations with other countries around the world. 

However, Howard University historian Edna Greene Medford stressed that Obama could possibly rise up in the rankings over the years. “Historians prefer to view the past from a distance, and only time will reveal his legacy,” she explained. 

So who beat out Obama? The usual suspects: Abraham Lincoln, George Washington FDR and Teddy Roosevelt. Then followed by Harry Truman, Dwight Eisenhower, Thomas Jefferson, John F. Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson.

“Once again the Big Three are Lincoln, Washington and FDR — as it should be,” said Douglas Brinkley of Rice University, one of the masterminds behind the survey. But he stressed, “That Obama came in at number 12 his first time out is quite impressive.”

Here’s what we know: Regardless of what these folks say, President Obama will always be number one in our books.

See the compete rankings here.

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Obama Ranked 12th Best U.S. President Ever By Historians  was originally published on hellobeautiful.com