evidence: The results from my fellow historians are now in: Donald Trump is not our worst president. Instead, James Buchanan continues to hold the bottom spot. Trump ranks in 41st place, with three presidents beneath him. [...] Public opinion equally mirrored the new conventional wisdom. In December 2020, a Fox News poll found that 42% of voters said history would remember Trump as one of the worst presidents. Of course, this initial polling about Trump’s place in history took place before the riot at the Capitol on January 6, 2021, the ramifications of which are ongoing. A recent Gallup poll on the question, conducted over January 4 to 15, 2021, revealed that fully six in 10 Americans thought Trump would be rated either "below average" or "poor." [...] Beyond inertia, however, a longer view of history also explains why Trump did not finish last. While it may have been common to call Trump the worst president in American history, the passions of the immediate moment tend to cool over time. Perhaps, too, historians take a somewhat longer view of events.