History passes its first judgment on Barack Obama

In C-SPAN's third Presidential Historians Survey, Barack Obama came in at #12 — three spots higher than his Democratic predecessor Bill Clinton and solidly in the top third of presidents. That's based on the network's polling of 91 historians and other professional observers of the presidency on qualities of presidential leadership like crisis leadership, international relations, and economic management.

Other notables: Lincoln, Washington, and FDR rounded out the top 3; Reagan at #9; Buchanan, as is tradition, brought up the rear.

Food for thought: This list will include Donald J. Trump in the not-so distant future.