Most Americans know that the third Monday of every February is reserved for President’s Day, which remembers George Washington’s Feb. 22 birthday. It also pays tribute to Abraham Lincoln, whose birthday was Feb. 12. But with or without President’s Day, Lincoln and Washington all well-remembered and recognized by Americans young and old. However, a new study shows that not all presidents are as lucky. In a 2014 study published in the journal Science, psychology researchers Henry L. Roediger and K. Andrew DeSoto had nearly 500 adults ages 18-64 write down the names of as many presidents as they could remember — in order of which they served — in five minutes. Overall, people tended to remember the first five presidents, and 94 percent remembered America’s first president George Washington. People also remembered the most recent presidents, as well as Abraham Lincoln, John F. Kennedy, Franklin D. Roosevelt and Richard Nixon. But Gerald Ford, who was the only man to serve in the office who was neither elected President nor Vice President, was only remembered by 62 percent of people. Who is the worst remembered president? Chester A. Arthur. Arthur was our 21st president, but only 6.7 percent of participants were able to recall him. Roediger and DeSoto put together a second study in 2016. They displayed the names of presidents and asked people if they recognized them, but threw in some names of people that sound like presidents. Only 46 percent of subjects recognized Chester A. Arthur.
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