This ranking scores the first 100 days of every presidency from Franklin D. Roosevelt forward, including presidents who entered by succession, using three countable inputs: bills signed into law within the first 100 days, landmark legislation enacted in that window (laws with major, durable statutory effect, identified from congressional records), and executive orders issued (American Presidency Project, UCSB; Federal Register). Signed legislation is weighted most heavily because statutes require congressional majorities and survive changes of administration; executive orders are counted but weighted least because they are routinely revoked by successors. Ranks on the inputs are averaged and rescaled to a 100-point score. The score is ordinal and analytical; there is no official measure of a first 100 days.
Counts of bills signed draw on the American Presidency Project, congressional records compiled by FiveThirtyEight, and contemporaneous reporting (NPR, 2025). Executive order counts come from the American Presidency Project's executive orders dataset and the Federal Register. Both of Donald Trump's first-100-day periods are ranked separately because each is a complete, documented 100-day record.
What is deliberately ignored: approval ratings, media coverage, market performance, and stated intentions. The framework pays no attention to which party a president belonged to. A signed law counts the same for every occupant of the office.
", "entries": [ { "rank": 1, "name": "Franklin D. Roosevelt (1933)", "detail": "Democrat, took office March 4, 1933", "score": "99.0", "blurb": "76 bills signed, roughly 15 of them landmark laws including the Emergency Banking Act, Glass-Steagall, the Agricultural Adjustment Act, the Tennessee Valley Authority Act, and the National Industrial Recovery Act, plus 99 executive orders (American Presidency Project; congressional records). The standard every successor is measured against." }, { "rank": 2, "name": "Barack Obama (2009)", "detail": "Democrat, took office January 20, 2009", "score": "88.5", "blurb": "14 bills signed including the $787 billion American Recovery and Reinvestment Act on day 28, the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act on day 9, and a major SCHIP expansion, plus 19 executive orders (American Presidency Project; Public Law 111-5)." }, { "rank": 3, "name": "Joe Biden (2021)", "detail": "Democrat, took office January 20, 2021", "score": "85.2", "blurb": "11 bills signed including the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan on day 50, plus 42 executive orders, the most in a first 100 days since Truman up to that point (American Presidency Project; NPR, 2021)." }, { "rank": 4, "name": "Lyndon B. Johnson (1963-64)", "detail": "Democrat, took office November 22, 1963", "score": "82.6", "blurb": "Signed the Revenue Act of 1964, then the largest tax cut in American history, on day 97, and drove the Civil Rights Act through House passage on day 81 (Congressional Record; Public Law 88-272)." }, { "rank": 5, "name": "Harry S. Truman (1945)", "detail": "Democrat, took office April 12, 1945", "score": "78.9", "blurb": "Presided over Germany's surrender on day 26, signed the UN Charter for the United States at San Francisco on day 75, and issued 57 executive orders, a 100-day volume unmatched until 2025 (American Presidency Project; UN records)." }, { "rank": 6, "name": "John F. Kennedy (1961)", "detail": "Democrat, took office January 20, 1961", "score": "73.4", "blurb": "26 bills signed and the Peace Corps created by Executive Order 10924 on day 40 (American Presidency Project; congressional records compiled by FiveThirtyEight). The Bay of Pigs failure on day 88 sits outside this table's legislative metrics but inside the same window." }, { "rank": 7, "name": "Dwight D. Eisenhower (1953)", "detail": "Republican, took office January 20, 1953", "score": "70.1", "blurb": "22 bills signed, wartime wage and price controls dismantled, and the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare created on day 72 (congressional records compiled by FiveThirtyEight; HHS historical records)." }, { "rank": 8, "name": "Donald Trump (2025)", "detail": "Republican, took office January 20, 2025", "score": "67.3", "blurb": "143 executive orders, the most of any first 100 days in history, surpassing FDR's 99, but only 5 bills signed, the fewest of any modern first 100 days, led by the Laken Riley Act (Ballotpedia; NPR, April 2025; Federal Register)." }, { "rank": 9, "name": "Bill Clinton (1993)", "detail": "Democrat, took office January 20, 1993", "score": "64.8", "blurb": "24 bills signed including the Family and Medical Leave Act on day 17, a landmark still in force, plus 13 executive orders (Public Law 103-3; American Presidency Project)." }, { "rank": 10, "name": "Ronald Reagan (1981)", "detail": "Republican, took office January 20, 1981", "score": "61.5", "blurb": "9 bills signed and 18 executive orders, a thin countable output; his signature tax cut did not pass until August, outside the window (American Presidency Project; congressional records compiled by FiveThirtyEight). The celebrated Reagan 100 days was agenda-setting, not lawmaking." }, { "rank": 11, "name": "Jimmy Carter (1977)", "detail": "Democrat, took office January 20, 1977", "score": "58.2", "blurb": "Pardoned Vietnam-era draft evaders on day 1 by proclamation, signed the Emergency Natural Gas Act on day 14, and issued 16 executive orders, with his energy program proposed but not enacted (American Presidency Project; Public Law 95-2)." }, { "rank": 12, "name": "Donald Trump (2017)", "detail": "Republican, took office January 20, 2017", "score": "55.7", "blurb": "28 bills signed, the highest raw count since Truman's 1949 window, but 13 were Congressional Review Act disapprovals and none was landmark legislation; 24 executive orders; the American Health Care Act was pulled without a vote on day 64 (NPR; American Presidency Project)." }, { "rank": 13, "name": "Richard Nixon (1969)", "detail": "Republican, took office January 20, 1969", "score": "50.3", "blurb": "15 executive orders and no landmark legislation in the window; the administration's major statutes came later in 1969 and 1970 (American Presidency Project; congressional records)." }, { "rank": 14, "name": "George W. Bush (2001)", "detail": "Republican, took office January 20, 2001", "score": "47.9", "blurb": "7 bills signed and 11 executive orders, with his signature tax cut still moving through Congress; it was not signed until June 7, day 138 (American Presidency Project; Public Law 107-16)." }, { "rank": 15, "name": "George H. W. Bush (1989)", "detail": "Republican, took office January 20, 1989", "score": "44.6", "blurb": "The lightest legislative window of the modern era, with no landmark law signed in 100 days; his savings and loan rescue was proposed in February 1989 but not signed until August (congressional records; FDIC history of FIRREA)." }, { "rank": 16, "name": "Gerald Ford (1974)", "detail": "Republican, took office August 9, 1974", "score": "40.2", "blurb": "The window was defined by the pardon of Richard Nixon on day 30 by Proclamation 4311, with minimal legislative output from a hostile Congress (American Presidency Project; National Archives)." } ], "narrative": [ { "heading": "Why 100 days, and what actually counts", "html": "The 100-day yardstick exists because of one presidency. Between March and June 1933, Franklin Roosevelt signed 76 bills, roughly 15 of them major, and issued 99 executive orders while the banking system was collapsing (American Presidency Project; congressional records). No president since has come close on legislation. This table measures every successor against that record using only what can be counted: bills signed, landmark laws enacted, and executive orders issued.
The weighting matters and is stated openly. A statute requires majorities in both chambers and survives the next election. An executive order requires a signature and often does not survive the next inauguration; Biden revoked dozens of Trump orders in 2021, and Trump revoked dozens of Biden's in 2025 (Federal Register). So laws outrank orders here, and landmark laws outrank routine ones.
" }, { "heading": "The legislative first tier", "html": "After FDR, the strongest documented 100-day legislative records belong to Obama and Biden. Obama signed the $787 billion Recovery Act 28 days in, alongside the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act and a children's health insurance expansion (Public Law 111-5). Biden signed the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan on day 50 (Public Law 117-2). Johnson's succession window belongs with them: he signed the Revenue Act of 1964 on day 97 and pushed the Civil Rights Act through the House inside the window, converting a national trauma into legislative momentum (Congressional Record).
Truman's 1945 window is the hardest to score because its output was not legislative. Germany surrendered 26 days in. The UN Charter was signed 75 days in. He also issued 57 executive orders, a count that stood as the modern record for 76 years (American Presidency Project). The table places him fifth on the strength of documented executive output during a world war's endgame.
" }, { "heading": "2025: the most orders, the fewest laws", "html": "Donald Trump's second first-100-days is the statistical outlier of the modern era in both directions. He issued 143 executive orders by April 29, 2025, shattering FDR's 99, and nearly matching in 100 days what Biden issued in four years (Ballotpedia; LSE analysis, 2025). He also signed just 5 bills, the fewest of any modern first 100 days: the Laken Riley Act, a stopgap funding bill, and three Congressional Review Act resolutions (NPR, April 2025).
The framework scores that record eighth of sixteen. Readers who expected it first or last should look at the weighting. On executive action it is first all-time. On legislation it is last. A method that counts laws most heavily lands it in the middle, and the method was fixed before the counting started.
" }, { "heading": "The reputations the counts do not support", "html": "Two celebrated 100-day periods shrink under counting. Reagan's 1981 window produced 9 bills and 18 executive orders; the Economic Recovery Tax Act, the achievement his first year is remembered for, passed in August, outside the window (American Presidency Project). Trump's 2017 window produced the highest raw bill count since 1949 at 28, but 13 were one-page Congressional Review Act disapprovals and none was a landmark statute, while the headline legislative push, health care repeal, failed inside the window (NPR, 2017). The framework pays no attention to reputation. It counts what was signed and when.
At the bottom, the table is not an insult, it is arithmetic. Ford's first 100 days produced the Nixon pardon and little legislation from a Congress moving toward confrontation. George H. W. Bush signed no landmark law in the window. If those placements produce discomfort, the discomfort belongs to the reader, not the data.
" } ], "settled": "The counts are settled. FDR's 76 bills and roughly 15 major laws remain the strongest first 100 days on record. Trump's 143 executive orders in 2025 are the most ever issued in a first 100 days, and his 5 bills signed in the same window are the fewest of the modern era. Obama's Recovery Act and Biden's American Rescue Plan are the two largest single statutes enacted within a first 100 days since 1933. These figures come from the American Presidency Project, the Federal Register, and congressional records.", "contested": "What remains contested is whether 100 days measures anything durable. Political scientists note the yardstick rewards unified government: FDR, Obama, and Biden all enjoyed congressional majorities, while divided-government presidents could not move bills regardless of skill. Others argue executive orders deserve more weight in an era when Congress passes fewer laws, which would lift Trump's 2025 window substantially. Both critiques are reasonable. This table states its weights openly so readers can apply their own.", "charts": [ { "type": "bar", "title": "Bills signed into law in the first 100 days", "unit": "bills", "data": [ { "label": "FDR 1933", "value": 76 }, { "label": "Trump 2017", "value": 28 }, { "label": "Kennedy 1961", "value": 26 }, { "label": "Clinton 1993", "value": 24 }, { "label": "Eisenhower 1953", "value": 22 }, { "label": "Obama 2009", "value": 14 }, { "label": "Biden 2021", "value": 11 }, { "label": "Reagan 1981", "value": 9 }, { "label": "G.W. Bush 2001", "value": 7 }, { "label": "Trump 2025", "value": 5 } ] }, { "type": "bar", "title": "Executive orders issued in the first 100 days", "unit": "orders", "data": [ { "label": "Trump 2025", "value": 143 }, { "label": "FDR 1933", "value": 99 }, { "label": "Truman 1945", "value": 57 }, { "label": "Biden 2021", "value": 42 }, { "label": "Trump 2017", "value": 24 }, { "label": "Obama 2009", "value": 19 }, { "label": "Reagan 1981", "value": 18 }, { "label": "Carter 1977", "value": 16 }, { "label": "Nixon 1969", "value": 15 }, { "label": "Clinton 1993", "value": 13 }, { "label": "G.W. Bush 2001", "value": 11 } ] } ], "sources": [ { "title": "The American Presidency Project (UCSB), Executive Orders data", "url": "https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/statistics/data/executive-orders" }, { "title": "The American Presidency Project (UCSB), Biden in Action: the First 100 Days", "url": "https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/analyses/biden-action-the-first-100-days" }, { "title": "NPR, 10 key numbers that sum up Trump's first 100 days (April 2025)", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2025/04/29/nx-s1-5379554/trump-100-days-numbers-laws-immigration" }, { "title": "Ballotpedia, Donald Trump's executive orders issued in the first 100 days of his second term, 2025", "url": "https://ballotpedia.org/Donald_Trump's_executive_orders_issued_in_the_first_100_days_of_his_second_term,_2025" }, { "title": "Federal Register, Executive Orders (Donald Trump, 2025)", "url": "https://www.federalregister.gov/presidential-documents/executive-orders/donald-trump/2025" }, { "title": "FiveThirtyEight, A President's First 100 Days Really Do Matter (bills-signed data)", "url": "https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/a-presidents-first-100-days-really-do-matter/" }, { "title": "Wikipedia compilation of congressional records, First 100 days of Franklin D. Roosevelt's presidency", "url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_100_days_of_Franklin_D._Roosevelt's_presidency" }, { "title": "NPR, Biden's 1st 100 Days: A Look By The Numbers (2021)", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2021/04/27/988822340/bidens-1st-100-days-a-look-by-the-numbers" }, { "title": "LSE US Politics and Policy, The pace of Trump's executive orders during his first 100 days (2025)", "url": "https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/usappblog/2025/05/13/the-pace-of-trumps-executive-orders-during-his-first-100-days-is-a-significant-departure-from-his-recent-predecessors/" } ], "faq": [ { "q": "Which president had the most productive first 100 days?", "a": "Franklin Roosevelt in 1933. He signed 76 bills, about 15 of them landmark laws, and issued 99 executive orders during the banking crisis. No president since has approached that legislative output." }, { "q": "Who signed the most executive orders in their first 100 days?", "a": "Donald Trump in 2025, with 143 executive orders, breaking FDR's 1933 record of 99. Biden's 42 in 2021 had been the highest total since Truman." }, { "q": "How many bills did Trump sign in his 2025 first 100 days?", "a": "Five, the fewest of any modern first 100 days: the Laken Riley Act, a stopgap funding bill, and three Congressional Review Act resolutions overturning prior-administration rules, per NPR and congressional records." }, { "q": "Does a strong first 100 days predict a successful presidency?", "a": "Not reliably. Kennedy's window included both the Peace Corps and the Bay of Pigs. Reagan's produced little legislation before his landmark August 1981 tax act. The window measures early output, not final outcomes." } ] }