How can letter grade tier ratings be converted into a numerical scale for ranking presidents?

The essay converts letter grades into numerical scores using a five-point scale: S = +3, A = +1, B = 0, C = −1, and F = −3. Each president's score is then calculated by averaging votes from all participants, with error bars showing plus or minus one standard deviation to illustrate the level of disagreement within the community.

What is the difference between averaging presidential votes versus intensity-weighted ranking?

Average ranking treats each vote equally to determine community consensus on each president. Intensity-weighted ranking sums all votes without averaging, creating a ranking that reflects how much people care about specific presidents—showing which leaders generated the strongest passionate responses from voters.

2026 Community Presidential Tier List - Results!

The "official" ranking

By Peter Banks · August 4, 2026 · Updated August 24, 2026 · Read on Substack

Summary: The essay presents results from a community tier list ranking U.S. presidents using a five-point scale that converts letter grades (S, A, B, C, F) to numerical scores ranging from +3 to -3. The author analyzes the rankings through multiple lenses, including average scores with standard deviation error bars and an intensity-weighted ranking that emphasizes voter conviction. Individual president breakdowns reveal how controversial each leader was within the community.

The Tier List:

You can find the data here. Note: Substack rounds vote percentages so they may not always add to exactly 100. Also Trump 2 is still open as I write this so make sure to go and vote.

!!make your own and share it!!

How the scoring works:

The format is simple. Each president gets rated S, A, B, C, or F. To turn letters into numbers, I mapped them onto a five-point scale: S = +3, A = +1, B = 0, C = −1, F = −3.

Headline result:

Average that across every vote and each president gets a score. Here’s how they rank, with error bars showing plus or minus one standard deviation.

Over time:

Intensity Weighted:

If you switch from the average score to the absolute totals — simply summing every vote rather than averaging — you get a ranking weighted by how much people care.