ranking US Presidents

[bayoubill]

I disagree. He made the US into the World Power that it is today, guided it through one of its greatest domestic crises, etc.

He also destroyed the Constitution...and Lincoln as well.

Without Lincoln the Union might very likely have been permanently broken.

imho, not necessarily a bad thing...

two separate unions, the USA and the CSA, coulda worked...

but that's a topic for another thread...

 

[Unkotare]

He also destroyed the Constitution...and Lincoln as well.

Without Lincoln the Union might very likely have been permanently broken.

imho, not necessarily a bad thing...

two separate unions, the USA and the CSA, coulda worked...

but that's a topic for another thread...

Be sure and post it in the 'Stupid Forum.'

 

[bayoubill]

Without Lincoln the Union might very likely have been permanently broken.

imho, not necessarily a bad thing...

two separate unions, the USA and the CSA, coulda worked...

but that's a topic for another thread...

Be sure and post it in the 'Stupid Forum.'

is that where you live...?

 

[Unkotare]

I live in the Union that we have preserved for so long.

 

[Unkotare]

But I'd at least vacation in the Stupid Forum.

 

[bayoubill]

But I'd at least vacation in the Stupid Forum.

I'll buy the next round...

 

[Unkotare]

But I'd at least vacation in the Stupid Forum.

I'll buy the next round...

Sounds good.

 

[bayoubill]

My personal ranking of US Presidents. I didn't include any Presidents who were in office less than 20 years ago (too early to judge) and I also left out William Henry Harrison, Zachary Taylor and James Garfield because they served for too brief a period to judge.

Abraham Lincoln
Franklin D. Roosevelt
George Washington
Thomas Jefferson
Theodore Roosevelt
Ronald Reagan
Lyndon B. Johnson
James Knox Polk
Harry Truman
William McKinley
James Monroe
John Adams
Woodrow Wilson
Dwight Eisenhower
William Howard Taft
Grover Cleveland
Calvin Coolidge
James Madison
John Quincy Adams
Rutherford B. Hayes
Andrew Johnson
Andrew Jackson
Chester Alan Arthur
Benjamin Harrison
Herbert Hoover
Ulysses S. Grant
Martin Van Buren
John Tyler
Franklin Pierce
John F. Kennedy
Richard Nixon
Gerald Ford
Jimmy Carter
Warren Gamaliel Harding
Millard Fillmore
James Buchanan

my list would look a bit different...

While I’ll grudgingly grant Abraham Lincoln’s position in the top five...
George Washington should absolutely be in the number one position...

other main differences:

Franklin D. Roosevelt should be much farther down the list...
Theodore Roosevelt shouldn’t be in the top ten...
Lyndon B. Johnson should be at the very bottom of the list...
Harry Truman should be ‘round about the middle instead of the top ten...
Woodrow Wilson should be fighting for last place with Lyndon B. Johnson and James Buchanan...
Grover Cleveland should be in the top 10...
Andrew Johnson should be closer to the bottom...
John F. Kennedy, Richard Nixon, and Gerald Ford should be ranked higher than Herbert Hoover and Ulysses S. Grant...

 

[Artevelde]

My personal ranking of US Presidents. I didn't include any Presidents who were in office less than 20 years ago (too early to judge) and I also left out William Henry Harrison, Zachary Taylor and James Garfield because they served for too brief a period to judge.

Abraham Lincoln
Franklin D. Roosevelt
George Washington
Thomas Jefferson
Theodore Roosevelt
Ronald Reagan
Lyndon B. Johnson
James Knox Polk
Harry Truman
William McKinley
James Monroe
John Adams
Woodrow Wilson
Dwight Eisenhower
William Howard Taft
Grover Cleveland
Calvin Coolidge
James Madison
John Quincy Adams
Rutherford B. Hayes
Andrew Johnson
Andrew Jackson
Chester Alan Arthur
Benjamin Harrison
Herbert Hoover
Ulysses S. Grant
Martin Van Buren
John Tyler
Franklin Pierce
John F. Kennedy
Richard Nixon
Gerald Ford
Jimmy Carter
Warren Gamaliel Harding
Millard Fillmore
James Buchanan

my list would look a bit different...

While I’ll grudgingly grant Abraham Lincoln’s position in the top five...
George Washington should absolutely be in the number one position...

other main differences:

Franklin D. Roosevelt should be much farther down the list...
Theodore Roosevelt shouldn’t be in the top ten...
Lyndon B. Johnson should be at the very bottom of the list...
Harry Truman should be ‘round about the middle instead of the top ten...
Woodrow Wilson should be fighting for last place with Lyndon B. Johnson and James Buchanan...
Grover Cleveland should be in the top 10...
Andrew Johnson should be closer to the bottom...
John F. Kennedy, Richard Nixon, and Gerald Ford should be ranked higher than Herbert Hoover and Ulysses S. Grant...

Well, we'll have to agree to disagree. No harm in that.

 

[eraser2000]

people often forget to mention Adams but during the War of 1812 he refused to infringe on The Constitution or on any of our civil liberties despite the wholesale invasion of destruction of our country

 

[rightwinger]

people often forget to mention Adams but during the War of 1812 he refused to infringe on The Constitution or on any of our civil liberties despite the wholesale invasion of destruction of our country

It was James Madison who almost gave away the country in the War of 1812

 

[regent]

The real question is what criteria do we use to judge the presidents? Do we just use our political leanings or do we use a set of specifics to rate? The recent Siena poll asked the historians to rate on twenty specifics that they deemed important to good presidential leadership. Such items as the economy, appointments, foreign policy, taking risks, relationship with Congress, intelligence and others were used. The presidents were then rated on each item. Lincoln was tops in six catagories, FDR in four. What do voters believe makes a good president?

 

[Artevelde]

The real question is what criteria do we use to judge the presidents? Do we just use our political leanings or do we use a set of specifics to rate? The recent Siena poll asked the historians to rate on twenty specifics that they deemed important to good presidential leadership. Such items as the economy, appointments, foreign policy, taking risks, relationship with Congress, intelligence and others were used. The presidents were then rated on each item. Lincoln was tops in six catagories, FDR in four. What do voters believe makes a good president?

I take a somewhat more straigthforward approach. I ranked them according to their overal impact (positive and negative) on the historical development of the United States. I also feel there has to be sufficient distance (a few decades at least).

 

[regent]

In reference to the charges that historians are liberal and biased in their ratings of presidents, and particulary after Reagan was rated just above Chester A. Arthur, the conservatives decided to poll conservative scholars and eureka, their first poll, placed Reagan in the near-great catagory. Encouraged, the Wall Street Journal and the Federalist Society polled again, and again Reagan was rated as near-great. Yet FDR was still rated as one of the three greatest American presidents in most polls .

 

[Agent_Mulder]

JFK and Thomas Jefferson were hands-down the greatest presidents of all-time!!

 

[Artevelde]

JFK and Thomas Jefferson were hands-down the greatest presidents of all-time!!

JFK? You must be kidding!

 

[TheGreatGatsby]

Not including current presidents is a cop out. We know as much about them as anyone. "It's too early to tell," is just a line that the media uses to not have to put their guys in the spotlight for their b.s.

 

[TheGreatGatsby]

Five worst presidents.

1. Obama
2. FDR
3. Lyndon Johnson
4. Jimmy Carter
5. Bill Clinton

 

[Peach]

Ford did absolutely nothing to bring back confidence and was a very weak President, as was Carter.

Nixon did the opposite of causing the downfall of the USSR. He was the main proponent of detente and learning to live with a Soviet Union that always would be there. It took Reagan to imagine again the possibility that this would not be so.

As for Truman, he fought in WWI, NOT WWII. Truman, by the way, was often very unpopular and connected with the American people a whole lot less than Reagan.

Correct, Truman fought in WWI; I never connected with Reagan, nor his DEBT. Reagan POSED and spent, not much else.

I disagree. The whole of US politics was different after Reagan, and frankly I'm pretty sure Bill Clinton and Barack Obama would agree with that.

I do not agree with the majority many times on American history, It was my primary field of concentration in college. I saw Reagan as grinning idiot, George HW Bush a welcome relief; Reagan spiked the debt, invaded Grenada, and talked of being "a cavalry man". I was was embarrassed to say his name at times.

In the end however, Nixon began detente & went to China. Nixon let Soviets know there was food if the arms race eased. The flip side of course is the cover up of "a third rate burglary". Ford brought calm to the nation, and started the healing process after Nixon resigned. Our then enemies did not gain an inch due to his serene 'business as usual' attitude. The USSR was on its way down before the grinning Z grade movie face entered the picture.

One person's views do not reflect America, I know many who liked seeing the his face, and adored the "tear down this wall" pose. I of course believe Nixon tore down the wall by letting more & more* Soviets know how superior our economic & political system is. The majority matter, as you wrote "connecting" with the American people is important. Thus, Reagan ranks higher with more Americans.

I rank Eisenhower higher because of Little Rock. He too "connected" as GHWB never could.

I'd put FDR third, fourth or fifth; as Lincoln suspended the writ of habeas corpus, I would not rank him at #1, though still in the top five. Jefferson at #1, Madison in the top ten, as 1812 was our first, and perhaps biggest, threat to national sovereignty. Buchanan & Pierce at the bottom as they ignored the growing crisis of North/South.

Andrew Jackson is a truly mixed bag; the Indian killer and the voice of the 'common man'. Wilson, I also rank higher than most Americans, and give credit to Edith Wilson as the first female "acting" President.

* The old cliche "how ya gonna keep 'em down on the farm when they have seen the big city"? seems to fit.

 

[Artevelde]

Not including current presidents is a cop out. We know as much about them as anyone. "It's too early to tell," is just a line that the media uses to not have to put their guys in the spotlight for their b.s.

I disagree. Experience shows that Presidents are often ranked worst just after they leave office. Some distance is necessary to have a proper perspective. That's why I not only exclude currenty serving Presidents but also recent ex-Presidents.