Posted February 22, 200718 yr Do you guys agree with this? Five Best Presidents of All Time Abraham Lincoln Franklin Delano Roosevelt George Washington Theodore Roosevelt Harry S. Truman Five Worst Presidents of All Time James Buchanan Andrew Johnson Franklin Pierce Warren G. Harding William Henry Harrison BTW, this was done between a mix of a poll and historians courtesy of C-SPAN. I think it is accurate. Also, here are the approval ratings for Presidents from 1950-Present (as you can see they mean absolutely nothing). President Highest Rating -Lowest Rating Harry Truman 87% -23% Dwight Eisenhower 79%- 48% John F. Kennedy 83%- 56% Lyndon Johnson 79%- 35% Richard Nixon 67%- 24% Gerald Ford 71%- 37% Jimmy Carter 75%- 28% Ronald Reagan 68%- 35% George H.W. Bush 89%- 29% Bill Clinton 73%- 37% George W. Bush 90%- 29% An Overall Look at Presidents Ranked As a Leader.....All courtesy of C-SPAN (which polled the exact same # of Republicans, Democrats and Historians) President's Name Final Score Category Ranking Overall Ranking 1. Abraham Lincoln 97.5 1 1 2. George Washington 96.6 2 3 3. Franklin Delano Roosevelt 94.2 3 2 4. Theodore Roosevelt 84.9 4 4 5. Harry S. Truman 80.0 5 5 6. Thomas Jefferson 75.8 6 7 7. Woodrow Wilson 75.6 7 6 8. Andrew Jackson 72.0 8 13 9. Dwight D. Eisenhower 70.7 9 9 10. James K. Polk 68.6 10 12 11. John F. Kennedy 68.1 11 8 12. Ronald Reagan 66.8 12 11 13. Lyndon Baines Johnson 64.2 13 10 14. William McKinley 61.8 14 15 15. John Adams 61.4 15 16 16. James Monroe 61.1 16 14 17. Grover Cleveland 59.4 17 17 18. James Madison 57.5 18 18 19. John Quincy Adams 54.1 19 19 20. George Bush 52.8 20 20 21. Bill Clinton 51.2 21 21 22. Gerald Ford 49.3 22 23 23. William Howard Taft 49.0 23 24 24. Jimmy Carter 48.6 24 22 25. Rutherford B. Hayes 48.1 25 26 26. Chester Arthur 44.3 26 32 27. Calvin Coolidge 44.1 27 27 28. Zachary Taylor 43.9 28 28 29. Benjamin Harrison 43.8 29 31 30. James Garfield 43.7 30 29 31. Martin Van Buren 42.9 31 30 32. Richard Nixon 40.9 32 25 33. Ulysses S. Grant 39.6 33 33 34. Millard Fillmore 38.3 34 35 35. John Tyler 36.7 35 36 36. Herbert Hoover 34.9 36 34 37. Warren G. Harding 28.3 37 38 38. William Henry Harrison 25.7 38 37 39. Andrew Johnson 25.6 39 40 40. Franklin Pierce 24.8 40 39 41. James Buchanan 21.5 41 41 Here is a great website that has the rankings of historians of all Presidents on every major category! It is very accurate I must add. For example, Clinton was strongest for his economic powers.... http://www.americanpresidents.org/survey/historians/ Here's the Wall Street Journal survey..... RANK NAME MEAN GREAT 1 George Washington 4.92 2 Abraham Lincoln 4.87 3 Franklin Roosevelt 4.67 NEAR GREAT 4 Thomas Jefferson 4.25 5 Theodore Roosevelt 4.22 6 Andrew Jackson 3.99 7 Harry Truman 3.95 8 Ronald Reagan 3.81 9 Dwight Eisenhower 3.71 10 James Polk 3.70 11 Woodrow Wilson 3.68 ABOVE AVERAGE 12 Grover Cleveland 3.36 13 John Adams 3.36 14 William McKinley 3.33 15 James Madison 3.29 16 James Monroe 3.27 17 Lyndon Johnson 3.21 18 John Kennedy 3.17 AVERAGE 19 William Taft 3.00 20 John Quincy Adams 2.93 21 George Bush 2.92 22 Rutherford Hayes 2.79 23 Martin Van Buren 2.77 24 William Clinton 2.77 25 Calvin Coolidge 2.71 26 Chester Arthur 2.71 BELOW AVERAGE 27 Benjamin Harrison 2.62 28 Gerald Ford 2.59 29 Herbert Hoover 2.53 30 Jimmy Carter 2.47 31 Zachary Taylor 2.40 32 Ulysses Grant 2.28 33 Richard Nixon 2.22 34 John Tyler 2.03 35 Millard Fillmore 1.91 FAILURE 36 Andrew Johnson 1.65 37 Franklin Pierce 1.58 38 Warren Harding 1.58 39 James Buchanan 1.33 Do you guys agree?
February 22, 200718 yr other than making FDR #3 and not ranking dubya yet, it has its merits. my top three still remain washinton lincoln t roosevelt not going to be changing after this administration thats for damn sure.
February 22, 200718 yr I agree with most of it. However, I still think that U.S. Grant was our worst president ever.
February 22, 200718 yr Its definitely interesting. I have questions as to why harding is considered a failure and nixon isnt, but oh well. My top 3 are Jefferson, Truman, Reagan.
February 22, 200718 yr on a side note... Will Dubya make his own category as Miserable Failure? I know you could google miserable failure and that was your first hit...
February 22, 200718 yr on a side note... Will Dubya make his own category as Miserable Failure? I know you could google miserable failure and that was your first hit... I hope so. He tends to make Nixon look good.
February 22, 200718 yr I know it's kind of a stupid thing to say, but if it wasn't for the whole Watergate thing, Nixon would be remembered as a fairly good president. He was a genius with foreign affairs, but a moron with anything else.
February 22, 200718 yr I disagree with Reagan being an above average president. Other than that I really can't complain too much.
February 23, 200718 yr Reagan is certainly very very overrated. However, he was not a bad President. I would put him somewhere between Average and Above Average.
February 23, 200718 yr William Henry Harrison as one of the worst is just mean. Anyways, here's how I see the top 5: -Teddy -Lincoln -Eisenhower -Polk -Washington
February 23, 200718 yr William Henry Harrison as one of the worst is just mean. Anyways, here's how I see the top 5: -Teddy -Lincoln -Eisenhower -Polk -Washington not that i disagree entirely...but why polk and eisenhower?...and washington is so underrated as a president...
February 23, 200718 yr Reagan is certainly very very overrated. However, he was not a bad President. I would put him somewhere between Average and Above Average. Of course you say this bc ur a liberal democrat. But looking at the overlal objective reality, reagan is clearly above average. Thats like people who argue clinton is above average, if your a republican you disagree with that. The truth is that Reagan's foreign policy will historically be remembered as a key reason in ending the cold war. Like everything there will be controversy, same as people argue FDR didnt end the depression. But for anyone who ranks FDR on top of the lsit, reagan must follow closely. However, if the argument is that the best presidents were the ones who did least to alter the world system or the countrys system, then u mihght have a clinton or maybe a coolidge on the top of the list.
February 23, 200718 yr I know it's kind of a stupid thing to say, but if it wasn't for the whole Watergate thing, Nixon would be remembered as a fairly good president. He was a genius with foreign affairs, but a moron with anything else. The thing about Nixon is that he was collapsing under the weight of his own paranoia. For all the good he accomplished [opening the door to relations with China, establishing the EPA and DEA, SALT I, Space Shuttle Program, Vietnamization, etc.] he will ultimately be remembered as an amoral person who disgraced himself and created a general sense of mistrust in the Office of the President of the United States. Weird legacy. It will be interesting to see what happens with Clinton's image 5 or 10 years from now.
February 24, 200718 yr I don't think the next generation will think that low of Clinton. He probably will fade into obscurity as a middle of the pack President, because he didn't change the world and he didn't do anything that scandalous. Then again, Presidents with much worse scandals (Tea Pot Dome!!!!!) are totally forgotten with the exception of Nixon, and he's remembered because he's the only one that ever resigned.
February 24, 200718 yr Reagan is certainly very very overrated. However, he was not a bad President. I would put him somewhere between Average and Above Average. Of course you say this bc ur a liberal democrat. But looking at the overlal objective reality, reagan is clearly above average. Thats like people who argue clinton is above average, if your a republican you disagree with that. The truth is that Reagan's foreign policy will historically be remembered as a key reason in ending the cold war. Like everything there will be controversy, same as people argue FDR didnt end the depression. But for anyone who ranks FDR on top of the lsit, reagan must follow closely. However, if the argument is that the best presidents were the ones who did least to alter the world system or the countrys system, then u mihght have a clinton or maybe a coolidge on the top of the list. My politics have only a little to do with my view of Reagan. I just think that his policies were bad overall. If you look closely at the USSR through insider history accounts, only the insistence of the Soviet government kept that country alive. Their economic numbers were always inflated way beyond the reality. I watched a good program once about how the USSR repeatedly tricked the US into believing that they had developed new aircraft that were much more advanced in anything the US had. The reality was, the Soviets used deception to make it appear that they were more powerful than they actually were. My biggest problem with Reagan is that he ballooned the federal budget way beyond what was necessary. I think he gets too much credit for ending the Cold War, when I think the USSR was going to collapse anyway regardless of what we did in the 1980s. It's remarkable that the Soviet government lasted as long as it did. Part of it had to do with their citizens' fear of the Soviet military, which was no longer justified anymore by the Reagan presidency. Richard Nixon did a lot more to stop the arms race with the USSR when he signed the SALT treaties than Reagan did. If anything, he may have extended the Cold War with his hard-line attitude towards the Soviet government at that time. Reasons like this are why he is an average President. I would also say, for the record, that Clinton was about the same overall. He wasn't amazing, just average. However, he certainly didn't make the country worse off by the time he left office, the way Bush is heading. I would agree that Clinton is going to slip into obscurity over time, but it's unfortunate that Reagan will continue to get too much credit for ending the Cold War.
February 26, 200718 yr William Henry Harrison as one of the worst is just mean. Anyways, here's how I see the top 5: -Teddy -Lincoln -Eisenhower -Polk -Washington not that i disagree entirely...but why polk and eisenhower?...and washington is so underrated as a president... Why Polk? This is why: note: I was having trouble embedding the video.
February 28, 200718 yr Reagan is certainly very very overrated. However, he was not a bad President. I would put him somewhere between Average and Above Average. Of course you say this bc ur a liberal democrat. But looking at the overlal objective reality, reagan is clearly above average. Thats like people who argue clinton is above average, if your a republican you disagree with that. The truth is that Reagan's foreign policy will historically be remembered as a key reason in ending the cold war. Like everything there will be controversy, same as people argue FDR didnt end the depression. But for anyone who ranks FDR on top of the lsit, reagan must follow closely. However, if the argument is that the best presidents were the ones who did least to alter the world system or the countrys system, then u mihght have a clinton or maybe a coolidge on the top of the list. My politics have only a little to do with my view of Reagan. I just think that his policies were bad overall. If you look closely at the USSR through insider history accounts, only the insistence of the Soviet government kept that country alive. Their economic numbers were always inflated way beyond the reality. I watched a good program once about how the USSR repeatedly tricked the US into believing that they had developed new aircraft that were much more advanced in anything the US had. The reality was, the Soviets used deception to make it appear that they were more powerful than they actually were. My biggest problem with Reagan is that he ballooned the federal budget way beyond what was necessary. I think he gets too much credit for ending the Cold War, when I think the USSR was going to collapse anyway regardless of what we did in the 1980s. It's remarkable that the Soviet government lasted as long as it did. Part of it had to do with their citizens' fear of the Soviet military, which was no longer justified anymore by the Reagan presidency. Richard Nixon did a lot more to stop the arms race with the USSR when he signed the SALT treaties than Reagan did. If anything, he may have extended the Cold War with his hard-line attitude towards the Soviet government at that time. Reasons like this are why he is an average President. I would also say, for the record, that Clinton was about the same overall. He wasn't amazing, just average. However, he certainly didn't make the country worse off by the time he left office, the way Bush is heading. I would agree that Clinton is going to slip into obscurity over time, but it's unfortunate that Reagan will continue to get too much credit for ending the Cold War. The problem is theres plenty of evidence pointing i nthe other direction that Reagan's polciies were a major factor in ending the cold war. Same as there are conflicting accounts of the economic impact of reagan policies. But like always causation is the hardest thing to prove. I must say however, that Reagan reinvigorated the 'conservative' movement. In fact, it was the first and I'd argue, only time a Goldwater conservative won the presidency. So, in that way he was revolutionary the same way FDR was revolutionary by changing the political landscape of the democratic party. So thats where Reagan is owed his dues if nothing else.
February 28, 200718 yr Reagan didn't exactly reinvigorate the conservative movement for very long. The party has changed since 2000, which means that he may have helped the party for just over a decade, but that's about it. It seems to me that they peaked in 1994, and have been slowly losing power ever since, primarily due to (what else) corruption. Unfortunately this happens to all majority parties if they are in power too long, no matter if they are the GOP or the DNC. The DNC lost power in 1994 because of corruption, and the GOP lost it in 2006 because of corruption, complacency, and the most unpopular war since Vietnam.
March 2, 200718 yr Reagan didn't exactly reinvigorate the conservative movement for very long. The party has changed since 2000, which means that he may have helped the party for just over a decade, but that's about it. It seems to me that they peaked in 1994, and have been slowly losing power ever since, primarily due to (what else) corruption. Unfortunately this happens to all majority parties if they are in power too long, no matter if they are the GOP or the DNC. The DNC lost power in 1994 because of corruption, and the GOP lost it in 2006 because of corruption, complacency, and the most unpopular war since Vietnam. Except that the conservative movement is still invigorated. The fact that the party leaders are currently from a different arm on the party does not mean the conservatives within are not strong. In fact, I'd argue Guiliani is the true conservative now. So regardless, the movement is still strong, just that the neoconservative movement gained strength after 9/11 but that segment has now began to fade again for the reasons you stated above.
March 4, 200718 yr I think Nixon and LBJ both got bad reps Can you really blame Nixon for some of the stuff he did? Who wouldnt do the same in his position? The public really got turned off of Nixon when the tapes came out. Perhaps the public wasnt ready for a" real side" of a pres. to be shown to the world. LBJ did more for civil rights than anybody else.
March 5, 200718 yr Reagan didn't exactly reinvigorate the conservative movement for very long. The party has changed since 2000, which means that he may have helped the party for just over a decade, but that's about it. It seems to me that they peaked in 1994, and have been slowly losing power ever since, primarily due to (what else) corruption. Unfortunately this happens to all majority parties if they are in power too long, no matter if they are the GOP or the DNC. The DNC lost power in 1994 because of corruption, and the GOP lost it in 2006 because of corruption, complacency, and the most unpopular war since Vietnam. Because of Reagan you had a Democrat President like Clinton who moved to the right on many issues and you started getting more conservative Democrats especially on economic issues. Reagan had a big influence on American Politics. Not that I am a fan.
March 5, 200718 yr William Henry Harrison is the best prez ever, and Nixon is pretty high too cuz his middle name is "millhous".
March 6, 200718 yr Reagan didn't exactly reinvigorate the conservative movement for very long. The party has changed since 2000, which means that he may have helped the party for just over a decade, but that's about it. It seems to me that they peaked in 1994, and have been slowly losing power ever since, primarily due to (what else) corruption. Unfortunately this happens to all majority parties if they are in power too long, no matter if they are the GOP or the DNC. The DNC lost power in 1994 because of corruption, and the GOP lost it in 2006 because of corruption, complacency, and the most unpopular war since Vietnam. Because of Reagan you had a Democrat President like Clinton who moved to the right on many issues and you started getting more conservative Democrats especially on economic issues. Reagan had a big influence on American Politics. Not that I am a fan. This is my point exactly. Love him or hate him. Its the same argument I make for FDR, I'm definitely not a fan of his policies, but you can't deny that he had a tremendous impact on American politics and economic structure and as such he has to be a notable president.
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