Monday, February 18, 2008
I hope everyone is having a good President's Day. In the interest of continuing what has become a tradition on this site, the Pendragon is including a revised ranking of the Presidents based on new information learned this past year. This year I am even attempting to eschew blatant partisanship and evaluate each President on his ability to lead the nation and accomplish his own program, not whether or not I agree with said program. George W. Bush will not be included since it is too early to rank his presidency (truthfully, it's too early to rank anyone more recent than Nixon). I read Presidential Leadership: Rating the Best and Worst in the White House this past year and came up with a new way to order the rankings, by breaking them into categories--Great, Near-Great, Above Average, Average, Below Average and Failure. There are additional categories for Most Underrated and Most Overrated Presidents. I am this year attempting to emulate this process. As always, feel free to discuss. I am feeling particularly generous this year since I am sure my prediction of near-greatness for Bush II is going to be born out by the disaster coming in the next four years.
GREAT:
1. George Washington
2. Abraham Lincoln
3. James Monroe
4. Theodore Roosevelt
5. Franklin D. Roosevelt
NEAR-GREAT
6. Thomas Jefferson
7. Harry Truman
8. Andrew Jackson
9. John Adams
10. William McKinley
11. James K. Polk
12. Dwight D. Eisenhower
13. Ronald Reagan
14. James Madison
15. Woodrow Wilson
ABOVE AVERAGE:
16. Calvin Coolidge
17. Lyndon B. Johnson
18. Grover Cleveland
19. Ulysses S. Grant
20. Chester A. Arthur
21. Zachary Taylor
AVERAGE
22. John F. Kennedy
23. Rutherford B. Hayes
24. William Howard Taft
25. Gerald Ford
26. Richard Nixon
27. Bill Clinton
28. George H.W. Bush
29. John Tyler
BELOW AVERAGE
30. Martin Van Buren
31. John Quincy Adams
32. Millard Fillmore
33. Benjamin Harrison
34. Herbert Hoover
35. Franklin Pierce.
FAILURE
36. Jimmy Carter
37. Andrew Johnson
38. Warren G. Harding
39. James Buchanan.
MOST OVERRATED PRESIDENTS
1. John F. Kennedy (has rather questionable accomplishments to boast of in his term).
2. Franklin D. Roosevelt (deserves a "great" ranking but not the #1 or #2 spot that many historians give him).
3. LBJ (decently accomplished president, but contrary to Professor Hillary's completely false assertion had to be forced by electoral considerations into many of his accomplishments).
MOST UNDERRATED PRESIDENTS
1. William McKinley (deserves credit as the first president to bring America onto the global stage).
2. John Adams (kept the US out of war but made great preparations for the inevitable clash with Europe).
3. Ulysses S. Grant (helped unite the country when no one else could).
GREAT:
1. George Washington
2. Abraham Lincoln
3. James Monroe
4. Theodore Roosevelt
5. Franklin D. Roosevelt
NEAR-GREAT
6. Thomas Jefferson
7. Harry Truman
8. Andrew Jackson
9. John Adams
10. William McKinley
11. James K. Polk
12. Dwight D. Eisenhower
13. Ronald Reagan
14. James Madison
15. Woodrow Wilson
ABOVE AVERAGE:
16. Calvin Coolidge
17. Lyndon B. Johnson
18. Grover Cleveland
19. Ulysses S. Grant
20. Chester A. Arthur
21. Zachary Taylor
AVERAGE
22. John F. Kennedy
23. Rutherford B. Hayes
24. William Howard Taft
25. Gerald Ford
26. Richard Nixon
27. Bill Clinton
28. George H.W. Bush
29. John Tyler
BELOW AVERAGE
30. Martin Van Buren
31. John Quincy Adams
32. Millard Fillmore
33. Benjamin Harrison
34. Herbert Hoover
35. Franklin Pierce.
FAILURE
36. Jimmy Carter
37. Andrew Johnson
38. Warren G. Harding
39. James Buchanan.
MOST OVERRATED PRESIDENTS
1. John F. Kennedy (has rather questionable accomplishments to boast of in his term).
2. Franklin D. Roosevelt (deserves a "great" ranking but not the #1 or #2 spot that many historians give him).
3. LBJ (decently accomplished president, but contrary to Professor Hillary's completely false assertion had to be forced by electoral considerations into many of his accomplishments).
MOST UNDERRATED PRESIDENTS
1. William McKinley (deserves credit as the first president to bring America onto the global stage).
2. John Adams (kept the US out of war but made great preparations for the inevitable clash with Europe).
3. Ulysses S. Grant (helped unite the country when no one else could).
// posted by The Pendragon @ 1:16 PM 
Comments:
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I'd say Bush Sr. deserves an above average rating. During his presidency the Soviet Union fell apart, germany became reunited, Hussein invaded Kuwait and he managed all that quite well. In that period of huge change, his foreign policy was solid. Off course there are other things he did not do well, but still, above average imo.
then I think Nixon should be ranked lower. After all, Watergate. He should be at least below average because of that. Than their is the morality, or more to say the lack off, in his foreign policy.
Kennedy I would also rate above average because of his excellent handling of the cubacrisis.
then I think Nixon should be ranked lower. After all, Watergate. He should be at least below average because of that. Than their is the morality, or more to say the lack off, in his foreign policy.
Kennedy I would also rate above average because of his excellent handling of the cubacrisis.
# posted by 
: 4:36 AM
: 4:36 AM
Bush Sr. you may have a point on, although I think a lot of things you mention just happened to happen on his watch. As for Nixon, I don't like him personally either but he was a fairly competent foreign policy director, achieving leverage with the Soviet Union and normalizing relations with China. As for Kennedy, well, there's a reason we call it the Cuban Missile "Crisis". Kennedy may have squirmed out of it without getting us all blown up but if he'd been paying attention it could have been prevented, not forestalled. And as you note that's really the only thing he did accomplish in his three years.
That's my reasoning. Some good thoughts though.
That's my reasoning. Some good thoughts though.
true, it happened to happen. But, it was quite something what happened, and he managed all that farely well. Compare that with his son.
About Nixon, what you mention get's discredited a bit by Watergate, not to mention the massive bombing of Vietnam and Cambodia.
Also, I'm not sure whether Wilson and Reagan where near-great. Definetely above average, but near-great?I don't know. Reagan maybe did a lot off good things, but also a lot of bad things. Don't the high poverty-levels of the US date back to him?
About Nixon, what you mention get's discredited a bit by Watergate, not to mention the massive bombing of Vietnam and Cambodia.
Also, I'm not sure whether Wilson and Reagan where near-great. Definetely above average, but near-great?I don't know. Reagan maybe did a lot off good things, but also a lot of bad things. Don't the high poverty-levels of the US date back to him?
# posted by : 7:06 AM
: 7:06 AM
I'm much more ambiguous on Reagan and Wilson than you might think. They rise and fall in my estimation a few points every year. But I tend to think they either fall into the bottom portion of the near-great category or the top portion of the above-average category. At the moment I'm feeling generous. As for high poverty levels, it was high enough in the 60s for Johnson to pre-emptively declare war on it. Talk about a quagmire. :-)
I would caution you about deciding overall value of a presidency on the basis of moral failings. In rating a Clinton, LBJ or JFK, morals would sink their entire claim to fame. As you can see, I was willing to cut them some slack as well.
Rating political figures is by necessity a political operation. Beliefs and convictions will creep in. I am attempting as much as possible, however, not to be so blatantly partisan as I have been in the past. Maybe I'm growing up.
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I would caution you about deciding overall value of a presidency on the basis of moral failings. In rating a Clinton, LBJ or JFK, morals would sink their entire claim to fame. As you can see, I was willing to cut them some slack as well.
Rating political figures is by necessity a political operation. Beliefs and convictions will creep in. I am attempting as much as possible, however, not to be so blatantly partisan as I have been in the past. Maybe I'm growing up.
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