It’s Presidents Day. I’ll just throw out there that my two favorites are Abraham Lincoln and Teddy Roosevelt. Lincoln because he saved the Union and seemed sharp as a whip and possessed of a genuinely good nature and deep sense of humor. Roosevelt just because of his sheer energy. He was full of himself and had not a few contradictions, but looking at all he accomplished and how quickly, it’s hard to read any biography of him without feeling like an unaccomplished layabout.
I like James K. Polk because he kept his campaign promises and got us a bunch of territory I happen to enjoy. (Though, I probably wouldn’t vote for him today for approximately the same reasons I am glad to have had him in our nation’s past.) And Dwight Eisenhower gets a special mention just because he’s a cousin (albeit several times removed.)
Wikipedia has a grid with a bunch of “best president” surveys and one column for the aggregate results.
Top ten: Lincoln, FDR, Washington, Jefferson, TR, Wilson, Truman, Jackson, Ike, Polk.
Second ten: JFK, John Adams, James Madison, Monroe, LBJ, Obama*, Reagan*, Quincy Adams, Cleveland, McKinley.
Third ten: Clinton*, Taft, HW Bush*, Van Buren, Hayes, Ford, Carter, Arthur, Garfield, Hoover.
Fourth ten: Coolidge, Nixon, Benjamin Harrison, GeeDubya Bush*, Taylor, Tyler, Grant, Fillmore, William Henry Harrison, Pierce.
Last: Andrew Johnson, Buchanan, Harding.
*In my subjective opinion, Reagan and beyond are too recent for these lists to reflect good, historical evaluations of their Presidencies.
I rank Wilson way down the list for a variety of reasons: segregation of federal bureaus, needless entry into WWI, Sedition Act, nationalization of the railroads, economic record, Federal Reserve Act, Prohibition, income tax. Very overrated.
I agree with your sentiment about not ranking the recent presidents. It just becomes political at that point.
It seems strange to have Clinton and Carter in the same grouping. I would think that D’s and R’s alike thought Clinton’s presidency was better than Carter’s.
I think it’s the political thing. Clinton’s probably still bouncing around due to recent memory; meanwhile Carter is settling in and is probably viewed as somewhat better in retrospect than it seemed at the time. For example, what Volcker did with interest rates is probably a net plus for the country historically, but the politics of the thing was bad.
(Or, it’s possible, that Carter is still too close and is getting a bonus because, at the moment, it’s tough to remember him as something other than the nice old guy who builds houses for people.)
Mike, I agree with you about Wilson. But, I would add (for my part) that his failures at Versailles (and there were several) have caused the USA terrible harm over the years. And then, there was General Pershing.
One of Polk’s promises was to serve only one term, which I think puts him in a category all his own. He consciously avoided the second-term trap that drags down most presidents. It is amazing to see LBJ — and Nixon — rated so highly.
Nixon is in the top 10, obviously. EPA, got us out of Vietnam, opened China. Just in terms of “gettin’ stuff done”, he is easily in the top 10.
;)
VG- oh, completely agree. My Wilson list was hardly exhaustive.
Doug- I rate Carter higher than most. Along with the Volcker move, Carter rarely gets credit for deregulating the airlines, where Reagan tends to mistakenly get credit.
Deregulation of the airlines wasn’t exactly a “plum”, in my opinion. Lots of pain for everyone involved, employees, management, passengers…
The effects are still roiling today, some 35 years later.
Passengers enjoyed significant cuts in fares. Air travel had been something that was cost prohibitive for all but the wealthy until Carter. After that it opened up significantly, yes with cuts to service. No more steaks on fine china, alas.
Good article on the pros & cons from the passenger standpoint: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/40769604/ns/travel-business_travel/t/now-arriving-golden-age-air-travel/#.T0OpdXlnCMo
Yes, the fare “benefit”. Certain “passengers” benefited. People who had rarely, if ever, flown before. Maybe that article you linked mentions that.
But, Service changed to Sales, and Safety changed to a burden and Maintenance changed to Deferred Expenses. And luggage? Hey, we don’t need to take care of your stinkin’ luggage.
Capacity exploded without prior adjustments to Air Traffic Control or airport facilities (how did that work out during the Reagan years?). Airliner configuations began changing to the “40 & 8s” we know today. And, service to smalller markets faded away. Then, there is Hub & Spoke.
True, there were real benefits (if one lives in NYC or LA), but was it really worth the costs? Nobody asked that question before they loosed the maelstrom upon us.
Madison consistently ranks highly which I find strange. Of all this country’s wars The War of 1812 has to rank as the most useless and may have posed a greater threat to the continued existence of the country than any other event since the Revolution. Madison certainly actively sought that war. While we had a beef regarding the British impressing sailors, it was a complaint which was on the decline by 1812 and our response of attempting to “impress” Canada into our Republic was completely disproportional to the sins against us, not to mention completely contrary to the spirit of the Declaration of 1776.
Nixon should be tier two. You cite his accomplishments and there were in fact more. Nixon came along at a unique time, when Rogers was still a large cadre of moderate Republicans. He could make those bold moves because he would no meaningful pushback from the right.
Nixon will be forever tarred by Watergate and his attempts to undermine the Paris Peace talks. Absent those two things, he would tier one. And in March of 1974, when he was fatally wounded by Watergte, he proposed a national health plan. And Wage and Price Controls will hurt him with many folks.
I can’t type for snot on this new IPad. but heh, I have an IPad.