I've ranked the 42 American Presidents on a scale of 1 to 10. (Some go ``off the scale.'') They're listed here in order of greatness. Use the top of the list as a ``List of the Best Presidents.'' Or turn the list upside-down to get a ``List of the Worst Presidents.''
| Rating | Name | Pres # | Reason for Ranking | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Greatest Presidents
| 11 | Abraham Lincoln | 16 | Led America in her darkest hour; abolished slavery
| 11 | George Washington | 1 | Founder of the Republic
| 11 | Franklin D. Roosevelt | 32 | New Deal; victory in WW II
| 11 | Theodore Roosevelt | 26 | Charismatic populist,
environmentalist, curbed capitalism's excesses
| Great Presidents
| 10 | Thomas Jefferson | 3 | Smartest President; purchased Louisiana
| 10 | Andrew Jackson | 7 | Strengthened Union and Presidency
| 10 | Harry S Truman | 33 | Marshall Plan; Cold War leadership
| 10 | James K. Polk | 11 | Expanded U.S. territory
| Outstanding Presidents
| 9 | Dwight D. Eisenhower | 34 | -
| 9 | John Adams | 2 | -
| 9 | John F. Kennedy | 35 | Inspired with programs like Peace Corps and Moon landing
| 9 | James Madison | 4 | -
| 9 | James Monroe | 5 | -
| Above Average Presidents
| 8 | Woodrow Wilson | 28 | -
| 8 | Grover Cleveland | 22,24 | -
| 8 | Ronald Reagan | 40 | -
| 8 | William McKinley | 25 | -
| 8 | Lyndon B. Johnson | 36 | -
| 8 | John Quincy Adams | 6 | -
| 8 | William H. Taft | 27 | -
| Average Presidents
| 7 | Bill Clinton | 42 | -
| 7 | Martin Van Buren | 8 | -
| 7 | Gerald Ford | 38 | -
| 7 | Rutherford B. Hayes | 19 | -
| 7 | George H. W. Bush | 41 | -
| 7 | Jimmy Carter | 39 | -
| 7 | Chester A. Arthur | 21 | -
| Below Average Presidents
| (7) | James A. Garfield | 20 | (brief tenure)
| 6 | Benjamin Harrison | 23 | -
| 6 | Herbert Hoover | 31 | Failed to combat Depression aggressively
| 6 | Calvin Coolidge | 30 | Let policy drift
| 6 | Zachary Taylor | 12 | -
| (5) | William H. Harrison | 9 | (brief tenure)
| Bad Presidents
| 5 | John Tyler | 10 | Ineffective
| 5 | Richard Nixon | 37 | Criminal activities
| 5 | Ulysses S. Grant | 18 | Allowed corruption
| 5 | Millard Fillmore | 13 | Failed to heal North-South division
| 4 | Andrew Johnson | 17 | Ineffective
| 4 | Franklin Pierce | 14 | Failed to heal North-South division
| 3 | James Buchanan | 15 | Failed to prevent Civil War
| 3 | Warren G. Harding | 29 | Corrupt Administration
| In a class by himself
| - 15 | George W. Bush | 43 | Close-minded
cronyist demagogue who moved country | backwards socially, ecologically, economically; Endangered global security with foolish unprepared war | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
The criteria are complex and ambiguous: Some Presidents had good programs but were ineffective; others were very effective, but at advancing bad programs. James Polk was hugely successful, but many would regard his War and threats against Mexico as immoral. I've promoted some Presidents (John Kennedy, John Q. Adams, Jimmy Carter, Woodrow Wilson) for their inspirational or moral qualities.
The ranking which will be most controversial, I'm afraid, is my placement of the Abomination, George W. Bush. But I think the ranking is clearcut. How can one compare the Trillion Dollar War, fought in part to enrich Halliburton and oil companies, with the minor Teapot Dome scandal? How can one compare the deliberate polarization of the world, promoting terrorism for selfish political ends, with Buchanan's well-meaning but ineffective efforts to reconcile the fractured Union? In my rating scheme, I put Gerald Ford four points ahead of Warren Harding, even though their Administrations were similar in many ways. For this reason, if anything, I should give the Abomination a still lower score.
When the history books of the 22nd century are written, I promise you that George W. Bush will be viewed as having damaged America and humanity more than Saddam Hussein and Osama bin Laden combined. The poem is from Calvin Trillin's recent bestseller, Obliviously On He Sails: The Bush Administration in Rhyme.
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At least there's no Bush eulogy On why they had to die. It's better that they're laid to rest Without another lie. | Please read Some comments by Frank Rich. | Please read Some comments by Paul Krugman. | Please read Some earlier comments by Sen. Byrd. | Please read Some quotations by George W. Bush. |
This is not a political website, but these days Americans should be very concerned. Here are some of my thoughts.
| Winston Churchill: | Franklin D. Roosevelt: |
|---|---|
| ``... we shall defend our island, whatever the cost may be, we shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing- grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender ...'' | ``Let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself -- nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance.'' |
| Woodrow Wilson: | William Tecumseh Sherman: |
| ``Only a peace between equals can last. Only a peace the very principle of which is equality and a common participation in a common benefit.'' | ``It is only those who have neither fired a shot nor heard the shrieks and groans of the wounded who cry aloud for blood, more vengeance, more desolation. War is hell.'' |
| Abraham Lincoln: | George W. Bush: |
| ``It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us -- that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion -- that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain...'' | ``When I was coming up, it was a dangerous world, and you knew exactly who they were. It was us versus them, and it was clear who them was. Today, we are not so sure who the they are, but we know they're there.'' |
(Most of the great war-leaders wrote their own speeches, but since Bush's formal attempts at communication are put into his mouth by fiction writers pimped by Karl Rove, I excerpted from his improptu views. In other words, since I quoted the actual thoughts produced by Mr. Lincoln, Mr. Roosevelt, etc., it seemed fair to extend Mr. Bush the same courtesy.)
It's easy to make fun of Bush's speechifying, but sometimes
he really does ``tell it like it is.'' Here's an example,
though one has to believe his truthtelling here was the
result of a Freudian slip:
``Our enemies are innovative and resourceful, and so are we. They never stop thinking about new ways to harm our country and our people, and neither do we.'' |
| -- George Walker Bush, 43rd "President" of the United States. |
Click here for more quotations by George W. Bush
Here's another quote. I thought for sure it was by Karl Rove, until
I noticed the name:
``The people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same way in any country.'' |
| -- Hermann Goering |
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