Ten "Best" and "Worst" Presidents

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[Eleutheria5]

(Feb. 14) - It's no surprise to see Abraham Lincoln, the man who held the nation together when it was on the brink of collapse, atop the list of greatest American presidents. But many other presidents are judged far differently by experts than by the general public. Bill Clinton left office with a high approval rating, but a panel of writers who focus on US politics and foreign affairs at the Times, a British publication, considered him mediocre. The president who passed progressive legislation but who saddled himself with the Monica Lewinsky scandal landed at number 23. As panelist Ben Macintyre put it, Clinton "promised so much, delivered so little and embarrassed everyone." The panel of 8 judges ranked some modern day presidents like Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush at far ends of the spectrum. And others were close: John F. Kennedy missed the top 10 by one spot and Jimmy Carter barely managed to escape the bottom 10. Click through the galleries below to see how these experts ranked American leaders and the reasons why. Further down the page you can tell us if you agree and test your knowledge with our presidential quiz. The full list is here.

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[DuncanWaring]

Nope. For all intents and purposes, I don’t watch TV at all.

[JLS]

Yawn another trite ranking of presidents. You did a good job criticizing it. There are really too many inconsistencies to even list them all.

[Eleutheria5]

Neither do I, but Comedy Central.com has all the back episodes available at the click of your mouse.

[JillValentine]

My rankings (for them all!):

1. Washington
2. Lincoln
3. Reagan
4. Jefferson
5. T. Roosevelt
6. Eisenhower
7. Monroe
8. Polk
9. McKinley
10. Arthur
11. Truman
12. J.Q. Adams
13. Jackson
14. Madison
15. J. Adams
16. Bush II
17. Grant
18. Hayes
19. Tyler
20. Bush I
21. Van Buren
22. Coolidge
23. Taylor
24. Kennedy
25. Garfield
26. W.H. Harrison
27. Nixon
28. Cleveland
29. Hoover
30. Taft
31. Ford
32. B. Harrison
33. A. Johnson
34. Harding
35. Fillmore
36. Pierce
37. Buchanan
38. Wilson
39. FDR
40. LBJ
41. Clinton
42. Carter
43. Obama

[DuncanWaring]

I did once find the “Manbearpig” episode and watch it.

[Richard Kimball]

Agree on swapping Carter and Bush. I would have ranked Reagan higher than Eisenhower, who didn't do much during his presidency. Wilson should have been in the bottom ten. Garfield was assassinated four months into his administration. WTF? They blamed the guy for getting shot? Actually, I would have ranked Reagan only behind Washington and Jefferson, with Theodore Roosevelt at number 4. Lincoln was a man of great courage, but not, I think, a great President. Actually, no one knows what Lincoln would have liked to have done. He never got to implement a policy about anything except the Civil War. He would have preferred the South not secede, and would have allowed the slave states to remain so.

[CowboyJay]

Yup. Wilson belongs in the bottom 10. I would put LBJ there as the only US President ever to abdicate during time of war. Then there’s Carter the fool who has done more than any living person to undermine peace in the ME. I think it could be argued that Reagan was the last truly ‘American’ President. We’ve had nothing but plutocratic internationalists since.

[DuncanWaring]

As a general question, did George Washington really do anything spectacular as President, other than setting a precedent for serving only two terms?

I’d certainly agree that in fighting and winning the Revolutionary War, he deserves the title “Greatest American”.

[BillyBoy]

In my opinion:

BEST
1. Abraham Lincoln, 1861-1865
2. George Washington, 1789-1797
3. Theodore Roosevelt, 1901-1909
4. Thomas Jefferson, 1801-1809
5. Ronald Reagan, 1981-1989
6. Andrew Jackson, 1829-1837
7. James Madison, 1809-1817
8. James Knox Polk, 1845-1849
9. Harry S. Truman, 1945-1953
10. Grover Cleveland, 1885-1889

WORST
1 James Buchanan, 1857-1861
2. Franklin Pierce, 1853-1857
3 Jimmy Carter, 1977-1981
4. Warren G Harding, 1921-1923
5. Ulysses S Grant, 1869-1877
6 Andrew Johnson, 1865-1869
7. Lyndon Baines Johnson, 1963-1969
8. Woodrow Wilson, 1913-1921
9. Chester A. Arthur, 1881-1885
10. John Tyler, 1841-1845

RATINGS PENDING, BUT AT LEAST BELOW AVERAGE:
William Jefferson Clinton, 1993-2001
Barack Hussein Obama, 2009-

Thus far, I would rank GWB as average, but we’ll have to see what effects his policies have after a decade or so has passed. Clinton is below average but not failure because he got a clue the 1994 Gingrinch revolution and took credit for some things the Republicans wanted like welfare reform. The jury is out on Obama, but if the rest of his term is like his first month in office, he’ll be a dismal failure.

[GATOR NAVY]

Wilson established the Federal Reserve in his first term and led America into World War I in his second term. I would have put him in the worse 10 for those very same reasons.

After campaigning specifically that he would keep us out of WWI. And it was stupid to W.H. Harrison in the worst ten. We have no idea how he would have done because he didn't get to do anything except get sick and die. He should be unranked with asterisk next to his name.

[GATOR NAVY]

Any particular reason for ranking Chester Arthur at number 10?

[antceecee]

George W Bush was number one in my books... until he deliberately refused to defend the borders of this country after 911. I realized then that he had another agenda... New World Order.

[SMCC1]

I think the most overrated are Kennedy and FDR
The most underrated are Polk and Coolidge

[river rat]

Your list is closer to reality than their list....

[donmeaker]

Worst:
Buchanan- let his secretary of war ship federal weapons to the south to prepare for the rebellion.

Wilson, in addition to resegregating the federal government, taking 100,000 combat deaths in WWI, also took 800,000 deaths from influenza due to concentration camp approach to training soldiers.

FDR who kept the US in depression for 8 years, and permitted Hitler to arm, occupy the Rhineland, and then mismanaged the war. Iwo Jima alone cost more than all Iraq. Sicily alone cost more than all Iraq, and ended up as a race to Messina which we lost to the Germans. North Africa alone cost more than all Iraq. Italy was invaded to tie up German units, and ended up tying up twice as many US and allied units. Not counting the year of bombing empty but heavily armored submarine pens, and taking casualities doing it. 300,000 US casualties, and had Wallace, a communist agent as his vice president.

[donmeaker]

Lincoln did have a policy on the trans continental railroad, and pushed it even during the Civil War. Grant got to finish it.

[BillyBoy]

>> I think the most overrated are Kennedy and FDR. The most underrated are Polk and Coolidge <<

Agreed. And going by the last 25 years, the most overrated (by far) is Hussein Obama (who was declared a deity from the moment he was elected Senator), and the most underrated is Bush (who was declared an illegitimate pretender to the white house the moment Gore failed to steal the election)

[donmeaker]

These experts can’t get simple facts right. FDR was not reelected 4 times. He was elected, then reelected.

They blame Hoover for the Great Depression. The rest of the world only had a depression. FDR made the Depression great.

Nixon didn’t cover up the burgulary. Rather, John Dean sent the plumbers in to get paperwork that implicated his wife as a prostitute. The plumbers were a national asset that legally gathered intelligence, on the authority of the President. John Dean then had the gall to blame Nixon for the burgularly that Dean ordered. ‘Silent Coup’....

[exhaustedmomma]

did George Washington really do anything spectacular as President, other than setting a precedent for serving only two terms?

He held the country together in those early struggling days. (He certainly wasn't in the face of those who weren't for the revolution by saying, "I won, you lost... ") He couldn't fail; the young, struggling country couldn't have survived if he had failed. He was the only "unamiously elected" President... because of his leadership skills.

In the words of John Adams,Washington was, "First in war, First in Peace, and First in the hearts of the people." He was much loved and respected. The two terms... was because he didn't want the Presidency to become a monarchial type leadership.

He began his Presidency by dividing up the work of the Executive Office into different departments, and choosing people to head them. These became known as the President's Cabinet; composed of people who advised him and helped him to govern. This was Washington's idea. He was very concerned about the President becoming "king like".

He warned against "the baneful destructive effects of the spirit of party"; mindfully warning us even then that country should always come before party. He was very afraid "political parties" would destroy the republic.

[Still Thinking]

It's no surprise to see Abraham Lincoln, the man who held the nation together when it was on the brink of collapse, atop the list of greatest American presidents.

Uh, yes it is. I rank him right "up" there with FDR. "Federalism??? We don't need no steenkin' federalism!"