Ranking of US Presidents [by biased historians]

C-Span ^ | February 16, 2009 | C-Span/ liberal historians

[lonestar67]

President/ Score/ rank 2009/rank 2000

Abraham Lincoln 902 1 1 George Washington 854 2 3 Franklin D. Roosevelt 837 3 2 Theodore Roosevelt 781 4 4 Harry S. Truman 708 5 5 John F. Kennedy 701 6 8 Thomas Jefferson 698 7 7 Dwight D. Eisenhower 689 8 9 Woodrow Wilson 683 9 6 Ronald Reagan 671 10 11

[OrangeHoof]

Nope. That was William Henry Harrison.

His name was longer than his presidency.

[lonestar67]

An online article suggests that he is riding a resurgence of interest in Lincoln as a great President. The new history now portrays Grant as an Eisenhower like figure who won the Civil War and then became President.

The corruption charges that originally tanked him seem to be receding in the face of this civil war focus.

[WOSG]

“The high rank of LBJ tells you all you need to know about the bias of these historians. The Iraq war was minor compared to Vietnam.”

Correct. The high ranking for FDR, who also was not even better than average, is another tipoff.
FDR was consequential, but was not a good president overall.

[WOSG]

Kennedy gets high marks for cuban missile crisis. He stepped up.”

After winning the election based on a phony missile gap, then screwing up in bay of pigs, screwing up the berlin wall, screwing up his meeting with the soviet leader, and getting further mired in vietnam and elsewhere ... he then sells out Cuba for peace of mind.

W had domestic accomplishments at least as solid as Clinton, although both had recessions at the end of their terms.
W should be above every president except Reagan in the last 30 years.

[F16Fighter]

"I totally and strongly disagree with your assessment of GW Bush....He did not admit the evidence for iraq war were BS."

Dubya Bush (December, 2008): "The biggest regret of all the presidency has to have been the intelligence failure in Iraq" Bush told ABC television in an interview ..."I wish the [crummy] intelligence had been different, I guess."

DUH.

IOW, Bush and the U.S. had no real compelling reason to invader Iraq, but DID have a compelling reason to invade Saudi Arabia (where 15 of 19 hijacker were from.)

"He did remove from power one of the worst and most viscious global statists— Saddam Hussein."

Why end there? What about Kim Jong? Ahmadinejad? The Muslim dictators in the Sudan?

And since when is our military the World's bouncer and our tax-dollars and blood paying for Muslims who abuse their own??

"He did not leave the border WIDE open. He built more border fence than any other President."

Surely you're NOT serious about defending W. Bush's border policy?

He referred to civilian defenders of the porous U.S. border as "vigilantes" - though NONE had killed a single Mexican. The fence?? LOL - what is there - 200 miles up? Not only has Border enforcement has been a well-known joke, but Bush is on record as supporting Mexican law-breaking invaders who are just "doing the work American won't do."

"Reagan— who is adored by “conservatives” did far more to encourage illegal immigration and laid the cornerstones to the present illegal immigration problems. Paleo Conservatives back stabbed W."

Reagan is on record as having stated that that his "amnesty" decision was perhaps his worst in all his Presidency - attributed to "bad advice," though there were far fewer Mexicans invading American back then.

Get this through your head - Dubya Bush is NOT a "conservative," nor has EVER been; His ENTIRE Presidency back that fact up. He screwed REAL conservatives AND destroyed the GOP. Want evidence?? Take a GOOD look at the Senate and Congress.

"Like Santorum, Toomey was not going to win in Penn. Get over it."

Bullsh*t.

That's the SAME bilge people bloviated when conservative McClintock was replace by the RINO Schwarzenegger for Governor - and we know where THAT got Kaleefornia.

"President Bush did not lie about nation building. He made the right decision to change course when the situation changed."

He sure as h*ll DID lie his @ss off. Read it and weep:

October 8, 1999:

"Maybe I'm missing something here," Mr. Bush said in a debate with Democratic rival Al Gore. "I mean, are we going to have some kind of nation-building corps from America? Absolutely not."

The "situation changed" alright; The "Mission" became FUBAR - not that he ever had one other than knocking off Saddam.

"Bush won re-election in 2004 which completely disproves all of your arguments."

Huh? It does?? LOL...

Bush won in 2004 as the "LESSER OF TWO EVILS." He almost lost to a traitor. REAL Conservatives held their nose and pulled the lever for Dubya - and might I add have rued the day.

"Neo isolationsim dramatically failed us on 911 and 3000 Americans died because of it."

No...

Our idiotic Air Defense Command "failed us" as well as our national defense poised at an alert level of 'DEFCON-Comatose' (if there ever were such a alert.)

When WTC and DC air space is EASILY penetrated by obviously hijacked jets and there are NO USAF interceptors to be found as the Pentagon bombed and WTC bombed TWICE, WHO is at fault? Clinton??

[MadMax, the Grinning Reaper]

Dhimmi Carter is so “high” because he beat up a swimming attack rabbit, and didn’t get on that UFO he saw.

Makes sense, doesn’t it?

[F16Fighter]

"Your statements were put solidly and with fervour. Unlike those lefties. Somehow I know that many people have damned him for what appears to be the ascendancy of Barack Obama.

I wish to think the best of this man."

Thank you for your intellectual honesty.

I wish I could think better of the man, but I can't.

The End Game we are now faced with and state of affairs he's left conservatism and the GOP in - as well as the nation - may be irreparable.

[F16Fighter]

"As a former employee of a Bay of Pigs Veteran, may JFK rot in hell.

NEVER forget:"

Duly and sadly noted.

[F16Fighter]

"Well, that’s true: JFK did literally get caught with his pants down ....Several times, apparently."

Butta-boom-boom ;-)

[lonestar67]

Now, you see the error of your ways. You lack the evidence to support your claims. Now we can all see it.

There was an intelligence failure. We did not find an active contemporary WMD program in Iraq. That was not a repudiation of the war or its rationales. That circumspection is no fault for W.

“DUH”

Why end there? I have no problem with continuing. In fact, by the way, he basically cut Bahsir’s sovereignty in half with the 2005 peace deal— ending a decade of genocide in Southern Sudan. He also fought a proxy war via Ethiopia against Somalia’s muslim warlords. I am sure your thank you note is in the mail.

Bush vastly accelerated necessary annihilations of global tyranny. Faster please is rightly the theme of righteous neo conservatism.

In case your rhetorical question wants an answer, we became the global cop when the world became to small. Ultra statists can use WMD, terrorism, and missile programs to make meaningless your isolationist provincialism.

On the border, I intend to exaggerate and hyperbolize in precisely the same terms border bots did.

Bush built more fence than any other President. Deal with it.

He also gave the border bots their precious agents who were no angels in conduct. I really do not prioritize illegal immigration the way most border bots do but I don;t feel any need to cater to the hyperbole and lies surrounding the issue.

The situation changed, your arguments invited terrorists to kill three thousand Americans .

It was no longer possible to indulge your fantasy that the world will leave us alone.

Consequently, President Bush removed your good friends the Taliban and Saddam Hussein from power. Good Americans volunteered to fight and win democratic processes in both nations. Your friends the Taliban shot women in the skulls at soccer stadiums in Kabul.

Bush grew up— you did not.

You must be exhiliarted about our jets shooting down the plan over Pennsylvannia.

But rest assured, most of us know the truth. Your neo isolationist lies got Americans killed.

We are not safe when we leave the world alone. You and Obama deceive us when you join together in this common view of global affairs.

Santorum lost. It breaks my heart. But I am not going to pretend that California or Penn are conservative. I fully expect you to bring conservatives to power in Penn now that your friends have been elected to Congress in 2006 and the White House in 2008. The “punishment” to Bush was dealt out by folks like you beginning in 2006. I am still looking for results.

Bush was right.

[AmericanSphinx71]

My top 10 presidents:
1) Lincoln
2) Washington
3) Jackson
4) Reagan
5) T. Roosevelt
6) Jefferson
7) Polk
8) John Adams
9) Monroe
10) Truman

My 10 worst Presidents:
10)Van Buren
9) Benjamin Harrison
8) Fillmore
7) Harding
6) Nixon
5) Pierce
4) Clinton
3) Grant
2) Carter
1) Buchanan

The 5 most Overrated Presidents
5) Wilson
4) LBJ
3) Clinton
2) Kennedy
1) FDR

As far as GWB is concerned, he was one of the best on foreign policy, but one of the worst on economic policy.

[quesera]

I am not kidding myself any longer. The paleo con positions outlined by you are most certainly what brought the Dem congress in 2006 and Obama in 2008.

Your false arguments did this.

Bravo Sir!

And thank you. I have disagreed with President Bush on certain issues but to call this good man the worse president ever after all he has accomplished sometimes under very bad circumstances is simply atrocious.

[djsherin]

How exactly had we been leaving the world alone since Vietnam?

[F16Fighter]

Suffice it to say your defense of the Presidency of one George W. Bush is so....fantasmic, I feel almost compelled to locate the same hashish contact you apparently have. The bong? Most likely the size of Clinton's saxophone...

The so-called "intelligence failure"?? Good one.

Bush & Co. were guilty of exploiting the SAME "crisis" baloney that 0bama & Co. have used for this latest "Stimulus Bill. "Imminent use of WMD" was based on flimsy, contrived, "evidence" that served an agenda only the neo-conservative Globalist New World Order Overlords know. NO ONE is buying THAT lame Intel failure" BS. (Btw, is that something like a "wardrobe malfunction"??)

Iraq was clearly on the drawing board minutes after the 9/11 attacks. And please remind me - what was the "Mission Accomplished" again??

"[Dubya] ending a decade of genocide in Southern Sudan. He also fought a proxy war via Ethiopia against Somalia’s muslim warlords. I am sure your thank you note is in the mail."

"Thank you" note?? For more phony "Missions Accomplished"?? In your WILDEST dreams. Those tribal wars STILL rage, as does the Taliban keep on coming. Cockroaches will NEVER stop reproducing. The former USSR learned the hard way, while we are still treading water.

"Bush vastly accelerated necessary annihilations of global tyranny. Faster please is rightly the theme of righteous neo conservatism."

Please. Tell me you're NOT serious. Cop of the World, ad infinitum. While Rome burns. Gooood plan.

MEMO TO lonestar: The United States of America is NOT an Empire.

"Bush built more fence than any other President. Deal with it."

What choice do those of us who know Bush LIED about his enforcement of the border while abdicating his sworn oath of office to protect the U.S. from foreign invasion? The Illegal Invasion of a sovereign America is "Mission Accomplished, Mr. Globalist.

"He also gave the border bots their precious agents who were no angels in conduct."

Well gee thanks, Sport. I see. You regard those of us who cherish a sovereign America who demand stringent border enforcement from Illegal Invaders with disdain? YOU are a Globalist, CFR, World-Firster, aren't you? Ain't that grand! You must be happy with the Bush-0bama's transition agenda, eh?

"Bush grew up— you did not....You must be exhiliarted about our jets shooting down the plan over Pennsylvannia."

Bush FAILED America. YOU FAILED to defend the indefensible. And the lame assumption of my supposed ""exhiliaration" over "our jets shooting down the plan over Pennsylvannia"? Pathetic. Try again - you can do better, Mr. Globalist.

"We are not safe when we leave the world alone."

Especially when we unnecessarily light the match and stick our nose where it doesn't belong - but then again, YOU are welcome to sacrifice YOUR self, YOUR wife, YOUR son, YOUR daughter to Baal and for the promotion of Muslim "democracy."

"You and Obama deceive us when you join together in this common view of global affairs."

You've got it backwards, champ. Bush set the table for a Marxist, Racist, Empty Suit named Barry Soetoro-0bama and a Democratic Congress and Senate to lord over us....Thanks to the likes of your RINO, Elitist-Globalist, New World Order-CFR aka neocon ilk.

The name George W. Bush will live in infamy in the annuls of time along with Nero.

[F16Fighter]

"How exactly had we been leaving the world alone since Vietnam?"

I assume it's the hashish talking...OR Wild Turkey ;-)

[cynwoody]

Total Scores/Overall Ranking

President's Name	2009 Final Score	Overall Ranking
		2009	2000
Abraham Lincoln	902	1	1
George Washington	854	2	3
Franklin D. Roosevelt	837	3	2
Theodore Roosevelt	781	4	4
Harry S. Truman	708	5	5
John F. Kennedy	701	6	8
Thomas Jefferson	698	7	7
Dwight D. Eisenhower	689	8	9
Woodrow Wilson	683	9	6
Ronald Reagan	671	10	11
Lyndon B. Johnson	641	11	10
James K. Polk	606	12	12
Andrew Jackson	606	13	13
James Monroe	605	14	14
Bill Clinton	605	15	21
William McKinley	599	16	15
John Adams	545	17	16
George H. W. Bush	542	18	20
John Quincy Adams	542	19	19
James Madison	535	20	18
Grover Cleveland	523	21	17
Gerald R. Ford	509	22	23
Ulysses S. Grant	490	23	33
William Howard Taft	485	24	24
Jimmy Carter	474	25	22
Calvin Coolidge	469	26	27
Richard M. Nixon	450	27	25
James A. Garfield	445	28	29
Zachary Taylor	443	29	28
Benjamin Harrison	442	30	31
Martin Van Buren	435	31	30
Chester A. Arthur	420	32	32
Rutherford B. Hayes	409	33	26
Herbert Hoover	389	34	34
John Tyler	372	35	36
George W. Bush	362	36	NA
Millard Fillmore	351	37	35
Warren G. Harding	327	38	38
William Henry Harrison	324	39	37
Franklin D. Pierce	287	40	39
Andrew Johnson	258	41	40
James Buchanan	227	42	41

[F16Fighter]

"To call this good man [Dubya Bush] the worse president ever after all he has accomplished sometimes under very bad circumstances is simply atrocious."

Are you living in some sort of time-warp??

We're fighting TWO wars in the Middle East with NO end in sight; Our economy is bankrupt; And because of Dubya Bush's Presidential malfeasance and incompetence, we've been invaded by hordes of Third World barbarians, while the GOP has surrendered the White House, and Congress and Senate by HUGE margins.

IOW, under the "leadership" of G.W. Bush, we are now serfs and subjects of a Democratic-Marxist dictatorship.

Some "accomplishments" indeed.

[F16Fighter]

Madison, John Adams and John Quincy Adams rated nearly at the same level as G.H. Bush and WELL below Bill Clinton??

Bwaaahaa!!!

Oh - and the high rating of Lincoln is ridiculous.

[cynwoody]

what a comically biased list. They got it all wrong. At the top, it’s clearly Washington, Lincoln, Reagan. I’d put GWB in the middle. I’ll controversially rate Nixon near the bottom, for taking us off the gold standard. At the bottom, it’s FDR, Carter, Obama. Obama gets an asterisk, since he’s still in office, and well, he’s got plenty of time to redeem himself (anything is possible, ya know).

That's a good start. Both Johnsons and Wilson belong in the toilet, along with FDR and Carter. Coolidge was cool.

Nixon was basically a Democrat. He gave us wage and price controls and affirmative action. And of course, he was a crook. His opening to China was a bright spot, but he was not suited to be president.

Kennedy might have turned out OK if he'd lived. He looks positively statesman-like compared to the 'Rats of today.

GWB's standing will improve over time, as has Truman's.

Bambi does not look promising, to say the least. He's already figured out how to vote "Present" in the Oval Office. You just let Nancy and Harry dump a pile of paper on your desk, and you sign it (after the long weekend). Until the voters revolt and hopefully neuter Harry and Nancy. Then you write your memoirs, the Audacity of Whatever, and fade away.

[nathanbedford]

Political Correctness is a pernicious virus.

Surely, President Polk who added the Southwest and the Northwest to the Union deserves a place of honor within the first five presidents of the United States.

As Commander-in-Chief he conducted the amazingly successful war against Mexico and as a diplomat he was equally successful in the Treaty of Guadalupe Hildalgo. He so managed affairs with Canada that he avoided war while adding the state of Washington and the rest of the Northwest to the country.

A slaveholder, he has been disdained by leftist scholars who overlook the same fact about Washington and Jefferson.