Posted on 07/13/2010 2:46:36 PM PDT by MinorityRepublican
President Obama ranks 15th out of 44 in a poll of the best and worst presidents while former President George W. Bush earns a place in the bottom five, according to the Siena College Research Institute's recent survey of 238 presidential scholars released Thursday.
Obama secured a top ten place in two skill set categories, communication ability (7th) and ability to compromise (10th), and in two personality trait categories, imagination (6th) and intelligence (8th). Background, described as family, education, and experience, proved his lowest score at 32nd.
This is the 5th time the institute has conducted the survey of U.S. presidents, which is done a year after a new president takes office. The inaugural survey in 1982 ranked then-President Ronald Reagan at 16th. "Obviously, there's not great validity to it since they've only been in office for one year," says the survey's co-director and statistician Douglas Lonnstrom. "But it's a benchmark for us to see how they move." [Take our poll: Who is the worst president?]
President tend to rank around 20th while they are in office, and Obama is no exception. His actions over the next few years will decide if he stays roughly the same like Reagan—who moved from 16th to 20th, 22nd, 16th again, and finally to 18th this year—or like Bush, who fell a dramatic 16 slots in the first poll after he left office, from 23rd to 39th.
(Excerpt) Read more at politics.usnews.com ...
Bushs spending is quite constrained compared to other presidents. The general strategy of growing the economy more than spending was a shrewd diffusion of risks associated with cutting popular programs.
Bush vs Obama on tarp is illustrative. Bush spent less than half, required it paid back and with interests. It has been paid back already.
Obama has no such stipulations. The spending by Obama is exponentially worse.
“Very long time ago”-—possibly before Mort Zuckerman bought the franchise in 1984.
But it appears that even Zuckerman is now having buyers remorse regarding Zero http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2551594/posts
Can we administer an intelligence test or at least get the SAT scores for verification of the alleged intelligence?
That sounds about the right time frame. I had subscribed to USSUNR in those days because it was the only newsmagazine that appeared even remotely non-partisan. Time and Newsweak had long before sold their souls to the lefties.
The change in "perspective" of the mag changed palpably, and I dropped my subscription shortly thereafter.
I was also a faithful reader of USNWR until then.
Thank God for Jim Robinson and FreeRepublic.
There were a few years there in the chasm that I felt like I was the only sane, conservative person remaining. I have found my home here.
Thank you very much, vis a vis!! Welcome home!!
Thank YOU
Obama in the bottom ten? I’m praying that he will demonstrate far more competence at some point than we have seen so far, that he will grow into the job, and that he will not be the bottom one by too large a margin. This man is supporting deficit spending at $1.5T to $1.7T a year! Add that to his other power grabs, and we are facing a threat to the existence of the United States as a free country.
“No one ever went broke underestimating the intelligence of the American people.”
Two days ago I was having a conversation with a family on vacation. One of the 17 y/o boys said how he didn't like Bush, so I asked him why. "He messed everything up" was his reply. After some gentle prodding -- I was too tired to go batty on him -- he finally said he didn't really know why, but his teachers keep saying that so he assumed it was true. Grrrrrrr!
"He messed everything up" were the same words my 9 y/o grandson said nearly 2 years ago when I asked him why he said he hated Bush.
There are some "teachers" that need strung up by their toe nails.
I agree ..... they’re poisoning the innocents.
All ‘fair’ points that you made. But then you know that the US does not have a happy history when new social entitlements are established. That was my point. Bush may start a small program & fund it responsibly, but from there on...
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