[humblegunner]

Pretty keen on the “New Boston Post” aren’t you?

http://www.freerepublic.com/tag/by:sonofcuchulainn/index?tab=articles

[Thalean]

Regardless of political ideology, I think we can all agree that Teddy Roosevelt had the temperament, drive, and intelligence to be the greatest president: it’s a shame he lived in mediocre times.

Hard times make great men. Roosevelt was a great man without the opportunity to show his quality.

[castlegreyskull]

I can never understand why LBJ is always ranked so generously.

[x]

So when it comes to evaluating this list: It’s not just that McKinley was a better president than Bush. McKinley is a top-tier president; Bush is a bottom-tier president. They shouldn’t be anywhere near each other.

One, the way we look at the presidents of our lifetime is going to be less reverential than the way we look at earlier presidents.

Two, I wouldn't prejudge the "top-tier/bottom-tier" thing. You shouldn't lock yourself in with terms like that beforehand.

He's probably right that McKinley was a better president than Bush I, but it may not be as easy a call as he thinks it is.

Yet Bush was an internationalist, McKinley a nationalist. If you assume that America’s prosperity on the home front means little and that globalism covers a lot of sins …

McKinley made us an empire. That may be one reason he gets a lower rank. And empire and nationalism aren't necessarily the same.