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Give him time. History will not be kind to GW.
http://www.c-span.org/PresidentialSu...ip-survey.aspx
C-Span polled several Presidential historians who rated the Presidents. Washington was #2 and how Kennedy was #6 is bewildering. I am shocked that Bush Jr. made it to even #36.
Click on the chart for a quick clip.
Historians Survey Results Category
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
Give him time. History will not be kind to GW.
Clinton was tha man!
haha sucks to be worse than the guy who helped bring on the Great Depression.
Any poll that ranks George Washington less than #1 is ing stupid.
and Jimmy Carter in the mid 20's? ahahaahah
And JFK above Jefferson?
you have got to be ing kidding me?
What pray tell exactly did he do besides lose us a nuclear foothold on the Soviet's doorstep and kill Norma Jean?
Everything he gets credit for was done by someone else.
Last edited by Sec24Row7; 02-16-2009 at 11:36 PM.
Besides being the first one, as a historical layman, I consider Washington a rather inconsequential president. Anyways, all his defining achievements came through his military command, not his presidency.
How about turning down being elected king and giving up power after 8 years when there was no precedent...
Or maybe keeping our little backwater nation afloat and not letting Jefferson and Hamilton rip the country apart? The same problem that Adams had...
You think the Civil War was a trying time? At least then we were ASSURED self government regardless of outcome.
I'll take this guy #1:
Yeah he is way up there just in character larger than life even...I'll take this guy #1:
I am forever in the debt of TR... being a big time hunter... the US has more wild land in parks and reserves than the CONTINENT of Africa as a result of his efforts...
edit: unless you meant John Burroughs lol
Man, Kennedy has made a dynamic comeback since the 70's when he was rated one of the worst presidents. I think he got a grade of D. Amazing how time changes things.
As for Grant the dude was about as incompetent as they come.
FDR number 3?
the 3rd best president prompted a term limit amendment as soon as he kicked the bucket?
i guess.
I look forward to the day when our presidents start growing some epic beards again.
Funny how Kennedy's the one who first sent troops to Vietnam but it's Johnson and Nixon who get the blame for it.
Lincoln was the most hated president of all time. History treated him rather well.
Bush is underrated on this list, he will definitely be promoted in the next century when we forget some of his errors and start to think about him less egotisticly. we tend to underrate the president who was replaced by our current president because the errors always are more impressive than achievements. even so he is still not the bottom No.1, at least he stayed 8yrs in the white house. Bush Jr deserves to be ranked higher than his father at least.
Plus, I don't think Obama will have a better presidential career than bush and clinton. For start he shouldn't have nominated Hillary Clinton as his SOS, Halle Berry is a much better candidate and also has helped him alot in his campaign, instead of competing with him for the democrats nomination. Snubbing Halle Berry is the first and worst mistake Obama has made as the president and will definitely regret for in the near future, of course he will still be able to force Hillary to resign and hire Halle Berry who deserves that job most.
Lincoln>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>GW
You're delusional if you honestly believe Bush's presidency will be viewed as anything less than a disaster.
That all depends on Iraq. If Iraq does indeed manage to turn into a stable respectable democracy, history will be kind to W.
I feel sorry for the 3 Pres' ranked below WH Harrison. How bad do you have to be to rank below someone who died a month into his first term...
You know jack . Lincoln gets credit as this great emancipator... when he had no authority to do it. The emancipation proclamation freed exactly 0 people. He gets credit on this list as "the great persuader" when his election was the catalyst that made the country finally tear apart.
Washington could have lifted a finger and had almost anything he wanted, but he chose to be steadfast and moderate and not play a part in partisanship. He decried the formation of parties and said it would hurt the country.
For someone who went through like 5 theater commanders during wartime because of their successive impressive failures on the battlefield Lincoln is vastly overrated as a military commander in chief.
You know the person that should actually get credit for freeing slaves? Andrew Johnson... But yet he is rated way down the list because he was an egotistical prick. He actually oversaw the passage of the 3 emancipating amendments that ACTUALLY had validity.
By "GW" I was referring to the 43rd president, not the first (look at the context).
Ok... ill take off the "you know jack " excuse me...
I agree with you on everything but about 58 > marks... Lincoln was better... but he wasn't that much better...
He is rated down on the list because he was impeached and he botched the early stages of the Reconstruction.
It's just that Bush was that bad
Well Reagen does get credit for single handidly defeating communism. I think it would be fair to say he didn't defeat the USSR on his own.
Anyone who starts a comment with a statement like this immediately loses all credibility. You claim Andrew Johnson was a good president? I bet he knew a little bit about tact.
Do they know jack as well?The OP:
C-Span polled several Presidential historians who rated the Presidents.
It's stupid to render verdicts on the Bushes and Clinton at this point. It's too soon. This kind of poll: in 1849 would have been very unkind to James Polk; in 1953 would have been very unkind to Harry Truman; in 1969 would have been very unkind to LBJ; and so on.
If Iraq turns into a vibrant and secure democracy, at peace with its neighbors and trading freely with the world, Bush will be remembered as a pretty darn good president. (Especially if other Arab countries become more liberal and democratic; Bush will get some credit for that, too.) His various -ups will be forgotten. Otherwise, Bush will be remembered as a disaster. It's as simple as that.
LBJ at 11 is absurd. JFK at 6 is EXTREMELY absurd. Woodrow Wilson at 9 is bizarro-world absurd. And Jimmy Carter in the middle? WOW.
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