Rating the Presidents

Chris Smith

OVER, in order: FDR, JFK, Clinton UNDER, in order: Nixon, Truman, Eisenhower I'm not an American citizen, and I'm politically conervative. (Oh, you guessed?)

John

Underrated 1. Ulysses S. Grant 2. Calvin Coolidge 3. John Adams Overrated 1. Andrew Jackson 2. Woodrow Wilson 3. Franklin D. Roosevelt

Underrated 1) LBJ The ability to get shit down, the only president perhaps ever to care about cities, the last progressive on issues of race and justice, and delightfully crude. 2)Madison The war of 1812 was the exception to a career of moderation. Responsible for a fairly weak executive. 3)Eisenhower. For a general, measured and careful about military might. His investment in infrastructure, esp. the highway system suggested a nuts and bolts technocrat, an under rated quality, but a nessc. one. His policies in the Mid-East, of non-combat and containment were a little too interventionist for me, but much saner then what followed. Overrated 1) JFK Almost got the entire world blown up because of his lack of knowledge or understanding, basically responsible for Vietnam, All hat and no cattle. 2) Lincoln As a saint who loved America, his political acumen was for self mythology and raw power. 3) Clinton Warmonger, Neo-Con about social programs, and clumsy when his dick got in the way. Canadian, i would describe my politics as a Scandinavian inspired, post-queer, new urbanist.

anthony

oh, blog is www.pinkmoose.blogspot.com

Utek

Overrated: 1. JFK---Vietnam, the Bay of Pigs, the Arms Race. 2. Ronald Reagan---Iran-Contra, the Savings & Loan Scandal, record deficits, and no, he didn't win the Cold War 3. Andrew Jackson---Vicious, out of control, ignored the Supreme Court on Indian relocation. Underrated: 1. John Tyler---first president to take office upon death of the incumbent, established the rules for the transition of power in such circumstances 2. Dwight Eisenhower---ended the Korean War, refused to get entangled in Vietnam 3. Chester Arthur---Mr. Muttonchops governed with surprising integrity

Bishop Hallowell

Overrated: 1. Theodore Roosevelt: distinguished by little more than his infantile fetish for war. 2. Harry Truman: laid the foundations of the American Empire and the national security state. 3. JFK: wasn't that bad; merely deserves a far lesser place in the pantheon. Honorable mentions for overrated: Madison, Jackson, Cleveland (an arch-reactionary twit who is lionized for his "integrity"), McKinley, Wilson, and Reagan. Underrated (fewer to choose from here -- US presidents tend to be overrated): 1. Polk: highly successful at accomplishing his goals, whatever one may think of these. 2. Gerald Ford: restored some semblance of constitutional balance. 3. Harding: pretty lousy to be sure, but doesn't deserve the universal disdain in which he is held. He released Wilson's political prisoners, and wasn't nearly as isolationist as is commonly thought.

allbetsareoff

Overrated: 1. Wilson - failed to head off Versailles Treaty, making WWII inevitable; grossly suppressed civil liberties; failed to resign when incapacitated, let wife and staff govern 2. Jackson - first president to successfully undermine Constitution, defying Supreme Court; biggest chip on shoulder of any president before Nixon 3. Kennedy - peaceful settlement of Cuban Missle Crisis was principal accomplishment of administration whose successes were more rhetorical than real Underrated: 1. Eisenhower - established post-New Deal consensus in American politics and governance, bringing on socioeconomic golden age; established model (too rarely followed) of commander-in-chief of massive military establishment in peacetime; redrew map with interstate highway system 2. Monroe - only president since Washington to be elected essentially unopposed (1820); Monroe Doctrine minimized European colonial presence in Western Hemisphere; on his watch, for good or ill, Missouri Compromise headed off violent confrontation over slavery and allowed admission of new states to union 3. Polk - only really successful American imperialist (so far, anyway), bringing Southwest into U.S. after Mexican War

Ben Masel

OVER: Reagan, Wilson, Clinton UNDER: Ford, Carter

Mary

overrated: 1. Bill Clinton (enabled globalization and deregulation (and thereby many of our current problems) without a clue as to what he was doing) 2. Ronald Reagan (given too much credit for the collapse of the Soviet Empire - that was the product of other presidents' work; his administration was corrupt) 3. Nixon (given credit for being pragmatic on domestic issues when he was only responding to the realities of having a Congress that was overwhelmingly Democratic) underrated 1. JFK (LBJ gets too much credit for JFK's many proposals that were enacted to honor JFK; not given enough credit for the eventual collapse of the Soviet Empire or his civil rights initiatives) 2. Gerald Ford (restored a sense of order and decency) 3. Eisenhower (not much bad happened on his watch; period of stability and growth)

WarrenS

Over: Reagan, Bush 41, Bush 43 Under: Carter, LBJ, Garfield

Causeisaidso

Underrated: 1) Nixon 2) LBJ 3) John Adams (getting some of his due now, thanks to HBO) Honorable Mentions: Al Gore and Samuel Tilden. Tilden was America's original Al Gore; the election was stolen from him and awarded to Rutherford Hayes in 1876. I think we all know Gore could not have been worse than what we got. Overrated: 1) Reagan 2) Clinton 3) Woodrow Wilson Honorable Mention: George W. Bush Although Bush II is widely regarded as our worst President ever...he's even worse than that. I am a citizen and a moderate, formerly a moderate Republican transformed into a moderate Democrat by the drastic right turn taken by my former party. For context, Nixon would be to the left of today's Democratic party.

blewsdawg Rick Caldwell

Over-rated: 1. Abraham Lincoln - "The Great Centralizer", Not "The Great Emancipator". The Emancipation Proclamation did not free the slaves. It offered the promise of freedom to slaves in seven southern states, over which he did not, at the time, have jurisdiction. 2. Theodore Roosevelt - Redefined, no, mis-defined the word monopoly for every generation that has followed. 3. Franklin D. Roosevelt - Socialist. Period. Under-rated: 1. Calvin Coolidge - Two words: laissez-faire 2. Grover Cleveland - Supported the Gold Standard; opposed Free Silver. Look 'em up on Wikipedia 3. James Madison - Stretching the definition of underrated a bit, maybe, but he doesn't get credit for doing so much of the political legwork for Jefferson. He's thought of as a federalist, because, well, he was. But he became an anti-federalist following the ratification of the constitution, and almost single handedly stopped Hamilton from centralizing the states under federal authority...which would eventually happen under Lincoln, but still...

Jeffrey Kohan

Overrated 1. Reagan--had less to do with ending cold war than given credit for 2. Woodrow Wilson--unnecessarily suppressed liberty and naivete at Versailles led to WorldWar II 3. Andrew Jackson--ignored the constituition actions on National Bank helped lead to Depression of 1837 Underrated 1. William McKinley-brought stability to economy and helped to make US a great power 2. Eisenhower--successfully managed cold war and ended Korean War 3. John Adams--able to avoid war with France and peacefully turned over power to Jefferson after losing the Election of 1800

TerraByte

Overrated: Reagan--Did more harm than good. Took apart Carter's energy initiatives. Raised taxes. Had record deficits. Iran-Contra. Given undeserved credit for fall of USSR. No other recent president comes close. Underrated: Eisenhower--started the space program. Improved country's infrastructure. Recognized the danger of the growing military-industrial complex. Carter--First president to really enforce human rights policies. Initiated the collapse of the USSR economy with the grain embargo. Unrecognized for many actions that had long-term implications, such as appointment of Volcker to Fed and advocacy of conservation and alternative energy sources. US Citizen

John Petty

Over-rated: (1) Ronald Reagan: corrupt administration, record deficits, every policy favored rich white men; (2) Woodrow Wilson: self-righteousness proves to be a poor foreign policy tool; (3) Theodore Roosevelt: never saw a war he didn't get all tingly over. Under-rated: (1) Dwight Eisenhower: peace and prosperity, got out of Korea; (2) Lyndon Johnson: outside of Vietnam was an excellent president. Of course, as Molly Ivins pointed out, that's like saying that outside of the 100 Years War, it was a good century; (3) Jimmy Carter: if we'd followed his energy policy, our economy and environment would be better today.

Scott Urbanowski

Overrated: Reagan Underrated: Carter, Madison, Wilson

Matt

Overrated: 1. FDR 2. Clinton 3. JFK Underrated: 1. Nixon 2. Coolidge 3. Taft

Robert Geilfuss

Overrated: Kennedy--the punk considered global tension the necessary price of popularity. Clinton--what did he do? Bush--both. 41 was a mediocrity whom people are nostalgic for because he was such a shit father, and like 29% of Americans still think W is alright. Underrated: FDR--a tremendous leader. That he's on so many overrated lists here indicates he's under-appreciated. Yeah, we Americans mostly overrate things, so that's that.

Jeff

Overrated, Clinton--probably wont be historically overrated but looks good compared to W. Most of his famous policies were compromises with a GOP congress and had no real policies that caused the economic prosperity he is falsely credited with. FDR-- Created the policy of declaring any successful business as "run by bastards" and therefore subject to becoming uncle sam's piggy bank. Policies likely lengthened the depression and created the myth that extreme authoritarian progressive policies actually work. Reagan-- Cold war was pretty much over by the time he took office. Turned republicans into the "borrow and spend" party. Given credit for monetary policies and deregulation started under Carter. Underrated- Reagan-- Closed out the books on the Cold War. Pushed for maximum mutual disarming was very interested in the annihilation of nuclear weapons and not by nuclear weapons. Made capitalism popular again even though his policies did not completely match up. Carter-- Deserves credit for many of the things people like Reagan for. Nixon-- For all his faults he was the first to realize that communists mostly hate each other. Probably deserves credit for ending the cold war (once China was on our side against Russia the Soviet Union didn't have a prayer). Got us out of Vietnam despite taking his sweet time to do it.

Mike

Underrated- 1. Harding- his reputation is so bad that he would have to be worse than Buchanan NOT to be underrated. And in fact, he did some good things: presided over budget surpluses and reduced spending (take that, Bushes!), supported civil rights, and liberated political prisoners. 2. Coolidge- Same good policies as Harding. I only put him #2 instead of #1 because his reputation is better- he was a better President than Harding due to the absence of scandals. 3. Nixon (for reasons stated by Jeff above) Overrated- 1. Johnson- Vietnam AND the Great Society- 50,000 American dead and welfare dependency and a crime wave that continues today. 2. Wilson- World War I and Versailles, leading (arguably) to Hitler etc. 3. Eisenhower- Did some good things, but a more mixed bag by my lights than most other posters think. Warren Court went too far by my lights, and Ike appointed Warren. Interstate highway system also could have turned out better- routing highways through cities was tremendously destructive (though to be fair, not Ike's original idea). American citizen, moderate, believer in balanced budgets, putting crooks in jail, and strong cities.

ykw

Underrated: 1. Cleveland -- Not inaccurate to claim he saved the country twice: first from corruption, then from economic collapse. 2. Coolidge -- Harding without the grandeur or the shady hangers-on. 3. Harrison (9) -- If only more presidents had followed his example. Overrated: 1. Roosevelt (32) --Ran on principles which would have restored the nation to health after the Hoover debacle, only to deliberately choose policies nearly perfectly antithetical thereto upon assuming office -- policies essentially identical to those of his predecessor, except with more vehemence -- thereby condemning the nation to an extra decade of economic desperation. Also wasted nearly seven years trying (eventually successfully) to provoke a shooting war with Japan. 2. Roosevelt (26) -- Proto-fascist whose self-righteous neo-colonialism did more damage to the US' international standing than a thousand Bush-43s could ever hope to match. Also inaugurated the institutional hatred, contempt and loathing for the private sector that has become the hallmark of Federal policy for all but four or five subsequent Presidential terms. 3. Carter -- Even the man's alleged successes -- Camp David accord, SALT II -- ultimately proved hollow at best, and counterproductive (ask Sadat) at worst. Adding his post-Presidential career of whoring himself out to expansionist terror groups eager to murder vast swaths of Americans would have served to move him up to the second spot on this list.

DMC

Overrated: 1) Ronald Reagan 2) Dwight D. Eisenhower 3) Calvin Coolidge Underrated: 1) Harry Truman 2) John Q. Adams 3) John F. Kennedy

Doug

Much easier to find overrated presidents than underrated ones. Overrated: Cleveland. Usually rated in the top half, but he was a bad president. He was callously indifferent to the suffering of farmers and workers during the depression of the 1890s, the second-worst in US history. He was a rigid hard-money Wall Street man. As the first Democrat elected president since the 1850s, he sought to rehabilitate the "redeemed" South (i.e. with white supremacy restored and Reconstruction ended). He sicced the army on striking workers in Illinois over the objection of the governor there, John Peter Altgeld. A true class warrior, not in a good way. Reagan. End of cold war or no, his administration was largely destructive and highly corrupt. G. W. Bush. Truly bottom-tier. Any poll that averages honest critics with partisan hacks to give him a middling status is badly flawed. Underrated: Zachary Taylor. Stood up to the southern Slaveocracy more than people expected, over the question of extending slavery to the territories he helped conquer as a general in the Mexican War. Deserves some of the love Ulysses Grant is getting these days.

TheBigHenry

Overrated: 1. Carter: A total loser as President; a disgrace as an American for honoring terrorists; and a stupid individual. Belongs in the cellar. 2. Reagan: Because some of his credit belongs to his wife and her astrologers. 3. Franklin Roosevelt: Because his usual historical rank of 3rd highest belongs to his successor. Underrated: 1. Lincoln: Because "the most perfect ruler of men the world has ever seen" deserves unanimous and perpetual top ranking. 2. Washington: A close second to Lincoln and it should be unanimous. 3. George W. Bush: Because his legacy will far exceed his present unpopularity.

ted

Over 1. Reagan - made people happy but irreparably damaged government and the public debate in a complicated age with his voodoo economics 2. JFK 3. Coolidge - some people like this style of government, but it sort of led to the Great Depression Under 1. Truman - perhaps better than FDR? 2. Polk - the forgotten great 3. Nixon - vilified, but far better than Reagan or Bush 43, who had far worse scandals but the public doesn't care anymore - many good foreign policy decisions

Natan

Overrated: 1. Andrew Jackson 2. Ronald Reagan 3. John Adams Underrated: 1. Abraham Lincoln 2. James K. Polk 3. Richard Nixon

Kris

Underrated 1) Truman: following a figure like FDR is never easy. His role in the post-war reconstruction of Europe and Japan is worth top spot on its own. 2) Nixon: this probably reflects more the low base with which history has judged him. All in all he was a prick, but not a bad president. 3) Clinton: it will be controversial with many of the punters, but realistically, look at the shit thrown at him (from both sides), to keep everything ticking along as smoothly as it did in that period will look much better with distance. Overrated 1. JFK: People like the story, but in actuality, what was achieved on his watch? If not blowing up the world when you’ve pushed it to the brink is the top of your CV, you’re struggling. 2. Ronald Reagan: A very poor president on most levels. Check the outcomes of his economic policies. The Soviet’s were on the downward slope before he was in office, and Reagan sort of lucked out there. 3: Calvin Coolidge: I don’t think that he left the US is much a position upon leaving office. I’m Australian, and would describe myself as a social democrat with a pragmatic bent.

Ken

Underrated: Polk - achieved all his aims with a minimum of fuss. Monroe - Much of the work was done already, but his administration saw off the Federalists. LBJohnson - Much smarter political operator than he was given credit for; put his personal reputation on the line to sign the Civil Rights Act Overrated: Washington - His reputation comes from what he did as Commander in Chief. As President, he was little more than a pawn for the designs of those under him. Wilson - His lack of success is so palpable I fail to see why he has much of a reputation at all. Adams - deserves far more opprobrium for the Alien and Sedition Acts.

dearieme

Underrated: President Obama - true, he was in office for only 90 days before his assassination, but in that period he started so much of promise and, simply by virtue of being an intelligent, 'clean' black man in that office, changed America for the better. Overrated: Clinton II. When she was elevated from the Vice-Presidency on the death of President Obama, the nation willed her to succeed, and her performance was accordingly over-rated for years. Now that the evidence has emerged that conclusively proves the conspiratorial role of both Clintons in the assassination, then there remains no doubt that she was grotesquely over-rated.

Andrew Z

Overrated: 1. Woodrow Wilson: Helped start WWII. Oppressive. 2. JFK: Whole lot of nothing. 3. Abraham Lincoln: Better to avoid wars if you can. Underrated: 1. Warren Harding: Prosperity and normalcy. 2. George Bush Senior: Won the Gulf War, went home. Loses points for pushing his useless son on America, but that wasn't part of his presidency. 3. Jimmy Carter: Airline deregulation and good sense about energy.

Richard

Most Overrated: John F. Kennedy Woodrow Wilson Thomas Jefferson Most Underrated: James K. Polk Dwight D. Eisnhower Warren G. Harding As a side note I'm struck by how many are willing to rate Reagan in the "overrated" category, particularly by diminishing his supposed greatest accomplishment, overseeing the end of the Soviet Empire. With two decades behind us it's remarkable how deterministic is the view of so many of the fall of the USSR. But however gravely flawed Soviet communism was, I suggest things could have turned out differently - there's ample precedent for decaying empires living well past their sell-by date.

Tim R

Most overrated: Ronald Reagan Calvin Coolidge George Washington Most underrated: Harry Truman Jimmy Carter Lyndon Johnson Reagan's presidency was a disaster in nearly all respects, most especially for the middle class and the poor. His economic policies encouraged greed and expanded the ranks of the homeless by an order of magnitude. He busted unions and encouraged corporations to do the same, and his administration was characterized by sleaze and scandal. His foreign policy was both naive and ineffective. Why anyone gives him credit for the fall of the Soviet Union is a mystery. The USSR fell because it could no longer compete in the global marketplace, and because Mikhail Gorbachev let his own citizens see how the rest of the western world lived. Reagan's saber rattling had nothing to do with it.

Prentia Clove

Overrated: 1. JFK 2. Clinton 3. Theodore Roosevelt Underrated: 1. Cleveland 2. Polk 3. Coolidge

Michael Moretti

overrated: 1. clinton -very overrated. he was president during the first wtc bombing, attack on the uss cole, the bombing of us embassies in kenya and tanzania and for i'm sure most of the planning of the sept. 11th attacks and did nothing about any of it. 2. Carter 3. JFK underrated 1. George W. Bush -will go down as one of the greatest leaders in american history. He has made this country a lot safer. averaged a 5.2% unemployment rate (better than clinton) record of consecutive months of job growth, lowered taxes (not just for the rich but for everyone. look it up). He just gets a very bad rap from the liberal media. 2.) George H.W bush 3.) Ronald Reagan

Mr Eugenides

Underrated, most underrated first: 1. LBJ 2. Eisenhower 3. Truman Overrated, most overrated first: 1. JFK 2. Clinton 3. Teddy Roosevelt As you may divine, my knowledge of 20th Century presidents is rather better than my historical knowledge.

Tim

Overrated: 1. JFK 2. Bill Clinton 3. Woodrow Wilson Underrated: 1. George W Bush 2. Thomas Jefferson 3. Theodore Roosevelt

Ewan Watt

Underrated: 1 - Ronald Reagan. A true great. What he did in restoring the greatness of the United States should always be acknowledge. High deficits? That's what happens when interest rates fall and Democrats continue to spend money. 2 - Dwight Eisenhower. Balanced the budget. 3 - Gerald Ford. Not enough time to make an impact, but sacrificed himself in order to restore some dignity to the office. Overatted: 1 - Bill Clinton. What did this man ever do? 2 - Woodrow Wilson. Nothing worse than a man with good intentions. 3 - FDR. His disdain for the constitution was absolute. Court packing and land grabs in particular. People also need to get over the fact that the New Deal only perpetuated America's economic malaise. The 'recovery' under FDR is the only time in American history when economic growth failed to match that of pre-depression levels.

Shippers

Underrated 1) POLK: Easily the greatest unknown president. 2) LBJ: Clearly the most important domestic president, with the possible exception of FDR, in the last 140 years. Vietnam was the failure of a generation, not a single administration. 3)NIXON: Yes he was vile and corrupt. The worst domestic president, with the exception of Harding. But that's only half the story and to rank him in the very lowest division as many now do, is plain wrong. Hell, the man went to China. What did people even call it when politicians did unlikely things because they were trusted to be strong enough before that happened. Honorable mentions: Monroe, for keeping we europeans out of the americas; JFK for getting it right when it really mattered during the missile crisis; and Teddy Roosevelt for getting the national parks up and running. Overrated 1) WASHINGTON: No American would ever say it because he is a saint, but he was a lousy general and an even worse president. Are we really supposed to be that grateful that he turned down the chance to be king, when that would have betrayed everything his founding brothers had worked for. Decidedly average. 2) REAGAN: I would rank him among the 2 or 3 most significant presidents of the 20th century but that doesn't entitle him to the ludicrous fawning that anyone to the right of Joe Lieberman now regards as mandatory. The bloke was barely there in his second term as corruption raged around him. I'm an atheist and I put Pope JPII above him in the winners of the Cold War league table. 3)CLINTON: Who has been relentlessly overrated by himself and his wife these last few months. They claim credit for the economic boom, when the policies were foisted on them by a Republican congress. However, putting up with Hillary for 35 years is very probably the most underrated achievement in American political history. I'd also like to suggest a category for best presidents who never were. Alexander Hamilton, Bobby Kennedy, Jack Kemp, Nelson Rockefeller, Barry Goldwater, Adlai Stevenson and John C. Calhoun would all have been more interesting than at least half of those who held office.

avi

Under:1)Reagan 4 re5t0ring h09e, 2)Clint0n 4 the g00d ec0n0my, 3)7ruman 4 ending WWII 0ver:1)Jack50n 4 the trail 0f tear5, 2)FDR 4 di50beying the 2-term limit 3)McKinley 4 the 59ani5h american war.

avi

Over: Jackson, FDR, Wilson Under: Carter, W, Ford