Comments on: Rating the Presidents

By: floyd

floyd — Tue, 13 May 2008 19:08:33 +0000

There were two presidents that would have greatly improved American history, given the chance.
Each was under-rated by not being elected to serve four more years.
Andrew Johnson and even more importantly Herbert Hoover.

By: Stormy Dragon

Stormy Dragon — Tue, 13 May 2008 19:02:08 +0000

George Washington deserves to be high up on the list simply for resisting the pressure to become a king and for voluntarily leaving office after two terms.

By: Dave Schuler

Dave Schuler — Tue, 13 May 2008 17:09:11 +0000

I note that my pick for most underrated president, Eisenhower, is actually the #1 most underrated president on Alex's list (Carter is second). I'd pick LBJ as second most underrated although. Many of the accomplishments commonly attributed to Kennedy are more properly assigned to Johnson.

Unfortunately, the reassessment of Eisenhower, Kennedy, and Johnson will have to wait until the death or retirement (whichever comes first) of Baby Boomer historians.

By: capital L

capital L — Tue, 13 May 2008 16:32:54 +0000

Nice to see the Napoleon of the Stump James K. Polk at 3rd on the under-rated list.

By: just me

just me — Tue, 13 May 2008 16:09:35 +0000

I would also say it is hard to rate a whole package.

And the reality is that this kind of system is subjective anyway. I agree that current events influence a lot of the rankings at least with presidents from the last 30-40 years. A little bit of space makes a difference.

By: Bithead

Bithead — Tue, 13 May 2008 15:54:31 +0000

Reagan looks less stellar with an incredibly unpopular president of his party in office.

Reagan is always unpopular with most Democrats. HOW unpopular seems to depend on how much foam is around their muzzles at a given moment.

By: Dave Schuler

Dave Schuler — Tue, 13 May 2008 15:29:05 +0000

Fashions in these things come and go. 40 years ago I'd've said Truman was a highly underrated president. His star has risen over the years, unrealistically in my view. Now I think he's overrated.

Now I think that Eisenhower is a highly underrated president.