Presidential Rankings
 

I recall that whenever I would comment that Bush was likely one of the worst US presidents ever, my old buddy Tex would scoff at my myopia; my woefully naive and short-sighted view of US history.

C-Span recently commissioned a poll of 65 historians where they ranked the presidents. Bush came in 36th out of 42. Lincoln was #1.

http://deseretnews.com/article/1,5143,705285410,00.html

Here are the top ten:


http://deseretnews.com/photos/0216rankings.jpg

Actually, Rasmussen polled several key GOP historians and found that Bush placed much higher on the list, narrowly missing the top ten.

I wonder where Abraham Lincoln, Harry Truman, and Woodrow Wilson placed 30 days after their presidencies ended.

I keep trying to place Bush, and I agree that Bush was an unsuccessful president, the causes are many, not all of them within his control. And we complainers are wont to ascribe malevolence or a deficiency in intelligence with those we deem as failures. But this thought came to me, Bush may not be an evil person or extremely unintelligent, but he may have not been up to the job. Now this is not a complete condemnation of his character, as it is perhaps the most difficult job on the planet, not many of us, would be up to the job. And Bush is one, who couldn't do the job well. Perhaps it's as simple as that. Carter couldn't do the job. And maybe for example none of us could do it. Just a thought. Nothing earth-shattering I know.

Harry S. Truman, fifth?

Kennedy sixth?

Not buying those rankings.

Truman I'm absolutely buying, but I agree with you on Kennedy.

Truman set the stage not only for the miraculous post-WWII peace and prosperity, but he also planted the seeds that ultimately resulted in our victory in the Cold War. Plus, he was one heck of a man. Grit, pluck, commen sense, honesty, and humility. Read McCullough's biography: it's a great read.

No thanks, I'm waiting for the Brodie biography. That will savage him to the point that she will have to floss out scrotum gristle.

Putting Kennedy in there is a joke, and I'm not sure Eisenhower deserves top ten either. Reagan should easily be top 5.

Senator hatch is on the Utah senate floor right now. He just said that he is the longest serving member of the intelligence committee, and that 30 years from now, when the documents are declassified, Bush will go down as one of the top presidents in history.

Good old Orrin. That's funny. I'll bet they ate it up.