Is Trump really the worst?
America loves lists, as David Letterman demonstrated. Also, stupid pet tricks. The first list in history was written in stone and handed down on a mountain and immediately broken. Literally.
Ranking U.S. Presidents is something of a faculty lounge board game. The ranked list got a work out in the 06-27-24 debate between the 45th and 46th Presidents, both contending the other was the worst. Joe Biden had the professors on his side when he described Donald Trump as the worst of all time. Old Joe was citing a survey conducted late last year of 154 political scientists and historians. They themselves admit they lean left. A study conducted by two UW-Madison professors found that something like 98 percent of UW profs donate to Democrat(ic) candidates. That’s not leaning left, that’s full over the side of the continental divide!
Ol’ Sparky, the Eisenhower-era mainframe computer housed in the Werkes tool shed, came up with its own list. For starters, George Washington was the one essential President. He set the standard for all who followed. Without him, the new union might well have failed. But we can’t dislodge Lincoln at Numero Uno, who preserved that union in its darkest hour, freed the slaves, and gave a new birth to freedom. We also tend to forget the Homestead Act, the land grant universities, connecting the continents via rail, and completing the Capitol.
| The Academics | Ol’ Sparky |
| 1. Abraham Lincoln | 1. Abraham Lincoln |
| 2. Franklin D. Roosevelt | 3. George Washington |
| 3. George Washington | 5. Thomas Jefferson |
| 4. Theodore Roosevelt | 2. Franklin D. Roosevelt |
| 5. Thomas Jefferson | 6. Harry S. Truman |
| 6. Harry S. Truman | 11. James Madison |
| 7. Barack Obama | 16. Ronald Reagan |
| 8. Dwight D. Eisenhower | 17. Ulysses S. Grant |
| 9. Lyndon B. Johnson | 8. Dwight D. Eisenhower |
| 10. John F. Kennedy | 18. James Monroe |
| 11. James Madison | 4. Theodore Roosevelt |
| 12. Bill Clinton | 25. James K. Polk |
| 13. John Adams | 9. Lyndon B. Johnson |
| 14. Joe Biden | 10. John F. Kennedy |
| 15. Woodrow Wilson | 13. John Adams |
| 16. Ronald Reagan | 19. George H.W. Bush |
| 17. Ulysses S. Grant | 35. Richard Nixon |
| 18. James Monroe | 34. Calvin Coolidge |
| 19. George H.W. Bush | 20. John Quincy Adams |
| 20. John Quincy Adams | 23. William H. Taft |
| 21. Andrew Jackson | 32. George W. Bush |
| 22. Jimmy Carter | 24. William McKinley |
| 23. William H. Taft | 12. Bill Clinton |
| 24. William McKinley | 23. Woodrow Wilson |
| 25. James K. Polk | 7. Barack Obama |
| 26. Grover Cleveland | 21. Andrew Jackson |
| 27. Gerald Ford | 26. Grover Cleveland |
| 28. Martin Van Buren | 27. Gerald Ford |
| 29. Rutherford B. Hayes | 28. Martin Van Buren |
| 30. James Garfield | 30. James Garfield |
| 31. Benjamin Harrison | 29. Rutherford B. Hayes |
| 32. George W. Bush | 31. Benjamin Harrison |
| 33. Chester A. Arthur | 37. John Tyler |
| 34. Calvin Coolidge | 40. Warren G. Harding |
| 35. Richard Nixon | 22. Jimmy Carter |
| 36. Hebert Hoover | 36. Hebert Hoover |
| 37. John Tyler | 33. Joe Biden |
| 38. Zachary Taylor | 38. Zachary Taylor |
| 39. Millard Fillmore | 33. Chester A. Arthur |
| 40. Warren G. Harding | 45. Donald Trump |
| 41. William Henry Harrison | 39. Millard Fillmore |
| 42. Franklin Pierce | 41. William Henry Harrison |
| 43. Andrew Johnson | 42. Franklin Pierce |
| 44. James Buchanan | 43. Andrew Johnson |
| 45. Donald Trump | 44. James Buchanan |
We’re huge fans of Truman, who developed and dropped the bomb to end WW2, formed NATO, saved Europe from starvation and Communism through the Marshall Plan, integrated the military, recognized Israel, and restored the White House. (A.J. Baime’s Accidental President is our most recent read. David McCullough’s full bio is essential.)
The poll conducted by the 154 inflates the presidency of Barack Obama as Dick Cheney used to say “BIG TIME! Seventh best? (!!!) How does this smooth talker beat Dwight Eisenhower? Obama stoked Woke, defunded police, burned cities like Madison and Kenosha WI, and ushered in the Me-too feminist show trials. The Werkes knocks Obama down to 25th and he’s lucky at that.
Preposterous!
How in the world does Joe Biden rank #14?
Sparky’s got him at #37. The pointy-headed liberals rank Jimmy Carter at #22! More like #35, we would say. Ol’ Jimmy did broker a peace agreement with Israel (how did that work out?) and deregulated the airlines. We’ve always felt James Polk was underrated; he raided Mexico for more territory and admitted Wisconsin into the union. We move him up the line.
If further proof was needed that academia is intellectually corrupt, the “experts” rank Ronald Reagan at #16 behind Clinton and Obama! (!!!) The man who tore down that wall, restored faith in America, ended gas lines, put meat back on our plates. Move him UP!
U.S. Grant rockets up to 8th on our list compared to 17th by the Academics. The man beat the KKK and reconstructed the South. (Read the Ron Chernow bio!) “Rutherfraud” Hayes threw it all away in a corrupt bargain.
Blaska’s Bottom Line: Ol’ Sparky blew a bearing when it tried to rank Trump. Fortuitously, he got Europe to pay its fair share for NATO, moved our embassy to Jerusalem, encouraged record job growth and low cost of living, came up with a Covid-19 vaccine in record time. Lying about stolen elections and encouraging the January 6 sedition are offenses far greater than Richard Nixon’s. We move Mr. Nixon up to #17 from the snooty perfessors’ #35.
14 responses to “Who are the greatest Presidents?”
Oh, c’mon. Obumbles scored the Nobel Peace Prize before he was even settled in to 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. Better than #1! Maybe 1/3?
You’re quick on the draw, Mr. B. We just put this turkey up!
🤣🤣
Brain Dead Biden ahead of Trump!!!
For God Sake You All Drunk!!!!
Bill Clinton should be leaps and bounds higher than obama, i seem to remember surplusses under him, he was humbled by midterm shellacking, he pivotted and actually worked on the largest issue today that everyone at the fed now ignores. True deficit and debt reduction on a mostly bipartisan scale. Hillarycare defeat and shagging interns never a good thing. He remarkably left the country better off than when he took office. This was prior to soviet dem party and many establishment gop completely selling the country out to highest bidder under bush and obama.
“(Clinton) remarkably left the country better off than when he took office.”
With all due respect, The Gotch is no fan; to wit::
*Community Reinvestment Act; begun (1977) by that other great President Jimmah Carter as disastrously despicable democrat voter drive, Clinton, with AG Reno, doubled down on it (with help from then IL state senator Hopeless Changey) which beat a path to the sub-prime mortgage debacle
*Omnibus Crime Bill led to Mass Incarceration and a tripling minority (mostly black) prison population
*Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Act doubled extreme poverty among society’s most fragile.
*He oversaw a devastating deregulation of Wall Street/Financial Services:
**CFMA deregulated derivatives; W. Buffett “Weapons Of Mass Financial Destruction.”
**FSMA castrated Glass Steagall
**Riegel-Neal deregulated interstate banking leading to a wave of consumer-unfriendly mergers
He knew he left a ticking timebomb, part of which (the dot.com bubble) blew up shortly after he left office.
Their (Hillarity was the self-anointed Co-President, after all) efforts paid off handsomely; the bedrock Conservative WaPo put the figure @~ $3 Billion…that’s Billion with a B!
Counterpunch.org (no Righties, they!) wrote a damningly scathing article worth (IMO) a read: The Clintons And Wall Street: 24 Years Of Enriching Each Other
The Gotch
you seem to know more about Clinton than you do about trumpette. tell us why he should be higher than dead last. Scared or is it because there isn’t anything to say. ‘ol sparkles got that one right.
Help for generational imbeciles: Adult Children Of ALCOHOLICS AND DYSFUNCTIONAL FAMILIES
The Gotch
Did you just fall out of a coconut tree? BAAAAHAAAAHAAAA.
Lighten up Mr. CORN, FOR EFFS SAKE, WE HAD A SURPLUS! Gop led surplus. I agree clintons are Satan. Subprime bullshit, W , warned and asked Barney Franke and congress to stop the subprime collapse for atleast 2 years until dems a big f.u. so that they could usher marxism ,i mean obama/biden. Also many of those laws were past bipartisianly. Gop scum and dem scumbags. So cut the crap and point your liberal diatribes at the true efftards on this blog, not me. Luv u brother
And how did Woodrow Wilson get so high? It must be because he has a “D” after his name. An outright racist who liked the “KKK” and segregated the federal government.
Because all the girls called him WOODY. BAHHAAAA>
I would rank Cool Cal much higher and LBJ much lower, thank you Amity Shales!! I completely agree you about Grant! (And Chernow). W much lower.
That was one of the big lies Biden told in the debate. I wish Trump would have responded that the “scholars” are a bunch of Marxists.
Beyond that it seems silly to include recent Presidents in these rankings as decisions and policies have not yet played out.
For same reason I don’t put any stock in spending bills. They’re just a good “in theory”. Look at the tens of billions the Biden admin has allocated to electric charging stations and internet access. After years they’ve built 7 charging stations and connected no one with internet. Grade: F
Biden higher than Trump? Yikes, TDS on full display!