Perhaps I'm just at the end of my rope as far as this new two-year campaign for the presidency goes. I'm just burned out listening to tiny people with tiny minds talking about important issues. So here's something for those of us history buffs that would rather debate whether Aaron or Bonds is better. (And, as far as I know, George W. Bush has never taken steroids.)
I've put at least dubya-esque thought into this so don't make too much fun of me. And if you believe Taft is ranked too low, you are probably right. COMMENTS?
- Abraham Lincoln: Kind of a no-brainer. Saved the Union. Slavery views a ?
- Franklin Roosevelt: Right place at the right time and made it work.
- George Washington: Paved the road for U.S. dominance in the world.
- Thomas Jefferson: Louisiana Purchase alone ranks him high. Slave owner.
- Theodore Roosevelt: First president concerned with the environment.
- Woodrow Wilson: Probably the most intelligent president of all time. Dubya?
- Harry Truman: Faced two enormous situations and the buck stopped there.
- Andrew Jackson: Tough guy presiding in tough times never capitulated.
- James K. Polk: Bought California, was tough on taxes, and brokered slavery.
- John F. Kennedy: Civil rights, space exploration. Coulda, shoulda, woulda.
- Bill Clinton: The first modern Dem to actually control Federal spending.
- Dwight D. Eisenhower: Pretty quiet, but Interstate highway system was good.
- Lyndon Johnson: Continued civil rights, escalated a dumb war. Hard to rank.
- James Madison: War of 1812. Secured final independence from Britain.
- James Monroe: He has a Doctrine named after him. One that has done OK.
- Ronald Reagan: Started the GOP spending spree. But bankrupted the Soviets.
- John Quincy Adams: A big infrastructure guy building roads, canals and such.
- John Adams: Have problems with his crazy immigration policies. Lou Dobbs?
- William Howard Taft: Trust-busting and world peace should have him higher.
- Grover Cleveland: Refused to help Civil War veterans with cash. Ron Paul?
- Rutherford B. Hayes: Tried early civil rights and killed early union workers. ?
- Chester A. Arthur: Hard to rank, similar to Ford.
- Ulysses S. Grant: Great war hero had corruption, although I doubt he knew.
- Warren G. Harding: Historians are finally giving this guy his props.
- James A. Garfield: Just not alive long enough to judge.
- William McKinley: Spanish-American War, annexation of Hawaii. Dubya?
- George H.W. Bush: At least he was smart enough not to occupy Iraq.
- Herbert Hoover: Poor (but smart) guy was in the wrong place at the wrong time.
- Gerald Ford: Did nothing but pardon Nixon, which is unforgivable.
- Jimmy Carter: I'd rather have him fixing my transmission than as a president.
- Martin Van Buren: An economic failure and authorized killing Mormons.
- Calvin Coolidge: Here's probably the best comparison to Ron Paul.
- Benjamin Harrison: Big taxes, failed on civil service reform.
- Zachary Taylor: His lack of negotiating ability made the Civil War inevitable.
- Richard Nixon: Authoritarian egomaniac made some progress overseas.
- John Tyler: His presidency wasn't even taken seriously in his own time.
- William Henry Harrison: That inaugural speech was to DIE for.
- Millard Fillmore: Partisan politics made his presidency meaningless.
- Franklin Pierce: Continued Taylor's march toward a U.S. Civil War.
- George W. Bush: First president to invent and sustain a pointless foreign war.
- James Buchanan: A major architect of the U.S. Civil War. Crazy slavery views.
- Andrew Johnson: Insane racist that imposed "Black Codes." Wow.