C-Span invited 65 historians and observers of the presidency to rank the presidents of the United States. Perennial greatest president of all time, Abraham Lincoln, continues to hold first place in their estimation. Franklin Roosevelt and George Washington always seem to vie for second place, and while Roosevelt held the number two spot in 2000, he has exchanged places with Washington in this year's survey: Washington now is number two.
Here are the rankings of the presidents; note the position of the Prince Jackass, whom I have placed in bold; a little more on the Moron-in-Chief's contribution after the list:
- Abraham Lincoln
- George Washington
- Franklin D. Roosevelt
- Theodore Roosevelt
- Harry S. Truman
- John F. Kennedy
- Thomas Jefferson
- Dwight D. Eisenhower
- Woodrow Wilson
- Ronald Reagan
- Lyndon B. Johnson
- James K. Polk
- Andrew Jackson
- James Monroe
- Bill Clinton (Clinton and Monroe are tied in the list)
- William McKinley
- John Adams
- George H. W. Bush
- John Quincy Adams
- James Madison
- Grover Cleveland
- Gerald R. Ford
- Ulysses S. Grant
- William Howard Taft
- Jimmy Carter
- Calvin Coolidge
- Richard M. Nixon
- James A. Garfield
- Zachary Taylor
- Benjamin Harrison
- Martin Van Buren
- Chester A. Arthur
- Rutherford B. Hayes
- Herbert Hoover
- John Tyler
- George W. Bush
- Millard Fillmore
- Warren G. Harding
- William Henry Harrison
- Franklin D. Pierce
- Andrew Johnson
- James Buchanan
Note that only one president of the 20th century, Warren Harding, ranked below George W. Bush. Even Herbert Hoover outpaced the Prince Jackass. From that perspective, it is at least conceivable that a survey of historians at the beginning of the 22nd century well might rank George W. Bush as the 21st century's worst president. And of course, the magnitude of Bush's failure has yet to be measured. If we never recover from the catastrophe that engulfs us, Bush surely will rival James Buchanan for the bottom rung of the ladder.
Specific areas of Bush's incompetence in the survey included:
Public persuasion: 36th out of 42 (a little better than John Tyler)
Crisis management: 25th out of 42 (just below John Quincy Adams)
Economic management: 40th out of 42 (just one ahead of Herbert Hoover)
Moral authority: 35th out of 42 (he edges out Millard Fillmore)
International relations: 41st out of 42 (Poor William Henry Harrison, who lived just a month, is the only one below W.)
Administrative abilities: 37th out of 42 (sandwiched between Grant and Buchanan)
Congressional relations: 36th out of 42 (edges Richard Nixon)
Vision: 25th out of 42 (the luminous visionary Zachary Taylor just barely outpaces him)
Pursued equal justice for all: 24 out of 42 (tied with Grover Cleveland)
Performance within context of times: 36 out of 42 (Fillmore barely beats him)