How a Great President is Made
To complete our July 4 discussion of American presidents, as promised, here is the rankings of the great presidents. They are taken from a Wall Street Journal/Federalist Society survey of 130 prominent historians, political scientists, economists, and law professors from across the ideological spectrum. The scholars were asked to rank all of the Presidents on a 1-5 scale:
- George Washington 4.94
- Abraham Lincoln 4.67
- Franklin Roosevelt 4.41
- Thomas Jefferson 4.23
- Theodore Roosevelt 4.08
- Ronald Reagan 4.03
- Harry Truman 3.95
- Dwight Eisenhower 3.67
- James Polk 3.59
- Andrew Jackson 3.58
There are some interesting observations to make about this list. The first, of course, is that it might not correspond with the views of people on Ricochet, though I think that this survey takes into account the ideology of the respondents. What is more interesting is that it corresponds closely to the presidents who had the greatest effect on the political system -- those are the realigning election presidencies of Washington, Jefferson, Jackson, Lincoln, FDR, and maybe Reagan. While they are not the top 5, they are all in the top 10.
It is also worth noting that many of the presidents who have earned spots on the top 10 list had low public opinion ratings in office and upon retirement. Reagan, I think, is especially instructive here -- remember how the media and scholars considered him a dunce while he was in office? So too were Eisenhower and Truman heavily criticized while in office as out-of-touch political hacks. War has a lot to do with presidential success too -- Washington, Lincoln, and FDR all brought the nation through our toughest wars, while Polk waged a war of territorial expansion, and Reagan, Truman, and Eisenhower managed the Cold War.
Notice anything else about the list? Aside from height, that is.
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Aug '10
Re: How a Great President is Made
KC Mulville: OK, I have no shame admitting ignorance. What am I missing? · Jul 2 at 7:31pm
Well, none of them have ever been in my kitchen.
Jul '10
Re: How a Great President is Made
KC Mulville: OK, I have no shame admitting ignorance. What am I missing? · Jul 2 at 7:31pm
They're all dead.
Oct '10
Re: How a Great President is Made
Eisenhower deserves his status for both winning WWII and for giving the US eight years of peace and prosperity at the height of the Cold War. Furthermore, while JFK spent his first two years in office appointing segregationist judges, Eisenhower picked federal judges who courageously opposed racial discrimination, like Earl Warren and Frank Johnson.
While TR did introduce Progressivism/Big Gov't, he also favored a strong military, giving the US one of the largest navies. (AFAIK, TR was put on Mt. Rushmore because the sculptor was a friend and admirer of his.)
FDR was likely imitating the career path of his cousin TR in becoming both NY governor and Sec. (or Under-Sec?) of the Navy. The US's naval performance in WWII may hence be partly due to the example and influence of TR on FDR.
As bad as FDR's domestic economic policies were, he waged the war successfully and appointed good military leaders, i.e., Marshall and Eisenhower.
Edited on July 3, 2011 at 11:40pmApr '11
Re: How a Great President is Made
Um, no Carter or Obama?
Jan '11
Re: How a Great President is Made
I'm heartened to see Polk crack the top 10. I think one of the reasons he was successful was that he went into his presidency knowing it would only be for one term allowing him to ignore politics more than usual.
Edited on July 3, 2011 at 6:18amJan '11
Re: How a Great President is Made
Well, all on the list were pretty good, but you have to admit - not one of them won a Nobel Prize, as the current incumbent has, and the Nobel is universally taken as a mark of greatness. Of course, I haven't the slightest idea of what parameters of greatness were used by the respondents - or whether there was any consistency of considerations in the evaluation. So, I'm still left in some doubt.
But, the Nobel is strong evidence - or used to be.
Sic transit gloria mundi.
Jan '11
Re: How a Great President is Made
Anon: Well, all on the list were pretty good, but you have to admit - not one of them won a Nobel Prize, as the current incumbent has, and the Nobel is universally taken as a mark of greatness. Of course, I haven't the slightest idea of what parameters of greatness were used by the respondents - or whether there was any consistency of considerations in the evaluation. So, I'm still left in some doubt.
But, the Nobel is strong evidence - or used to be.
Sic transit gloria mundi. · Jul 2 at 9:32pm
TR won the Nobel from negotiating an end to the Russo-Japanese War (he was the first American to win a Nobel in any category)
Apr '11
Re: How a Great President is Made
"Great" presidents increase either the size of the country, the military or the government.
May '11
Re: How a Great President is Made
Polk has always seemed to me the model President. He said, "I'm going to do 4 things." He did the 4 things, served 1 term, left office, and promptly died. No library, no speech tours, no subsequent meddling in politics, etc. Not too good on slavery, though.
Jun '11
Re: How a Great President is Made
To not have been in the military is one thing--to be hostile is another. Both Obama and Biden appear to be hostile as well as having never served.
Dec '10
Re: How a Great President is Made
John Yoo:
Notice anything else about the list? Aside from height, that is. ·
John Adams isn't on it. Nor is he on the National Mall. I know, I know, Alien and Sedition. But, it could be argued we wouldn't have a country without Washington, Jefferson and Adams. There's your Founders trifecta.
Feb '11
Re: How a Great President is Made
Anon: Well, all on the list were pretty good, but you have to admit - not one of them won a Nobel Prize, as the current incumbent has, and the Nobel is universally taken as a mark of greatness. Of course, I haven't the slightest idea of what parameters of greatness were used by the respondents - or whether there was any consistency of considerations in the evaluation. So, I'm still left in some doubt.
But, the Nobel is strong evidence - or used to be.
Sic transit gloria mundi. · Jul 2 at 9:32pm
Teddy Roosevelt won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1906 for brokering the end to the Russo-Japanese War. In other words, he actually did something unlike Obama.
Feb '11
Re: How a Great President is Made
Pike Bishop
Anon: Well, all on the list were pretty good, but you have to admit - not one of them won a Nobel Prize, as the current incumbent has, and the Nobel is universally taken as a mark of greatness. Of course, I haven't the slightest idea of what parameters of greatness were used by the respondents - or whether there was any consistency of considerations in the evaluation. So, I'm still left in some doubt.
But, the Nobel is strong evidence - or used to be.
Sic transit gloria mundi. · Jul 2 at 9:32pm
TR won the Nobel from negotiating an end to the Russo-Japanese War (he was the first American to win a Nobel in any category) · Jul 2 at 10:15pm
Oops. Sorry, hadn't read far enough.
Sep '10
Re: How a Great President is Made
Anon: ... Of course, I haven't the slightest idea of what parameters of greatness were used by the respondents - or whether there was any consistency of considerations in the evaluation. So, I'm still left in some doubt.
.... · Jul 2 at 9:32pm
I, too, want to know how these academics define "greatness" in a presidency. FDR deserves to be in the top ten worst of all time, due to his domestic economic policies, his "skill" at running a war notwithstanding. His incalculable economic damage to the U.S. is such that his Marxist policies continue to be felt, practiced, and accepted as the norm to this day.
Someday, somehow, can we please stop elevating politicians to heroic status because we think that
May '11
Re: How a Great President is Made
Whiskey Sam
KC Mulville: OK, I have no shame admitting ignorance. What am I missing? · Jul 2 at 7:31pm
They're all dead. · Jul 2 at 7:46pm
They're all white males. Misogynist racist country.
Oct '10
Re: How a Great President is Made
AmishDude
The name I find missing is: Calvin Coolidge. The most successful president in terms of economics except for Reagan. · Jul 2 at 4:24pm
Agreed. Wasn't he quoted as saying that his greatest act as President involved largely staying out of the way?
Nov '10
Re: How a Great President is Made
Western Chauvinist
John Yoo:
Notice anything else about the list? Aside from height, that is. ·
John Adams isn't on it. Nor is he on the National Mall. I know, I know, Alien and Sedition. But, it could be argued we wouldn't have a country without Washington, Jefferson and Adams. There's your Founders trifecta. · Jul 3 at 6:00am
True, but their greatness has little if anything to do with their presidencies. The greatest thing Adams ever did as President was peacefully surrender the office to his arch-rival (which, in 1801, was unprecedented.)
The same "great man = overrated president" problem applies to Washington and Jefferson, in my opinion, though to a much lesser degree in Washington's case.
Also the people refusing to acknowledge FDR's wartime leadership concerns me. Yeah. We get it. Y'all don't like the New Deal. That doesn't mean we can never admit that FDR ever did anything right.