It's good to see Clinton still represent.

Hail Saint Clinton.

Why Reagan, Clinton, and GWB are anywhere near the top five is a mystery to me. If this doesn't show the failing of public education (or the lack of it), I don't know what else could.

I'm thinking this list is a tad slanted towards the Presidents that people remember.

1. Lincoln
2. Washington
3. FDR
4. Kennedy
5. Wilson maybe...

42. Taft
43. Nixon

50 & 51. Clinton & GWB

We haven't had a decent President since JFK.

/and he wouldn't get elected today

Washington will always be number one. Thats bullshiat. Reagan, Bush, and Clinton shouldn't be nowhere near the top 10 or 25.

HumbleGod: Why Reagan, Clinton, and GWB are anywhere near the top five is a mystery to me.


Because American's are stupid and ignorant and those are the only Presidents they can remember.

bulldg4life: 50 & 51. Clinton & GWB


Clinton is one of the better Presidents we have had in a long time. Even a lot of Conservatives I know agree with this, once they get past the "he got a blow job and he lied about it" argument. Clinton was far more conservative (by the pre-neocon definition) than GWB is, despite his half assed attempt at Hillarycare.

GWB is NOT the worst (or even second worst) President we have ever had. He sucks, but the have been some much more useless ones, like Grant.

Well, I'll go ahead and rank mine (of the 20th century, don't feel like doing it for all 200+ yrs)
1) Franklin Roosevelt (1933-1945)- pulled us from the depression. Ended prohibition
2) Ronald Reagan (1981-1989)- essentially ended cold war, only good president between Kennedy and Clinton
3) Bill Clinton (1993-2001)- Had some moral issues, but other than that over all good
4) John Kennedy (1961-1963)- Despite Bay of Pigs (more Ike than Kennedy), pulle dus through Cuban Missile Crisis
5) Woodrow Wilson (1913-1921) - WWI winner, created idea that the UN is based upon, prohibition knocks him back a few
6) Teddy Roosevelt (1901-1909)- Just plain cool
7) Lyndon Johnson (1963-1969)-Civil Rights Act
8) William McKinley (1897-1901) -Didn't get to do much; shot
9) George Bush (1989-1993)-save for a recession, not terrible. Good handling of Gulf War
10)Dwight Eisenhower (1953-1961)-Can't say too much about him. Life in the 50s was , as I understand it, good
11) Calvin Coolidge (1923-1929) - great with words
12) Warren Harding (1921-1923) - Umm, yeah
13) Richard Nixon (1969-1974) - Would be higher for opening up detente with China, but Vietnam and Watergate pushed him down the list a bit
14) Gerald Ford (1974-1977)-Pardoned Nixon, thats about it
15) Jimmy Carter (1977-1981)-Nice, but he sucked
16) William Taft (1909-1913)-Did nothing; fat. Really fat
17) Harry Truman (1945-1953)-Could have handled Berlin better and fired MacArthur
18) Herbert Hoover (1929-1933)-Saw the beginning of the Great Depression and failed to do anything about it. Shares name with vacuum cleaner

"Americans rank best Presidents: Reagan tops Lincoln"

"20 percent of those polled chose Lincoln. Reagan was picked by 15 percent"

"In the CNN-USA Today-Gallup poll, Reagan had 20 percent, followed by Clinton and Lincoln"

Next time someone goes on and on about a poll in the news remember this.

Sad it is, the amount of knowledge young people today have about George Washington. Hell, just watching a couple of specific episodes of Bewitched could raise their level of knowledge about the Father of our Country. Sheesh, that is a sad development. As for the polls, same old crap, different year.

If you were to poll a group of young people today about great movies you would have some dweebs raking The Lord of the Rings trilogy way above classics like Plan 9 from Outer Space. Go figure.

It's sad, but no one really remembers our truly greatest President, James K. Polk.

Seriously. Look it up. I didn't believe it at first, but the facts bear him out. He's the only President to ever have followed through with his campaign promises: negotiated a compromise with Great Britain over Oregon, avoiding war, and giving us the states of Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming; fought a successful war against Mexico after intense negotiation, gaining the United States California, Nevada, Utah, Arizona, New Mexico, and western Texas; lowered tariffs, and established the modern Department of the Treasury; promised to serve only one term, and followed through; removed most of the spoils system in the Federal Government, and carried out every item of his federal program.

Unfortunately, most people except the particularly educated don't know much about him, and don't appreciate his contribution to American history. I value him over any other American President. Anyone remotely competent could have led America's preponderance in resources through WWII, and if you thing GWB is bad for civil rights, you need to look a little more closely at Lincoln. Check out his suspension of Habeus Corpus and his practice of shutting down newspapers that disagreed with him.

2) Ronald Reagan (1981-1989)- essentially ended cold war, only good president between Kennedy and Clinton
3) Bill Clinton (1993-2001)- Had some moral issues, but other than that over all good

Uh, Reagan Admin infinitely more corrupt. Look it up.

matt4684: 1) Franklin Roosevelt (1933-1945)- pulled us from the depression. Ended prohibition

Sorry Matt, he didn't pull us from the depression. If anything, he made it worse for a time. The New Deal was great, but it was more than balanced by his failures at restructuring the financial system as well as his other questionable actions like his court-packing plan to institute mandatory retirement for justices so he could put men in the Court that he liked. WWII spending and European buying brought America out of the depression, as did the decline of the dust belt. If you'd like to give FDR credit for the weather and starting WWII, then I guess you could give him credit for ending the Great Depression.

matt4684:

5) Woodrow Wilson (1913-1921) - WWI winner, created idea that the UN is based upon, prohibition knocks him back a few

Now I really know you don't know history. Wilson was a racist bastard, and an incompetant. Of course, some of that was the stroke in 1919-20 that led to his wife making decisions for him.

I also didn't put a great deal of time into that list. I just pulled up the President list and put them down with what I remember. I'm sure that Taft, for instance, did more then become fat while in office

Atvar:

It's sad, but no one really remembers our truly greatest President, James K. Polk.
Unfortunately, most people except the particularly educated don't know much about him, and don't appreciate his contribution to American history. I value him over any other American President.


How much of that did you learn from They Might Be Giants? I knew nothing of him until that song.

Patsy:

How much of that did you learn from They Might Be Giants? I knew nothing of him until that song.

I can't say I knew there was a song out there about him. I'll have to look it up.

Its on the album Factory Showroom, and info can be found here: James K. Polk (pops)

Patsy: Its on the album Factory Showroom, and info can be found here: James K. Polk (pops)

Ah, thanks. I've got a couple quibbles with it. First, he didn't want the war with Mexico. That much is clear from what I've read; he attempted negotiations in good faith to purchase California from Mexico, but the Mexicans were still miffed about the whole Texas thing, and Congress and the American people wanted a jingoistic war of expansion. Second, "Remember the Alamo" was the battle cry of the War for Texan Independance, which took place in 1835-6, not the Mexican-American war, which took place in 1845. I haven't come across references where that cry was used by American forces against Mexico, with the exception of Texan volunteers.

It appears to be correct about Tuscon, which was included in the Gasden Purchase of ?1858, after Polk's death.

Atvar: Ah, thanks. I've got a couple quibbles with it.

It's a site devoted to the band, so I guess there are bound to be a few flaws on some of the real life references.

Patsy: I guess there are bound to be a few flaws on some of the real life references.

Hey, I'm a history major; it's my job. ;)

Atvar: Hey, I'm a history major; it's my job. ;)
Gotcha

Because American's are stupid and ignorant and those are the only Presidents they can remember.

How about we not generalize Americans? Yes there are many that fit that category (I would say the 51% that voted bush), but there are still many of us that do have a working brain.

/really should keep politics outta this. :)

Ang6666: but there are still many of us that do have a working brain.

No one contests that, but a a splash of intelligence in a sea of mediocrity is easily diluted. Perhaps this is a reflection of America's increasing divide into the service and management industries, with little in-between. You've got those in the service industries who don't need/want education (those who picked recent presidents), and those in management (picking someone classic). I don't mean to say everyone is like this, but it's an increasing trend, as middle-class jobs are sent more overseas.

MTV Nation

bulldg4life: 50 & 51. Clinton & GWB

Considering we haven't had 51 presidents yet...

God save the Republic.

/likes Truman and both Roosevelts, can't understand Reagan canonization, thinks Nixon was a better president.

Atvar: It's sad, but no one really remembers our truly greatest President, James K. Polk

not to mention he scored 4 touchdowns in a single game.

cdrstorvik: Considering we haven't had 51 presidents yet...

Can't believe I didn't catch that... there have been 43.

NeedleGuy: not to mention he scored 4 touchdowns in a single game.

Yeah, three rushing and one recieving, for the 1947 Packers.

in the news today: plasticine dreamers where asked what they could remember of history.

Atvar
Hey, I'm a history major; it's my job. ;)


That certainly would explain it. I was JUST thinking to myself "how much free time does this guy have to thoroughly research and disprove/back up every point everyone makes?" but the whole history major thing makes tons of sense.

P.S. Kudos on actually remembering all that information. My total lack of memory is why I'm going to be farked when I get to college. :-p

i think this was more of a question of "who can name 5 presidents".

Frankly, I am sick and farking tired of people giving credit to Reagan for ending the Cold War. The Soviet Union was on its way out before Reagan even took office. Wasn't the 80's the decade in which they were talking about a "limited" nuclear war and "with enough shovels we'll all make it" (the idea of a fallout shelter was a small hole in the ground covered with a door)? He destroyed the economy, took years to respond to the AIDS crisis, and was probably closer to starting a war with the USSR than preventing one.

A Farewell To A Perfect Score:

P.S. Kudos on actually remembering all that information. My total lack of memory is why I'm going to be farked when I get to college. :-p

Thanks. Come to Virginia Tech, and I'll give you notes to every history course you'll ever have to take.

Every 10 minutes it seems there is a new, OMG THE PUBLIC DOESN"T KNOW WHIAT!? story.

Froman: The Soviet Union was on its way out before Reagan even took office.

No question, but my point of view is that without the excessive spending Regan forced on the Soviet Union to keep up with us, they'd have had another decade or two of life, which wouldn't have done anyone any good, particularly the people in Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union. I don't care much for his policies, but he did start the final act.

rejecting: Every 10 minutes it seems there is a new, OMG THE PUBLIC DOESN"T KNOW WHIAT!? story.

If you don't like it, help us educate the public and create a better world.

No love for Teddy Roosevelt? He told those guys working on the Panama Canal to "git er done".

"Two-thirds knew his wife's name, Martha, and that he lived at Mount Vernon, his estate on the banks of the Potomac River in Virginia.

Not quite half of young adults knew the name of Washington's wife or where he lived."

Maybe it's too obvious, but doesn't the article contradict itself?

It is not always the goal of a new president to be the greatest....

Sometimes it is just good enough to do no harm...

The UN needs to have 4 votes in the US Senate. The house of representatives needs 2 seats of rotating representatives from the UN. When congress votes, the UN can have a say in US politics. Bring the World into our politics and lets find other countries willing to let the UN vote in their decisions.

theurge14:

No love for Teddy Roosevelt? He told those guys working on the Panama Canal to "git er done".

I like him as well; he did an excellent job of breaking up the trusts and forcing through the Food and Drug acts, to which you have to thank for not finding human fingers in your sausages and hamburger.

Kind of sickened that a President who put the government ahead of the people, trashed the constution, plunged the country into civil war, condoned war crimes on Americans, and was responsible for over half a million American deaths made the list.

But, hey, he freed the slaves. Doesn't even matter that it was just a by-product of his intentions.

Lincoln, what a guy.

It's time we stop white-washing our history books and tell it like it was.

I think Washington was the best but Jefferson is by far, my favorite.

Atvar
Hey, I'm a history major; it's my job. ;)

As best I recall, the JAH had an article at some time between Summer 2003-04 dealing with Polk and looking at the possible effect had he not been elected as a way of asking whether the Civil War was unavoidable. Other than the shock at seeing counter-factual history in the JAH, it was and interesting read.

/History Major who can't be bothered to search for the article since I spent too much time this week dealing with PubMed searches.
//Does not have his copies of the JAH lying around.
///Wonders when we will have a poll on the greatest scretaries of the Council of Trade and Plantations