Siena recently came out with a new Presidential Rankings, which I heard about from a Cato podcast. Typical pro-authoritarian rankings I suppose, but still interesting:
*Change from 2002 poll included
1. Franklin D. Roosevelt (no change)
2. Thoedore Roosevelt (up 1)
3. Abraham Lincoln (down 1)
4. George Washington (no change)
5. Thoma Jeffeson (no change)
6. James Madison (up 3)
7. James Monroe (up 1)
8. Woodrow Wilson (down 2)
9. Harry S. Truman (down 2)
10. Dwight D Eisenhower (no change)
11. John F. Kennedy (up 3)
12. James K. Polk (down 1)
13. Bill Clinton (up 5)
14. Andrew Jackson (up 1)
15. Barack Obama (unranked)
16. Lyndon B. Johnson (down 1)
17. John Adams (down 5)
18. Ronald Reagan (down 2)
19. John Quincy Adams (down 2)
20. Grover Cleveland (no change)
21. William McKinley (down 2)
22. George H.W. Bush (no change)
23. Martin Van Buren (up 1)
24. William Howard Taft (down 3)
25. Chester A. Arthur (up 5)
26. Ulysses S. Grant (up 9)
27. James A. Garfield (up 6)
28. Gerald R. Ford (no change)
29. Calvin Coolidge (no change)
30. Richard Nixon (down 4)
31. Rutherford B. Hayes (down 4)
32. Jimmy Carter (down 7)
33. Zachary Taylor (up 1)
34. Benjamin Harrison (down 2)
35. William Henry Harrison (up 1)
36. Herbert Hoover (down 5)
37. John Tyler (no change)
38. Millard Fillmore (no change)
39. George W. Bush (down 16)
40. Franklin Pierce (down 1)
41. Warren G. Harding (down 1)
42. James Buchanan (down 1)
43. Andrew Johnson (down 1)
The 20 categories they were misjudged on were: background (not relevant), imagination, integrity, intelligence, luck (shows how scholarly these rankings are), willing to take risks (with the fate of the country!?!?), avoid crucial mistakes, court appointments, domestic accomplishments, executive appointments, foreign policy accomplishments, handling of U.S. economy, party leadership (this is important?), relationship w/ congress (ability to ram through legislation without the consent of the people), ability to compromise (With whom?), communication ability, executive ability ("Do as I say!"), leadership ability (Of the useful idiots), overall ability, present overall view.
I don't know about you, but I'm not really comfortable with a system that would rank Hitler rather high on the list.
Defense analyst Ivan Eland, author of Recarving Rushmore: Ranking the Presidents on Peace, Prosperity, and Liberty, commented on this poll earlier this month.
Well, it covers my ass when I call the history profession communist. The more people you kill the better.