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C-SPAN detailed presidential rankings


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6 minutes ago, themiddlepolitical said:

https://www.c-span.org/presidentsurvey2021/

 

I'm okay with the top 10 other than Truman and Reagan. 

I disagree with Obama being on the top 10. I don't think he accomplished enough to warrant it. Truman I think can stay. Reagan I can go either way (as it should be regardless of politics), but I can't say either way without letting my personal preference get in the way so I won't comment. 

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1 hour ago, jvikings1 said:

Reagan is surprising, considering the leftward ideological slant of those involved (a reason why I pretty much ignore their rankings of Presidents).

Who would you rank highly among the older Presidents?

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44 minutes ago, Patine said:

 

 

 

I personally think George Washington enjoys a significant amount (not to the point of being totally undeserved in his reputation, however, but notably) of the same sort of, "mythologized national hero," effect among modern Americans that Napoleon Bonaparte enjoys among modern French.

I gotta say I agree somewhat. But my main disagreements with Washington come from the fact he was a dirty Federalist sympathizer! 😛 

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Here are my observations:

  • Jackson has fallen to his lowest rank ever in a major ranking study. 
  • Van Buren is lower than usual, but he's been at this level one other time. 
  • This is Grant's best major ranking
  • This is the best McKinley has done in awhile
  • This is Wilson's worst ranking in a major poll
  • Probably because of Trump, Harding isn't viewed quite as badly as he has been historically. He's still in the failed category, however. 
  • This is a rather good ranking for Coolidge compared to most rankings.
  • This ties for Eisenhower's best ranking
  • JFK has has rankings this good (and even better). It's hard for me to see someone that couldn't pass much legislation get in the top 10. 
  • Clinton is slowly dropping in the rankings
  • GW Bush is slowly rising in the rankings
  • Obama is being reconfirmed as a good-to-great president
  • This is Trump's best ranking, but he's still a failure. 
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1 hour ago, Patine said:

I personally think George Washington enjoys a significant amount (not to the point of being totally undeserved in his reputation, however, but notably) of the same sort of, "mythologized national hero," effect among modern Americans that Napoleon Bonaparte enjoys among modern French.

He does.  OTOH, he established many of the behavioral norms we expect in a president, especially the orderly transition of power that was not normal at the time.

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2 minutes ago, MrPotatoTed said:

I clearly don't know enough about Franklin Pierce.  I understand Buchanan and Johnson's rating, but why is Pierce worse than Trump?

Pierce had a lot of bad luck.  Also he presided over the Bleeding Kansas fiasco, a harbinger of greater conflict soon to come.

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2 minutes ago, MrPotatoTed said:

I clearly don't know enough about Franklin Pierce.  I understand Buchanan and Johnson's rating, but why is Pierce worse than Trump?

Bleeding Kansas, Ostend Manifesto, and other similar things that sort of just enflamed sectional tension. I think his most impressive feat is that he's the only president to serve a full term and have no turnover in the cabinet. 

5 minutes ago, pilight said:

Volume of legislation passed is not a good metric on which to judge a president.  Unlike most presidents, Kennedy gets credit for things he couldn't pass.

While true, I think volume of legislation should play some roll in determining if someone is a top 10 president. JFK was legislatively ineffective. He didn't know how to work with Congress in a way that LBJ, or even Eisenhower, could. JFK also escalated the situation that developed into US involvement in Vietnam. He proliferated nukes. He invaded Cuba, and failed. I like JFK. I don't think he was a bad president, but I do think he's overrated. The best part about JFK was his public persuasion, oratory, and appearance. Overall, he's one of the least accomplished presidents. 

I think he would have won reelection, although by a smaller margin than LBJ. I don't think he would have had any of the success that LBJ had, legislatively, and I think JFK would have been locked into the Vietnam War, although I think JFK might have made few blunders, but I could be wrong in that. 

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42 minutes ago, Patine said:

I think he's rising solely because he stood up to Trump within his own party, and the crimes, excesses, and betrayals Bush, himself, had committed, which drove him to record low approval ratings at the end of his Presidency and had someone bring up (but not enact) a lame duck impeachment, and was a big part of the Republican loss in 2008 no matter whom they not realistically nominated. It's somewhat like the part of the resolution of the Star Wars Trilogy I had the biggest problem with - the instant redemption of Dark Vader to the Light Side, despite all of his evils, just for throwing the Emperor down that shaft to save Luke. It's truly shameful, to be honest. And I'm not even saying Trump is anything other than horrid, either, mind.

You are correct about this. They treated him terribly when he was president and could be used as a political tool but changed their tune once he was politically useful.

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45 minutes ago, jvikings1 said:

What would you classify as older? That might help me answer your question

I find this interesting. I classify older as pre-FDR, who established the executive office of the presidency and was instrumental in initiating the sorting out of the parties—liberals make the slow move in unifying behind Democrats and conservative behind Republicans. 
 

I sometimes think of older as in presidents before I was born. That would be before Carter for me. 

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Wilson being 13 is disgusting and tells you the type of people they interview to do these rankings. Him being 6 as recently as 2000 is puzzling.

Top 4 are respectable, though I think Teddy is better than his cousin.

Eisenhower as 5th is surprising, though he was certainly a good President respected by both sides of the aisle.

Obama top 10 is recency bias.

Bill Clinton at 19 seems perfect for some reason. I don't think he's better or worse than that.

Coolidge at 24 is sad. One of the greatest Presidents we ever had. His handling of economic affairs, temperament and his support of civil rights in the context of the time makes him my favorite.

Nixon at 31 makes me sad. As a President he was one of the greatest pure politicians to ever do it. Watergate shouldn't bring him down this much. Imagine the Republican Party today if Watergate never happened.

William Henry Harrison being this low is funny.

Trump is not a bottom 4 President. C-tier imo.

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1 minute ago, DakotaHale said:

 

Nixon at 31 makes me sad. As a President he was one of the greatest pure politicians to ever do it. Watergate shouldn't bring him down this much. Imagine the Republican Party today if Watergate never happened.

 

based 😛 

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