He's certainly the worst of my lifetime*.
Technically, I was alive during the LBJ administration, but I don't have a memory of him as POTUS. Though
From NPR -
In historians' Presidents Day survey, Biden vs. Trump is not a close call
President Biden is in a tight race to keep former President Donald Trump from reclaiming the White House, recent polls show. But that's not how 154 historians and presidential experts see it: They rate Biden in the top third of U.S. presidents, while Trump ranks dead last.
The 2024 edition of the Presidential Greatness Project Expert Survey has Biden in 14th place, just ahead of Woodrow Wilson and Ronald Reagan. Trump comes in 45th, behind fellow impeachee Andrew Johnson and James Buchanan, the perennial cellar-dweller in such ratings due to his pre-Civil War leadership.
The historians rated Barack Obama highly, and as I consider him to be the best POTUS of my lifetime, I don't disagree with them on Obama or Cheeto. In between, however, there are some differences.
They rated Obama 7th overall and the best of my lifetime (and the highest ranked living ex-president), so I agree with that one.
Bill Clinton and Joe Biden were ranked 12th and 14th, respectively. Clinton's ranking is a little high for my taste - top half, certainly though. As for Joe Biden, I think he deserves an incomplete because his term is ongoing.
Ronald Reagan is ranked 16th, which is way too high - he took advantage of Richard Nixon's criminality. Society was tired and wanted someone in the White House who reminded them of the "good ol' days".
George HW Bush was ranked 19th, which was a little high, but I think that his biggest failing was that he wasn't Reagan - most of the folks who voted for him were hoping for a 3rd Reagan term. They didn't get that.
Jimmy Carter was ranked 22nd, near the middle of the pack. I have always thought he was underrated as a POTUS
Gerald Ford was ranked 27th; I don't disagree with that, but since he was an unelected placeholder who replaced Nixon, an incomplete might be appropriate here.
George W. Bush was ranked 32nd (which was way too high in my estimation) and until Cheeto, was the worst POTUS of my lifetime and it wasn't even close (I don't believe that it's a coincidence that both people who were the worst at being POTUS in my lifetime have MBAs - POTUS isn't a gig where the concept of right and wrong synchs up with profitable and not profitable.) Also, W was in charge of the most corrupt presidential administration ever.
At least until Cheeto came along.
The biggest reason that I rate W ahead of Cheeto is, as bad as he was, is that I never thought he was a traitor.
Nixon was ranked 35th, which I feel is too high. He made cynicism about politicians part of the American psyche.
Cheeto was ranked 45th. The main reason he wasn't ranked lower is because there aren't more Presidents.
No comments:
Post a Comment