Posted on 09/13/2005 6:11:52 AM PDT by SirLinksalot
How's He Doing? George W. Bush is "average," but far from ordinary. BY JAMES TARANTO Monday, September 12, 2005 12:01 a.m. EDT Ask someone to describe the presidency of George W. Bush, and "average" is not a word you're likely to hear. Mr. Bush's detractors treat him with a level of vituperation unseen since the days of Franklin D. Roosevelt; some even blame him for bad weather. His admirers don't go so far as to credit him when the sun shines, but their affection for him is palpable. So it may come as a surprise that in a new survey of scholars ranking the presidents, Mr. Bush finishes almost exactly in the middle of the pack. He ranks No. 19 out of 40, and he rates 3.01 on a 5-point scale, just a hair's breadth above the middlemost possible figure. But this is no gentleman's C. Mr. Bush's rating is average because it is an average, of rankings given by 85 professors of history, politics, law and economics. Most such scholarly polls have a strong liberal bias, reflecting academia's far-left tilt. But this survey--conducted by James Lindgren of Northwestern University Law School for the Federalist Society and The Wall Street Journal--aimed at ideological balance. The scholars were chosen with an eye toward balancing liberals and conservatives, and Mr. Lindgren asked each participant about his political orientation, then adjusted the average to give Democratic- and Republican-leaning scholars equal weight. (To see the rankings, click here.) Mr. Bush's rating thus reflects the same sharp partisan divide that gave him a shade under 51% of the popular vote last year.
(Excerpt) Read more at opinionjournal.com ...
Dubya is ranked 19th, a hair's breath below LBJ. But he ranks above Clinton at 23, who ranks below Bush Sr. at 21.
Jimmy Carter (who is still trying to salvage his legacy ) is in the bottom 10.
Buchanan is ranked the worst of all time.
TO SEE THE RANKINGS, CLICK HERE :
http://www.opinionjournal.com/extra/?id=110007243
Pat finally got to be President?
I know it was James Buchanan.
Got any rankings from the time during Reagan's second term?
<<< Pat finally got to be President? >>>
I deliberately held off writing the first name to see if this would surface and as expected, IT DID !! :)
He still is a mess on immigration and outsourcing policies, but he is better than LBJ.
Bush will be top 10 material in years to come.
As President, Jefferson's greatest accomplishments were: the Louisiana Purchase, reducing the debt (even while borrowing money for the Louisiana Purchase) and beginning a 24-year reign (being succeeded by Madison and Monroe) of Democratic-Republican rule which, combined with John Marshall's Federalist rulings, formed much of the meaning of the American Constitution.
As President, Teddy Roosevelt's greatest accomplishments were: the transition of the U.S. to world power status, interventions into Latin America, ending the development/privatization of the west, and attacking big business (not part of the Morgan/Rockefeller consortium).
I would put Ronald Reagan behind Jefferson and ahead of Teddy Rossevelt. In the fullness of time, I would hope that we come to see the so-called Progressive Era as a prelude to the New Deal, and as a departure from the true course of liberal, democratic capitalism.
I am happy to see Woodrow Wilson slipping further and further down in these surveys of historians. Presidents that get us into unnecessary and meaningless wars are the worst, just as those who see us through the necessary and ultimately meaningful wars are the best.
Maybe in the big scheme of things, it is best for us for a president to be near great, because of the avoidance of war and the pursuit of freedom. In my book, Thomas Jefferson and Ronald Reagan are the greatest of the "near great" presidents.
To quote Gen. Honore; "That's BS!"
In the wake of Iran-Contra the MSM never would have thought that Reagan would be getting the respect he's receiving today.
Ahead of RR -
Now I can see, though not agree with, Washington, maybe Jefferson. No excuse, logic, or sense in placing the others over RR.
And Cal Coolidge is #23 for heaven's sake! Behind Clinton!
The Federalist and WSJ need to acquire a better, and more accurate, understanding of the phrase "ideologically balanced".
My high school U.S. history teacher was just in love with Woodrow Wilson. I used to taunt her by pointing out that Wilson kept us out of the war...until he got reelected.
yeah if he ever gets off his ass and does something a) about illegal aliens & the open border situation, and b) kicks ass as needed in the middle east and stops putzing around.
<<<<
Got any rankings from the time during Reagan's second term?
>>>>
Reagan is moving furthr and further UP as people realize his legacy. Just after he died last year, he was ranked number 8 if I remember correctly. Now he's number 6. The libs must be convulsing right now with this list. As people begin to realize the failure of Social Security, maybe he'll even overtake FDR.
Is there anyone else they've EVER done that to?
The Soviet Union fell apart and the satellite countries gained their freedom after Reagan left office.
The economic miracle of the 90's happened after Reagan left office.
But he laid the foundations for both of those events.
And so Bush is laying foundations now.
And as he said 4 years ago. This is a war that "may not end on my watch."
I would have thought that Franklin Pierce was the worst. He did virtually nothing - although he was a handsome guy.
I agree with a). But we are kicking ass in the ME. Where ya been?
Reagan was never worried about what the editorial writers at the NY Times or the Wash Post wrote about him. He was more concerned what historians long after he left office thought about him.
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