Posted on 07/04/2007 9:07:20 AM PDT by finnman69
Six American Presidents are viewed favorably by at least 80% of all Americans. Those esteemed six are led by the first President George Washington. The Father of our Country is viewed favorably by 94% of Americans. The sixteenth President, Abraham Lincoln, is the second most popular. The man who gave us the Gettysburg Address is viewed favorably by 92% (see Presidential favorable ratings).
The next four are Thomas Jefferson (89%), Teddy Roosevelt (84%), Franklin D. Roosevelt (81%), and John F. Kennedy (80%).
Five other Presidents are viewed favorably by at least 70% of Americans today—John Adams (74%), James Madison (73%), Ronald Reagan (72%), Dwight Eisenhower (72%), and Harry Truman (70%). It’s worth noting that the nation’s first four Presidents—Washington, Adams, Jefferson, and Madison—all continue to earn rave reviews in the twenty-first century.
The highest unfavorable rating for any President is earned by Richard Nixon. Sixty percent (60%) of Americans have an unfavorable opinion of the only President to resign from office. Thirty-two percent (32%) have a favorable opinion of the man who famously went to China.
Close on Nixon’s heels for most unpopular is the current President, George W. Bush. Fifty-nine percent (59%) have an unfavorable opinion of him. Lyndon Johnson (42%), Bill Clinton (41%), and the first President Bush (41%) are the only other Presidents viewed unfavorably by at least 40% of Americans.
(Excerpt) Read more at rasmussenreports.com ...
I’d be interested in a survey of historians who have at least a vague knowledge of all of the presidents. I suspect that a lot of folks voted based on “I’ve never heard of him so he couldn’t have done much.”
That’s a fair assessment for most of the presidents between Jackson and Lincoln, bt Polk at least deserves better — the only president to fulfill all of his campaign promises in four years and decline to run for re-election.
That was my first thought too & I’m a “Yankee”.
James Garfield served in office 4 months. I doubt that the majority of poll respondents even had ANY opinion of his presidency.
This poll smells like bullsh@t to me.
I also find it odd that they left Wendell Wilkie off the list. ;)
People think Kennedy was a great president for the same reason they think James Dean was a great actor -- based less on what he did than what we imagine he might have done. Lincoln's reputation has a similar halo effect,as he's remembered for the Civil War, which his side won, and not for Reconstruction, which was botched.
AuH2^O in MIMLXIV!
Big disappointment. Had 18 year olds held the vote at the time, he had mine & that of many of my classmates. At least we worked for his election, even if we couldn't vote.
After Carter and LBJ, the two worst presidents of the 20th century were ...
“Franklin D. Roosevelt (81%)”
Lengthened the Great Depression with his flawed policies, tried to grab power by packign the courts, let a commie spy (Alger Hiss) dictate state dept policies, ignoring the pre-Pearl harbor warnings, and was soft on Joe Stalin.
“John F. Kennedy (80%)”
Screwed up in the bay of pigs letting men die needlessly; showed weakness to the Russians which led both to building the berlin wall and to the Cuban Missile Crisis; spied on MLK while pretending to support civil rights (but in the end it fell to LBJ to push through the bill); engaged in nepotism by putting his brother in as AG; engineered the murder of South Vientamese leader, which lead to the Vietnam war involvement and great loss of life. Oh, and all the while he was having adulterous affairs with mafia-linked girlfriends and possible security risks.
It boggles the mind that these men are more popular than great presidents like Grover Cleveland, Ronald Reagan, and Calvin Coolidge. Liberalism triumphs in the classroom, I guess.
King George had his qualities - without them America wouldn’t have this day to celebrate..
“The biggest laugher of all is poor old Tippecanoe (William Henry Harrison) who served only 41 days, catching pneumonia at his inaugural and never really serving at all. He was rated near the bottom even though he did nothing good or bad. In my book, that is a mark of greatness a la John Calvin Coolidge.”
KInd of a “Do no harm” President?
Yes, a bump on a log should be ranked higher than bad presidents who did harm (eg Carter), so harrison and some of the other non-consequential presidents of the 19th century should be similarly rated - above abysmal Presidents like Carter and Buchanan.
Buchanan - our gayest President was also our worst President - helped make the civil war inevitable by his Democrat slaveocrat leanings and his lack of leadership. I can’t think of any other President who was worse than Carter.
Yeah. Everytime I see Hillary Clinton on tv, I remember that in ‘64 she was a “Goldwater Girl”. It gives me a laugh.
I voted for GW four times and he’s been solid on the war on terrorism but I have abandon all notions on him being a conservative. Sadly he is cut from the same metal politically as his father. I wouldn’t hazard a guess as to how his popularity will be judged in the years to come.
I wouldn’t include Harding on your Worst list. Despite his cronyism, he was a fiscal conservative and his laisse faire economic policies and extremely low taxes did great things for the economy.
Personally, I’d put Coolidge up there pretty high on the best list.
Solid on the WOT? check this out: http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1860791/posts
As solid as a plate of jello in Death Valley.
Slow learner?
A better top 20 or so ordering:
George Washington
Abraham Lincoln
Thomas Jefferson
Grover Cleveland
Ronald Reagan
Dwight Eisenhower
John Adams
James Madison
Calvin Coolidge
Teddy Roosevelt
Andrew Jackson
James Monroe
William McKinley
James Polk
George HW Bush
Harry Truman
William H Taft
Carter, LBJ, FDR, Nixon and JFK end up on the trash-heap pile of bad Presidents. But I do give credit to Nixon for resigning over a scandal which Clinton did not do, so Nixon should go higher than Clinton.
JFK stood up to Kurschiev; backed him down— and plotted to OFF Fidel. And in light of the demon666rats to follow those are sterling accomplishments.
There's the revenge for that unconstitutional whuppin you give us.
“I wouldn’t include Harding on your Worst list. Despite his cronyism, he was a fiscal conservative and his laisse faire economic policies and extremely low taxes did great things for the economy.”
This is another example of liberal bias that has infected the ‘official history’. Harding was the Reagan of his day, very popular, conservative in a jocular natural way, but hated by the liberal intelligentsia. Since he died in office and his navy Secretary was caught in a scandal when he died (Teapot Dome, which harding had nothing to do with), the liberals in the history books just give him a few paragprahs - ALL about teapot dome.
NONE of it mentions:
- Harding invited black leaders of the NAACP, at a time when the Democrats were under the sway of the KKK
- Harding ran and won on “back to normalcy”, which meant an end to the Govt regulations Woodrow Wilson imposed during WWI, and also meant lower taxes
- the economic policies led to the ‘roaring twenties’, which Coolidge continued successfully
Indeed. Harding cut Wilson’s wartime tax from 63% to 25% and unemployment dropped from 12% to 3% during his term.
Harding and Coolidge kept us out of wars, cut taxes, and presided over roaring economies. If they are “do nothing” presidents, then I wish we had a lot more of them.
A great article on Harding here: http://www.lewrockwell.com/orig4/powell-jim4.html
regards,
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