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Washington, Lincoln Most Popular Presidents: Nixon, Bush Least Popular
Rasmussen ^ | 7/4/07

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 ...


TOPICS: Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: dnctalkingpoints; makingitup; polls; presidents; topten; zogbyism
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To: Extremely Extreme Extremist

What a ridiculous survey. I’m sure the average American sits around pondering that SOB John Tyler. The “not sure” column should be about 90% for most of these.


61 posted on 07/04/2007 12:11:06 PM PDT by boop
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To: Vermont Lt

oh duh, I didn’t think of that.... Living in Kentucky, I only got to vote for him three times, twice in general election and once in the primary...


62 posted on 07/04/2007 12:16:42 PM PDT by Schwaeky (Draft Fred Thompson)
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To: Vermont Lt

not to mention that lovely tomb in midtown Manhattan...


63 posted on 07/04/2007 12:18:07 PM PDT by Schwaeky (Draft Fred Thompson)
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To: WalterSkinner

Once again, WS comes shining through. :) Those are my favorite presidents, too. May Duncan Hunter appear in our lineup soon.


64 posted on 07/04/2007 12:19:26 PM PDT by Paperdoll ( Vote for Duncan Hunter in the Primaries for America's sake!)
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To: Paperdoll
..American history would have been very different if two events would have happened:

if Abraham Lincoln had been alive through Reconstruction

and if TR had been president instead of Woodrow Wilson in 1914...IMHO

65 posted on 07/04/2007 12:25:27 PM PDT by WalterSkinner ( In Memory of My Father--WWII Vet and Patriot 1926-2007)
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To: finnman69

Thomas Jefferson is a favorite of mine.


66 posted on 07/04/2007 12:26:30 PM PDT by mysterio
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To: HillaryChavez
Reagan casts a large shadow on the subsequent two decades of presidents, none of which can hold a candle to his greatness.
67 posted on 07/04/2007 2:18:15 PM PDT by Weeedley
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To: finnman69
I have had difficulty accessing the files at Rasmussen. Would you kindly indicate the basis for the data given for the IQ's of the presidents? Were respondents told, we are doing a survey of the popularity of different presidents, please rank the following presidents in the order in which you LIKE them, beginning with the one you like best and ending with the one you like least? Who were the respondents, e.g. did the survey include a nation-wide sampling of U.S. citizens in proportion to state-populations and within a specific age range? Or was it another of these surveys of historians? If so, were the historians asked which party they voted for in national elections?

Of course it would be folly to ask the general population to name their favourite composer among Bach, Beethoven, Mozart, Schubert and Handel if most had never heard of them. Was there any indication of how many respondents knew anything about the presidents they were ranking? Curious to me is the almost inverse order of these preferences in relation to their probable IQ's. I'd bet dollars to donuts that Nixon had the highest IQ of any in this list. It is variously said that Nixon's IQ was between 143 and 155. I've never seen it ranked lower than 143; and 155, which I have seen for Nixon, is in the Stephen Hawking range. Whatever it was, it must have been formidable since Milton Friedman once said Nixon was one of the smartest men he ever met.

68 posted on 07/05/2007 1:19:25 AM PDT by I. M. Trenchant
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To: finnman69

What do you suppose Lincoln’s popularity rating would have been had the press been trying to run the country by phony polls say, in the spring of 1864?


69 posted on 07/05/2007 2:10:20 AM PDT by metesky ("Brethren, leave us go amongst them." Rev. Capt. Samuel Johnston Clayton - Ward Bond- The Searchers)
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To: Weeedley
JFK stood up to Kurschiev; backed him down— and plotted to OFF Fidel.

The truth is the Russians saw JFK for what he was when he refused to send the promised air support to the men he left stranded on the beach at the Bay of Pigs. That's what led the Ruskies to start building up A-weapons in Cuba.

Saint Jack had to play rough, or at least give the appearance of playing rough from that point in.

The reality is that there was a secret deal, a quid pro quo with the U.S. secretly removing missiles from Turkey in exchange for the Russians pulling missiles out of Cuba. It was kept secret so JFK could once again play the hero for the enraptured women voters of America.

And in light of the demon666rats to follow those are sterling accomplishments.

Well, one of the demon666rats to follow was William Jefferson Blythe and he did his best to imitate Saint Jack's sterling moral character.

70 posted on 07/05/2007 2:29:50 AM PDT by metesky ("Brethren, leave us go amongst them." Rev. Capt. Samuel Johnston Clayton - Ward Bond- The Searchers)
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To: WOSG
- Harding invited black leaders of the NAACP, at a time when the Democrats were under the sway of the KKK

Harding also invited hooded Klan members to at least one meeting at the White House. Pictures exist, if you can find them.

71 posted on 07/05/2007 2:33:07 AM PDT by metesky ("Brethren, leave us go amongst them." Rev. Capt. Samuel Johnston Clayton - Ward Bond- The Searchers)
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To: weegee

Garfield is unknown by 32%. The vast majority of the remaining 68% express an opinion based on whether they are dog or cat lovers (Garfield vs. Odie).


72 posted on 07/05/2007 9:40:54 AM PDT by DemEater
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To: metesky

On the otherhand JFK never soiled the rug in the oval office with bodily fluids.


73 posted on 07/05/2007 9:43:44 AM PDT by Weeedley
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To: metesky

On the otherhand JFK never soiled the rug in the oval office with bodily fluids.


74 posted on 07/05/2007 9:43:52 AM PDT by Weeedley
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To: metesky

Was Robert Byrd among those? :-)
I am sure those Klansmen were Democrats as most were in those days.


75 posted on 07/05/2007 10:25:41 AM PDT by WOSG (thank the Senators who voted "NO": 202-224-3121, 1-866-340-9281)
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To: metesky

“What do you suppose Lincoln’s popularity rating would have been had the press been trying to run the country by phony polls say, in the spring of 1864?”

Would Lincoln have been re-elected if the press harped during 1864 on the actrocities Union troops committed against civilians in Atlanta, convinced the populace that union was an ‘unwinnable war’, and accused Lincoln of being an army deserter?


76 posted on 07/05/2007 10:29:44 AM PDT by WOSG (thank the Senators who voted "NO": 202-224-3121, 1-866-340-9281)
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To: Weeedley

“All I am saying is in the demon666rat list of presidents, JFK was a superstar. But by historical standards your right.”

JFK was the Madonna of Presidents.
Achievement and popularity/celebrity are not the same thing.


77 posted on 07/05/2007 10:32:09 AM PDT by WOSG (thank the Senators who voted "NO": 202-224-3121, 1-866-340-9281)
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To: HillaryChavez

“Kennedy was NOT a great president but the moronic Liberal sheep worship him. Kennedy in 3 years accomplished little or nothing. Reagan should be higher in the rankings than Kennedy. Reagan was a great president.”

Dittos - see my previous comment -
‘JFK was the Madonna of Presidents.
Achievement and popularity/celebrity are not the same thing.’


78 posted on 07/05/2007 10:33:22 AM PDT by WOSG (thank the Senators who voted "NO": 202-224-3121, 1-866-340-9281)
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To: WOSG
JFK did accomplish martyrdom, which surely saved him from what would have been a mediocre legacy. Regan took a bullet and overcame its effects; while being the best president in living memory.
79 posted on 07/05/2007 12:06:04 PM PDT by Weeedley
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To: WOSG

It is a shame that probably 90 percent of Americans do not understand that FDR is one of the worst, if not the worst, in American history.


80 posted on 07/05/2007 12:10:09 PM PDT by GSWarrior
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