I dont put too much stock in polls like this because the question is pretty open ended. What is the definition of "best" for this?
I agree that many of the people that picked from these did so from sheer ignorance, not even having a rational explanation as to why they did so.
As to which presidents are widely considered to be among the best, its interesting to see who is and who is not on the list. Obviously its better to have a war or other catastrophe happen on your watch if you want to be remembered at all much. There have been some really good presidents that presided in quiet times, and they are hardly remembered.
Again, how do you define best, or even good. No president has been perfect of course, all having been human, and all made their share of mistakes. Some presidents have been very effective leaders and were very successful, and even though I disagree with things they did politically, they were successfuly at getting their agendas across. A president like this was obviously good at being president, he got done what he set out to do, I just dont agree with the goals that he was trying to achieve. Other presidents were very likable, or very good people personally, but very ineffective at the job. My analysis of the post WW2 presidents is as follows (starting with FDR although he isnt post WW2)on a scale of 1-10 with 10 being greatest and 1 being worst. I mainly rate based on whether the things they did were good for the country in the long run, as well as their effectiveness, and leadership:
FDR: very effective at getting his way, I disagree with many of the things he was trying to do, but he did handle WW2 quite well. A skilled politician, and assured of being remembered as great just by virtue of his conduct in WW2, I still dislike his policies as far as big government and the social systems that he set about. Overall rating (7)
Truman: had enough guts to drop the bomb, but chickened out in Korea and didnt win the war as advised by MacArthur. I think he really dropped the ball in Korea and we still suffer some consequenses from that today. (5)
Eisenhower: a great general, and a pretty good president too. He presided in quiet times for the most part, despite much tension with the Soviets as the Cold War was on. (7)
JFK: considered a good president in many ways even by his Republican opponants, JFK was a good leader. He was pretty moderate in his politics overall. His messups include the infamous bay of pigs incident, and some would say getting us into Vietnam without a clear exit strategy. On the good side, he handled the Cuban missile crisis superbly, and built a strong military. He was an effective president overall. Presided over the beginnings of the space race too. (8)
LBJ: probaby the worst president of this period, LBJ did almost nothing right except signing some Civil rights legislation. He royally screwed up the Vietnam war with the help of that idiot MacNamara. He also set about some disastrous social programs.
At least he had the sense not to run for reelection.(2)
Nixon: underrated as a president. His terms are overshadowed by Watergate of course, but he was actually pretty effective. He turned around the Vietnam war and possibly could have won it, but elected to pull out, and managed that fairly well. He was pretty Machievellian but he got things done, even though I dont really agree with too much of his "ends justify the means" philosophy. Watergate really hurt the Republicans and the country so he loses huge points for complicity in all that. (5)
Ford: didnt serve a full term, but he served during some hard times for the country. He pardoned Nixon which hurts him in public opinion, but may not have been such a bad thing to do. I wont second guess that decision. I need to read up some more about Ford, I know less about him than any other president but for now Ill give him a (5).
Carter: a man of integrity, but incompetant as president. He made the country a joke around the world. I consider him one of the worst of this period along with Johnson. On the bad side, he gave away the Canal, botched the Iran hostage crisis, mishandled the economy, and just generally didnt stand up to the USSR strongly. On the good side, he helped bring peace between Israel and Egypt, and continued some weapons programs that have been essential to our national defense, even though he cancelled the B-1, which may actually have been the right decision at the time. (2)
Reagan: a great president by any measure, he is considered great by many Democrats just as many Republicans consider JFK great. Reagan did more than any other president to bring down the USSR, and also managed to reverse to a large degree a liberal trend that the US had been going through off and on for a long time. He managed to reaffirm good conservative values, and make people feel good about the country. Good- strong military, tax cuts, conservative Supreme Court judges, strong foreign policy
Bad- the whole Iran-Contra affair, which may not have been his fault but it happened on his watch and was certainly mishandled any way you look at it. (9)
Bush Sr: started out good, but just wasnt the leader that Reagan was. He did all right in Desert Storm, but stopped short of removing the Saddam problem, which we see now in 20-20 hindsight was probably a big mistake. Then he raised taxes against his famous pledge not to. All in all a mediocre president
(5)
Clinton: personally charismatic and likable, his personal antics certainly tarnished the office or president. No integrity, and surrounded himself with many poor choices for advisors and cabinet members. His terms were marred by many scandals and the mishandling of Somalia. Bad-Somalia, Haiti, scandals, much of the legislation that he signed Good-some moderate legislation, free trade agreements, economy flourished during his terms
I dont credit him with the boom in the economy much, but it did happen under his watch so will give him some credit for that whether he had anything to do with it or not. (3)
Bush Jr: whether you like it or not, he will probably get remembered well in history since he was president when the WTC attack happened. I personally think that he is a great president. I initially was skeptical of Bush during the primaries, but he has exceeded my wildest expectations. I wont give him a grade since his term(s)? isnt/arent over yet, but so far he is on track to rival Reagan in my book.
I know this analysis has been highly subjective, and certainly biased by my being Republican and conservative, but hey, if you dont like my list, make your own!
