In what order would you rank the U.S. Presidents since WWII

[book_worm]

From best to worst (here are my rankings):

Truman
Johnson
Eisenhower
Carter
Clinton
Kennedy
Ford
Nixon
Reagan
Bush I
Bush II

[DangerDave921]

1. interesting

Why do you put Truman at No. 1? He is usually lost in the haze of history.

I'll have to think about this list.

[Drunken Irishman]

4. Oh I don't know about that. Most historians rank Truman as a top-10 president of all-time.

[Truth2Tell]

10. You mean the haze

of mushroom clouds over Japan?

[frogcycle]

2. Johnson killed 50,000 us troops and millions of VN

on a trumped-up war that he could not keep his hands off of mismanaging*. He nurtured the militaryindustrial complex that Ike warned of. And you have him at #2?

* ok, roughly half the casualties were under Nixon, but Johnson created the mess.

[Drunken Irishman]

6. Johnson also saved millions of Americans at home with his social programs.

[frogcycle]

19. I thought so at the time

but have come to believe that he was more cynical - that he pushed the "Great Society" only to appease the masses whilst feeding the m-i-c. Or maybe he was sincere in them and just f'd up royally.
Regardless, he is one whom I have grown to respect even less over time. I still have an oh-so-vivid image of his face filling the TV screen promising "ah won't send amurcan boahs to faht some asyun woah," calling Goldwater the hawk, getting elected, and then off they all went. Some of my friends didn't come back. One came back but doesn't know who he is; another is a quadriplegic. I tried to balance my visceral hatred of his lying face (I did meet him once) with the good of the social programs. I gave him credit for a while, but the more I think about it, the less I believe he had a decent bone in his body.

Hell of a note that it is damned hard to name a really admirable pres since FDR. Carter wins hands down for having his heart in the right place.

[End Of The Road]

3. I've got to put Kennedy

near the top, if only because of the Cuban Missile Crisis. I think he was the right man in the right place at the right time.

[Zywiec]

5. Why is Carter so high up?

Is this his presidential performance, or performance after leaving office?

[SteppingRazor]

7. My list:

Kennedy
Carter
Clinton
Truman
Eisenhower
Ford
Johnson
Bush I
Nixon
Reagan
Bush II

[Truth2Tell]

8. OK

Carter
Eisenhower
Kennedy
Johnson
Clinton
Truman
Ford
Reagan
Bush II
Nixon
Bush I

Some explanation: I based mine on the individual, not their accomplishments - like what would these people do if they had the full ability to pursue their agenda. After the first three I consider the rest to be pretty much shit.

I place Ford, Reagan and Bush II ahead of Bush I and Nixon because I think the first three are/were simply front-men - useful morons - while the last two are/were intelligent, evil and actually in charge.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

9. Here's mine on a scale of 1-10

Ooops. None of them made it to plus side of the column.


See Lord Acton's famous axiom for explanation.

[maddiejoan]

11. Here's my Presidential stack

Clinton
Kennedy
Carter
Johnson
Truman
Eisenhower
Ford
Nixon
Reagan
Bush I
Bush II

[sinkingfeeling]

12. And mine, although I don't know what your criteria is for 'best' and 'worst'.

Kennedy
Clinton
Truman
Carter
Eisenhower
Johnson
Nixon
Ford
Bush I
Reagan
Bush II

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

13. My rankings

This is hard, because all have baggage of some sort or another.

Johnson-because of his Great Society Programs
Carter-because of his work on Middle East peace
Truman-because of his integration of the Armed Forces
Eisenhower-because of his distrust of the military-industrial complex
Kennedy-because of his use of diplomacy and not arms during the Cuban Missile Crisis
Clinton-use of diplomacy more than war (edited to put him in)
Ford-a basically decent person whose main flaw was pardoning Nixon
The rest have no redeeming qualities in my book:
Nixon
Bush I
Reagan
Bush II

[NewHampster]

14. and mine

Clinton II
Johnson
Eisenhower
Truman
Clinton I
Carter
Kennedy
Ford
Reagan
Bush I
Shrub don't get ranked because he is rank.

[Warren Stupidity]

15. hmmm ...

Kennedy (or Truman)
Truman
Carter
Clinton
Johnson - that damn war! otherwise #1
Eisenhower
Ford
Bush I
Nixon
Reagan
PsychoDumbFuck

[Occam Bandage]

16. In order,

Truman
Kennedy
Eisenhower
Nixon
Clinton
Carter
Johnson
Ford
Bush I
Reagan
Bush II

[Bitwit1234]

17. Any body that lived thru the Cuba Missile Crisis has to put JFK first

JFK......the best of the best
Truman...he was underestimated
Carter...he was underestimated
Clinton..the economy was bombing
Johnson...he stood up for Civil Rights
Ike.......tried to be bi-partisan, hated war.
Nixon.....he was the best foreign policy president of most
Ford......caretaker but ok
Reagan....the most overrated piece of crap going
Bush the elder...wonder what happened to Iran-Contra
Bush the junior...slime can't come close to describing him

[frogcycle]

20. I like your ranking pretty well

I'd probably transpose 2 and 3, move Johnson down below Ford, and raygun below bushI

[Rydz777]

18. Bush II is the worst , counting both the 20th and 21st centuries. He is also

is a top contender for worst of all time. We can be very proud of Truman, who was kept in the dark by Roosevelt, but performed with honest common sense and with solid democratic (and Democratic) instincts. Eisenhower deserves great credit for warning against the military-industrial complex (a warning which has been ignored ever since.)Vietnam hangs heavily on the Johnson Presidency and drags it down.

[SharonRB]

21. Here we go...

Kennedy
Clinton
Eisenhower
Truman
Carter
Johnson
Ford
Nixon
Bush I
Reagan
Commander Bunnypants