I was born in 1967 and on election day I thought it might be fun to rank the presidents of my lifetime. The interesting thing about presidents is they are tough to judge when they leave office as their decisions have implications long after they are gone. The role call is as follows:
Lydon Johnson
Richard Nixon
Gerald Ford
Jimmy Carter
Ronald Reagan
George Bush
Bill Clinton
George W Bush
Barack Obama
All these names bring out distinct feelings and here is the first word that comes to my mind when I think of each:
Crude
Liar
Clueless
Naive
Actor
Boring
Impeachment
Overmatched
Embattled
Looking at these words you might get the impression that all of these men have been a disaster for the country. I think all of them have done what they thought was best but in an age where the United States is the leader of the world combined with unending media attention they all have faced daily difficulties that make the issues facing Washington and Jackson seem minor in comparison.
So how have they done? Here's my ranking from worst to best:
#8 - George W Bush - He got us into an unnecessary war while reducing taxes to take a government surplus he inherited to a $1 trillion deficit. The American people will paying for his lack of vision long into the future. Fans of US Grant especially like him because many lists have replaced the Union General with Bush as the worst United States president of all time.
#7 - Lyndon Johnson - He is similar to GW Bush in that he started an unnecessary war but instead of tax reduction he added many programs that have proved to be unsustainable in the long run. The difference is at the time he was in office the United States had a robust economy and was at the height of its power so some of the hubris from his administration is understandable.
#6 - Gerald Ford - Many still hate Ford for his pardon of Nixon but I dismiss him for the lack of action during his 2 years as president. He has the distinction as the only person to become president without being voted into office as either president or vice president (Nixon replaced his elected vice president in 1973).
#5 - Ronald Reagan - Many conservative blogs rank Reagan in the top 5 of all American presidents. I've always considered him highly overrated. His main contribution were the tax reform act in 1986 and making Americans feel good about themselves again. Unfortunately he also set the trend of reducing taxes while allowing Congress to ignore the out of control spending from Johnson's reforms. You can do one but not both and he put the United States on the path of deficit spending that continues to plague us to this day.
#4 - Jimmy Carter - I've always felt Carter's heart was in the right place but his passive communication style turned off most Americans. He preached moderation and that we needed to accept that the days of America's post WW2 dominance was over. There was sharp contrast between him and Reagan in the 1980 election and the American people chose Reagan's message of hope vs Carter's stark realism. I have often wondered how America would look today if Carter had Reagan's ability to turn a phrase. The Iran hostage crisis, long gas lines, and an economy struggling to adapt to the huge influx of baby boomers into the work force didn't help either.
#3 - Richard Nixon - History remembers him leaving office in disgrace after Watergate but many of actions he took in office were forward thinking. Working with China to open dialog was the first step in thawing the cold war and helped stop the worldwide trend towards communism. He proposed the EPA, OSHA and even government health care for low income families. At the time he was demonized by the left for his policies mainly due to Vietnam but he eventually got us out of the conflict and would be considered a moderate in today's America.
#2 - George Bush Sr - He was considered a wimp and a poor communicator but as time passed I came to appreciate his presidency. His reversal of his "no new taxes" pledge killed his reelection chances but his policies were moderate and he did what he considered to be best for the United States in the long term. He set the stage to get the budget in order though he never got away from the shadow cast by Reagan. If Carter had beaten Reagan in 1980, it is likely Bush would have won the 1984 election due to Reagan's age and conservatives today would look to him as the herald of new conservatism. Perhaps then his level headed approached might have had more influence on his son.
#1 - Bill Clinton - His presidency was gridlocked by a sex scandal but his policies combined Bush's moderate conservatism with liberal ideals to find a middle ground. Baby boomers were in their 40s during his presidency and America definitely moved to the right during his time in office. Despite that he passed legislation that helped get the spending from Johnson's policies under control while raising taxes to get government to balance its budget for first in my life.
Unranked - Barack Obama - It is unfair to give Barack a rank at this time. He inherited a government deep in debt and an economy in crisis as the banking industry was near collapse. He signed the largest spending plan in American history knowing it would hurt him at the polls four years later. He said at the time he knew proving to the American people that the economy would be worse without this package would be difficult. He did it anyway as he thought it was the right thing to do. He has a bit of Carter's naivety in him as his repeated attempts to work with the conservatives in Congress were rebuffed and they took advantage of him on quite a few occasions.
My last comment on Barack Obama is a hurdle all these men faced. This is the sad state of American politics at this time and it has only gotten worse during my life. No matter what happens in today's elections, my hope is that the Congress learns to represent all of America better in the future. Most of what is wrong with American politics occurs in their halls but the men listed above get the blame. As President Clinton once said, he thinks all president have the good of the nation in their hearts and we all need to keep that in mind when we consider their actions. They need to learn to win over the minds of the nation with our reasoned words and stop with hateful soundbites. It isn't productive but I don't think it is going to change.
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