Grading the Presidents (war, Mexican, facts, Washington)

[MassTerp94]

How would you grade our chief executives? This is meant to be looked at in a historical, rather than political context, though my political leanings may be obvious.

George Washington : A-
John Adams: B
Thomas Jefferson: B+
James Madison: B
James Monroe: B+
John Quincy Adams: B-
Andrew Jackson: C+
Martin Van Buren: C-
William Henry Harrison: N/A (died after 30 days)
John Tyler: C-
James K. Polk: A
Zachary Taylor: B-
Millard Fillmore: C-
Franklin Pierce: F
James Buchanan: F
Abraham Lincoln: A+
Andrew Johnson: D+
Ulysses S. Grant: C
Rutherford B. Hayes: B
James A. Garfield: N/A (assassinated/killed by doctors too soon into his term)
Chester A. Arthur: B+
Grover Cleveland (1st term): B
Benjamin Harrison: B
Grover Cleveland (2nd term): C-
William McKinley: B+
Theodore Roosevelt: A+
William Howard Taft: C-
Woodrow Wilson: B-
Warren G. Harding: C
Calvin Coolidge: C
Franklin D. Roosevelt: B-
Harry S Truman: A
Dwight D. Eisenhower: A
John F.Kennedy: A-
Lyndon B. Johnson: C
Richard M. Nixon: C
Gerald R. Ford: B
Jimmy Carter: C
Ronald W. Reagan: B
George H.W. Bush: B
William J. Clinton: B-
George W. Bush: D+
Barack H. Obama: C+

[OhioJB]

I'll grade the ones who were President during my lifetime (born in 1965), and only one other, FDR, because I believe he was this country's best President.

FDR - A
LBJ - F
Nixon - D
Carter - F
Reagan - C
George H. W. Bush - D
Clinton - F
George W. Bush - F
Obama - F

Good gravy, I hope Trump doesn't follow this disturbing trend of awful Presidents. We need a great President, not sure we'll get it. Time will tell. My guess is he'll end up with a C or lower grade.

[MassTerp94]

Originally Posted by OhioJB

I'll grade the ones who were President during my lifetime (born in 1965), and only one other, FDR, because I believe he was this country's best President.

FDR - A
LBJ - F
Nixon - D
Carter - F
Reagan - C
George H. W. Bush - D
Clinton - F
George W. Bush - F
Obama - F

Good gravy, I hope Trump doesn't follow this disturbing trend of awful Presidents. We need a great President, not sure we'll get it. Time will tell. My guess is he'll end up with a C or lower grade.

I'd agree with you on LBJ, but I have to give him credit for his Great Society programs. But foreign policy was a disaster. Clinton signed all our jobs away, but at least he kept us out of any wars. I'd have given Dubya an F, but to be fair going into Afghanistan was the right decision, everything else he did put our country in the crapper. Obama made us look like fools, BUT he saved the auto industry from completely tanking and causing another Great Depression and he gave the order to kill Osama even though there was only a 50% certainty it was actually Bin Laden.

OK, I'm breaking my own rule, I said this wouldn't be political...

[Dd714]

Originally Posted by MassTerp94

I'd agree with you on LBJ, but I have to give him credit for his Great Society programs. But foreign policy was a disaster. Clinton signed all our jobs away, but at least he kept us out of any wars. I'd have given Dubya an F, but to be fair going into Afghanistan was the right decision, everything else he did put our country in the crapper. Obama made us look like fools, BUT he saved the auto industry from completely tanking and causing another Great Depression and he gave the order to kill Osama even though there was only a 50% certainty it was actually Bin Laden.

OK, I'm breaking my own rule, I said this wouldn't be political...

In order for it not to be political (and it will be, and the thread probably eventually locked or moved...and you "moderated") you should re-edit your thread to eliminate all presidents in the last 40 years or so.
It's also fair to say that the full impact of there administration and the decisions they made have not yet been fully realized, and thus they cannot be historically judged on an objective basis. The threads getting a bad start already.

[aliasfinn]

Washington C
Adams B
Jefferson B
Madison C
Monroe C
J Quincy Adams C
Jackson B
Van Buren C
Harrison B+
Tyler C
Polk C
Taylor C
Fillmore C
Pierce D
Buchanan C
Lincoln C
Johnson D
Grant B (mostly because of his military)
Hayes C
Garfield B
Arthur C
Cleveland B
Harrison C
McKinley B
Roosevelt D
Taft C
Wilson D-
Harding C
Coolidge C
F Roosevelt C
Truman A+
Eisenhower C
Kennedy B
Johnson F
Nixon F
Ford D
Carter B
Reagen B
Bush F
Clinton F
Bush F-
Obama D

You forgot Hoover, just as well because I give him an F

[OhioJB]

Originally Posted by Dd714

In order for it not to be political (and it will be, and the thread probably eventually locked or moved...and you "moderated") you should re-edit your thread to eliminate all presidents in the last 40 years or so.
It's also fair to say that the full impact of there administration and the decisions they made have not yet been fully realized, and thus they cannot be historically judged on an objective basis. The threads getting a bad start already.

Interesting observation. Honestly, I've always felt just the opposite. Those who live during a certain era have a much better lay of the land of that period of time than those looking back just looking at major facts or factors. A lot goes into the making of history than is actually written in history books or historical writings. It's also easy to read history thinking to ourselves how awful so and so was, being a little unfair or plain not having all of the facts because we weren't there.

[ukrkoz]

Didn't know you lived that long, OP, to have first hand clear impression about those people you so "knowingly" graded.

[cpg35223]

I'm trying to figure out why people would give George H.W. Bush an F or a D. He was probably the most skillful foreign policy president we've had in a long time.

Think about it. In a four-year span, we dealt with the collapse of the Warsaw Pact, the first Gulf War, and the collapse of the Soviet Union, one after another. Any one of these could have led to World War III, but instead were mere blips on the world scene due to some very skillful statecraft and behind-the-scenes maneuvering by the Bush administration.

Meanwhile, Herbert Hoover isn't getting much attention. I think one of the myths of American history is that the stock market crashed, the Great Depression got underway, and Herbert Hoover twiddled his thumbs doing nothing while the bread lines grew longer by the day.

In truth, the stock market crashed, and Herbert Hoover's administration did a great deal to cause the economic crisis to explode. From his jacking up tax rates as much as 3x to the idiot Hawley Smoot tariff act, Hoover's policies caused a manageable situation to get much worse. Add the Federal Reserve's bright idea to tighten credit, and government policy was the equivalent of putting out a medium-sized brush fire with ten gallons of gasoline. And Hoover's responses to the economic downturn were actually the foundation of FDR's New Deal program. Morgenthau, FDR's Treasury Secretary, said as much. So Hoover? F.

Roosevelt is much harder to grade, because he really had two presidencies. The first presidency he had was during the Great Depression. Yes, everybody loves to show his "fear itself" inaugural speech, but his policies were really an expansion of Hoover's and did very little to ease the Depression. A look at unemployment rates during the 30s show that unemployment remained catastrophically high until World War II broke out.

At the same time, he was a brilliant wartime leader. So D for economics and A for waging war.

[markg91359]

Originally Posted by MassTerp94

How would you grade our chief executives? This is meant to be looked at in a historical, rather than political context, though my political leanings may be obvious.

George Washington : A-
John Adams: B
Thomas Jefferson: B+
James Madison: B
James Monroe: B+
John Quincy Adams: B-
Andrew Jackson: C+
Martin Van Buren: C-
William Henry Harrison: N/A (died after 30 days)
John Tyler: C-
James K. Polk: A
Zachary Taylor: B-
Millard Fillmore: C-
Franklin Pierce: F
James Buchanan: F
Abraham Lincoln: A+
Andrew Johnson: D+
Ulysses S. Grant: C
Rutherford B. Hayes: B
James A. Garfield: N/A (assassinated/killed by doctors too soon into his term)
Chester A. Arthur: B+
Grover Cleveland (1st term): B
Benjamin Harrison: B
Grover Cleveland (2nd term): C-
William McKinley: B+
Theodore Roosevelt: A+
William Howard Taft: C-
Woodrow Wilson: B-
Warren G. Harding: C
Calvin Coolidge: C
Franklin D. Roosevelt: B-
Harry S Truman: A
Dwight D. Eisenhower: A
John F.Kennedy: A-
Lyndon B. Johnson: C
Richard M. Nixon: C
Gerald R. Ford: B
Jimmy Carter: C
Ronald W. Reagan: B
George H.W. Bush: B
William J. Clinton: B-
George W. Bush: D+
Barack H. Obama: C+

My own grades:

Washington A- (good President, but overrated because he was the first)

John Adams B ( a curmudgeon, but he kept the Naval War with France from escalating)

Jefferson A- (The Louisiana purchase doubled the size of the USA)

Madison C+ (The War of 1812 was a big mistake for everyone involved)

Monroe B+ (presided over a prosperous and peaceful country for eight years)

John Quincy Adams B- (a very intellectual, but rather ineffective President)

Andrew Jackson B- (vastly overrated, he was for the "common man" whatever that means)

Martin Van Buren C (was President during the Panic of 1837 which rivaled the Great Depression)

William Henry Harrison (unrated too short of a term in office)

James Tyler C (accomplished little in office)

James K Polk B+ (Presided over the Mexican War and subsequent cession of land to the US)

Zachary Taylor (unrated) Too short a term in office.

Millard Fillmore D (One of a number of Presidents whose weakness brought about the Civil War)

Franklin Pierce D- (Inaction helped bring about Civil War)

James Buchanan D- (Showed great weakness as the nation split up)

Abraham Lincoln A (Prevented the break up of the country)

Andrew Johnson D (Uneducated, a drunk, and totally unfit to be President)

Ulysses Grant B (Implemented Reconstruction and was a better President than thought)

Rutherford B. Hayes C- (Poor President who only was elected do to election fraud)

James Garfield Unrated (too short a term in office)

Chester Arthur B- (obtained passage and implemented Civil Service Reform)

Grover Cleveland B (Maneuvered successfully with Congress despite being in the opposing party)

Benjamin Harrison C (Hard to name any accomplishments during his one term in office)

William McKinley C (Spanish American War. America was advancing economically)

Theodore Roosevelt A- (extraordinarily effective President was the first Progressive)

William Howard Taft B (A much underrated President who was quietly effective)

Woodrow Wilson B+ (obtained passage of much necessary legislation during his term)

Warren Harding D (The office of the presidency was simply beyond him. Much corruption around him)

Calvin Coolidge D+ (His "do nothing" presidency laid the ground work for the Great Depression)

Herbert Hoover C+ (Not great, but given too much blame for the Great Depression)

Franklin D. Roosevelt A (Presided as commander in chief during World War II effectively)

Harry Truman B+ (Was an effective post-war President)

Dwight Eisenhower B+ (America prospered and was peaceful during his time in office)

John F. Kennedy B- (overrated because of his early death and looks)

Lyndon Johnson B (a great domestic president, but will be remembered mostly for Vietnam)

Richard Nixon C (The Watergate Scandal was awful, but he did some important things in office)

Gerald Ford B (History will be kind to this man who did much to repair America after Watergate)

Jimmy Carter C+ (Not really responsible for the dip in the economy during his time in office)

Ronald Reagan B (I hate to praise him, but the economy recovered and America's image did too)

George H. W. Bush B- (A poor communicator, but a good administrator)

Bill Clinton B (the economy grew by leaps and bounds during his peaceful reign)

George W. Bush D+ (The Iraq War is a big negative with little positive to counterbalance it)

Barack Obama B- (Did a decent job despite incredible opposition from the very beginning)

[SWFL_Native]

IMO Dwight D. Eisenhower was the last "great" President and deserves an A or A+.