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Love the analysis. Not familiar with the Panic of 1837. Was the country on the verge of running out of beer?
It was what we now call "depressions." Andrew Jackson, in one of his less stellar moves, abolished the Bank of the United States. That left behind a proliferation of local banks whose notes, which circulated as currency, were of dubious value. This precipitated bank runs, which did a number on peoples' net worth and the economy. U.S. history has been punctuated by panics. Later, they were euphemized as "depressions" and later the-even milder term "recessions."
Unnecessary tax cuts
Muslim Ban
Border Wall
LGBT Ban
Gutting ACA
These are not the makings of a good president (let alone a great one)
I go back and forth on those issues. I will be honest and say I lean against him on the "Muslim ban" and for him on "border wall" and repealing ACA. I don't know what the LGBT ban is. I would be against that. On taxes I change my mind every five minutes.
I am for the following:
Recognizing Jerusalem as Israel's capital;
Moving our embassy in Israel to its chose capital city;
Exiting the JCPOA;
Exiting the Paris Shakedown, err, Climate Accords;
Ending "catch and release" as illegal immigrants are not undersized fish.
Overall he's kept his campaign promises. Pretty good I say. And as far as the "Muslim ban" we do need better control, somehow, as to who comes into the U.S. and for how long they can stay.
Over the country's history surprisingly few of the Presidents have been great or even good. Here's my ranking. Yours?
1. George Washington (1789-1797) - Great
2. John Adams (1797-1801) - Medium but better in most roles than his term as President.
3. Thomas Jefferson (1801-1809) - Medium but better in most roles than his term as President.
4. James Madison (1809-1817) - Medium but better in most roles than his term as President. 5. James Monroe (1817-1825) Good
6. John Quincy Adams (1825-1829) - Poor to Medium but better in most roles than his term as President.
7. Andrew Jackson (1829-1837) Good but his policies ended in the Panic of 1837. Also one of two times that a two term or more Democratic president was succeeded by a Democrat.
8. Martin Van Buren (1837-1841) - Mediocre; term was stained by Panic of 1837
9. William Henry Harrison (1841) - Too short a time in office to know
10. John Tyler (1841-1845) Poor, and near-traitor. Voted for secession while serving on Virginia convention in 1861.
11. James K. Polk (1845-1849) Good.
12. Zachary Taylor (1849-1850) - Too short a time in office to know
13. Millard Fillmore (1850-1853) - Poor; mishandled sectional crises leading up to Civil War
14. Franklin Pierce (1853-1857) - Poor; Drunk, and mishandled sectional crises leading up to Civil War
15. James Buchanan (1857-1861) Poor; mishandled sectional crises leading up to Civil War 16. Abraham Lincoln (1861-1865) Great
17. Andrew Johnson (1865-1869) Mediocre; Radical Republicans didn't give him a chance.
18. Ulysses S. Grant (1869-1877) Poor to Medium but better in most roles than his term as President.
19. Rutherford B. Hayes (1877-1881) Good but ending reconstruction without ensuring equity and justice for freed slaves was a stain.
20. James A. Garfield (1881) - Too short a time in office to know
21. Chester Arthur (1881-1885) - Mediocre. Passed Civil Service but otherwise didn't do much
22. Grover Cleveland (1885-1889) Mediocre
23. Benjamin Harrison (1889-1893) Mediocre
24. Grover Cleveland (1893-1897) Mediocre
25. William McKinley (1897-1901) Mediocre 26. Theodore Roosevelt (1901-1909) Great
27. William Howard Taft (1909-1913) Mediocre
28. Woodrow Wilson (1913-1921) Poor. Racist turned idealist who gave away America's nascent leadership position in world.
29. Warren G. Harding (1921-1923) Mediocre syphilitic
30. Calvin Coolidge (1923-1929) Mediocre
31. Herbert Hoover (1929-1933) Mediocre
32. Franklin D. Roosevelt (1933-1945) Poor. One of the worst. Lots of Jewish blood on his hands. Basically a grandstander.
33. Harry S. Truman (1945-1953) Good to great.
34. Dwight D. Eisenhower (1953-1961) Mediocre
35. John F. Kennedy (1961-1963) Mediocre. Image better than reality
36. Lyndon B. Johnson (1963-1969) Mediocre and divisive.
37. Richard Nixon (1969-1974) Poor. One of the worst. Congenital liar and hypocrite.
38. Gerald Ford (1974-1977) Good and underrated
39. Jimmy Carter (1977-1981) Poor to terrible
40. Ronald Reagan (1981-1989) Great
41. George Bush (1989-1993) Mediocre
42. Bill Clinton (1993-2001) Good
43. George W. Bush (2001-2009) Mediocre
44. Barack Obama (2009-2017) Poor to terrible
45. Donald Trump (2017- ) Too soon to say but earmarks of being medium to good.
Great Post....thanks for your insight and comments. I do have a few changes, very few over 200 plus years!!
Andrew Jackson—Great.
My final citizenship question was “what were the ramifications of the Jacksonian movement on the American political system”. For that reason alone, not to mention his other achievements as President he is rated GREAT by me. Other achievements include the nullification crises with South Carolina. There is a reason he is on the $20 bill.
James Polk-Great.
The American West would not exist without the Presidency of James Polk. That also means the United States would be a VERY different country these days.
Thank you for rating Wilson as POOR. Awful President.
Thank you for rating FDR as POOR. It is not just Jewish blood, but he shut his eyes to the murder of 10 million Ukrainians by Stalin for political purposes. My family was basically exterminated thanks to FDR and we were not JEWS, just not politically useful for FDR.
Truman- I would downrate to mediocre to good.
IKE— Great
After he ended the Korean War. No Americans died in a conflict in the world (correction one US military killed in Vietnam). A truly remarkable record given the Cold War. Built the Interstate Highway System. Changed America. Warned about the Military-Industrial complex...we should hav listened.
Kennedy- Awful. Just awful.
Bush 1- Poor. Never followed up on Reagan’s opening to Russia.
Clinton-Awful. Forget Monica. His treatment of Russia, brought Putin into power in Russia. I believe History magazine compared him to Calvin Coolidge. A slur of Calvin Coolidge’s good name.
Bush II- Awful. I read a technical economics paper that said the Bush tax cuts spurred the greatest economic boom in world history....the boom happened in China. War is Iraq, was botched and barely fixed by the time he left office.
Obama-Awful. Botched the economic recovery process. Totally lost it in foreign affairs. One of the worst Presidents in American history. But he is unique in that in spite of that he got re-elected. WHAT WERE WE THINKING???
Trump—-To early to tell...all the way from Great to Awful is his potential. Right now...outside of his tweets I would rate him as good.
Again, thanks again for posting and particularly giving your reasons. Enjoyed reading them. Thanks.
He had some of the best oratory of any President. Spewed lots of hot air into the Washington, DC frigid air-mass of January 20, 1961.
You know your Presidency was bad when all people remember about you is your first HOUR on the job!!
But, in fairness to Kennedy he will be remembered for the US Space Program to put a man on the moon before 1970. IF the US remains a world power in the future, Kennedy will be remembered for that. IF China, becomes the future of Earth, well he still will get some credit.
Yeah, I know it was a political stunt. But it got Armstrong walking on the moon. THAT MATTERED.
Almost ALL...of the significant Environmental Laws in this country were signed by Nixon.
Really the first truly Environmental President since Theodore Roosevelt. Everybody else besides Roosevelt and Nixon were lightweights when it came to the environment.
Which statistics make him among the worst? And as far as his being hated, where and when?
Over 700,000 Americans dead, for one. He chose to wage war on half of the country, just to keep the power of the larger union.
It is also recorded, beyond whitwashed revisionist history, that he was widely hated by half the country, in both the south and some of the north. Groups representing these viewpoints literally planned and executed his assassination.
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