Greatest US President

[MrsSpringsteen]

Editor and Publisher

Just in time for President's Day, a new Gallup poll finds Abraham Lincoln now topping Ronald Reagan as the public's idea of the greatest U.S. president ever.

John F. Kennedy edges Bill Clinton for the #3 spot, with Franklin D. Roosevelt coming in at number five. George Washington can do no better than sixth.

Gallup notes that respondents tend to favor presidents of later vintage.

Reagan had bested traditional leader Lincoln in the previous poll, in 2005, in the aftermath of the former's death.

Eighteen percent of Americans today name Lincoln as the greatest U.S. president. He is closely followed by Reagan, with 16%, and John F. Kennedy, with 14%. Bill Clinton (13%) and Franklin D. Roosevelt (9%) round out the top five.

After Washington at #6 comes Truman at #7 and then a tie for #8 with Teddy Roosevelt, Eisenhower, Jefferson, Carter -- and George W. Bush, all at 2%. Bush had stood at 5% two years ago.

The poll was taken February 9-11.

 

[onebloodonelife]

Why would Reagan be near the top? I suppose the whole Cold War/Berlin Wall thing helps, but really...Reagan? Kennedy (love the guy), I believe is ranked based on what his presidency could have been.

 

[phanan]

Yeah, this is definitely skewed towards more recent presidencies. Both Reagan and Clinton are way too high, and JFK is up there based on his legacy more than his term as president.

Lincoln is deserving, though.

 

[majid23]

WTF...What about Chester Arthur?

 

[medmo]

It's a joke that the people put Washington at #6. Without him, the other guys may have never made it to office because there may not have been a country to lead. But if the they are ranking Clinton and Reagan before him, you really can't expect too much from the poll.

 

[elevated_u2_fan]

James Garfield is my personal comander in cheif!

 

[AtomicBono]

Abe Lincoln was the most xtreme president ever. No one can compare to that badass.

 

[AEON]

Another amazing thing about Lincoln is that he had lower approval ratings than W and only won re-election because of some key victories in the months leading up to election. Even then, the "peace" candidate would have won if he wasn't a former general.

A majority of the Northerners were against the war and wanted peace terms with the South.

 

[deep]

I don't think current public perception is the best meter to measure how "great" a president was.


I think Lincoln is a bit over rated.


And Aeon, not surprised if many Northerners wanted peace.

The soul of America was very sick then.

They may not have cared that much about slavery.

Looking at how long it took
to get any kind of Civil Rights proves that.

 

[Irvine511]

Another amazing thing about Lincoln is that he had lower approval ratings than W and only won re-election because of some key victories in the months leading up to election. Even then, the "peace" candidate would have won if he wasn't a former general.

can you cite these approval ratings? can we really compare across the centuries? did Lincoln remain below 50% for the entirety of his 2nd term? did Lincoln remain well below 40% for the majority of his 2nd term?

 

[Vincent Vega]

I don't think they measured approval ratings back then like they do today.

But if there is some source that could tell us about the approval rate of Lincoln I would be very interested.

 

[verte76]

My favorite president has always been FDR. The New Deal was the best thing to ever happen to this country. Reagan is definitely overrated.

 

[intedomine]

My favorite president has always been FDR. The New Deal was the best thing to ever happen to this country.

Agree, 100%. He was an absolute gun...no one comes close. New Deal was the most essential piece of legislation at the second most critical of times. One wonders how long he could have gone on...

Jefferson was pretty cool, as was Clinton.

JFK seems a bit overrated. RFK would have been better.

 

[intedomine]

What good did Reagan do anyway. He was just some crap actor...

 

[phanan]

Another amazing thing about Lincoln is that he had lower approval ratings than W and only won re-election because of some key victories in the months leading up to election. Even then, the "peace" candidate would have won if he wasn't a former general.

Lincoln was re-elected primarily because of the split vote amongst the Democratic party - many were part of the "Peace" platform, but when a former general of the war is your candidate, you're going to get mixed results.

 

[redhotswami]

My favorite president has always been FDR. The New Deal was the best thing to ever happen to this country. Reagan is definitely overrated.

agreed. FDR is my favorite too.

 

[AEON]

Lincoln was re-elected primarily because of the split vote amongst the Democratic party - many were part of the "Peace" platform, but when a former general of the war is your candidate, you're going to get mixed results.

True - and even with McClellan as the candidate, Lincoln didn't feel he'd be re-elected - according to the biographies I've read.

The point I'm trying to make is that it seems to take time to see how great a president was or wasn't. If Lincoln had not been re-elected, and the peace Democrats won the election and gave the South their independence - then Lincoln would have been considered a dismal failure.

Thank God for General Grant...

 

[MrBrau1]

FDR by a mile. The man led the country through the Great Depression and WWII.

 

[Irvine511]

Thank God for General Grant...

Grant, maybe ... Sherman?

many think that what he did to Atlanta was, like, TOTALLY out of proportion. and far be it from me to defend the antebellum South -- though my better half is southern -- but the point has been made to me, several times, that your average southern soldier was poor, was conscripted, had no real political interests, and wasn't a slave owner.

for whatever that's worth.

 

[deep]

If Lincoln had not been re-elected, and the peace Democrats won the election and gave the South their independence - then Lincoln would have been considered a dismal failure.

Who can say?

Perhaps we would have been better off with both the United States and the Confederate States.

Slavery would have ended.

Where did it last as a government institution pass the 1800s?

 

[LyricalDrug]

FDR, hands down.

 

[deep]

FDR, legs down.


Clinton, pants down.

 

[STING2]

can you cite these approval ratings? can we really compare across the centuries? did Lincoln remain below 50% for the entirety of his 2nd term? did Lincoln remain well below 40% for the majority of his 2nd term?

Lincoln won the Presidency in 1860 with only 39% of the vote, the lowest in US history. The War did not increase Lincolns popularity and with respect to the entire country, he obviously spent his entire time in office well below 40%. His second term only lasted 43 days before he was assassinated.

 

[MrPryck2U]

The greatest US hasn't even been born yet.

 

[STING2]

Who can say?

Perhaps we would have been better off with both the United States and the Confederate States.

Slavery would have ended.

Where did it last as a government institution pass the 1800s?

Slavery would have endured in the Confederate States of America, longer than any other place in the world. The hardship that African Americans would suffer would be multiplied before and after any sort of future Confederate emancipation of the Slaves.

The two new countries would both be weaker and less able to contribute to important global crises in the years to come potentially changing the history of the planet for the worse. Hostility between the two new countries would still exist and another war would remain a possibility, which would potentially be much more costly. Foreign countries would always be able to exploit the divisions between the two new countries for their advantage.

The peace platform that considered the war to be a "failure" would have only brought a very temporary peace and would create far more problems than it would solve.

 

[MrPryck2U]

The greatest US president hasn't even been born yet. The last 10 have sucked though.

 

[DaveC]

True - and even with McClellan as the candidate, Lincoln didn't feel he'd be re-elected - according to the biographies I've read.

The point I'm trying to make is that it seems to take time to see how great a president was or wasn't. If Lincoln had not been re-elected, and the peace Democrats won the election and gave the South their independence - then Lincoln would have been considered a dismal failure.

Thank God for General Grant...

Thank God McClellan didn't win.

I'm taking a Civil War History class right now - McClellan was the most infuriating and bumbling military commander I've ever heard of, maybe in all of history.

I just read the chapter where he was removed after Antietam, but he had two potentially war-ending opportunities in 1862 at Mechanicsburg and Antietam, and yet even though he had Lee's actual battle plans before the battle, he still managed to waste these chances because of chronic paranoia.

I wish this man was still alive today, just so I could punch him in the face.

ETA: While I think Lincoln is vastly overrated, he's still better than most of the other options. I'd say Abe, FDR, JFK, in that order, but I agree the "Greatest" probably hasn't come about yet.

 

[MrsSpringsteen]

The greatest US president hasn't even been born yet. The last 10 have sucked though.

You really think Clinton sucked as a President? Why?

 

[Irvine511]

Lincoln won the Presidency in 1860 with only 39% of the vote, the lowest in US history. The War did not increase Lincolns popularity and with respect to the entire country, he obviously spent his entire time in office well below 40%. His second term only lasted 43 days before he was assassinated.

thusly ending the possibility of comparisons.

 

[AEON]

Thank God McClellan didn't win.

I'm taking a Civil War History class right now - McClellan was the most infuriating and bumbling military commander I've ever heard of, maybe in all of history.

I just read the chapter where he was removed after Antietam, but he had two potentially war-ending opportunities in 1862 at Mechanicsburg and Antietam, and yet even though he had Lee's actual battle plans before the battle, he still managed to waste these chances because of chronic paranoia.

While I agree McCellan was a very poor commander, Lee needs some credit here. He always had the Union generals believing he had twice as many soldiers than he really had.

The thing I like about Grant is that he didn't care one way or another. He was going to finish the war or have the entire Army die trying.

Soldiers are willing to die for a single purpose - victory. True victory is the destruction of the enemy or the enemy's will to fight, whichever comes first. Grant knew this and so did Lincoln. I only wish our current commmander and chief and his generals would act so boldly.