Read History Buff's Guide to the Presidents Online
Authors: Thomas R. Flagel
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History Buff's Guide to the Presidents (64 page)
Ranking the presidents started in 1948, when Arthur M. Schlesinger invited fifty-five authorities, most of them professional historians, to rate the presidents from best to worst. Schlesinger repeated the effort fourteen years later with more stringent criteria and a slightly larger pool of academics. The U.S. Historical Society tried its hand in 1977, as did the
Chicago Tribune
in 1982. By the 1990s, dozens of formal and informal polls had tried to discern the greats from the failures.
Among the most vigorous and reputable lists have been the
Wall Street Journal
and the Siena Research Institute review. Both involved scores of historians, political scientists, and law experts with diverse outlooks who graded the executives on a multitude of criteria, ranging from domestic policy to court appointments, imagination, and luck. I had the privilege of taking part in the Siena analysis. Following are their rankings and mine. In my assessment, the focus is on foreign policy, economic initiatives, labor and land management, and response to crises.
Wall Street Journal (2000) | Siena Poll (2010) | Thomas R. Flagel (2012) |
| 1. George Washington | 1. Franklin Roosevelt | 1. Theodore Roosevelt |
| 2. Abraham Lincoln | 2. Theodore Roosevelt | 2. Franklin Roosevelt |
| 3. Franklin Roosevelt | 3. Abraham Lincoln | 3. George Washington |
| 4. Thomas Jefferson | 4. George Washington | 4. Thomas Jefferson |
| 5. Theodore Roosevelt | 5. Thomas Jefferson | 5. James K. Polk |
| 6. Andrew Jackson | 6. James Madison | 6. Abraham Lincoln |
| 7. Harry Truman | 7. James Monroe | 7. Grover Cleveland |
| 8. Ronald Reagan | 8. Woodrow Wilson | 8. John Adams |
| 9. Dwight D. Eisenhower | 9. Harry Truman | 9. James Monroe |
| 10. James K. Polk | 10. Dwight D. Eisenhower | 10. William Clinton |
| 11. Woodrow Wilson | 11. John F. Kennedy | 11. George H. W. Bush |
| 12. Grover Cleveland | 12. James K. Polk | 12. Dwight D. Eisenhower |
| 13. John Adams | 13. William Clinton | 13. James Madison |
| 14. William McKinley | 14. Andrew Jackson | 14. William H. Taft |
| 15. James Madison | 15. Barack Obama | 15. Harry Truman |
| 16. James Monroe | 16. Lyndon Johnson | 16. Woodrow Wilson |
| 17. Lyndon Johnson | 17. John Adams | 17. William McKinley |
| 18. John F. Kennedy | 18. Ronald Reagan | 18. Lyndon Johnson |
| 19. William H. Taft | 19. John Quincy Adams | 19. Andrew Jackson |
| 20. John Quincy Adams | 20. Grover Cleveland | 20. Zachary Taylor |
| 21. George H. W. Bush | 21. William McKinley | 21. Ronald Reagan |
| 22. Rutherford B. Hayes | 22. George H. W. Bush | 22. John F. Kennedy |
| 23. Martin Van Buren | 23. Martin Van Buren | 23. Martin Van Buren |
| 24. William Clinton | 24. William H. Taft | 24. John Quincy Adams |
| 25. Calvin Coolidge | 25. Chester A. Arthur | 25. Calvin Coolidge |
| 26. Chester A. Arthur | 26. Ulysses S. Grant | 26. Barack Obama |
| 27. Benjamin Harrison | 27. James Garfield | 27. Ulysses S. Grant |
| 28. Gerald Ford | 28. Gerald Ford | 28. James Carter |
| 29. Herbert Hoover | 29. Calvin Coolidge | 29. Rutherford B. Hayes |
| 30. James Carter | 30. Richard Nixon | 30. Chester A. Arthur |
| 31. Zachary Taylor | 31. Rutherford B. Hayes | 31. Gerald Ford |
| 32. Ulysses S. Grant | 32. James Carter | 32. James Garfield |
| 33. Richard Nixon | 33. Zachary Taylor | 33. Herbert Hoover |
| 34. John Tyler | 34. Benjamin Harrison | 34. Benjamin Harrison |
| 35. Millard Fillmore | 35. William H. Harrison | 35. William H. Harrison |
| 36. Andrew Johnson | 36. Herbert Hoover | 36. George W. Bush |
| 37. Franklin Pierce | 37. John Tyler | 37. John Tyler |
| 37. Warren Harding | 38. Millard Fillmore | 38. Richard Nixon |
| 39. James Buchanan | 39. George W. Bush | 39. James Buchanan |
| 40. Franklin Pierce | 40. Millard Fillmore | |
| 41. Warren G. Harding | 41. Andrew Johnson | |
| 42. James Buchanan | 42. Franklin Pierce | |
| 43. Andrew Johnson | 43. Warren G. Harding |
(Asterisk denotes died in office)
| Ford | 93 |
| Reagan | 93 |
| J. Adams | 90 |
| Hoover | 90 |
| Truman | 88 |
| Madison | 85 |
| Jefferson | 83 |
| Nixon | 81 |
| J. Q. Adams | 80 |
| Van Buren | 79 |
| Eisenhower | 78 |
| Jackson | 78 |
| Buchanan | 77 |
| Fillmore | 74 |
| Monroe | 73 |
| Taft | 72 |
| Tyler | 71 |
| Cleveland | 71 |
| Hayes | 70 |
| W. H. Harrison | 68 * |
| Washington | 67 |
| B. Harrison | 67 |
| Wilson | 67 |
| A. Johnson | 66 |
| Taylor | 65 * |
| Pierce | 64 |
| L. B. Johnson | 64 |
| Grant | 63 |
| F. D. Roosevelt | 63 * |
| Coolidge | 60 |
| T. Roosevelt | 60 |
| McKinley | 58 * |
| Harding | 57 * |
| Arthur | 57 |
| Lincoln | 56 * |
| Polk | 53 |
| Garfield | 49 * |
| Kennedy | 46 * |
Virginia
Washington
Jefferson
Madison
Monroe
W. H. Harrison
Tyler
Taylor
Wilson
Ohio
Grant
Hayes
Garfield
B. Harrison
McKinley
Taft
Harding
Massachusetts
J. Adams
J. Q. Adams
Kennedy
G. H. W. Bush
New York
Van Buren
Fillmore
T. Roosevelt
F. Roosevelt
North Carolina
Polk
A. Johnson
Texas
Eisenhower
L. Johnson
Vermont
Arthur
Coolidge
Arkansas
Clinton
California
Nixon
Connecticut
G. W. Bush
Georgia
Carter
Hawaii
Obama
Illinois
Reagan
Iowa
Hoover
Kentucky
Lincoln
Missouri
Truman
Nebraska
Ford
New Hampshire
Pierce
New Jersey
Cleveland
Pennsylvania
Buchanan
South Carolina
Jackson
Like most Americans, few presidents enjoyed pristine health. Undoubtedly the fittest among them were Millard Fillmore, Gerald Ford, and George W. Bush. Listed here are the major illnesses that beset the presidents in their lifetimes. Names with an asterisk indicate that the ailment was the leading cause of death.
Addison’s Disease
Kennedy
Alzheimer’s Disease
Reagan*
Arthritis
Madison
Eisenhower
Reagan
George H. W. Bush
Bright’s Disease
Arthur*
Cancer
Grant*
Cleveland
Hoover
Eisenhower
Reagan
Cholera
Polk*
Taylor*
Coronary Embolism
T. Roosevelt*
Depression
Washington
J. Adams
Jefferson
Jackson
Pierce
Lincoln
B. Harrison
Coolidge
Nixon
Dysentery
Washington
Jefferson*
Jackson
Taylor
Buchanan
Enlarged Prostate
Jefferson
Taft
Reagan
Gout
Van Buren
Cleveland
Taft
Gunshot Wound
Monroe
Jackson
Lincoln*
Garfield*
McKinley*
T. Roosevelt
Kennedy*
Reagan
Headaches/Migraines
Jefferson
Taft
Wilson
Truman
Heart Disease/Failure
J. Adams*
Madison*
Van Buren*
Garfield
Arthur
Hayes*
Taft*
Wilson
Harding*
Coolidge*
F. Roosevelt
Truman*
Eisenhower*
L. Johnson*
Ford*
George H. W. Bush
Clinton
Hemorrhaging
Hoover*
F. Roosevelt*
Malaria
Washington
Monroe
Taylor
Lincoln
Pneumonia
Washington*
W. H. Harrison*
B. Harrison*
Harding
Ford
Reagan
Polio
F. Roosevelt
Respiratory Infection
J. Adams
Monroe*
