Their ranking in terms of popularity.  I find it odd that Lyndon Johnson who so drastically escalated the war in Viet Nam is ranked right up there at  :-/#11



2009 C-Span President Survery

1. Abraham Lincoln
2. George Washington
3. Franklin D. Roosevelt
4. Theodore Roosevelt
5. Harry S. Truman
6. John F. Kennedy
7. Thomas Jefferson
8. Dwight D. Eisenhower
9. Woodrow Wilson
10. Ronald Reagan
11. Lyndon B. Johnson
12. James K. Polk
13. Andrew Jackson
14. James Monroe
15. Bill Clinton
16. William McKinley
17. John Adams
18. George H. W. Bush
19. John Quincy Adams
20. James Madison
21. Grover Cleveland
22. Gerald R. Ford
23. Ulysses S. Grant
24. William Howard Taft
25. Jimmy Carter
26. Calvin Coolidge
27. Richard M. Nixon
28. James A. Garfield
29. Zachary Taylor
30. Benjamin Harrison
31. Martin Van Buren
32. Chester A. Arthur
33. Rutherford B. Hayes
34. Herbert Hoover
35. John Tyler
36. George W. Bush
37. Millard Fillmore
38. Warren G. Harding
39. William Henry Harrison
40. Franklin D. Pierce
41. Andrew Johnson
42. James Buchanan

Gee, I wonder where our current president might fall on that list?

Right now, the most current Rasmussen survey shows BO here:


Quote:

The Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll for Monday shows that 24% of the nation's voters Strongly Approve of the way that Barack Obama is performing his role as President. Forty-one percent (41%) Strongly Disapprove giving Obama a Presidential Approval Index rating of -17.

My favorite is #4, Theodore Roosevelt. 

I can't even rank 98% of those because I didn't live under their administrations, lol.

Eisenhower, Truman, Wilson and FDR ahead of Ronald Reagan.

Who did they survey for this? Public school survivors, no doubt.

I wonder what is wrong with James Buchanan :-?
I live about 5 miles from were he was born :-[

Happy Pappy wrote on Feb 15^th, 2010 at 2:05pm:

I wonder what is wrong with James Buchanan :-? I live about 5 miles from were he was born :-[/quote] From Wikipedia [quote]Buchanan had once dared to hope that his presidency might rank in history with that of George Washington.[1] However, his handling of the crisis preceding the Civil War has led to his consistent ranking by historians as one of the worst Presidents.

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   I believe this poll was taken, by those historians who make a career out of studying History. 

      "As much as is possible, we created a poll that was non-partisan, judicious and fair-minded," said Rice University professor Douglas Brinkley, who helped organize the survey of 65 historians

Harrison lived 30 days in office yet unlasted three.

Linda_Howell wrote on Feb 15^th, 2010 at 2:40pm:

I believe this poll was taken, but those historians who make a career out of studying History.        "As much as is possible, we created a poll that was non-partisan, judicious and fair-minded," said Rice University professor Douglas Brinkley, who helped organize the survey of 65 historians

That explains it - 65 liberal arts educated college professors.

Brew wrote on Feb 15^th, 2010 at 2:44pm:

Linda_Howell wrote on Feb 15th, 2010 at 2:40pm:    I believe this poll was taken, but those historians who make a career out of studying History.        "As much as is possible, we created a poll that was non-partisan, judicious and fair-minded," said Rice University professor Douglas Brinkley, who helped organize the survey of 65 historians That explains it - 65 liberal arts educated college professors.

And your point is   ;)?  I have a liberal arts degree, Jimbo has a liberal arts degree and Sarah has a liberal arts degree.   Who else would you want to make the determnination?  Economists?

Melissa wrote on Feb 15^th, 2010 at 1:38pm:

I can't even rank 98% of those because I didn't live under their administrations, lol.

Um, Mel, does that mean you are 10 years old or under?

deltadarlin wrote on Feb 15^th, 2010 at 4:26pm:

Brew wrote on Feb 15th, 2010 at 2:44pm: Linda_Howell wrote on Feb 15th, 2010 at 2:40pm:    I believe this poll was taken, but those historians who make a career out of studying History.        "As much as is possible, we created a poll that was non-partisan, judicious and fair-minded," said Rice University professor Douglas Brinkley, who helped organize the survey of 65 historians That explains it - 65 liberal arts educated college professors. And your point is   ;)?  I have a liberal arts degree, Jimbo has a liberal arts degree and Sarah has a liberal arts degree.   Who else would you want to make the determnination?  Economists?

I have a liberal arts degree, too. None of us are college professors, however. At least not that I know of.

Have to agree with the top ten on this list. Hard for anyone not to....well Chers are a puzzlement....

What's the common thread besides party here:

Lincoln
Wilson
Franklin Roosevelt
Truman
Johnson
Nixon

Charlie

FramCire wrote on Feb 15^th, 2010 at 4:43pm:

Melissa wrote on Feb 15th, 2010 at 1:38pm: I can't even rank 98% of those because I didn't live under their administrations, lol. Um, Mel, does that mean you are 10 years old or under?

Ohforpetesake, did I get my percentage wrong??

I can only vouch for Carter, Regan, Bush 1, Clinton, Bush 2 and Obama (so far).  What percentage would that be?

FramCire wrote on Feb 15^th, 2010 at 4:43pm:

Melissa wrote on Feb 15th, 2010 at 1:38pm: I can't even rank 98% of those because I didn't live under their administrations, lol. Um, Mel, does that mean you are 10 years old or under?

She's somewhat right, she didn't live under the administration of the majority of those ranked.  You know how it is with younguns'  ;).  By my reckoning, of those on the list, she would have lived under the administrations of Gerald R Ford, Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, Bill Clinton, George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush (she would have been born during Ford's administration, 6 when Carter's admnistration ended and 14 when Reagan's administration ended).

Yeah, what Carolyn said (only I wasn't old enough to remember Ford).

Splittin' hairs here, Mel would have lived under 14% of those listed.

Who else beside historians would be qualified to make those choices, Brew?

deltadarlin wrote on Feb 15^th, 2010 at 7:02pm:

Splittin' hairs here, Mel would have lived under 14% of those listed. Who else beside historians would be qualified to make those choices, Brew?

I'm thinking that Brew's point was that the results would necessarily be skewed by the simple fact that the group being surveyed was an incredibly narrow sample, especially when you consider the statistical fact that educators tend to lean to the left.  That's isn't to say there is a better way to judge the mood of the people in the past, but perhaps there is no accurate way.  I would think even the papers (as a historical reference) would be a questionable source, as they were much more open back then about their political leanings.

Even so, I guess it's an interesting academic exercise, but sort of pointless.

Quote:

Who else beside historians would be qualified to make those choices, Brew?

I agree. I also would hope that those historians would have spent a lot of time searching and researching national archives, library of congress, etc. to qualify for their opinions.  I would suppose that a historian would make it a part of all their curriculum to do this as a part of their education and not for personal gain or some other agenda.   (O.K. I can hope here)

Mel, you crack me up sometimes.  ;D What difference does it make if you weren't alive under most of the Presidents?  Surely you studied history and civics in school?  I wasn't alive when Hitler marched into Poland or when Louis and Clark set out to find a route to the Pacific, or when gold was found in California in 1849, but I love studying & learning  about it all.

deltadarlin wrote on Feb 15^th, 2010 at 7:02pm:

Who else beside historians would be qualified to make those choices, Brew?

How about the people who have spent their entire lives financing one big mistake after another? Those who have pumped their hard-earned dollars into a federal government that has ballooned to more than 100 times its original size in just one person's lifetime? How about you and me?

I'm sick of eggheads telling Joe Lunchbox what to think.

Brew wrote on Feb 15^th, 2010 at 11:18pm:

How about you and me?

I went to public school though.

Kevin_M wrote on Feb 16^th, 2010 at 3:00am:

Brew wrote on Feb 15th, 2010 at 11:18pm: How about you and me? I went to public school though.

So did I  ;D.  The problem that I see with the *you and me* (generic), is that a lot of *you and me* don't have a clue about the history of our country.

Well me, I've LIVED under about a fouth of those guys and (ok not Washington and Lincoln - I'm not THAT old!!) and have seen FIRST HAND the dumbing down of America.

Public schools - up until about the middle of the 60s DID teach History and Civics and WE did have teachers who MADE us think for ourselves. Then the world changed and WE let it.

Before that we knew how to READ and THINK.... then we got lazy and let the government start doing our thinking for us... WE got lazy.

That's history for ya.... Go back to the 70s and STUDY the history and see where things happened. Might be an eye opener...

And what does Liberal arts have to do with it?  :-*

Quote:

especially when you consider the statistical fact that educators tend to lean to the left.

Good.

Charlie

1973.  America suspends the gold standard. The last real muscle car rolls off the line in Detroit. Oil prices begin to radically fluctuate. The economy starts to show signs of going to hell in a handcart. And the rest is history.

And there's nothing wrong with a liberal arts education, Barb, unless all the student brings to the table is a skull full of mush. Kids are not being taught how to think - and I mean really THINK - independently before they get to college. I see very little in the way of true problem solving being taught in public schools anymore.

When this happens, the most that can be hoped for is a college grad who parrots what they've been told. Worse yet is that they're convinced they're now brilliant. They're not. All they are is "educated."

Quote:

Kids are not being taught how to think

Oh yes they are....constantly...especially in schools run by dim bulbs telling us that it's the case that only right wingers are our salvation.

The dumber leading the dumb.

Charlie

Quote:

...schools run by dim bulbs telling us that it's the case that only right wingers are our salvation.

Which schools are those?

Guess what I'm trying to say is our kids today are not getting the education some we got back in the 50s and 60s. I have a sister-in-law (PHD thank you very much) who teaches at the U of MD and is VERY educated, but when it comes to getting something done, I'll put my little BA up against her PHD any day of the week. She just doesn't relate on a "normal" level.

I hired "educated" idiots and just shook my head at the things they came up with to "change" my company and tell me what I was doing wrong. I had to remind them that "I" was signing their paychecks and until further notice we were still doing things MY way. They were quoting out of some book that made no sense in the REAL world. Experience is a great teacher..... too bad some of the teachers haven't had that.... Some have never been outside a classroom...

Brew wrote on Feb 16^th, 2010 at 10:14am:

1973.  America suspends the gold standard. The last real muscle car rolls off the line in Detroit. Oil prices begin to radically fluctuate. The economy starts to show signs of going to hell in a handcart. And the rest is history then Mel was born the next year and it all went to shit.

[smiley=bag.gif]

;D ;D ;D

BarbaraD wrote on Feb 16^th, 2010 at 11:27am:

Guess what I'm trying to say is our kids today are not getting the education some we got back in the 50s and 60s. I have a sister-in-law (PHD thank you very much) who teaches at the U of MD and is VERY educated, but when it comes to getting something done, I'll put my little BA up against her PHD any day of the week. She just doesn't relate on a "normal" level.

You know what they say, right?

B.S. = Bull$hit
M.S. = More $hit
PhD = Piled higher and deeper

What's wrong with liberals arts professors? My Dad and Step- Mom are liberal arts professors. He also hunts and shoots too. Probably on the watch list- doesn't matter for which administration either- can't stand any of em. Did I mention he's practically a hermit? Alright there's a lot wrong with him- never mind.

Never said there was anything wrong with all of them. Just most of them.

I think he'd probably agree!

Quote:

Which schools are those?

The best examples are the puritanical colleges run by tv evangelicals that are mostly political rather than religious. They turn out students that learn of liberals as only agents of satin. Liberal thinking is allowed to exist only as such. As witnessed in current GOP politics: If you stray the least bit away from the far right: Out you go! You're either with us or you're the enemy. Nuance does not exist.

These are incredibly boring people too.

I give Catholic schools high marks though. Their academic standings are exemplary and critical thinking is somewhat tolerated.....at least my friends that have attended them have displayed this over the years.

Charlie

You sorta missed my point, Charlie. I was talking about pre-college kids and what they're taught before entering college. I'm with you 100% on the boring evangelicals.

But where do I sign up to be an agent of satin? I've mastered silk already. ;D

Quote:

But where do I sign up to be an agent of satin? I've mastered silk already.

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Geeze.....Doesn't say much for my eddicashun

Charlie

Quote:

You sorta missed my point, Charlie. I was talking about pre-college kids and what they're taught before entering college.

My guess is that things are tilting back (ward) thanks to the current upswing in anti-intellectualism. The economic travails of the 1930s brought it about as well.

Charlie