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My Arbitrary Rankings of the Presidents of the United States

Posted: Mon Feb 19, 2018 3:35 pm
by Red
In the spirit of President’s Day, I have started this thread to discuss the 43 individuals who have served in the office of the United States, and to discuss which ones were the best.

Now, I personally am not for judging the presidents, as I realize that it’s a difficult and stressful job, you’ll always on average have 45% of the country disapprove of your administration, you’ll constantly have the fear of being killed, and most of the world’s population depends on you to make the right decision. Now, I’m not saying that our president’s should be exempt from criticism, as there are many valid critiques to be made of all of the people who have been in office, and criticizing them can allow them to possibly learn from their mistakes, and so future presidents and leaders can avoid the same mistakes.

Now, for my list. Overall, I’m against ranking presidents, including the reasons above, and I actually am reading 2 books that discuss the POTUS ranking game and how it’s asinine and arbitrary, but I think I’ll give myself a pass since I’m only using this to spark discussion, unlike the historians and political scientists who make their lists on arbitrary and undefined standards and act like their ranking lists are the definitive source of presidential history. Honestly, my list isn’t any more or less arbitrary than theirs.

Also, this isn't taking into account the things the presidents did out of office. If it did, Herbert Hoover would be within the top 5, and John Tyler would be within the bottom 5.

Note that this list isn’t taking the president’s personal lives into account, and isn’t judging them as people. I will not be taking Orange Man into account, as he hasn’t finished his time in office yet. And I will not rank William Harrison or James Garfield as they haven’t served long enough for me to arbitrarily rank them. Suck it Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.

Okay, so here’s the legend for the list:
Blue: Favourites
Green: Positive
Yellow: Neutral/Unsure
Orange: Negative
Red: Least Favourites

Thomas Jefferson
George Washington
Abraham Lincoln
Theodore Roosevelt
Dwight D. Eisenhower
Franklin D. Roosevelt
Barack Obama
James K. Polk
Harry S. Truman
James Madison
Woodrow Wilson
John F. Kennedy

William H. Taft
James Monroe
Bill Clinton
William McKinley
Ronald Reagan
John Q. Adams
Jimmy Carter
Gerald Ford
Ulysses S. Grant
Lyndon B. Johnson
John Adams
George H. W. Bush
Andrew Jackson

Benjamin Harrison
Rutherford B. Hayes
Richard Nixon
Martin Van Buren
Grover Cleveland
Chester A. Arthur

Calvin Coolidge
Warren G. Harding
George W. Bush
Herbert Hoover
Zachary Taylor
John Tyler

Millard Fillmore
James Buchanan
Franklin Pierce
Andrew Johnson


If you have any questions regarding these rankings, lemme know!
So, who are your favourite presidents? Least favourite?

Re: My Arbitrary Rankings of the Presidents of the United States

Posted: Tue Feb 20, 2018 5:45 am
by Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
James A. Garfield got a lot of shit done despite not serving so long.

There are many things that annoy me about this arbitrary list, but the main one is that James K. Polk is in blue when he was a lover of slavery and stole Mexican land.

Glad to see that all of my favourite Presidents are either in blue or green however. Except for Garfield - you blasphemer!! :P

Re: My Arbitrary Rankings of the Presidents of the United States

Posted: Wed Feb 21, 2018 1:00 am
by PsYcHo
My personal favorite isn't on your list.

William Henry Harrison was our greatest president, and all future/current Presidents should hold themselves to the standard he set.

His tenure was the approximate amount of time all politicians should have power.

Re: My Arbitrary Rankings of the Presidents of the United States

Posted: Wed Feb 21, 2018 3:36 am
by Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
PsYcHo wrote: Wed Feb 21, 2018 1:00 am My personal favorite isn't on your list.

William Henry Harrison was our greatest president, and all future/current Presidents should hold themselves to the standard he set.

His tenure was the approximate amount of time all politicians should have power.
Yeah but if he'd just brought a coat to his inaugural address, you wouldn't be saying that.

Takes "You'll catch your death!" to a whole other meaning.

Re: My Arbitrary Rankings of the Presidents of the United States

Posted: Wed Feb 21, 2018 10:06 am
by orcsanddragons
Andrew Jackson

Boy me personally I would put him in red more on the bottom. I remember learning about his direct involvement in the trail of tears and I just can't get over that. :evil:

Can you give me some info on the positives of his presidency? I know very little in that regard.

Re: My Arbitrary Rankings of the Presidents of the United States

Posted: Thu Feb 22, 2018 10:35 pm
by Red
orcsanddragons wrote: Wed Feb 21, 2018 10:06 am Andrew Jackson

Boy me personally I would put him in red more on the bottom. I remember learning about his direct involvement in the trail of tears and I just can't get over that. :evil:

Can you give me some info on the positives of his presidency? I know very little in that regard.
I agree that Jackson was a real dick (though a real fuckin' badass), which is why he's at the end of the positive spectrum, but he had a strong influence and had set a few key precedents, such as preservation of the union, using the veto power against bills that go against your political agenda (as opposed to using the power against unconstitutional bills), and decided that it's the president's job to serve the people, not the other way around. Also he paid off the nation's debt, but since he got rid of the Second National Bank, it caused an economic panic after his presidency.

Re: My Arbitrary Rankings of the Presidents of the United States

Posted: Sat Feb 24, 2018 8:56 pm
by Red
A new scholar survey was published.
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2018/02/19/opinion/how-does-trump-stack-up-against-the-best-and-worst-presidents.html/
Trump is already at the very bottom, while W. Bush and Obama have gone up. Kennedy also went down a few notches, and so did Clinton.

Garfield however barely escapes the bottom 10!

Re: My Arbitrary Rankings of the Presidents of the United States

Posted: Sun Feb 25, 2018 11:21 am
by Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
Red wrote: Sat Feb 24, 2018 8:56 pm A new scholar survey was published.
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2018/02/19/opinion/how-does-trump-stack-up-against-the-best-and-worst-presidents.html/
Trump is already at the very bottom, while W. Bush and Obama have gone up. Kennedy also went down a few notches, and so did Clinton.

Garfield however barely escapes the bottom 10!
Disgusting.

Re: My Arbitrary Rankings of the Presidents of the United States

Posted: Fri Apr 20, 2018 7:33 pm
by Red
I would like to amend my list, dat okay? ok
Same colors still apply

Theodore Roosevelt
Abraham Lincoln
George Washington
Thomas Jefferson
Franklin Roosevelt
James Madison
James Polk
Barack Obama
Dwight Eisenhower
James Garfield (you're welcome)
Woodrow Wilson
Harry Truman
Lyndon Johnson

Ulysses Grant
John Kennedy
John Quincy Adams
William Taft
Richard Nixon
Jimmy Carter
James Monroe
Chester Arthur
Grover Cleveland
George H. Bush
Bill Clinton
William McKinley
John Adams
Ronald Reagan
Gerald Ford
Andrew Jackson

Rutherford Hayes
Martin Van Buren
William Harrison
Benjamin Harrison
Zachary Taylor

John Tyler
George W. Bush
Herbert Hoover
Warren Harding
Millard Fillmore

Franklin Pierce
Andrew Johnson
Calvin Coolidge
James Buchanan
Orange Man

Re: My Arbitrary Rankings of the Presidents of the United States

Posted: Sat Apr 21, 2018 8:06 am
by Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
Red wrote: Fri Apr 20, 2018 7:33 pm I would like to amend my list, dat okay? ok
Same colors still apply

Theodore Roosevelt
Abraham Lincoln
George Washington
Thomas Jefferson
Franklin Roosevelt
James Madison
James Polk
Barack Obama
Dwight Eisenhower
James Garfield (you're welcome)
Woodrow Wilson
Harry Truman
Lyndon Johnson

Ulysses Grant
John Kennedy
John Quincy Adams
William Taft
Richard Nixon
Jimmy Carter
James Monroe
Chester Arthur
Grover Cleveland
George H. Bush
Bill Clinton
William McKinley
John Adams
Ronald Reagan
Gerald Ford
Andrew Jackson

Rutherford Hayes
Martin Van Buren
William Harrison
Benjamin Harrison
Zachary Taylor

John Tyler
George W. Bush
Herbert Hoover
Warren Harding
Millard Fillmore

Franklin Pierce
Andrew Johnson
Calvin Coolidge
James Buchanan
Orange Man
I'd like to amend mine also:

1.Franklin D. Roosevelt
2. Abraham Lincoln
3. James A. Garfield
4. Theodore Roosevelt
5. John F. Kennedy
6. Thomas Jefferson
7. Jimmy Carter
8. James Madison
9. George Washington
10. Ulysses S. Grant
11. Barack Obama

12. John Quincy Adams
13. Woodrow Wilson
14. James Monroe
15. John Adams

16. Rutherford B. Hayes
17. Benjamin Harrison
18. Chester A. Arthur
19. William McKinley
20. William Henry Harrison
21. Martin Van Buren
22. Zachary Taylor

23. Lyndon B. Johnson
24. Harry S. Truman
25. Dwight D. Eisenhower
26. Bill Clinton
27. Grover Cleveland
28. Gerald Ford
29. Richard M. Nixon
30. James Buchanan
31. Andrew Johnson

32. William Howard Taft
33. Herbert Hoover
34. Calvin Coolidge
35. Millard Fillmore
36. George H. W. Bush
37. George W. Bush
38. Andrew Jackson
39. Ronald Reagan
40. Orange Man
41. John Tyler
42. Warren G. Harding
43. Franklin Pierce
44. James K. Polk
/color]