Who were the most overrated and the most underrated presidents in US history?

daveleau · Jan 18, 2005

There has been a lot of study of politics and of the presidency in the past decade or so. This has grown more since the advent of the internet, since more people have quick reference materials at their fingertips and news is more available. So, who do you think are the most overrated and the most underrated presidents? Please exclude this current president, because I do not want this to erupt into a debate over him AND the verdict is still out since he has 4 more years.

Please do not debate each other's choices. Please just simply state:
1: Most overrated: President's name: explanation
2: Most underrated: President's name: explanation

Also add your top 5 presidents if you like. (No explanations needed)

This should be an interesting thread, I hope.

God bless,
Dave

daveleau · Jan 18, 2005

1: Most overrated: Thomas Jefferson-
His high rating on most scales takes into account his actions before the presidency. He was a great contributor to our nation's independence and construction, but as a president, he did little. He fought to gain independence from piracy and had a mediocre economic record. There was nothing that he did that was overly noteworthy except for being the first openly political president. What I mean by that is that Jefferson was the first to really draw the lines between parties and try to gain advancement for his own party rather than the government as a whole. So, the partisan politics we see today, although probably inevitable, were fathered by Jefferson.

2: Most underrated: Calvin Coolidge-
Collidge is known for his laisse-faire (do nothing) politics. But, this is exactly what he should have done, since the economy and the country was running like a well-oiled machine.

Top 5 presidents:
1: Lincoln
2: Washington
3: FDR
4: Reagan
5: Truman

Cajun Huguenot · Jan 20, 2005

Over rated:
1. Abe LINCOLN: Two bit politician who was a would be Despot/tyrant. He destroyed the Federal Union which has since been replaced by a national empire.

2. Woodrow Wilson: If he would have stayed out WWI (a European war), then there very likely never would have been a WWII.

3. John Kennedy: He gets credit for the things LPJ actually accomplished

under rated
Dwight Eisenhower: Played the cold war correctly, and warned us about the military-industrial complex.

Best President:
George Washington: Light years ahead of anyone else. After the war when others in the Army would have made him king, he retired to Mount Vernon. If he had not been available to be the first President there would not have been a Constitution. After two terms he again voluntarily retired and went home.

MetalBlade · Jan 20, 2005

The most overrated in my opinion is Clinton. Honestly I do not see what the man has accomplished, but I see what he has not done.

Most underrated president in my opinion is Truman. Everybody always thinks Truman was god awful because of the "decision." Really Truman was a go getter guy, and if my knowledge is correct, the only President who did not have a college degree. That is cool!

utdbear · Jan 20, 2005

Most Overrated President: Without a doubt, JFK. He was a mediocre at best President who got his claim to fame by being assassinated. I think LBJ was much better

Most Underrated President: Probably gonna have to be Eisenhower. He should have a much stronger legacy than he does.

Top 5 Presidents:
1) FDR
2) George Washington
3) Ronald Reagan
4) George W. Bush
5) Jed Bartlet (hehe, thought I would put the West Wing reference in there

)

Roman Soldier · Jan 20, 2005

Most over-rated: Our current president, George dubbya Bush. People act like he's God.

Under-rated: Nixon.

RThibeault · Jan 21, 2005

I would have to say from more recent history.

Over-rated: John F. Kennedy and Bill Clinton, both really did more damage than good in their presidency. Really what did Clinton do for healthcare. And Kennedy did not help us at all with Vietnam. Of course the real villian was Truman who ignored Ho Chi Min when he wrote to us requesting our help in the independence of Vietnam. This caused him to turn to the Communists for help.

Under-rated: Richard Nixon and Dwight Eisenhower. Nixon was impeached but still he did get us out of Vietnam. And I really have alot of respect for Eisenhower.

MetalBlade · Jan 21, 2005

Roman Soldier said:
Most over-rated: Our current president, George dubbya Bush. People act like he's God.

Under-rated: None.

actually I don't think Bush should count. He is very overrated, I agree, but that is because he is our President now, and gets so much attention.

God huh? You live in a red state? My state went red, but my county went blue. I don't hear Bush being called God here, that is for sure!

Anyways I forgot my top five Presidents, so:
1. Regean
2. FDR
3. Truman
4. Lincoln
5. Nixon

I would put up current Bush, but I will wait for more years to see where he falls in! Right now he would be my number two though!

Roman Soldier · Jan 21, 2005

Metal,

I said act like, and I'm from a blue state, but only because of Chicago. Everyone around here thinks that Bush can do no wrong.

MadeInOz · Jan 21, 2005

Overrated:

Dubyah... JFK... Reagan...

Underrated:

Erm... I really don't know... I'm not american... Actually, I was watching Newshour the other day - which is about the only real source of american news I can get to - and they were talking about this president who decided to give an hour long+ inauguration speech, and he caught a cold, and died a few weeks later. I found it amusing, but I don't remember who it was. I was hoping Dubyah's speechwriters were feeling particularly verbose today.

Cajun Huguenot · Jan 21, 2005

indeep said:
they were talking about this president who decided to give an hour long+ inauguration speech, and he caught a cold, and died a few weeks later.

That would be President William Henry Harrison.

jayem · Jan 21, 2005

Overrated: Reagan. His heart was in the right place, and a great communicator, no doubt. But a lot of the credit for ending the cold war also belongs to Gorbachev. Reagan was there at the right time when a new generation of enlightened Russian leaders were ready for change. And no one seems to remember that his deregulatory policies directly contributed to the S & L fiasco. The biggest bank robbery in history, for which taxpayers will be paying billions of dollars for years to come. (Not to mention what deregulation has done to the airline industry--and the fact that 3 or 4 mega corporations now own the media.)

Underrated: Nixon. One of the most intelligent presidents ever. Brilliant move to begin normal relations with China. Also pushed for the amendment granting 18 year olds the right to vote. And ended the draft. Too bad he was so paranoid re. his political enemies.

And one honorable mention for underrated: Jimmy Carter. Yes, he was not the strongest leader, but a wonderfully decent and moral person. One of best examples of what a true Christian can be. Enabling the Israel-Egypt peace treaty (which has still held to this day) is one of the greatest feats of diplomacy in the 20th century. Only the 3rd US President to win the Nobel Peace Prize, and no one deserved it more.

kurabrhm · Jan 21, 2005

MetalBlade said:
The most overrated in my opinion is Clinton. Honestly I do not see what the man has accomplished, but I see what he has not done.

Most underrated president in my opinion is Truman. Everybody always thinks Truman was god awful because of the "decision." Really Truman was a go getter guy, and if my knowledge is correct, the only President who did not have a college degree. That is cool!

I can see why you suffer from confusion as regards the Clinton presidency.
Basically, my view is that Clinton became President not so much to accompolish big things, rather, his role was more in the area of consolidating the economic prosperity of the US during the 1990s so that the US could remain stable.
Of course, Bush junior came in and basically thrashed the consolidation phase that Clinton had set in motion. No real surprise there. Although, perhaps this was done rather inadvertently as a consequence of 9.11.
In my view, however, Bush has not only insulted Clinton in a big way, he has also insulted poor old Ronald Reagan. Without Reagan's help in winning the Cold War, the American economy would not, one suspects, been as stable and prosperous during the 90s. The demise of the Cold War helped Clinton to focus his efforts on domestic issues and the economy. To his credit, Clinton did a fairly good job in the domestic and economic arena. Such was his confidence with 1990s prosperity, Clinton once remarked, "its the economy, stupid".

Yamialpha · Jan 21, 2005

1. Andrew Jackson
2. FDR
3. Theodore Roosevelt

kurabrhm · Jan 21, 2005

jayem said:
Overrated: Reagan. His heart was in the right place, and a great communicator, no doubt. But a lot of the credit for ending the cold war also belongs to Gorbachev. Reagan was there at the right time when a new generation of enlightened Russian leaders were ready for change. And no one seems to remember that his deregulatory policies directly contributed to the S & L fiasco. The biggest bank robbery in history, for which taxpayers will be paying billions of dollars for years to come. (Not to mention what deregulation has done to the airline industry--and the fact that 3 or 4 mega corporations now own the media.)

Underrated: Nixon. One of the most intelligent presidents ever. Brilliant move to begin normal relations with China. Also pushed for the amendment granting 18 year olds the right to vote. And ended the draft. Too bad he was so paranoid re. his political enemies.

And one honorable mention for underrated: Jimmy Carter. Yes, he was not the strongest leader, but a wonderfully decent and moral person. One of best examples of what a true Christian can be. Enabling the Israel-Egypt peace treaty (which has still held to this day) is one of the greatest feats of diplomacy in the 20th century. Only the 3rd US President to win the Nobel Peace Prize, and no one deserved it more.

Perhaps the American media are to blame for the overated image of Reagan, "the great communicator". There's no doubt in my mind that Ronald Reagan was a simple humanistic person with a natural ability to please the public. But one suspects that the media glorified Reagan's image, in a perhaps unprecedented manner, and projected it all over the world in order to counter the so called "evil menace" that was Soviet Communism. In the end, there had to be a strong dividing line between good on the one hand and evil on the other. Reagan's image strongly epitomised all that was good about the USA. Only Reagan's simple humanistic charm could have stood up to the mighty Soviet empire and just squeak the words, "tear down this wall (reference to the Berlin wall). Anything less simple, would not have fooled the Soviets into co-operating with the Americans so as to bring an end to the Cold War.

kurabrhm · Jan 21, 2005

RThibeault said:
I would have to say from more recent history.

Over-rated: John F. Kennedy and Bill Clinton, both really did more damage than good in their presidency. Really what did Clinton do for healthcare. And Kennedy did not help us at all with Vietnam. Of course the real villian was Truman who ignored Ho Chi Min when he wrote to us requesting our help in the independence of Vietnam. This caused him to turn to the Communists for help.

Under-rated: Richard Nixon and Dwight Eisenhower. Nixon was impeached but still he did get us out of Vietnam. And I really have alot of respect for Eisenhower.

I think Kennedy was far too embroiled with the Cuban crisis. This distracted him from the American commitment in Vietnam.

Milla · Jan 22, 2005

This is going to sound kind of weird coming from me, but I think Bush senior is pretty underrated. Not the MOST underrated, but I don't think he gets nearly enough credit for his international relations skills. His reaction to the fall of the Berlin Wall was quite skillful, I thought - instead of throwing a big stupid bombastic party that would have been insulting, he was quietly friendly. And I know that he promised not to raise taxes, but let's face it, taxes needed to be raised...he basically sacrificed his political career to do the right thing for American economics. Not bad.

MatthewG215 · Jan 22, 2005

kurabrhm said:
There's no doubt in my mind that Ronald Reagan was a simple humanistic person with a natural ability to please the public.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicaragua_v._United_States

ender427 · Jan 23, 2005

Milla said:
This is going to sound kind of weird coming from me, but I think Bush senior is pretty underrated. Not the MOST underrated, but I don't think he gets nearly enough credit for his international relations skills. His reaction to the fall of the Berlin Wall was quite skillful, I thought - instead of throwing a big stupid bombastic party that would have been insulting, he was quietly friendly. And I know that he promised not to raise taxes, but let's face it, taxes needed to be raised...he basically sacrificed his political career to do the right thing for American economics. Not bad.

I tend to agree with you, I think George H.W. Bush is underrated, and I definatly agree that he ultimatly did the right thing (for America) by raising taxes. I also say Taft because he did a lot to reign in out of control bussiness practices (for which TR gets most of the credit). I would put Truman on the list, but recently, historians are looking at him in a more favorable light.

FDR is probably the most underrated President. Even though people always put him on the list of top Presidents, I don't think most people realize just how great of a President he was and just how much he influenced the course of this country in a positive direction.

Most overrated, I'd probably say Reagan. Too much credit goes to him for the fall of the Soviet Union. Its economy was in shambles (a result of the faultyness of communism), and I think Gorbechev deserves a lot of the credit for seeing the need for a change. Reagan did his part of pushing for the change, but what other accomplishments did he have to warrant being put on the same level as the George Washington and FDR when considering best Presidents??

I also say Jimmy Carter is overrated. I mean honestly people, don't let his post-Presedential actions cloud what he was as President....Pretty bad.

kurabrhm · Jan 23, 2005

MatthewG215 said:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicaragua_v._United_States

Thanks for pointing that out Matt.

But maybe a point can still be made that the media was all too keen on portraying Reagan as this simple humanistic person with all the desire to do good and had not an inch of evil in his blood.

Obviously, the Nicaraguan scandal does somewhat put the media to shame.

Who were the most overrated and the most underrated presidents in US history?

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