Ranking the Presidents: Part VI (The Final Ranking)
Okay, let's finish this thing. As you know, in five earlier journal entries (linked below) I've asked you to rank each of the Presidents on a scale from 1 to 10. At the end of this process, we'll see how you the members of
potus_geeks rank the Presidents from best to worst. To recap, here are the links to the Presidents we've rated so far:The First Eleven from George Washington to James K. Polk
Numbers Twelve through Seventeen from Zachary Taylor to Andrew Johnson
Numbers Eighteen through Twenty-Four from Ulysses Grant to William McKinley
Numbers Twenty-Five through Thirty from Theodore Roosevelt to Herbert Hoover
Numbers Thirty One through Thirty-seven from Franklin D. Roosevelt to Gerald Ford
In case you've missed any of these, please go back and cast your vote to rate each of these Presidents.
Today we finish the set: Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, George H. W. Bush, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and Barack Obama. Please rate each of these Presidents on a scale of 1 to 10, with 1 being worst president ever, 5 being on the bad side of average, 6 on the good side of average and 10 being best president ever. Try not to be swayed by any particular admiration or contempt for any recent president and try and be as objective as you can. Behind the cut is a summary of the accomplishments of these presidents followed by the poll.
As always, thank you for your kind participation in this project.
38. Jimmy Carter
*Created the federal Departments of Energy and Education
*Unable to negotiate or otherwise bring about the return of the Iran hostages
*Interest rates rise to over 21%, inflation rises to 13.5% and gas shortages occur in an energy crisis
*Orders boycott of the Moscow Olympic games
39. Ronald Reagan
*Supply-side economics (Reaganomics) result in lowering inflation and interest rates, but increasing the national debt
*Strong national defence policies lead to collapse of the Soviet Union and an end to the Cold War
*Air traffic controllers strike ends with threat to fire those who refuse to return to work
*Military force used in Lebanon and Grenada as part of the "Reagan Doctrine"
*Implicated in Iran-Contra scandal in which arms are traded for return of hostages
40. George H. W. Bush
*Leads coalition of nations that invades Iraq, stopping invasion short of toppling the Iraqi government
*Continues Reagan's defence policies, the Soviet Union breaks up during his term
*Initially promises not to raise taxes ("read my lips" promise) but later renegs and signs tax increases as part of his budget
*Signs the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA)
41. Bill Clinton
*First President to bring in surplus budgets in the modern era (from 1998-2001)
*Second President to be impeached by Congress (acquitted in the senate)
*Allowed gays and lesbians to serve in the military under the Don't Ask Don't Tell policy
*Participated with NATO in a bombing campaign in Bosia
*Unsuccessfully tried to bring in health care reform
42. George W. Bush
*Invaded Afghanistan in response to 9-1-1 attacks, institution a "War on Terror"
*Invaded Iraq resulting in the removal, arrest, trial and execution of Saddam Hussein
*Major pieces of legislation include broad tax cuts, the Patriot Act, the No Child Left Behind Act, the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act, and Medicare prescription drug benefits for seniors
*His administration was criticized for its inadequate response to Hurricane Katrina
*Presided over the longest post–World War II recession, which included a housing market correction, a subprime mortgage crisis, soaring oil prices, and a declining dollar value
43. Barack Obama
*Responded to economic recession by signing economic stimulus legislation: the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 and the Tax Relief, Unemployment Insurance Reauthorization, and Job Creation Act of 2010
*Repealed "Don't Ask, Don't Tell"
*Authorized the return of US troops from Iraq and the gradual return of troops from Afghanistan
*Passed the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, a form of health care reform which includes health-related provisions to take effect over four years
And now the poll. Please rate each of these Presidents on a scale of 1 to 10, with 1 being worst president ever, 5 being on the bad side of average, 6 on the good side of average and 10 being best president ever. Try not to be swayed by any particular admiration or contempt for any recent president and try and be as objective as you can.
Jimmy Carter
Mean: 4.42 Median: 4.5 Std. Dev 1.93
1
1(8.3%)
2
1(8.3%)
3
2(16.7%)
4
2(16.7%)
5
3(25.0%)
6
1(8.3%)
7
1(8.3%)
8
1(8.3%)
9
0(0.0%)
10
0(0.0%)
Ronald Reagan
Mean: 6.08 Median: 5.5 Std. Dev 2.87
1
0(0.0%)
2
1(8.3%)
3
3(25.0%)
4
0(0.0%)
5
2(16.7%)
6
0(0.0%)
7
2(16.7%)
8
1(8.3%)
9
0(0.0%)
10
3(25.0%)
George H. W. Bush
Mean: 5.50 Median: 5 Std. Dev 1.50
1
0(0.0%)
2
0(0.0%)
3
0(0.0%)
4
4(33.3%)
5
4(33.3%)
6
0(0.0%)
7
2(16.7%)
8
2(16.7%)
9
0(0.0%)
10
0(0.0%)
Bill Clinton
Mean: 5.58 Median: 6 Std. Dev 2.43
1
1(8.3%)
2
2(16.7%)
3
0(0.0%)
4
0(0.0%)
5
0(0.0%)
6
4(33.3%)
7
3(25.0%)
8
1(8.3%)
9
1(8.3%)
10
0(0.0%)
George W. Bush
Mean: 4.91 Median: 4 Std. Dev 2.97
1
1(9.1%)
2
3(27.3%)
3
1(9.1%)
4
0(0.0%)
5
1(9.1%)
6
1(9.1%)
7
2(18.2%)
8
0(0.0%)
9
1(9.1%)
10
1(9.1%)
Barack Obama
Mean: 6.42 Median: 7 Std. Dev 2.56
1
2(16.7%)
2
0(0.0%)
3
0(0.0%)
4
0(0.0%)
5
0(0.0%)
6
1(8.3%)
7
5(41.7%)
8
2(16.7%)
9
2(16.7%)
10
0(0.0%)
This concludes our rankings. I'll give everyone a week to vote in all the polls and next Monday (April 9th) I'll post the final rankings. Once again, thank you for taking the time to participate in this project.