Rating the Presidents
- Feb 19, 2007 - 1
It is only appropriate this week—as we mark the birthdays of two of our most beloved presidents—that we ask the question: Who’s number one in U.S. citizens’ hearts?
Abraham Lincoln earns the title of greatest U.S. President, according to a February 2007 Gallup Poll.
Yet support for Lincoln is not overwhelming, with only 18 percent of respondents favoring the Great Emancipator. Ronald Reagan, who has consistently scored in the top three of adored chief executives in Gallup polling, was favored by 16 percent, John Kennedy by 14 percent, Bill Clinton, 13 percent, and Franklin Roosevelt, 9 percent. Not surprisingly, the survey reflects a predilection by Americans toward modern-day presidents.
George Washington was tapped by seven percent of those polled. Following those results were the six percent who had no opinion.
When the political leanings of the respondents are taken into account, the numbers change. Clinton (25%) is top-rated among Democrats; below him in order are Kennedy, Lincoln and Franklin Roosevelt. Reagan is tops with Republicans with 32 percent. Lincoln, Kennedy, Washington and George W. Bush follow the Great Communicator.
A September 2005 Wall Street Journal survey of “prominent professors of history, law, political science and economics” suggested that Presidents Washington, Lincoln and Franklin Roosevelt were “great” presidents. Reagan joined Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt and Harry Truman among a group of “near great” presidents.
The scholars’ rankings tagged President George W. Bush (#19 on the list), Clinton (#22) and Jimmy Carter (#34) as “average.”
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1 comments (post your own) feed
1 On Feb 24th, 2007, at 5:13pm, bill darbyshire wrote:
I see a couple of articles discussing the response to Rev. Latham being charged with “offering to engage in an act of lewdness”. One statement talked about the anti-Christians who use incidents like this to show their hate for Christians.
May be some of them out there.
But there’s another side of this story: there are plenty of us who don’t hate Christians, but are repeatedly stunned by the obvious hypocrisy involved whenever we see stories like this: some of the most fervent anti-gay (and gay-hating) people taking part in “gay” activities....
It’s also hypocrisy when we talk of curing or helping the “offenders” to “recover from gayness”, when we know deep, deep in our hearts that homosexuality is not a choice. Who would “choose” to be a homosexual when their very lives would be threatened just by disclosing that fact to the public?
Let’s take care of our own glass house first, before we throw the stones…