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From: speter@mit-trillian.MIT.EDU (Peter Osgood)
Newsgroups: net.politics,net.misc,net.rumor
Subject: Re: The Presidents   how I feel they rate in history
Message-ID: <513@mit-trillian.MIT.EDU>
Date: Thu, 15-May-86 10:22:25 EDT
Article-I.D.: mit-tril.513
Posted: Thu May 15 10:22:25 1986
Date-Received: Sat, 17-May-86 03:15:50 EDT
References: <133@petrus.UUCP>
Reply-To: speter@trillian.UUCP (Peter Osgood)
Distribution: net
Organization: MIT Project Athena
Lines: 158
Xref: watmath net.politics:15968 net.misc:9616 net.rumor:2364

In article <133@petrus.UUCP> jfs@petrus.UUCP (Jack Stanley) writes:

>I will rate each president with a 1 to 10.      And I thing it would be 
>
>great ( That should be I THINK) to have opposing views on my thoughts.

Gee!  I'm so glad you asked.

JACK STANLEY'S OPINION		PETER OSGOOD'S OPINION

>George Washington    10	only a 7, he was an elitist
				and allowed almost total elimination
				of the armed forces
>
>John Adams           9		5; a more effective political leader
				than GW but less receptive to interal
				needs and affairs;
>
>Thomas Jefferson     8		9;  I would have given him a 10
				but for his belief that only the
				"Wise, welborn and worthy" should 
				govern. (that is a direct quote)
>
>James Madison        6		6
>
>James Monroe         7		8; best president on foreign affairs
				to take office
>
>John Q Adams         8		4; very much overrated
>
>Andrew Jackson       8		8
>
>Martin Van Buren     5
>
>William H Harrison   can't even guess, but he was pretty much a creation
>                     of the Wig party, so the rating would have been low maybe?
>				--shortest term as president ever; 1 month

>John Tyler           8		5; no good reason, just don't think he's
				worth an 8
>
>James K Polk         5		5; maybe lower, expansionist, imperialist,
				little regard for those who served him
>
>Zac. Taylor          4		4; ex-generals make lousy Presidents
>
>Millard Filmore      6		4;  was a "no nothing";  when put on
				the spot he and his party would say
				"we know nothing of this"
>
>Franklin Pierce      5		2; probably the worst president ever, can't
				name a single major innovation of his office;
				he hated slavery but hated the idea of 
				of offending his party worse.

>
>James Buchanan       3		2; last of the Federalists, believed
				America is for Americans, not all those
				immigrants
>
>Abraham Lincoln      10	10; can't argue this one!
>
>Andrew Johnson       7		7; least understood president ever and
				most unfairly maligned
>
>U.S. Grant           1		1; ditto Taylor only Grant should have
				been impeached and then court marshalled!!
>
>R B Hayes            7		7
>
>James A Garfield     5 ????	4; compromise pres. over Grant, Blaine and
				Sherman.  Didn't do much while he was in
				and then was assasinated
>
>Chester A Arthur     8		7; just don't think he's quite an 8
>
>Grover Cleavland     7  1885-89  7
>
>Benj. Harrison       4		7; another poorly understood pres.;
				was intrumental in getting major legis-
				lation thru congress; 
>
>Grover Cleavland     5		5
>
>William McKinley     6		6
>
>Theodore Roosevelt   8		8
>
>William H Taft       8		8
>
>Woodrow Wilson       7		9; never really wanted to be pres.
				was dragged out of NJ by his party
				(democrat) because they felt they
				could manipulate him, they couldn't;
				one of our more intelligent presidents;
>
>Warren G Harding     1		4; aw cumon, ole Warren was that bad,
				he just liked to party a little and
				subscribed to patronage (patronage
				very common in that day; not necessarily
				bad either)
>
>Calvin Coolidge      5		5; good ole stone face, second only
				to Buster Keaton
>
>Herbert Hoover       5		7; he warned all the pol's that we
				were headed for trouble in '29 but
				no one would listen, but they sure
				knew who to blame; bad rap
>
>F D Roosevelt        9		9 maybe even a 10
>
>Harry S Truman       8		10; if Barry Goldwater, a man who opposed
				Truman while in office, says he's a 10
				I'm not going to argue
>
>D D Eisenhower(sp)   6		4;  joke(s) of the day were "wind up
				an Ike doke and watch it do nothing";
				"wind up an Ike doll and watch it
				throw out its back on the golf course";
				a well deserved reputation
>
>J F Kennedy          5		8; social reformer of the 60's;  look
				at Ronnie, he's still trying to take 
				credit for things JFK started; RR also
				tries to compare himself to JFK
>
>L B Johnson          5		6; a little power hungry but was too
				frequently submarined by his own
				democatic congress (tried to end the
				Vietnam War by saturation bombing of
				N. Vietnam, this worked in Germany
				WWII, but he was stopped short by
				congress)
>
>Richard M Nixon      6		7;  I really don't like this man but
				he was excellent when it came to making
				decisions of foreign policy, not bad
				with interal affirs either; had he not
				lied and disgraced his office he would
				probably go down as one of the best ever.
>
>Gerald Ford          5		6; restored honor to the office
>
>James E Carter       5		7; most honest pres. since Truman
				(this probably hurt him), poor choices
				for cabinet members was his undoing
>
>Ronald Regan         6		6; so far, but dropping; bad foreign
				policy; very very little regard for
				social programs; elitist; totally
				out of touch with the working class;


If George Bush is elected President in '88 I'm moving to Canada!
Although, at the rate RR is going that may be a moot point.

					---peter osgood---