Rating The Presidents

We seem inclined to rate and rank everything these days (just look at my 'top 5' lists on this blog), so Presidents are an obvious target.  (Hmm, if I say 'Presidents' and 'target' in the same sentence, will I get a visit from the FBI?  If I say 'Presidents', 'target', and 'FBI' will I?  Oh well, I hope they send Olivia Dunham and not Clarisse Starling ...)

What was I writing about?  Oh yes, rating the Presidents.

The Associated Press weighed in (via Yahoo News), letting us know that Abraham Lincoln took top spot on the 200th anniversary of his birth.   Looking at the overall history of presidential rankings, Lincoln has pretty much had a lock on that spot, with brief nods here and there to Fanklin D. Roosevelt and George Washington.

Fair enough I say. 

And fair enough that George W. Bush is in hot contention for Worst President honors.  It will take some time and a few polls to see if he can compete with the likes of Harding, Fillmore, Pierce, and Buchanan for the staying power of their historical incompetence.  I'd say he has a shot. 

And what of our new President?  Barack H. Obama has an opportunity, like Franklin D. Roosevelt, to be viewed as great by steering us through a difficult economic time, a time that FDR would find all too similar to his own.  With luck and diplomacy he won't have to deal with a really big war too, although George Bush has done his best to give him one.

Whether Obama will ultimately be ranked amongst the greats, or languish mid-pack (or worse), will partly depend on the outcome of some events beyond his control, but that's been true for all Presidents - of high or low regard.  If the Confederacy had won the Civil War, Lincoln would almost certainly be ranked (if a USA still existed) near the bottom rather than the top.  If the hostage rescue attempt had succeeded and not failed in the Iranian desert, Jimmy Carter might be further up the ratings ladder.  If Nixon's aides had said 'Nah, not worth it, don't bother' when contemplating the Watergate break-in, Tricky Dick would be (slightly) higher in the ratings.  If electoral justice had been served, George W. Bush wouldn't be ranked at all...

Aside from luck and a few breaks coming his way, Barack Obama will need years of steady decision making and the right actions of hundreds, maybe thousands, of dedicated and crafty bureaucrats, to achieve the kind of success history will consider greatness. 

Will he be like Bill Clinton, inspiring and intelligent, but too hampered by politics and personality to achieve much?  Or will he avoid the pitfalls of power, stake out a legacy like FDR, and be a hit in the future presidential ratings?

I am sure the raters will let us know.  In the meantime, I am waiting, Olivia ...