Obama Ranks 12th Best In C-SPAN Survey Of Presidential Historians

[DonViejo]

Source: Talking Points Memo



By MATT SHUHAM Published FEBRUARY 17, 2017, 3:31 PM EDT

Former President Barack Obama was ranked 12th best among 43 former presidents in in C-SPAN’s third-ever survey of dozens of presidential historians.

The network asked 91 presidential historians to rank every former president on 10 leadership attributes. C-SPAN also performed the survey in 2000 and 2009.

Obama ranked favorably compared to his immediate predecessors: George W. Bush ranked at No. 33 (up from 36 in 2009), George H.W. Bush was No. 20 (down from 18), and Bill Clinton held steady at No. 15. Ronald Reagan was judged the ninth best president of all time, up from No. 10 in 2009.

In a press release accompanying the results, historian Richard Norton Smith, an academic adviser for the project, noted that five of the top 10 judged presidents in the American pantheon served between 1933 and 1969.

Read more: http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/obama-twelfth-best-president-cspan

[pnwmom]

1. I don't think they're giving him enough credit for getting us out of the 2008 crash. nt

[LisaM]

2. Yeah, it's too early.

And after the full effects of the Reagan disaster are appreciated, maybe he'll move down to one of the bottom spots.

[George II]

3. Will trump be 46th?

[Renew Deal]

8. The guy he has a painting of in his office is second from the bottom

I think he'll beat him... to the bottom

[StevieM]

11. Actually, it is Andrew Jackson he has a painting of, not Andrew Johnson.

Jackson got terrible ratings for "pursued equal justice for all." I expect Trump to get similarly low ratings in that category, along with many others.

[jmowreader]

12. Fiftieth

"President to be elected at a later date" will be 45th through 49th.

[StevieM]

4. He got low marks for his relations with Congress but he had good relations when it mattered.

He got the votes for the Stimulus and for the ACA.

He needed Republican votes for the Stimulus and he couldn't lose a single Senate Democrat for Obamacare.

[busterbrown]

5. I dont understand what they wanted him to do?

Especially because of the way they detested the man... Unprecedented in my life time..

If he caused them any pain.. I say...”I’m Glad what he done to him” Some Mob movie I think.

[nikibatts]

6. Sorry, but i think Obama belongs in the top 5. "Relationship to Congress" is more their

fault than his. Anytime you come right out at the beginning of a President's term and say you are going to obstruct everything he wants to do...that adds 10 points to your score to me.

[cstanleytech]

13. There is no "more" as its "entirely" their fault.

[Renew Deal]

7. Obama should be a little higher

Reagan is overrated. Eisenhower seems a little too high. He makes more sense at 10 than 5

[StevieM]

9. Reagan is insanely overrated. I actually think JFK is not overrated like people sometimes say.

He got us through the Cuban Missile Crisis. And he put a man on the moon, an enormous event in world history.

I agree about Eisenhower. He created the interstate highway system and that was pretty big. But 10 does sound more right than 5.

[Doreen]

19. Yeah, my first thought was "how in the hell did Reagan get that high?'

[pnwmom]

21. A little? He should swap places with Reagan. n/t

[BumRushDaShow]

10. Obama should be in the top 5

The 2 slave-owners need to be out of the list altogether, and Raygun needs to be down near the bottom.

[pansypoo53219]

14. bullshit as reagan should be near the bottom.

[Squinch]

15. I'd put him at 7.

[NRaleighLiberal]

16. Time will be kind - he will rise in this poll over the coming years. bet on it.

[nevergiveup]

17. Yep! That would be a safe bet.

[jb5150]

18. Obama just left office ..

.. his place in history will improve as time goes on.

No President got so much accomplished with the mess he was given with as little help from congress; and not just little help, outright racist hostility.

[Little Tich]

20. If I owned or employed slaves today I would be considered an immoral person.

Just because at some point in time it was lawful to own, degrade and dehumanize people, doesn't make it morally right. I think the slave owning Presidents should be ranked lower on the list. Sure, in the old days, "everyone" probably owned slaves or beat up their wives, but being at the wrong end of the stick hurt just as much then as it does today.