Rating The Presidents

by William J. Ridings

Authors Ridings and McIver polled more than seven hundred historians and academics to determine who were the best, the worst, and even the most mediocre presidents. Each survey participant was asked to rate every president from highest to lowest in five separate categories: Leadership Qualities - Franklin Roosevelt rates highest; Harding lowest. Accomplishments and Crisis Management - Lincoln rates highest; Buchanan lowest. Political Skill - Franklin Roosevelt rates highest; Andrew Johnson lowest. Appointments - George Washington rates highest; Harding lowest. Character and Integrity - Lincoln rates highest; Nixon lowest. Between these peaks and valleys of presidential achievement lie forty-one fascinating portraits of power won and power squandered, of fateful events, decisive action or executive dithering. Students, professors and armchair historians of every stripe will love Rating the Presidents. Was Franklin Roosevelt a greater president than George Washington? Could any of the pr