Presidential scholars rate George W. Bush near the bottom of the historical barrel

July 1, 2010

Oh woe is “W.”

GeorgeGeorge Walker BushBush, the 43rd president of the United States, is in bad company. No, he hasn’t started drinking again and signed on to play with 1970s rock group Bad Company on the summer reunion tour, but presidential scholars rank him among the worst U.S. presidents in history.

In a report headlined “Rushmore Plus One; FDR joins Mountainside Figures Washington, Jefferson, Teddy Roosevelt and Lincoln as Top Presidents,” the Siena College Research Institute (SRI) released the results of the fifth-ever Survey of U.S. Presidents on July 1, 2010.

The survey rated all U.S. presidents, including Barack Obama.

“Bush43” ranked 39th overall, beating out pre-Civil War disasters Franklin Pierce (40) and James Buchanan (42), post-Civil War nightmare Andrew JohnsonAndrew Johnson (dead last at 43rd) and Warren G. Harding (41), who set the tone for 20th-century corruption scandals with Teapot Dome in the early 1920s.

Bush was edged out by Millard Fillmore (38), John Tyler (37) and Herbert HooverHerbert Hoover (36).

Bush43’s highest rankings came in the areas of Luck (18th overall) and Willing to Take Risks (19th overall). His lowest ranking (42) came in five areas: Communication Ability; Handling of the U.S. Economy; Ability to Compromise; Foreign Policy Accomplishments and Intelligence. For those interested in which president the scholars ranked last in terms of intelligence, that would be Harding.

According to the official SRI news release, “Over two hundred presidential scholars ranked the 43 U.S. Presidents on six personal attributes (background, imagination, integrity, intelligence, luck and willingness to take risks), five forms of ability (compromising, executive, leadership, communication and overall) and eight areas of accomplishment including economic, other domestic affairs, working with Congress and their party, appointing supreme court justices and members of the executive branch, avoiding mistakes and foreign policy.”

As for Obama, the nation’s 44th president, The Punditty Project is of the opinion that he is a work in progress and it would have been best to leave him out of the survey. Nonetheless, current perceptions of the past never exist in a chronological vacuum, and the collective opinion of scholars far more knowledgeable than TPP ranked Obama 15th overall. Obama received his highest markings in the areas of Communication Ability (7th overall) and Imagination (6th overall). His lowest scores came in the areas of Background (32nd overall) and Foreign Policy (22nd overall).

Frankin D. Roosevelt (1) topped the list for the fifth time. FDR has been atop the sporadically occuring survey ever since its inception in 1982.

Andrew Johnson (43) was rated the worst all-time president. Even though Obama is the 44th U.S. president, there are only 43 presidents in the survey because only 43 men have ever been president. Grover ClevelandGrover Cleveland was both the 22nd and the 24th president.

Original Sources and Bad CompanyBad Company’s Summer Tour information linked to in text.