According to the latest presidential survey, in modern America, Obama and Reagan are at the top of the list, and Trump is almost at the bottom
The top left starts with Lincoln, Washington, Obama, Trump, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Reagan, Bill Clinton, and Truman
According to a survey by Cable TV C-SPAN, the top 5 presidents were Alabham Lincoln, George Washington, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Theodore Roosevelt, and Eisenhower. The bottom five are William Henry Harrison, Donald Trump, Franklin Pierce, Andrew Johnson and James Buchanan.
One thing the higher-ranked presidents have in common is that most of them are in office in times of national crisis. Lincoln's presidency during the American Civil War avoided national division. Washington, the first president of the United States, did not become a king after taking office, but helped to pamper the budding democracy, Franklin Roosevelt took office during World War II, and Eisenhower ended the Korean War.
Cassandra Newby-Alexander, dean of Norfolk State University's Liberal Arts College and professor of history, participated in the survey, saying, "All of these presidents have taken office at key moments in American history, from eighth-ranked John F. Kennedy to number one Alaborhan Lincoln, all of whom have forged an idealized vision of America." ”
U.S. President's Rankings
U.S. presidents are judged from a variety of perspectives, including their vision of the United States, public persuasion, crisis leadership, economic management, moral authority, ability to handle foreign affairs, management skills, relationship with Parliament, pursuit of equality, and performance in leading the country in office.
Robert Kaufman, a political scientist and professor of public policy at Pepperdine University who also participated in the survey, said it was important to distinguish between great and influential presidents.
"It seems to me that not all influential presidents can be said to be great, because greatness also depends on whether the challenges are great, and Theodore Roosevelt of the early 20th century and Bill Clinton of the late 20th century were very influential, but they did not face the challenges that could make them great," he said. ”
James Buchanan, who is at the bottom of the list, is often ranked as the worst president in U.S. history. His refusal to support the slaves and his repeated side with the slave owners was considered the trigger for the division of the United States on the eve of the Civil War.
James Buchanan, 15th President of the United States (1857-1861)
Both Kaufman (who calls himself a Republican) and Newby consider Truman (ranked No. 6) to be the most underrated president. They all underscored Truman's efforts on civil rights, and Kaufman praised the 33rd president for "laying the groundwork for winning the Cold War."
Overall, Newby said, the findings reflect a traditional view.
"If you look at the average age of historians, they are all older, mostly white males, which leads many of them to have a traditionalist view," Newby said. She noted that despite the racist views and behaviors of Theodore Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson, they remained highly ranked, at 4th and 13th, respectively.
"Under their leadership, the United States has the largest and most concentrated lynching in history with impunity. Wilson strictly segregated the federal government, which had never been seen before; Wilson isolated the Navy, which had never happened before. He initiated many policies that set the United States back at a critical time in American history. ”
(Lynching refers to the lynching of a group of people to another person.) Such lynchings are often very cruel, even to the point of outrageous, including hanging, burning, etc. The phenomenon of lynching in the United States was most common in the period 1890-1920, and it was often the illegal public punishment of black people who were executed by white people for the purpose of promoting "white supremacy". Essentially, lynching is a brutal atrocity based on racism. ）
Information - In Washington, 1913, President-elect Woodrow Wilson laughed on the steps of the White House before his inauguration and President William Howard Taft
Over time and new perspectives tend to change the way people think about the president. While Newby thought Reagan's 9th place was overrated, largely because of his attitude toward apartheid (Reagan voted in favor of the Full Apartheid Act in 1986 to impose economic sanctions on South Africa), Kaufman cited a variety of reasons why the 40th president could be ranked higher.
Kaufman said, "Reagan won the Cold War during his tenure, restoring the Prosperity of the American economy under the Judeo-Christian value system, with optimism about the United States." He understood 1) what the nature of the Soviet threat was and what it took to defeat the Soviet Union. Reagan left Bill Clinton with very tough tactics. In many ways, when Reagan took over the disorganized military, he borrowed military capital in the 1980s, and all of us still live on it today. ”
Although Kaufman said these views are not popular, he believes that in future surveys, Trump, who currently ranks 41 of 44 presidents, will rank high in the future.
"I think because Trump has put long-neglected issues on the table, especially for China's sovereignty and energy independence." No matter how bad the process is, he will still gain trust as time goes by. I think that since China is now the main threat to U.S. foreign policy, Trump, although currently considered a defeated president, I expect to gain more fundamental trust. ”
Newby believes history will judge Obama (No. 10) in a more favorable light
"I should put Obama behind Lincoln because he, first of all, launched a very important health care reform for us, and despite all the flaws, it was something that the President of the United States had been trying to achieve for 100 years, and Obama did it." Second, he brought us out of an economic crisis that was actually worse than the Great Depression caused by the stock market crash of 1929. What we experienced before Obama took office was worse than before Franklin D. Roosevelt took office, who pulled us out of the crisis. I think Obama is grossly undervalued. ”
Current President Joe Biden does not appear in the rankings, and historians say it is too early to judge Him. ■
By Dora Mekouar