It's well known that Lincoln, number 16, is among our greatest presidents. What hadn't occurred to me is that his administration was flanked by bad presidents. US News & World Report (Feb 26, 2007) recently showed survey results about the 10 worst presidents in US history. Here are those whose administrations were around the Lincoln era (worst rank/name/president number):
1. James Buchanan - 15
3. Andrew Johnson - 17
4. Franklin Pierce - 14
5. Millard Filmore - 13
6. John Tyler - 10
7. Ulysses S. Grant - 18
8. William Harrison - 9
10. Zachary Taylor - 12
Woah! A run from 12 through 15, then 17 and 18, too?! Had James Polk not broken the evil spell, the run would have started from number 9.
And how about that number 9? The fact that anyone included WIlliam Harrison on any list detracts from the quality of the list, in my opinion. Seriously, how can a guy who only served as president for 30 days make a list of any kind and be taken seriously (unless it's a list of shortest administrations, longest inaugural addresses, or presidents who died in office)?
Of course, these results reflect the opinons of a set of historians whom US News identified as liberal, although perhaps conservative among liberals. Other historians might well come up with another list altogether. Oh, and what tends to make historians judge a president as bad? "Inaction in the face of great historical challenges," according to US News.
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