February is celebrated as Presidents month in honor of the birthdays of George Washington (22nd) and Abraham Lincoln (12th). Many polls have been taken since the 1940s on who were the best Presidents in American history.  Some surveys involve random selections of American adults (mistake) or of professional historians (larger mistake).  The results are predictable though the criteria for judging greatness are rarely printed in the news articles announcing, once again, the top 10 vote- getters.

What seems consistently clear is that Washington, Lincoln, Franklin Roosevelt, Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt, and (take your pick), Kennedy, Truman, Wilson, Jackson, and Reagan are the top-rated Presidents by both popular demand and scholarly deliberation, though Reagan declines in popularity among the scholars. In 2009 the USA Today/Gallup poll taken on Presidents’ Day revealed that the new great President order among random Americans was:  Reagan, Kennedy, Lincoln, FDR, Washington! How the mighty have fallen.

Some interesting changes have taken place over the last 50 years or so. While scholars tend to rate Kennedy as average or below, he is often #1 with the man on the street polls! And you thought Camelot was a literary myth. . . Washington usually ranks about third behind Lincoln and FDR. Currently Lincoln is the “Greatest President in American History” according to most polls of this sort. Well, well, well, mind if I make some observations about presidents and polling?

A factor I have noticed since observing these polls for about 40 years, is that, with the exceptions of George Washington, Thomas Jefferson and Andrew Jackson,  the rest of the “Truly Great Presidents” are the ones who made the federal government larger and more obtrusive, promoting confiscatory taxation, and advancing a statist agenda never imagined by the founders. Poor old LBJ, with his “Great Society,” would be among the top rated if he hadn’t had that pesky old Vietnam War to contend with. I realize that three of the “Greatest” went to war-Lincoln in the War to Prevent Southern Independence, Wilson in The War to End All War, and FDR in The Good War-and “extraordinary measures had to be taken,” like suspending freedom of speech and press, parking the Constitution in an undisclosed location, and drafting millions of men to rescue the Republic. But to be fair, FDR’s failed and unconstitutional programs to remake America, began well before his war. And, in my opinion, had Lincoln lived, he would have restored all the Constitutional liberties he suspended during the conflict. I’m sure with his Whiggish political philosophy though, he would have continued expanding government power and taxation. He also established some precedents followed by Wilson and Roosevelt, income taxes, fiat money, and silencing dissent. I don’t recall an escape clause in the presidential oath to “preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution.”

People often ask me who my favorite Presidents are and my choices rarely coincide with theirs. One exception is Theodore Roosevelt. I might not have voted for him but I like him for all kinds of reasons which I won’t go into here. I do like the blank stares that accompany my mention of John Tyler and Grover Cleveland though.

Tyler was the first Vice- President to supplant an elected President who died in office. Though of the same party, Tyler was not a kept man of Henry Clay, the unelectable potentate of the Whig Party. When the Congress sent legislation to Tyler, drafted by his own party, that he deemed unconstitutional or inimical to the interests of the country, he used the veto. He became a pariah in his own party, much to the glee of the Democrats who saw victory on the horizon in the next election. A man of principle who had been groomed for greatness by his father, the Governor of Virginia, Tyler set aside no principles to govern the nation and got the political death penalty for his actions. He did not waver or care about the results for his career.

Honest Grover Cleveland often rates in the top 20 Presidents, but once again, he voted his conscience even when his party was against him. Known for his personal integrity, the Presidential office was an extension of his personal principles, even to his political harm. A large and amiable man who faced vicious personal attacks with equanimity, Cleveland became the first and only President who left office in defeat but returned four years later when the voters tired of graft and mediocrity. Grover received many votes from the opposing party faithful.

I think polls are fascinating because they often reveal what Americans have been taught in the history books or have had drummed into them by the mass media. A thoughtful article on the criteria and evolution of the polling of Presidential greatness can be found at Pfiffner, James P. (2003). “Ranking the Presidents: Continuity and Volatility.”

Bill Potter