Presidents: Best To Worst

(CBS)  The following is a weekly 60 Minutes commentary by CBS News correspondent Andy Rooney.

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The cable network C-Span put out a list of all our presidents in the order that they think was best to worst.

This is their list.

The ten best, according to them were: Abe Lincoln, first. I wonder if anyone ever called him just "Abe" when he was president? George Washington was second.

Franklin Delano Roosevelt is listed as our third best president but I'm old enough to remember how many people hated really FDR when he was alive.

Teddy Roosevelt was fourth, Harry Truman fifth. Now that's another surprise to me. A lot of people didn't like Harry Truman, and didn't think he was much good. Of course he got elected so someone must have liked him.

I certainly couldn't name our worst presidents. I don't know enough about some of them to have an opinion.

The editors who did this survey talked to about 65 historians who ranked the presidents.

George W. Bush, our last president, was listed as 36th out of 42. Not too good. His father George was number 18. I wonder how they both feel about that? You wouldn't want to be ahead of your son but you wouldn't want to be behind him either. They both probably said it doesn't mean anything. It does mean something though.

James Buchanan was listed as our worst president - 42nd. He was our only bachelor president too. I guess no woman wanted to be first lady bad enough to marry him.

People are generally unfair to any president during his time in office or anywhere near it. They either like the president or they hate him and nothing he does or doesn't do, makes much difference to what they think.

I was a growing up when Herbert Hoover, number 34 on the list, was in office and my father hated Hoover because of the Depression. I don't know whether the Depression was Hoover's fault or not. It probably wasn't but it occurred while he was in office so he took the rap. That happens to presidents.

I watched everything both Bushes did when they were president and a lot of my friends thought they were the worst we ever had. I never really liked the George Bushes but I never hated them either.

I've always been a little critical of our democracy because of some of the presidents we've had. Democracy is a great idea but I've always thought we have a great president hidden somewhere in the United States and we've just never found him or her.





Written by Andy Rooney

[maryhannah40307]

Ronald Reagan was most definitely the worst president in modern time. He had alzheimers which was illegally kept a secret, leaving the evil nancy reagan to run the country. Ever wonder why he never answered questions during his 2nd term? People think the wall fell because he said " take down this wall" sorry to burst your bubble but thats not what happened. Ronald Reagan got us into dept over 3 trillion dollars.
Dont blame the curent problems on our hard working, knows what hes talking about president Barack Obama. We all know that it was president George W. Bush that got us into it. Also even though Clinton liked women people seem to miss the fact that he had completely got us out of debt and even saved money for us by the time he left office which bush went and spent and got us into debt 13 trillion dollars.
Go Obama!!!

[maryhannah40307]

"reagan" also illegally gave guns to another country so that he could be re-elected. keeping our people hostage there on purpose.

GO OBAMA!!!

[conservativedemocrat65]

Also. He went to Yale and Harvard. There is no proof that there weren't WMD in Iraq before we searched for them (there is proof that Sadaam Used them though) and congress kept backing him up. The president has to go to congress every three months to keep soldiers in a foreign country. So starting in 2003. 5 years = 60 months. Which means that he went to congress 20 times to keep soldiers in the Middle East.

[conservativedemocrat65]

Honestly... Bush did the best he could. Less than a year as president, the worst attack on American Soil occured. If anyone wants to deal with that. Be my guest.

[annaamed]

Bush is not only the worst President ever, but is also a war criminal. He got a Trillion $$ surplus and trapped us in an unneeded war and killed more people than Saddam Hussein. He has made that he world more unsafe. Mark my words, the news will tell us that he has made IRAN a super power in region and may create bigger problems, and maybe a dreaded third world war.
His personal war (Iraq War) has a price tag of over three Trillion $$$$. Did anybody pay attention when he was asking that money from Congress for WAR and WAR? He was more worried about breaking and building IRAQ, and look what happening here at home. His buddy Dicki (Dick Cheney) was busy giving a contract to Halliburton and making Millions.
The war master mind Rumsy Field (Defense Secretary Rumsfeld) made tons from defense contracts. Remember, the billions of hard earned $$$ was paid in cash and is not trackable. But we didn't pay attention at that time to him, only to our great paychecks.
He is still sucking taxpayer money when Americans are losing their houses and jobs. He should pay back every penny he has taken from Great American people. Let him have a job in restaurant or Gas station. Why doesn't he give all of his eight years salary plus benefits, which will be in Millions or Billions of $$$ back to American people??
He is a clone of his lost brother of Herbert Clark Hoover or Richard Nixon. I wish the Republicans (the hypocrites) never rule this Great country again.
He is a loser; his mission to break America is almost accomplished, unless Obama acts like the Great President Franklin Delano Roosevelt to save this country again.
What a shame!!!!!!
And now we have these new Jokers known as Bobby Jindal (the governor of poorest begging state) & Rush Limbaugh (radio show host, a felon of drug user). Enough with this Jindal hypocrite, Where was he when his buddies BUSH, Dick and Rumsy were planning wars? Looting money from hard working Americans and lying for all the WMD crap.
Mc Cain another joker, voted for first stimulus $ 700 Billion and now he is calling it generational theft. Has BUSH and republican has not done enough damage to America? And now Obama is following same policies and keeping the same losers in his administration, what a joke!!
These jokers (specially so called conservative republican) have fun time in congress and Senate, have not done anything good and now dragging this great country into HELL !!
We the honest hard working Americans need real answer, no more these Jokers ripping us off. If they have some shame and honest values, they need to resign or not run again. Shame on you!
Nobody has ever won Afghanistan (read history) and will never be able to win. But we will have more $$ Billions pump in like Bush and have more soldiers dead or broken legs and arms.
Mark my words, that weather we will have a revolution in this country or we will definitely see Third World WAR very soon.
Answer me, because I have a right, and I am honest TAX Payer, whose money you guys are giving to your buddies in CITI Bank, AIG and others.
GOD save us from these hypocrite jokers, GOD Bless America

[cjijr72]

Bingo you said it all right on the mark

[jennifer-marie]

just a comment about economics and political policy:

it takes 6 - 8 years for the economy to fully catch up to the policies put into place in Washington by the President and Congress ... that being said, the President alone has absolutely NO authority over economic policy - and whatever the President does try to enact, Congress can shut down in a heartbeat.

The President's signature is not the end-all and be-all in Washington - that's why there are three branches of government. (It's called separation of power, we learned about it in elementary school.)

So for people to be blaming George W. Bush for our current economic state obviously are not as informed as they believe they are.

There are at least two Presidential eras to point the finger to, as well as the rules and regulations put into place by Congress over the last 8 years that all share the blame for our current predicament.

And the worst thing that could happen to our economy is currently happening now - the government stepping and taking over and saying, "I know how to fix it, step aside."

This country has ALWAYS pulled through when the people were left to live their lives, make their money, spend their money, and sleep well knowing that they had enough to pay the bills the next day.

And those who don't fit that description need to learn a little something about personal responsibility and living within their means.

[ozus]

johndevinejr,

Have you even bothered to look at the list? Do you have more than a cursory knowledge of US history?

From your contribution, I must assume you are ignorant or bigoted. I think those rated below GWB deserve to be there.

[johndevinejr]

George W Bush was the worst President we ever had.

Stupid, arrogant, dishonest, reckless and incompetent.

[ozus]

Nice rant, sjc_1,

Unfortunately most of what you had to say was based on prejudice, rather than fact. Clinton didn't do much about Al Qaeda except for the occasional bombing. World-wide intelligence at the time pointed to WMD - even Saddam's generals believed they existed. There are a number of reasons why the national debt increased, including the pork placed in money bills by the Democrats.

[sjc_1]

G.W. Bush helped cause this mess ,because he ignored Al Qaeda, lied about WMD and helped his rich friends get richer at the expense of the American people.

Doubling the national debt by giving tax breaks to the rich and committing an illegal war based on lies is why he is the worst president in the history of the U.S. It is like he said "I don't have to explain myself for ANYONE!"...I guess that includes the American people that he worked for.

[ausus-2009]

beentheir1,

I wasn't attacking what you said, I was just pointing out that you had a valid message, despite the spelling.

I was just getting in before the lefties tried to package your argument, implying you were dumb. You obviously have a good knowledge of history.

I, too, am a proud American who has traveled, worked and lived extensively overseas.