The American Political Science Association Presidential Greatness Poll 2024 also ranks “Under-Rated” and “Over-Rated” Presidents.
The most Under-Rated Presidents in the poll are judged to be Jimmy Carter, Ulysses S. Grant, George H. W. Bush, Dwight D. Eisenhower, and Lyndon B. Johnson.
The most Over-Rated Presidents in the poll are judged to be John F. Kennedy, Ronald Reagan, Andrew Jackson, Woodrow Wilson, and Thomas Jefferson.
The American Political Science Association 2024 Presidential Greatness Survey reveals dramatic rises in rankings for a few Presidents, from earlier APSA surveys in 2015 and 2018.
‘
The most dramatic rise is Barack Obama, up 9 in rankings to number 7 since 2015; and an equal rise up 9 of Ulysses S. Grant to number 17 over the same period.
The next most dramatic rise is up 4 in rankings for John F. Kennedy from 14 to 10; and an equal rise up 4 for Jimmy Carter from 26 to 22.
Also, up 3 in rankings is Lyndon B. Johnson from 12 to 9.
Note that all of these 5 Presidents mentioned, except for Grant, are Democrats!
The American Political Science Association Presidential Greatness project has published its findings, just in time for Presidents’ Day today.
This is the first in a number of days of discussion of the results.
The top 10 Presidents in the Survey demonstrates the rise of Democratic Presidents, who now number five of the group—with Franklin D. Roosevelt as number 2, behind Abraham Lincoln, surpassing George Washington who is now number 3; Harry Truman remaining number 6; Barack Obama amazingly rising to number 7, the highest he has been on any Presidential scholarly survey; and Lyndon B. Johnson surpassing John F. Kennedy, with Johnson number 9 and Kennedy number 10.
Additionally in the top ten is Truman successor Dwight D. Eisenhower as number 8, making five presidents in a row from FDR through LBJ part of the top ten.
Theodore Roosevelt as number 4 and Thomas Jefferson as number 5 remain consistently in their positions in the top 10.
So besides five Democrats in the top 10, there are three Republicans (Lincoln, TR, Ike), along with Federalist George Washington and Democratic-Republican Jefferson.
One could argue that every Presidential Election is significant in some shape or form, but certain elections stand out as turning points in the promotion of American democracy.
Such are the Presidential Elections of 1864 and 1964, and now moving forward, 2024!
In all three, the sustaining of American democracy was crucial, and in the first two cases, the results, after much concern, were massive landslides, hopefully setting the scene for 2024!
In 1864, Republican Abraham Lincoln was running for reelection in the midst of the American Civil War, with his opponent being General George McClellan, who was resentful of his firing for poor performance from Union Army leadership, and represented to many the Confederate hope of pulling out victory late in the Civil War.
Lincoln was so concerned that victory was unattainable, that he decided to replace Vice President Hannibal Hamlin with a Southern Loyalist Democrat Andrew Johnson, and the Republicans invited War Democrats into the party by changing their name to the National Union Party.
The end result was a landslide with Lincoln winning all but three states, winning 55 percent of the vote, and an Electoral College majority of 212-21!
A century later, President Lyndon B. Johnson, having succeeded to the Presidency after the assassination of John F. Kennedy less than a year earlier, faced the most right wing Republican contender for the Presidency in modern times, Arizona Senator Barry Goldwater, who advocated ending the New Deal of Franklin D. Roosevelt, including Social Security, and also opposed the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
Johnson went on to a landslide victory, winning 61.1 percent of the popular vote, the all time high, and 44 of 50 states and 486-52 in the Electoral College, but with five Southern states going to Goldwater, the beginning of the political realignment that has made the South solidly Republican ever since, with only a few exceptions when Democrats nominated Southerners for the Presidency, including Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton.
Johnson went on to promote the Great Society, a massive increase in government programs, way beyond the New Deal of FDR.
Now in 2024, with the Republican Party being the most extreme right wing since Goldwater, and arguably more so, Joe Biden faces a challenge not only on a personal level, but also on overcoming the menace of Donald Trump and MAGA Republicans, who have repudiated the original basis of the Republican Party’s founding, opposing slavery and its expansion, and instead promoting racism and nativism 170 years after the origins of the party in Michigan and Wisconsin in 1854!
With the new year 2024 coming tomorrow, it will mark 170 years since the Founding of the Republican Party in 1854, dedicated to opposition to the expansion of slavery, and including abolitionists in its midst, who committed themselves to the total end of slavery.
For many decades after the end of slavery, Southern Democrats promoted discrimination against African Americans, including lynchings, Jim Crow segregation, and denial of voting rights, and also a nativist attitude toward Catholic and Jewish immigration.
Sixty years ago, the Democratic Party under Lyndon B. Johnson finally liberated the party from this racism and nativism, only to have these Southern Democrats rush en masse to the Republican Party.
There was still a great deal of resistance by many Republicans, until the rise of Donald Trump, but now, the Republican Party has become an openly racist and nativist party without shame, and has also worked against women’s rights and voting rights.
The Republicans of the founding era would be shocked at how the Republican Party has repudiated its basic principles.
The Presidential and Congressional Elections of 2024 give decent Americans the opportunity to repudiate the disgraceful Republican Party, which puts Abraham Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt, Dwight D. Eisenhower, and decent Congressional Republicans who contributed to American history on a totally different level than the modern disaster the party has become!
Public Opinion Polls continue to give President Joe Biden low ratings, and it is starting to alarm Democrats who are stunned by these polls.
One remembers that public opinion polls have been wrong so often in the past, but the thought that a Fascist authoritarian, Donald Trump, who has called for the end of the Constitution, and calls the criminals who attacked the US Capitol “hostages”, and embraces dictators around the world, might defeat Biden is horrifying!
One wonders if there is any possibility of Joe Biden withdrawing from the race, as Lyndon B. Johnson did in March 1968 after announcing for another term in the Presidency.
If that were to happen, Vice President Kamala Harris, sadly not well regarded in public opinion polls, mostly due to her race and gender, would be the likely heir apparent, but the odds of her being able to carry the mantle of the Biden Presidency and win the election, seems highly unlikely.
There are Democrats who would run in the future, but it is almost too late for their entrance into the race at this point.
So American democracy hangs in the balance as the nation comes into an eventful, transformative election year around the corner!
The 118th Congress (2023-2025) is fast becoming the least productive since the 72nd Congress (1931-1933) under President Herbert Hoover at the worst times of the Great Depression.
Both the House of Representatives and US Senate are responsible for such poor performance, but clearly, if the House of Representatives is poorly organized and operated, the Senate cannot make up for it.
Both Congresses had one house Democratic, and one Republican, which also caused stalemate and gridlock.
The fact that the House of Representatives Republican majority has just voted an Impeachment inquiry against President Joe Biden, with zero evidence of such abuse of power, is a sign of how incompetent and hopeless the 118th Congress is, even with a small Democratic majority in the US Senate.
Clearly, the most productive Congresses have been when one party, in all modern times Democrats, has had a vast advantage in the number of seats in both houses of Congress.
So those most productive Congresses were, chronologically:
63rd Congress (1913-1915) under Woodrow Wilson
73rd Congress (1933-1935) under Franklin D. Roosevelt
74th Congress (1935-1937) under Franklin D. Roosevelt
89th Congress (1965-1967) under Lyndon B. Johnson
111th Congress (2009-2011) under Barack Obama
The most productive of all were the 73rd Congress under FDR, and the 89th Congress under LBJ.
President Joe Biden is 81 years of age today, and on this birthday, we wish the President all the best.
Despite his age, Joe Biden is physically fit, has a solid record of accomplishment, and is a safe, competent choice for the next four years.
The likely Republican opponent, Donald Trump, is none of the above, and is a danger to the nation and the international community, with his raving and threats to establish an authoritarian Fascist government if he ends up in the White House!
Joe Biden has accomplished more in domestic affairs than any President since Lyndon B. Johnson, and has provided strong international leadership, solidifying NATO, and backing Ukraine and Israel, two crucial situations that will affect the future of world affairs.
Biden has always been underrated, and faces strong headwinds in the upcoming Presidential Election of 2024, but he represents the survival and stability of American democracy and international stability!
Let all decent people wish Joe Biden a Happy Birthday, and support this decent, compassionate man as he faces challenges greater than any President since World War II!
There is a lot of debate and discussion about Joe Biden’s age.
One needs to examine the history of Presidents and longevity.
In the 20th and 21st centuries, the time of modern America, 40 percent of Presidents (8) have had a short life span, as witness:
Theodore Roosevelt 60
William Howard Taft 72
Woodrow Wilson 67
Warren G. Harding 57
Calvin Coolidge 60
Franklin D. Roosevelt 63
John F. Kennedy 46
Lyndon B. Johnson 64
Other Presidents, 60 percent, (12), have had very long life spans, including
Herbert Hoover 90
Harry Truman 88
Dwight D. Eisenhower 78
Richard Nixon 81
Gerald Ford 93
Jimmy Carter 99 on the coming October 1
Ronald Reagan 93
George H W Bush 94
Bill Clinton 77 and counting
George W. Bush 77 and counting
Donald Trump 77 and counting
Joe Biden 81 on the coming November 20
Then, in a classification by himself, is Barack Obama (62), and seemingly in great health and physical shape!
My conclusion: Presidents and people in general are living longer and healthier, and one cannot deduce from the problems of Senator Diane Feinstein and Senator Mitch McConnell that President Joe Biden will be unable to finish his time in office.
But if, sadly, that becomes an issue, there is absolutly nothing wrong, and a lot very positive, about the ability of Vice President Kamala Harris to take over the Presidency.
When one considers Vice Presidents who succeeded their Presidents during a term, three of them—-Theodore Roosevelt, Harry Truman, and Lyndon B. Johnson excelled—-while the other six who succeeded were far from outstanding.
But we managed to survive all of the time, and Kamala Harris is 59 years old, the general age of most Presidents upon taking office, and perfectly capable of being Chief Executive if an emergency arises!
The American South, the area of slavery and racial segregation in its past, is once again demonstrating that it is the area of denial of civil and human rights.
In the past, it was the Democratic Party that worked to deny human rights and dignity.
Now it is the Republican Party, the party that had fought for civil and human rights in the mid 19th century.
A total switch which remains startling, but now the emphasis is on denying health care to millions of poor whites and minorities, and taking away the right of women to control their own bodies and reproductive life.
The Medicaid Program enacted into law by Lyndon B. Johnson in 1966 now is being denied to help the health and safety of poor Americans, most particularly in Texas and Florida, but throughout the American South, as well as other Republican controlled states.
The section of the nation that demands that all fetuses be born, no matter what condition they are in, or how the woman became pregnant, is only too willing to deny health care, which undermines and shortens the lives of their less fortunate constituents.
This is so mind boggling, and it is as if the American South is still fighting the Civil War a century and a half later, continuing to be lacking in humanity and common decency.