As a student of American history — particularly political history — it’s fascinating to see how people saw things at different times.
The chart above appeared in the November 1st, 1948, edition of Life magazine, just before the 1948 presidential election. It didn’t include Harry Truman, who was president at the time, or the two men who died in office before serving even one year, William Henry Harrison and James Garfield.
That left 29 men to be evaluated, and it’s fascinating to see the difference in the way they saw some of them then and the way we see them nearly 80 years later.
The first three haven’t changed, at least as far as being the top three in one order or another. Most historians also rank No. 5, Thomas Jefferson among the greats, primarily for the Louisiana Purchase.
But the other two listed as great — Woodrow Wilson and Andrew Jackson — rank much lower now, largely for the same reason. Both men were fairly vicious racists, Wilson against African-Americans and Jackson against Native Americans. In fact, until Donald Trump delayed or cancelled it, Jackson was to be removed from the $20 bill.
As for the four men in the Near Great category, Theodore Roosevelt would probably move up to Great, and the other three down to average. I’m not sure why Cleveland and John Adams were considered near great, and I suppose Polk’s rating was a manifest destiny thing.
The only ones in the Average category who stand out like the proverbial sore thumbs are Andrew Johnson and Herbert Hoover. Johnson is almost universally regarded as a terrible president and nearly all of Hoover’s term came after the Crash in 1929.
The only anomaly in the Below Average category is James Buchanan, who many modern historians ranks as the worst president of all, at least pre-Trump. As for the two listed as Failures, Ulysses Grant probably would move up at least to Below Average.
At least two presidents after this survey — Truman and Dwight Eisenhower — would probably rank in the Near Great category now, although neither would have seemed such when they left office. History has been kind to both men.
As for the 12 men who have been president since 1961, at least two would rank near the bottom. I won’t say who they are because which side of the aisle you’re on might give you different opinions. None would break into the top seven, although several would deserve at least consideration for the top 10.
In the end, it’s fascinating to see the added perspective time gives us on history.
I’m not sure it will change the way we see Trump, though.