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Politics : Formerly About Advanced Micro Devices -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: i-node who wrote (509290)	8/31/2009 4:17:25 PM
From: bentway	1 Recommendation Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 1578294

When TIME asked nine presidential historians to rank, from best to worst, the 17 American Presidents of the 20th century, we left some questions to their discretion: What do we expect from our leaders? Are effective Presidents also the most significant ones? What constitutes greatness? Here is our panel's consensus: 1 FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT Term: 1933-45 Chief accomplishments: Rescued country from Depression; led U.S. through its greatest foreign war Biggest blunder: Tried to "pack" the Supreme Court in 1937 Historians' comments: "Changed the landscape of American life"; "In a class by himself"; "Indisputably the century's greatest" 2 THEODORE ROOSEVELT Term: 1901-09 Chief accomplishments: Busted trusts; expanded public lands; increased U.S. influence abroad Biggest blunder: Somewhat unlawful meddling in Latin America Historians' comments: "The great prophet of affirmative government"; "The best example of an 'activist' President. Bully!" 3 WOODROW WILSON Term: 1913-21 Chief accomplishments: Created Federal Reserve System; led country through World War I and devised League of Nations Biggest blunder: Failed to secure domestic support for League Historians' comment: "A great visionary who presided over major domestic advances" 4 HARRY S TRUMAN Term: 1945-53 Chief accomplishments: Launched Marshall Plan, NATO; desegregated armed services Biggest blunder: Overreached in the Korean War Historians' comments: "Architect of the winning strategy in the cold war"; "A decent human being with homespun virtues" 5 DWIGHT D. EISENHOWER Term: 1953-61 Chief accomplishment: Quietly presided over period of peace and unprecedented prosperity Biggest blunder: Reluctance to tackle civil rights issues Historians' comments: "Articulated clearly the values shared by Americans"; "No hint of scandal either. The good old days" 6 RONALD REAGAN Term: 1981-89 Chief accomplishments: Confronted Soviet threat; gutted Great Society programs Biggest blunders: Iran-contra; national debt; "We begin bombing in five minutes..." Historians' comments: "Brought about sea change"; "Maybe ended the cold war"; "Jury still out" 7 LYNDON B. JOHNSON Term: 1963-69 Chief accomplishments: Passed Medicare, Medicaid, Civil Rights Act, Voting Rights Act Biggest blunder: Vietnam War Historians' comments: "America would have found a way to give blacks the vote without him, but don't ask me how"; "Greatest domestic legislator in history" 8 JOHN F. KENNEDY Term: 1961-63 Chief accomplishments: Inspired nation and created Peace Corps; defused Cuban missile crisis Biggest blunders: Bay of Pigs; increased involvement in Vietnam Historians' comments: "Might be first-tier if he had lived longer"; "Averted a nuclear war"; "Foreign policies were disastrous" 9 GEORGE BUSH Term: 1989-93 Chief accomplishment: Assembled international coalition in Gulf War Biggest blunders: Broke "no new taxes" pledge; made few domestic initiatives amid recession Historians' comments: "A skilled and decent administrator"; "Lacked the 'vision thing'" 10 BILL CLINTON* Term: 1993- Chief accomplishments: Signed balanced-budget deal; ended federal welfare guarantee Biggest blunders: Failed to pass health-care plan; Administration plagued by scandal Historians' comments: "Jury out here too--maybe literally!" *Only seven opinions given 11 WILLIAM HOWARD TAFT Term: 1909-13 Chief accomplishment: Signed many antitrust laws, including corporation tax Biggest blunder: Ineffectual "dollar diplomacy" interventions in China and Latin America Historians' comment: "Achieved nothing good with excellent situation left him by T.R." TIE 12 GERALD FORD Term: 1974-77 Chief accomplishment: Ended "long national nightmare" of Watergate; got U.S. out of Vietnam Biggest blunders: Mishandled Nixon pardon; resisted easing New York City financial woes Historians' comments: "Returned nation to normality"; "Essentially a do-nothing President" TIE 12 CALVIN COOLIDGE Term: 1923-29 Chief accomplishments: Slashed federal taxes and spending; scaled down German reparations Biggest blunder: Failed to anticipate economic disaster Historians' comments: "Left little historical legacy"; "Could have been greater if faced with challenges" 14 JIMMY CARTER Term: 1977-81 Chief accomplishment: Camp David accord brought temporary Middle East peace Biggest blunder: Botched attempt to rescue 52 American hostages from U.S. embassy in Iran Historians' comments: "Victim of events beyond his control"; "Should have been a preacher" 15 RICHARD NIXON Term: 1969-74 Chief accomplishments: Opened relations with China; pursued detente with Soviet Union Biggest blunder: Watergate--only President in history to resign Historians' comments: "The most difficult President to assess"; "Uniquely a failure among American Presidents" 16 WARREN HARDING Term: 1921-23 Chief accomplishment: Negotiated international armaments treaty in 1922 Biggest blunders: Teapot Dome oil-leasing scandal; other instances of Administration graft Historians' comment: "Whatever personal shortcomings, presided over a period of economic growth" 17 HERBERT HOOVER Term: 1929-33 Chief accomplishment: Introduced programs later copied in the New Deal Biggest blunders: Signed Smoot-Hawley tariff; ineffective in alleviating Great Depression Historians' comments: "Approach to Depression rigid and dogmatic"; "Victim of bad luck" THE JUDGES Stephen E. Ambrose, Alan Brinkley, Robert Dallek, David M. Kennedy, William E. Leuchtenburg, Ernest R. May, Walter A. McDougall, Herbert S. Parmet, Arthur Schlesinger Jr. Click to Print Find this article at: time.com