Gallup
Poll: America’s greatest president is…
According to the new poll, while Lincoln isn’t the top choice for greatest president among either Republicans or Democrats, he enjoys a bipartisan appeal that is unique among the highest-ranking presidents.
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Kennedy?
What a moronic joke.
progressoverpeace on February 11, 2009 at 8:27 AM
reagan!!!!!
woooo!!!
blatantblue on February 11, 2009 at 8:29 AM
So Balls and Shaft was right – Ronald Reagan really WAS America’s Greatest President!
/PCU reference off
Good Lt on February 11, 2009 at 8:31 AM
Roosevelt? Really?
BadgerHawk on February 11, 2009 at 8:31 AM
Kennedy?? wtf did he do in 3 years, other than stumble from one mistake to the next?
Kennedy is the first celebrity President. Can’t Americans tell the difference anymore between a celebrity and a statesman?
james23 on February 11, 2009 at 8:32 AM
Wait until the Hollywood dopes weigh in. Obama will magically become our greatest president.
Physics Geek on February 11, 2009 at 8:32 AM
That’s what they’ve been taught from day one in elementary and high school – FDR and JFK = GOOD – everyone else? A footnote in history.
Good Lt on February 11, 2009 at 8:33 AM
I’m sure we’ll be seeing plenty of “Reagan Voted Greatest President” headlines today.
JammieWearingFool on February 11, 2009 at 8:33 AM
Kennedy and FDR. Shows you the power of good PR.
MarkTheGreat on February 11, 2009 at 8:33 AM
No
jmarcure on February 11, 2009 at 8:34 AM
I just don’t get Kennedy. He was in office maybe 2 years and his only accomplishment was to betray the citizens of Cuba that he made a promise to.
He is probably the person most responsible for the Cuban take over by Castro. And he’s a hero???
stenwin77 on February 11, 2009 at 8:35 AM
Aside from banging Marilyn Monroe – which you have to admire – what exactly did Kennedy do again?
angryed on February 11, 2009 at 8:37 AM
They can’t. It was a rigged survey because it only had a choice between 5 of them. I’d bet that if they could have chosen from any president that BO would be number one, Carter number two and most likly JFK number three. Living in MA I know and deal with a great many democrats and liberals and I have yet to find any that don’t think Carter was one of the best if not the best president of all time.
jmarcure on February 11, 2009 at 8:40 AM
you have to love gallup even when the numbers show that reagan is viewed as the greatest president they pull some crap out of their butts to say Lincoln was. The poll says Reagan period. And the present GOp better remember that. It does not say Bush nor Bush 1. The Americian people do not want a moderate Bush policy form their REP President.
unseen on February 11, 2009 at 8:40 AM
Good to see Reagan at the top. God, how we miss him.
petefrt on February 11, 2009 at 8:41 AM
Well that depends if she was worth it. I’ve know a few woman that were great looking but less fun then an orgy with Thumbelina and her four sisters.
jmarcure on February 11, 2009 at 8:43 AM
Reagan is the man. I miss the Gipper. One of the grestest. And people in our own party want to forget about him, that the era is over. Bunch of fools.
jencab on February 11, 2009 at 8:45 AM
Whoever is watching the comments, THANK YOU!!!!!
Cindy Munford on February 11, 2009 at 8:46 AM
HA! Second greatest College movie after Animal House.
Well I guess I would be in the minority here, but I believe GW is one, Lincoln is two and Reagan is three.
But I also believe with the rest of HA readers that Kennedy should not be number two.
Lance Murdock on February 11, 2009 at 8:46 AM
Kennedy didn’t even have a full term and he brought us closest to nuclear war than any other although Democrats will tell you Reagan did when he pointed a few missiles at the USSR. I think Polish people have a different view of that but I digress. Kennedy is ALL mystique because his the 1st Pres. Shot and killed in technicolor. The world mourned and their we’re a lot of Democrats that built on that to garner sympathy ala Paul Wellstone on a grander scale with ‘Camelot’ and all.
Same goes for FDR. My dad said that even though he ended up conservative, he loved FDR. Sitting in front of the radio listening to him gave him lots of HOPE. I think my dad’s an idiot. It’s like your dad telling you a feel good story to occupy your mind while your huddled in a bunker because he doesn’t want to spend his time listening to kids cry over REAL fears.
Conservatives take note that with ALL the warmongering, Iran Contra, No lunch for school kids, alpo for seniors, pro life zealot, religios fanatic, Reagonomics, trickle down economics, old, dumb, movie star acting as Pres., etc. that the MSM has been using to describe Reagan for years, he’s still the most beloved Pres. our modern history. R.I.P. Gipper!!
Sultry Beauty on February 11, 2009 at 8:47 AM
I am just amazed that the majority didn’t choose Obama already.
Kasper Hauser on February 11, 2009 at 8:47 AM
Just remember lefties, that Kennedy started the Vietnam War.
Lance Murdock on February 11, 2009 at 8:48 AM
He was young, and a Kennedy. And was martyred.
I don’t know of those are really things he did – “young” and “Kennedy” are states of being more than they are accomplishments, and being martyred by a communist assassin is really something that happened to you, unfortunately (not an accomplishment, though).
Help me out here. He didn’t like commies, and believed that cutting taxes was a good way to get the economy going, so maybe in that sense, he was Reaganesque and benefited in the poll from that. As for landmark accomplismhemts that forever changed America? I can’t think of any off the top of my head.
As a side note, JFK wouldn’t recognize his own political party today. He’d be a Republican.
Good Lt on February 11, 2009 at 8:49 AM
Noticed that too. Is Gallup getting worse that way, or is it just my imagination?
petefrt on February 11, 2009 at 8:50 AM
Washington is the greatest… I’m not terribly surprised that only 6% of Democrats picked him (most have probably never even heard of him… or only learned in public school that he owned slaves).
FDR is the worst. If the USA ever falters, historians will trace the seeds back to his administration. He had no regard for the Constitution. He tried to manipulate the Supreme Court to destroy it.
He was first to use Soviet-style propaganda to convince Americans that he was a god-like figure sent to save America (the sort of self-agrandizement Washington despised in a man). He savaged Hoover over debt before launching his massive spending programs to “create jobs” (sound familiar?).
Hollywood sang songs about him and featured huge pictures of him in their movies. He was the first “savior” who was all style and no substance. He proposed a 100% tax on income over 25K during the war after nearly bankrupting the treasury in the 30s while accomplishing nothing. He gave Socialism a friendly face and another name.
He was a horrible man. He made LBJ (#2), Carter (#3) and Obama possible.
mankai on February 11, 2009 at 8:50 AM
Tyro Doofus, Esq.?
profitsbeard on February 11, 2009 at 8:51 AM
The fact that Kennedy is even named in the top 5 shows you what is wrong with the liberal mind.
Dritanian on February 11, 2009 at 8:54 AM
Yikes, Washington at 9%, that’s sad.
reaganaut on February 11, 2009 at 8:54 AM
BS. Lincoln was the worst President in history. Completely overrated piece of garbage.
The correct answer has to be Washington or Jefferson.
Reagan wasn’t bad, if you like borrow-and-spend.
The Dean on February 11, 2009 at 8:54 AM
I visited the Reagan Library last spring. Highly recommended if you’re ever in SoCal. Beautiful location in Simi Valley.
JammieWearingFool on February 11, 2009 at 8:55 AM
JFK and Bobby Kennedy were HUGE supporters of Joe McCarthy. John put off back surgery to stay in DC and defend McCarthy… RFK named Joe the godfather of his daughter (Kathleen). Most libs don’t know this (see again: public schools).
JFK’s legacy is a botched Bay of Pigs… the weakening of US foreign policy and the seeds of defeat in Vietnam.
He was a tax-cutter, however… and although not competent, he was an anti-Communist and he was pro-defense.
mankai on February 11, 2009 at 8:57 AM
I really expected to see Obama on that list
offroadaz on February 11, 2009 at 8:59 AM
I guess that’s true if you are a Confederate and don’t believe in saving the Republic. Then by golly you are 100% correct.
“The South will rise again”
/roll eyes
Lance Murdock on February 11, 2009 at 8:59 AM
One of the most odious misinterpretations of history is that FDR saved us from the Depression. He prolonged it.
jgapinoy on February 11, 2009 at 9:02 AM
On that note, should I assume that in your mind the “greatest” President evah was Jefferson Davis????
Lance Murdock on February 11, 2009 at 9:02 AM
Reagan had Dem majorities in Congress to deal with. To get his tax cuts, he had to let them spend.
jgapinoy on February 11, 2009 at 9:03 AM
Washington was great for the precedents he set (such as only wanting two terms), & that although he could have grabbed more power (he was incredibly popular), he was content with leaving the Presidency as it is.
jgapinoy on February 11, 2009 at 9:05 AM
Re Kennedy….I like PJ O’Rourke’s take:
JohnTant on February 11, 2009 at 9:07 AM
A note on Jefferson Davis… people whould read his memoirs… some great stuff in there.
mankai on February 11, 2009 at 9:08 AM
Why is it that Washington is so underrated? Why did I leave school with only a miniscule understanding of what he really did, and only have come to appreciate him through my own studies? Sad state of our education systems, I’m afraid.
And where’s John Adams?
Abby Adams on February 11, 2009 at 9:12 AM
Ha. Reagan was fourth among Democrats. The guy created 20 million new jobs and rescued the country from a DEMOCRAT debacle. Libs are just dumb. Public Schools are so inept that they don’t teach what a great man Washington was.
marklmail on February 11, 2009 at 9:14 AM
JFK president for 3 disaster years, outside cutting taxes he was a monumental disaster and symbol of weakness, in reality, on the Cold War front.
the Soviets saw weakness in JFK when he offered to negotiate unconditionally with them and emboldened them to try the Cuban Misle crisis. They had no true intentions of starting a Nuke war, since we had far more nukes at the time. JFK secretly sent RFK to negotiate with them and agreed to NEVER REMOVE CASTRO FROM POWER as US unofficial policy AND to remove the Missles we had in Turkey I beleive. Everything the Soviets wanted, this was revealed in the Venona Decrypts.
also revealed is how much they feared Reagan, its really an amazing story and could make for a great movie. This is a project for Big Hollywood, the market is there.
Make a movie out of this Documentary: http://inthefaceofevil.com “Reagan’s War in Word and Deed”
jp on February 11, 2009 at 9:14 AM
Washington should be first. Without his leadership, the US could have become a dictatorship. The fact that he got only 9% is probably a reflection of our clueless public education system.
I wonder what all the Lincoln voters would think of his plan to ship all blacks back to Africa. Because I highly doubt any of them know about it. In fact, I’ll wager at least 15% of the people answering this poll don’t know who won the Civil War.
fiatboomer on February 11, 2009 at 9:17 AM
George Washington walked away from Absolute Power, unparalled in history of the world. That alone should put him at the top. Getting us started out is up there as well, the early years were no walk in the park and plenty of fear was abound of being conquered by Britain or France.
which is partially how the Alien and Seditions Acts started.
Alexander Hamilton was of course Washington’s Consiglerie basically. had burr not shot him, maybe he’d been president one day
jp on February 11, 2009 at 9:17 AM
from a Financial Analysis point of view, when your Assets increase at about a 20 to 1 rate over your Liabilities, thanks in large part to Liberating the Economy as much as he could, then Spending isn’t that big a thing. Which is what Milton Friedman taught, the real measure is Spending as a Percent of GDP. Its not soley about balanced budgets, but Financial Analysis.
Aside from that, the Defense Spending paid huge dividends and was needed after years of limp D*** Dem Foreign Policy and ruining our Military.
again, watch this sometime: http://inthefaceofevil.com
jp on February 11, 2009 at 9:20 AM
Hamilton was a bastard, and even though he had rehabilitated his image some through his military career, it is unlikely that at that point in time, he could have been elected.
Basically saved the Union through his monetary policy however, and that shouldn’t be overlooked. He deserves his place on the $10.
Abby Adams on February 11, 2009 at 9:22 AM
One other element you might want to credit to Kennedy is his commitment to a moon landing before the sixties expired.
But, yes, at best a mediocrity as President.
snickelfritz on February 11, 2009 at 9:25 AM
Hamilton was probably the most “street smart” and perceptive of them all, to Jefferson being the most Philosophical. hamilton gets a bad rap, many don’t understand.
probably right he couldn’t get elected, he had the first DC Sex Scandal of course, which probably would’ve sunk him.
jp on February 11, 2009 at 9:28 AM
What did the Dem Presidents accomplish? Moon landing? Welfare culture which is killing our country? Nearly got us blown up by Kremlin? Stagfation? Misery Index? Iran Hostage Crisis? Gas Lines? Good going. LOWER MY F*CKING TAXES AND GET OUT OF THE WAY!!!!! Imbeciles.
marklmail on February 11, 2009 at 9:30 AM
I got in trouble in high school for announcing to a history teacher that I didn’t want to learn about Kennedy again. We’d always magically jump from WWII straight to the Kennedy presidency just to make sure it got crammed in before summer break.
herrevery on February 11, 2009 at 9:32 AM
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