Ranking the Presidents, Part Six

As we move merrily along, I find that ranked twenty-first is James Monroe.

Really? Twenty-First? I mean, this about the author of the Monroe Doctrine? The President who has be heralded (by luck of by mannerisms) for bringing us the Era of Good Feelings, the only true era of one party rule (Washington doesn't really count, as the Jeffersonians had real differences with his administration) in our history? To be fair, on that basis alone one of the panel who created the list made Monroe number one. I suppose that sometimes simply sitting back and letting things happen are enough to let one be forgotten. I certainly would have put Monroe higher than this, though not, as I've explained, first.

Chester Alan Arthur is next. This was a man who could be taught. After years of loyally towing the party line and consequently having his political fortunes rise steadily as a result, he watched as James Garfield was assassinated by a disappointed government job seeker, elevating the then Vice President to the Oval Office. He promptly saw to the passage of Pendleton Civil Service Act, a law which made civil service jobs independent of presidential appointments. It cost him a second term, as Republicans who used the so called 'spoils system' as a means of rewarding political allies (don't be too critical, for the Democrats did too: the system was begun by Andrew Jackson) did not care for such action by one of their own. But he had made his mark.

Number 23 was Bill Clinton. I want very, very much to comment on this, yet I will not, as promised. Suffice it to say that it makes today's blog entry easier to keep mum about someone.

Andrew Johnson, Lincoln's successor, was voted twenty-fourth. He likely never stood a significant chance to become a decent President. That was partly a combination of his own doing, and unfortunate historical accident: he was a Southerner (from Tennessee), vain about his upbringing and ability, and in fact a Democrat. He probably was too lenient on the South, and he was averse to virtually all civil rights legislation. Combine this with the fact that the Radical Republicans in Congress wanted to punish the former Confederacy, and we have the ideal formula for governmental head butting. The only Chief Executive impeached besides Clinton (hey, just pointing out a historical fact, not commenting on you-know-who) he should be in the bottom ten.

Twenty-Fifth was Gerald Ford. He was another President behind the eight ball almost from the word go. Watergate was still simmering in the nation's mind, then he goes and pardons Nixon. True, even Ted Kennedy has since allowed that it was the right thing to do at the time in order to help the country get past the scandal, it nevertheless hurt the longtime Congressman. He tried to keep spending in check, and famously told New York City that Washington would not help her economic troubles. He may have even won in 1976 if it weren't for that ill-advised remark that Eastern Europe did not considering itself dominated by the Soviets. So close, Jerry, so close, but in the end you were your own worst enemy.