I was bored / 9-14-09

To call this post half-baked fluff would be a compliment.

I've lived under eight presidential administrations. (I was born two months before Nixon resigned.) For fun, and to pass time instead of cleaning house, I thought I'd rank the Chief Executives using extremely subjective criteria thay may or may not be relevant and may or may not be fair and may or may not be accurate. Blogging's great in that judge-jury-executioner way.

Anyway, Presidents received grades out of 20 in five cleverly named categories:
Overall Performance re: EConomy (OPEC)
EFfectiveness in FOreign RelaTions (EFFORT)
LAsting Legislative Accomplishments (LALA)
Fiscal, INstitutional and Environmental Responsibility (FINER)
LEadership, Inspiration, Accountability (LEIA)

I started each President off with a 10 in each category and added or subtracted for accomplishments or massive fubars; maximum grade in a single field is 20. Total score is out of 100. That works out nicely.

I considered more than simply my uninformed gut and spotty memory. But just barely. Oh yeah, the criteria.
OPEC: Were there recessions? Long periods of uninterrupted growth? Was the country's economy better off in general after that president's service ended?
EFFORT: Did the administration advance the ideals of freedom and democracy in an effective and generally non-belligerent way? Were conflicts focused, short, and relatively bloodless? Was new ground broken with an important ally or rival?
LALA: I realize that's Congress' job. But was the President able to assert himself enough to affect policy in a substantial and positive way for future administrations? In other words, was he able to do what he set out to do?
FINER: Were the budget, the deficit, the system of government and the land itself handled with care or disregard?
LEIA: How loved/unloved was the President during his term and upon leaving office? Was his administration clean or disgraceful? Did his Presidency exhort Americans to be a better people? Is he generally respected or admired or ridiculed several years after exiting the office?

With all that being said...

8. George W. Bush, score 13 (3/3/4/0/3)
Basically sucked everywhere. Broke lots of things. 13 might be too high.

7. Nixon, score 35 (6/15/4/9/1)
Not exactly an A-plus either. Left Vietnam, visited China. Plenty of other well-chronicled problems.

6. Carter, score 38 (4/4/8/13/9)
Bah. Overmatched by the job.

5. Ford, score 50 (9/13/7/12/9)
Not exactly a lot of variance from the starting 10. Not much time to distinguish himself. Or embarrass himself, for that matter.

4. Reagan, score 56 (10/18/6/6/16)
Moral: It helps a lot to take down the USSR. Covers for some serious failures.

3. Obama, provisional score 62 (12/16/10/8/16)
Provisional. Incomplete. Did not finish assignments. Yet.

2. Clinton, score 69 (17/16/12/19/5)
Not allowing bin Laden to become, well, bin Laden, would've helped. Also, not pardoning the phone book on his last day, not lying under oath... brilliant otherwise.

1. George H. W. Bush, score 79 (14/19/13/18/15)
Probably the best President since FDR.