Ranking the Presidents

Whenever I read an article online or in print, I always ask myself, "does this pass the common sense test?" Today, I found one such article that does not pass the common sense test. The article was posted on MSNBC, and it ranked the US Presidents 1-42. Given that it is MSNBC, I was shocked to see that Barack Obama was not #1 (sorry couldn't resist that). In fact, Mr. Obama was not included in the rankings, as they were taken at the end of 2008. Here's the link:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29216774/

There is a link off this story that eagerly discusses the fact that George W. Bush ended up 36th in the rankings. Again, I was shocked that MSNBC didn't find a way to make him last. As I looked through this list, I immediately had several problems with the rankings.

1. Andrew Jackson is the 13th greatest President. Really? This is the man who gave us the Indian Relocation Act, which eventually led to the "Trail of Tears" and the death of 4,000 Cherokee (this was done under Jackson's successor, Martin Van Buren but it was Jackson's policies that made it possible). Sorry, that act alone should put Mr. Jackson near the bottom of the list.
2. John F. Kennedy is the 6th greatest President. This man was President for 3 years, and he botched the Bay of Pigs royally. Can we honestly say that a man who botched one crisis and was President for 3 years was better than Thomas Jefferson, one of the founders of this country and leader of the expansion west? I know he's the hero of all modern liberals, but that doesn't make him a great President. Sorry, that one doesn't pass the common sense test.
3. Bill Clinton is the 15th greatest President. What did he do? Seriously, I can't even dignify this with a detailed response.
4. Jimmy Carter is ranked 25th. How does the man who presided over an era where the "Misery Index" was created not end up on the bottom of the list. Carter was in way over his head, and was easily the worst President of the 20th Century. Just because he's done a few good things since then doesn't change the fact that he was an awful President.
5. Ronald Reagan should be higher than 10th. I'm just throwing that in there, because I'm a big Reagan fan.

Now, these were just a few of the problems I had with this list. This list was compiled by rankings given by 65 historians and professional observers of the presidency surveyed by C-SPAN. I'd wager money that most of these 65 people are in Academia, most likely at the University level (yes, I'm alluding to liberal colleges). These are the "super smart people" who are brainwashing, I mean educating, our college aged youth today. It's scary that they can get it so wrong that I can spot a ton of problems. I'm much weaker at history than I should be. I'd love to hear what my Dad would say about this list, as he is a huge history buff. I bet he'd tear it to shreds.

Honestly, this type of thing goes a long way towards explaining how Barack Obama got elected President.