carsongross's comment got me thinking about how presidents have been regarded (esp. George Bush in recent years). So I looked up how presidents have been regard

carsongross's comment got me thinking about how presidents have been regarded (esp. George Bush in recent years). So I looked up how presidents have been regarded over the years [0]. Salient quote, assuming rankings and competence are somewhat compatible (maybe they aren't): > Abraham Lincoln, Franklin D. Roosevelt and George Washington are consistently ranked at the top of the lists. Often ranked just below those Presidents are Thomas Jefferson and Theodore Roosevelt. > The remaining places in the top ten are often rounded out by Harry S. Truman, Woodrow Wilson, Dwight D. Eisenhower, James K. Polk, and Andrew Jackson. Presidents such as John F. Kennedy, Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton tend to be rated among the greatest in public opinion polls, but do not always rank as highly among presidential scholars and historians. > The bottom ten often includes Andrew Johnson, Franklin Pierce, Warren G. Harding, Millard Fillmore, George W. Bush, Herbert Hoover, Martin Van Buren, Zachary Taylor, and John Tyler. Now, compare that to their portraits [1]. Personally, the biggest example of "face-ism" I can recall during my lifetime is George W. Bush's portrayal in the media during his presidency. But I guess he also did screw some things up... [0] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Historical_rankings_of_Presidents_of_the_United_States#General_findings http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Historical_rankings_of_Presiden... [1] http://sonowiknowdotcom.files.wordpress.com/2012/01/allpresidentslarge.jpg http://sonowiknowdotcom.files.wordpress.com/2012/01/allpresi...