The Presidents: Noted Historians Rank America's Best--and Worst--Chief Executives

Synopsis

Offers A Complete Ranking Of United States Presidents From Best To Worst Based On Their Leadership Skills, Moral Authority, And Ability To Persuade The Public. A Note To Readers On Style -- Our Special Contributors -- Introduction / Susan Swain -- The Magnificent Lion / Richard Norton Smith -- A Brief History Of Presidential Rankings / Douglas Brinkley -- The Top Ten. Abraham Lincoln / Harold Holzer -- George Washington / Ron Chernow -- Franklin D. Roosevelt / Doris Kearns Goodwin -- Dwight D Eisenhower / William I. Hitchcock -- Harry S. Truman / Aida D. Donald -- Thomas Jefferson / Willard Sterne Randall -- John F. Kennedy / Robert Dallek -- Ronald Reagan / Lou Cannon -- Lyndon B. Johnson / Robert A. Caro -- The Men In The Middle. Woodrow Wilson / A. Scott Berg -- Barack Obama / David J. Garrow -- James Monroe / John Ferling -- James K. Polk / John Seigenthaler -- William Mckinley / Robert W. Merry -- Jame Madison / Noah Feldman -- Andrew Jackson / Mark R. Cheathem -- John Adams / Gordon S. Wood -- George H.w. Bush / Jeffrey A. Engel -- John Quincy Adams / James Traub -- Ulysses S. Grant / Ronald C. White-- Grover Cleveland / H. Paul Jeffers -- William Howard Taft / Jeffrey Rosen -- Gerald R. Ford / James Cannon -- Jimmy Carter / Michael J. Gerhardt -- Calvin Coolidge / Amity Shlaes -- Richard M. Nixon / Evan Thomas -- James A. Garfield / Kenneth D. Ackerman -- Benjamin Harrison / Charles W. Calhoun -- Zachary Taylor / Elbert B. Smith -- Rutherford B. Hayes / Ari Hoogenbom -- George W. Bush / James Mann -- And All The Rest. Martin Van Buren / Michael Douglas Henderson -- Chester A. Arthur / Scott S. Greenberger -- Herbert Hoover / Richard Norton Smith -- Millard Fillmore / Edna Greene Medford -- William Henry Harrison / Ronald G. Shafer -- John Tyler / Edward P. Grapol -- Warren G Harding / John W. Dean -- Franklin Pierce / Peter A. Wallner -- Andrew Johnson / David O. Stewart -- James Buchanan / Robert Strauss -- Historians' Perspectives On President Donald J. Trump / Douglas Brinkley, Edna Greene Medford, And Richard Norton Smith-- Postscript: The Presidency, National Identity, And The Pursuit Of Equal Justice / Edna Greene Medford -- Appendix I: Historians' Survey On Presidential Leadership, Total Scores And Overall Rankings -- Appendix Ii: Us Presidents In Chronological Order. Brian Lamb, Susan Swain, And C-span ; Special Contributions By Douglas Brinkley, Edna Greene Medford, Richard Norton Smith. Includes Bibliographical References (pages 507-509) And Index.