Ranking the most recent ten presidents, sans Clinton and George W.

I continue to rank presidents in groups of ten. Today, I will rank our last ten presidents up to but not including William Clinton and George W. Bush. I won't be ranking Clinton and Bush because, frankly, their presidencies are recent (and in W's case, current) and I don't think it's entirely fair to put their presidencies in historical context just yet. So from FDR to George H. W. Bush, this is how I'd rank them compared to eachother, 1 through 10:

1. Ronald Reagan - I don't think Reagan's greatness can be exagerated. With his economic policies (i.e, tax cuts) he gave us the strongest economy we've ever had. On top of that, he put the Soviet Union out of business bringing hope to not just millions of Americans but millions of people worldwide. Always positive, Reagan made his enemies--both domestic and foreign--look foolish.

2. Harry S. Truman - Did little to slow down the ineffective New Deal programs of FDR and, overall, he was fairly weak when it came to domestic issues. However, his dealings with the Soviets and Chinese at the beginning of the Cold War were extraordinary in vision and scope. Every Cold War president that followed Truman owed him a debt.

3. Dwight Eisenhower - Though he didn't do enough to stop the growth of government, he did slow it down. And he continued the foreign policy precedent Truman left him. Didn't do enough to root out communists--a very real threat--in America.

4. George H. W. Bush - Strong on foreign affairs, fairly weak on domestic issues. Fell prey to the Clinton Propaganda Machine which told the lie that Bush presided over the "weakest economy in fifty years".

5. John F. Kennedy - Though he made some unwise foreign policy decisions and didn't handle America's entry into Vietnam, Kennedy understood that across-the-board tax cuts actually increased government revenue.

6. Franklin Roosevelt - His New Deal policies actually deepened the Depression and expanded the size of government unnecessarily. FDR hesitated to get involved in WWII. He also did little to help European Jews from extermination before WWII when, through the State Department, he could have easily done so by issuing thousands of visas. His so-so attitude toward the Jewish plight is disturbing. However, getting rid of the gold standard was very helpful to the US banking system and his singular vision once the US entered the war was key to defeating Germany and Japan. FDR never wavered once the US engaged in hostilities with the Axis powers. Unfortunately, he misjudged Stalin and made one of the worst foreign policy mistakes--trusting Stalin--in history.

7. Richard Nixon - Though his dealings with China and the Soviets were two of the biggest foreign policy triumphs in history, his domestic policies--more government programs and more funding for existing programs--were a disaster. And, of course, there was the Watergate cover-up.

8. Gerald Ford - Though hampered by a hostile congress, Ford did nothing to stop the expanding government and help the failing economy. And he was weak at foreign policy.

9. Lyndon Johnson - The Great Society was a dismal failure as Johnson took the failed programs of FDR and expanded them which made more people dependent on government. His mishandling of the Vietnam War--a righteous cause--cost thousands of men their lives. LBJ is easily one of the worst presidents in US history.

10. Jimmy Carter - Perhaps the worst president in US history, Carter enabled terrorism through his weak actions against terrorists. His domestic policy lacked any sort of vision. When he finally left the White House, America was at it's lowest point in history.