What past presidents thought of each other

[Schmitz in 1972]

I have a book of Harry Truman quotes, these are all his:

Washington: When the decisions were hard to make, he made them, and he carried them through

Adams: He still had in the back of his head that there ought to be a ruling class in the country

Jefferson: A master politician, and this helped him make a great leader

Madison: He was like every other man of considerable brain power and education: He found it difficult to make decisions

Q Adams: The single interesting thing about Adams, I'm afraid, is that he was the only son of a president to become president himself

Jackson: He was stubborn, he was tactless. Often he was ungracious to the point of being surly

Van Buren: A schemer. He was a maneuverer, as you can see in all organizations

Tyler: A contrary old SOB

Polk: Polk was a man who knew what he wanted to do and did it

Taylor: He didn't have any program to carry out

Pierce: A nincompoop

Lincoln: Lincoln was just himself, and that's the sort of man I admire

Johnson: He knew more about the Constitution than any man ever in the White House

Grant: The worst president in our history

Cleveland: A good president because he was familiar with the powers of an executive and wasn't afraid to use them

Harrison: Preferred laziness to labor

Roosevelt: Roosevelt was often more bull, without the moose, than substance

Taft: A fat, jolly, likable, mediocre man

Wilson: Wilson had the idea he was the smartest man in the United States, it's probably the truth

Harding: Alice Roosevelt Longworth said about him "Not a bad man, he was just a slob" I think she was being entirely too kind

Coolidge: The man who got more rest than any previous president

Hoover: I hold him in high esteem as a man of character and capacity and talent

Roosevelt: Came nearer to being the ideal president than anyone we'd had during my lifetime

Eisenhower: Doesn't know any more about politics than a pig knows about Sunday

Kennedy: Too immature

Nixon: A mean, nasty fellow