Rank the presidents in modern electability

[A18]

With the people who could most easily get reelected on top, and the people who'd have the hardest time on the bottom.

[Wakie]

Are their legacies known or are we treating them as "first time candidates"?  This is going to have a huge impact on a candidate like Lincoln.

[A18]

I was thinking that their legacies would be known, but I guess it'd be just as interesting to do it the other way.

[Wakie]

With their legacies known (at least the public perception of them), most electable to least w/ W Bush excluded ....

1) George Washington
2) Thomas Jefferson
3) Abe Lincoln
4) FDR
5) Ronald Reagan
6) JFK
7) Dwight Eisenhower
Teddy Roosevelt
9) Harry Truman
10) US Grant
(I know, a lousy President but he's got name recognition.)
11) Bill Clinton
12) Andrew Jackson
Hey ... the $20 bill guy.
13) James Monroe
14) James Madison
15) James Garfield
16) Grover Cleveland
17) Zach Taylor
18) William McKinley
19) John Adams
20) John Quincy Adams
21) George HW Bush
22) Calvin Coolidge
23) James Polk
24) Rutherford Hayes
25) Woodrow Wilson
26) William Taft
27) Chester Arthur
28) John Tyler
29) Ben Harrison
30) Martin Van Buren
31) William Henry Harrison
32) Gerald Ford
33) Jimmy Carter
34) LBJ
35) Millard Fillmore
36) Franklin Pierce
37) Andrew Johnson
38) James Buchanan
39) Warren Harding
40) Richard Nixon
41) Herb Hoover
Much bad press ... much bad press.

[A18]

Oh, come on. There is no way Bill Clinton would be more electable than James Madison.

[Wakie]

Oh, come on. There is no way Bill Clinton would be more electable than James Madison.

1) Bill Clinton is in recent memory.  Most Americans have no clue who James Madison is.

2) You may hate him, but Clinton has A LOT of charisma.

3) Although his work on the Constituition is admirable, as a President Madison's performance is suspect.  Heck, the White House was burned during his administration.

[A18]

What's your source on that? I don't believe that the majority of Americans don't know who the Father of the Constitution is.

[12th Doctor]

I'll just do the top 10, excluding Bush and Clinton and knowing nothing of their legacies.  In short, if they were fresh faces and running today with similar backrounds to what they had.

1) George Washington- Colin Powell
2) Teddy Roosevelt- John McCain
3) Ronald Reagan- Hmmm... the Gipper would just be himself.
4) JFK- Perhapes Chris Hienz or his own son, JFK Jr.
5) Jimmy Carter- Once again, he would be himself.
6) Dwight Eisenhower- Kinda a Tommy Franks, I suppose, but much larger a figure.  Perhapes Franks, Clark and Stormin' Norman all rolled into one.
7) William McKinnley- George W. Bush
Thomas Jefferson- John Kerry... with a pulse.
9) John Adams- Newt Gingrich
10) Harry Truman- Harry Ried, except pro-Iraq War

[Wakie]

What's your source on that? I don't believe that the majority of Americans don't know who the Father of the Constitution is.

What's my "source"?

Ok, go up to 10 random people on the street and ask them who James Madison is.  My bet is that less than 1/2 know.

[The Duke]

What's your source on that? I don't believe that the majority of Americans don't know who the Father of the Constitution is.

What's my "source"?

Ok, go up to 10 random people on the street and ask them who James Madison is.  My bet is that less than 1/2 know.

I'm with Wakie.  No one ever lost money betting against America's knowledge of its history.

I'd guess Jefferson gets more votes than Madison if you ask 100 random people who wrote the Constitution.

[12th Doctor]

What's your source on that? I don't believe that the majority of Americans don't know who the Father of the Constitution is.

What's my "source"?

Ok, go up to 10 random people on the street and ask them who James Madison is.  My bet is that less than 1/2 know.

I'm with Wakie.  No one ever lost money betting against America's knowledge of its history.

I'd guess Jefferson gets more votes than Madison if you ask 100 random people who wrote the Constitution.

I don't think half of the American people know who Jefferson is.  American knowledge of history and civics is abysmal... well in about 40% of the population, anyway.