Which of the following Presidents deserve historical rehabilitation?

History's view of various Presidents has often changed. In two examples, Harry Truman left office utterly hated and at the time was deemed a corrupt, weak failure; Eisenhower was seen by many in his day as little more than a grandfatherly caretaker President, more a steward than a leader.

Of the post Lincoln Presidents, arguably the most maligned/misunderstood are Grant, Lyndon Johnson, Nixon, Jimmy Carter and George W. Bush.

Grant did a lot of great things in office; he was the first to take real action against racism in this country, the first to pass any kind of civil rights laws and attempt to put down the first iteration of the clan; he made it a felony to deny civil rights to African Americans and had federal troops sent to South Carolina to enforce the law; the beginnings of the conservation movement at the federal level occurred with his creation of Yellowstone National Park; he was the first President who attempted to make peace with the native tribes, a direct reversal of decades of "Indian Removal" policies. Yet, for all the good he did, he is remembered only for the corruption of those in his administration and is viewed as a failure.

Harding was a much more moderate Republican than his successor; He greatly expanded the nation's highways with the Highway Act of 1921; he standardized the eight hour workday; he encouraged anti-lynching laws at a time when the KKK was at it's height; he released Eugene V. Debs; He created the Veterans' Bureau; He created the first federal welfare program in the US. in 1921, which increased access to healthcare for children and widows and ensured parents were taking care of their children. Yet, he is remembered most for Teapot Dome and the scandals surrounding members of his administration and as such is viewed as an abysmal failure.

Lyndon Johnson is the reason we have Medicaid, Medicare, Head Start, VISTA, Jobs Corps, the Food Stamp Program, and PBS; He is responsible for making equal rights in this country a reality rather than just a theory; His policies created the Pell Grant and made access to higher education much cheaper and more accessible; His was the first administration to take up concern of the environment as a driving force, passing the first Clean Air and Clean Water acts, as well as the Clean Highway act; He also created the National Endowment for the Acts and the National Endowment for the Humanities; His policies led to the Metroliner; he created the first E.S.L. programs in the country and he made streets safer with the National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act. Yet, to this day, he is maligned and remembered largely for the escalation of the Vietnam War.

Richard Nixon is responsible for the E.P.A. as well as numerous other environmental agencies; He is responsible for OSHA as well as the Clean Air Act of 1970, further cementing the federal government's role in protecting the environment; He was the first President to attempt to pass Universal Healthcare; He for all intents and purposes ended the Cold War and brought about roughly a decade of relaxed relations with the USSR and Communist China with Detente; He ended the draft and ended America's involvement in the Vietnam War; full-scale and national integration in schools became a reality during his Presidency and endorsed the Equal Rights Amendment. Despite all of this, Nixon is remembered largely for his earlier escalation of the Vietnam War, and for his role in covering up the Watergate break-in, which caused a premature end to his Presidency.

Jimmy Carter cut the capital gains tax to a low of 28%, he ensured that 103 million acres of Alaskan land was conserved; He proposed a wide ranging Universal Healthcare plan; He signed the National Energy act, which encouraged the development of alternative, renewable energy; He ended government control of oil allocation and began the process of deregulating numerous sectors of the economy; He brought peace between Israel and Egypt with the landmark Camp David Accords and and worked hard to increase human rights throughout the world during his Presidency, returned the Panama Canal to Panama and officially recognized China. However, despite this he is only remembered for the economic recession which colored his tenure and the Iran Hostage crisis and is considered a failure.

George W. Bush gave the nation Medicare Part D, increased spending on the space program, the No Child Left Behind Act. Despite these acts, he is largely only remembered for the Iraq War and is thought of as a failed President.

Of these men, which one deserves to be rehabilitated?

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