Rank these presidents on a left-right scale

[SPC]

Rank these presidents on a scale of left-to-right:
John Kennedy
Lyndon Johnson
Richard Nixon
Gerald Ford
Jimmy Carter
Ronald Reagan
George Bush
Bill Clinton
George W. Bush

Here's my rankings:
(left)
Johnson
Kennedy
Bush Sr.
Clinton
Nixon
Carter
Ford
Bush Jr.
Reagan
(right)

[Reignman]

Lyndon Johnson
John Kennedy
Bill Clinton
Jimmy Carter
Richard Nixon
George Bush
Gerald Ford
George W. Bush
Ronald Reagan

[Ebowed]

From a rightwing to insanely rightwing scale?  Sure.

Johnson
Kennedy
Ford
Carter
Nixon
Clinton
Bush Sr.
Reagan
Bush Jr.

[opebo]

From a rightwing to insanely rightwing scale?  Sure.

Johnson
Kennedy
Ford
Carter
Nixon
Clinton
Bush Sr.
Reagan
Bush Jr.

Ebowed has it precisely correct.  On the political spectrum, LBJ was right of center, but at least near the center.  Really all the rest were solid rightists, except for Reagan and Bush Junior, who were/are reckless extremists.

[Ban my account ffs!]

How dare you insult Ronald Reagan.  He was/is god.  We should be naming schools, highways, airports, and libraries after him!

Or maybe we should first close those schools and highways, tear them down, donate the land to the rich and then name it after Reagan.  That would be more appropriate.

[Queen Mum Inks.LWC]

left-to-right:
John Kennedy
Lyndon Johnson
Jimmy Carter
Gerald Ford
Bill Clinton
Richard Nixon
George Bush
George W. Bush
Ronald Reagan

[True Democrat]

Lyndon Johnson
Jimmy Carter
John Kennedy
Richard Nixon
Bill Clinton
Gerald Ford
George Bush
Ronald Reagan
George W. Bush

This is based on how they acted as President, not their actual ideologies.

[Verily]

Just economics? Hmm...

Carter
Johnson
Kennedy
Bush, Jr.
Clinton
Bush, Sr.
Nixon
Ford
Reagan


Although if you meant for me to include social issues and foreign policy... Well, I didn't Any one-dimensional scale for more than one type of issue is basically arbitrary.

[SPC]

From a rightwing to insanely rightwing scale?  Sure.

Johnson
Kennedy
Ford
Carter
Nixon
Clinton
Bush Sr.
Reagan
Bush Jr.

I don't know how you could call any of them besides Reagan conservative, and even then its a slippery slope.

[DownWithTheLeft]

Jimmy Carter
Lyndon Johnson
Richard Nixon
Gerald Ford
John Kennedy
Bill Clinton
George Bush
George W. Bush
Ronald Reagan

None except for Reagan are particulary conservative

[Rob]

Lyndon Johnson
John Kennedy
Gerald Ford
Jimmy Carter
Richard Nixon
Bill Clinton
George Bush
Ronald Reagan
George W. Bush

[Filuwaúrdjan]

LBJ furthest left; no doubt about that whatsoever. After that things become much more complicated (though Clinton was quite clearly to the right of Nixon).

[afleitch]

though Clinton was quite clearly to the right of Nixon

Yes he was, though not quite enough to be called a 'Tory Socialist' or another similar term (yes I know it's a UK term but there you go). He created OSHA and EPA and upped the pay of federal employees as part and parcel of his policy of a wider government.

For the record, and just for fun, Michael Moore calls Nixon the 'last liberal president.'

[Wakie]

The problem is what it means to be right-wing has changed dramatically.  It never used to include religion and it used to be all about being "non-interventionalist".  It is supposed to be in favor of free trade and free markets, but some people have twisted it to mean "support the big money companies at the expense of the little guy".

Ron Paul is absolutely right, this is not the same Republican Party it used to be.

[DanielX]

On Economics:

Left/Social Democrat
Johnson
Kennedy / Nixon (rough tie)
Carter / Ford (rough tie)
Clinton
Bush Jr.- yes, his policies are economically to the left of his father's, particularly where spending is concerned.
Bush Sr.
Reagan
Right/Capitalist

Note that, in my opinion, only Reagan qualifies as being Right/Capitalist. Johnson, Kennedy, Nixon, Carter, and Ford qualify as Left/ Social Democrat. Clinton and the Bushes occupy somewhere in the center.

On Social Issues:
Authoritarian
Nixon
Bush Jr.
Johnson - largely due to the draft
Reagan
Bush Sr.
Carter
Kennedy
Ford
Clinton
Liberal

I'd say Kennedy, Ford, and Clinton are social liberals (with Carter as borderline), and Nixon and Bush Jr. are social authoritarians (Johnson and Reagan are borderline-authoritarian). Bush Sr. occupies the middle ground.

Compiling them together, roughly:
                        Social
E            Johnson
c  Nixon                        Kennedy
o                          Carter     Ford
n                                              Clinton
o      Bush Jr.
m                     Bush Sr.
i                  Reagan
c

[Sam Spade]

LBJ furthest left; no doubt about that whatsoever. After that things become much more complicated (though Clinton was quite clearly to the right of Nixon).

This is probably the most correct answer in the thread.

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

Lyndon Johnson
John Kennedy
Jimmy Carter
Gerald Ford
Bill Clinton
Richard Nixon
George Bush
Ronald Reagan
George W. Bush

I put Clinton ahead of Nixon because I'm not basing this only on economics. Nixon was very authoritarian and imperialist.

[MasterJedi]

(left)
Lyndon Johnson
John Kennedy
Jimmy Carter
Richard Nixon
Bill Clinton
Gerald Ford
George Bush
George W. Bush
Ronald Reagan
(right)

[angus]

I'd put Johnson on one end and Reagan on the other.  Not sure about the middle.  Here's my first impression based not only on their campaigning, but on what I know of their actual legislative agendas as well as responses to external pressures.  Note that this list is strictly Left-to-right, and I don't have a good feel for that other axis (up/down, or anarchy versus authority, whatever you want to call it)


Lyndon Johnson (and not just because Sharpton often claims LBJ his favorite)

Jimmy Carter (the Carter Doctrine in the Greater middle east puts him to LBJ's right)

John Kennedy (Could put him right of Ford, but Space was major big spending)

George Bush (read my lips:  I'm willing to say just about anything to win your vote)

Gerald Ford (maybe more left, but pardon of Nixon suggests a free market mindset)

Richard Nixon (dammit henry, get a couple of big scary Jews to go after his ass)

Bill Clinton (dragged his party rightward mid-90s.  maybe right of GWB but Dems reigned him in)

George W. Bush (he's an enigma in so many ways, but certainly to the left of Reagan)

Ronald Reagan (he's the republican's republican, no doubt.)

[Beet]

Economic-

Johnson
Nixon
Ford
Kennedy
Carter
Clinton
Bush Jr.
Bush Sr.
Reagan

Social-

Clinton
Carter
Ford
Kennedy
Nixon
Bush Sr.
Reagan
Bush Jr.

[DownWithTheLeft]

Factor, why Clinton so far-left on the social scale?

He opposed partial-birth abortion

[NDN]

Economically:

Johnson
Nixon
Kennedy
Ford
Carter
Clinton
Bush Sr.
Bush Jr.
Reagan

Socially:

Johnson
Kennedy
Clinton
Ford
Carter
Nixon
Bush Sr.
Reagan
Bush Jr.

[© tweed]

Right Wing

LBJ

Kennedy

Ford
Carter
Nixon

Bush41
Clinton
Bush43
Reagan

Evil Corporatist Prick

This is in terms of policies and not general viewpoints.

[nclib]

Factor, why Clinton so far-left on the social scale?

He opposed partial-birth abortion

Actually, Clinton vetoed the so-called partial-birth abortion ban.


Anyhow,

Left

Johnson
Kennedy
Clinton
Carter
Ford
Nixon
Bush Sr.
Bush Jr.
Reagan

Right

[Starbucks Union Thug HokeyPuck]

This is kind of hard to do since the definitions of left and right have changed a lot over the past 50 years, but I'll try using a more modern definition. 

LEFT

Kennedy
Johnson
Clinton
Carter
Ford
Bush Sr.
Nixon
Bush Jr.
Reagan

RIGHT