Gallup: Americans want JFK and Reagan back

[Tender Branson]

by Frank James

It's one of those dinner table or barstool questions you might hear someone ask. If you could, which president would you bring back to lead us through our troublesome times?

Gallup asked a representative group of Americans that question and learned that most people would want to see Presidents John F. Kennedy and Ronald Reagan back in the Oval Office, with Camelot slightly edging out Morning in America by a statistically insignificant 23 percent to 22 percent, respectively, of respondents.

Bill Clinton was a distant third at 13 percent.

The president considered by many scholars the greatest, Abraham Lincoln, whose birthday we celebrate today, got a mere 10 percent approval. What a way to repay the man who saved the union. What more does a president have to do?

Meanwhile Franklin D. Roosevelt, who merely proved adept at managing the country through only its worst economic crisis, the Great Depression, and its largest and most complicated military endeavor, the massive two-front war known as World War II, received a paltry eight percent.



One interesting way of looking at this survey would be not as a contest between Kennedy versus Reagan but as a contest between the two presidential candidates most running on their legacies, Senators Barack Obama and John McCain.

Looked at that way, the survey could be said to show the near equal pulls on the American psyche of those two iconic presidencies. Given that, whichever modern candidate is best able to channel the earlier president the best could arguably gain the advantage.

Gallup sliced and diced the results by party affiliation and found this:

Republicans are unambiguous about whom they would restore to office if they could. Reagan wins an outright majority (51%) of their votes.

Two of Republicans' top five choices are Democrats: Kennedy, at 12% (roughly tied with Abraham Lincoln for second place), and Franklin Roosevelt, in fifth place with 4%.

The other name in the Republicans' top five is George Washington, in fourth place with 6%.

It's good to see Washington getting a shout-out from six percent of those surveyed, being that we are also celebrating his birthday today.

When Gallup looked at Democrats, they found this:

Democrats are less settled on one particular president as their hypothetical choice to return to the Oval Office. The most popular ex-president for the job is Kennedy, mentioned by 34%. However, Clinton ranks a fairly close second, with 24%. Roosevelt is favored for the position by 12% of Democrats.

Seven percent of Democrats would bring back the symbolic father of the Republican Party -- Lincoln -- as president, while 4% would restore Democratic Party founder Thomas Jefferson.

It's curious that four percent of Democrats chose Jefferson whose anti-Federalist, small government views would seem to make him more of a natural fit for Republicans than Democrats.

It's also strange that Theodore Roosevelt didn't do better (he only got three percent) since he was the great Trustbuster who broke up the giant business combinations, was perhaps the first environmentalist president and also projected American power in a way that ushered in the American Century. He's also been getting very decent press in the past two decades.

Unsurprisingly, the Bushes, father and son, didn't fare well. Former President George H.W. Bush and President Bush both clocked in at one percent. But maybe history will be kinder, who knows?

http://weblogs.baltimoresun.com/news/politics/blog/2008/02/gallup_americans_want_jfk_and.html

[bullmoose88]

Its your choose.

[opebo]

I wonder if they eliminated the 72% of americans that probably couldn't name a single ex-president.

I would have voted for LBJ.

[All life is a blur of Republicans and meat.]

I would have voted for William Henry Harrison.

[BushKenya]

I would have voted for William Henry Harrison.

Yeah, the boy didn't even get a chance, dying just a month into his term.

I personally would say RWR (Reagan).

BTW, The American people had a chance to bring JFK back in 2004, in the form of John Forbes Kerry.

[bullmoose88]

I would have voted for William Henry Harrison.

David Rice Achinson.

[The Duke]

JFK?

America needs another pretty boy mediocrity who brings us to the brink of Armageddon through ill-considered foreign policies like we need a hole in the head.

Will there be a point in my life where the ability to give a great speech is viewed as less important as the ability to make a sound decision?

Anyone not voting for Lincoln is out of their mind.

[bullmoose88]

JFK?

America needs another pretty boy mediocrity who brings us to the brink of Armageddon through ill-considered foreign policies like we need a hole in the head.

Will there be a point in my life where the ability to give a great speech is viewed as less important as the ability to make a sound decision?

Anyone not voting for Lincoln is out of their mind.

I love Lincoln. That's who my vote would be for...but do you honestly think your average american would want lincoln?

[The Duke]

JFK?

America needs another pretty boy mediocrity who brings us to the brink of Armageddon through ill-considered foreign policies like we need a hole in the head.

Will there be a point in my life where the ability to give a great speech is viewed as less important as the ability to make a sound decision?

Anyone not voting for Lincoln is out of their mind.

I love Lincoln. That's who my vote would be for...but do you honestly think your average american would want lincoln?

McCain's fate in November will tell us if America today would want a Lincoln type President.

Remember, in 1860, Lincoln won with 39% of the vote.  In 1864, Lincoln spent the Summer months appearing to be a finished until a turnaround in the fortunes of the war saved him.  Lincon's America barely wanted Lincoln.

[bullmoose88]

JFK?

America needs another pretty boy mediocrity who brings us to the brink of Armageddon through ill-considered foreign policies like we need a hole in the head.

Will there be a point in my life where the ability to give a great speech is viewed as less important as the ability to make a sound decision?

Anyone not voting for Lincoln is out of their mind.

I love Lincoln. That's who my vote would be for...but do you honestly think your average american would want lincoln?

McCain's fate in November will tell us if America today would want a Lincoln type President.

Remember, in 1860, Lincoln won with 39% of the vote.  In 1864, Lincoln spent the Summer months appearing to be a finished until a turnaround in the fortunes of the war saved him.  Lincon's America barely wanted Lincoln.

Whoa whoa whoa...I like McCain, but isn't it a little, 1) premature, 2) far fetched to compare him to Lincoln?

[dead0man]

Wow, some Americans are stupid.  Where the hell is Teddy(from the article, 3%)?  I can understand JFK, he was pretty, had some interesting sh**t happen during his term and he died young.  I can understand Reagan, it's foolish to think he won the Cold War single handedly but he was a big part of it.  But Bill Clinton?  13% of the people polled thought he was the best living or dead President?  le sigh  On the other hand 20% of Americans believe in a 9-11 conspiracy so we know at least that many are retarded.

[bullmoose88]

Wow, some Americans are stupid.  Where the hell is Teddy(from the article, 3%)?  I can understand JFK, he was pretty, had some interesting sh**t happen during his term and he died young.  I can understand Reagan, it's foolish to think he won the Cold War single handedly but he was a big part of it.  But Bill Clinton?  13% of the people polled thought he was the best living or dead President?  le sigh  On the other hand 20% of Americans believe in a 9-11 conspiracy so we know at least that many are retarded.

Bill Clinton was a good/decent president (god, people who know me, or knew me, htmldon, earl would have never thought I'd say that)...especially after he had to work with a Republican congress.  His first two years? not so much.

[dead0man]

I didn't say he was horrible.  I'm just saying you'd have to be seriously retarded to think he was the best President we've ever had.  My guess is that 13% of American's couldn't name anymore Presidents other than Bush and Clinton, and stupid people hate Bush more than regular folk, thus Clinton with 13%.

[MODU]

I think the real question to ask is:  "Were you born before Reagan was elected to office?"  I think that would skew this poll even more.  Unless you were alive to experience Reagan and JFK, your views are pretty much based solely on media clips and historical summaries rather than actually experiencing the administrations.  For JFK, "Camelot" was not as golden as people seem to think it was, while Reagan wasn't always right and calming.  However, I do agree (and have stated before) that the current crop of candidates fail greatly compared to the leaders of the past, and for a very historic election that we are entering now, we only have ourselves to blame.

[memphis]

Yet another naive longing for the rose-tinted "good old days." I say we give this year's crop a chance. Whoever wins might be a great president.

[Keystone Phil]

When asked why Americans like JFK, the standard "Ummm, because he was young, the first Catholic President, attractive, killed in office, etc." response was given.

[Tik]

...4% of Republicans want FDR? Uh.. okay then

[Joe Republic]

Americans also want to be watched by surveillance cameras, and their next president to be a 'Biblical leader'.  Oh, and they also want an iPhone.

[Swing low, sweet chariot. Comin' for to carry me home.]

Ecc 7:10  Do not say, "Why were the old days better than these?"  For it is not wise to ask such questions.

[The Duke]

JFK?

America needs another pretty boy mediocrity who brings us to the brink of Armageddon through ill-considered foreign policies like we need a hole in the head.

Will there be a point in my life where the ability to give a great speech is viewed as less important as the ability to make a sound decision?

Anyone not voting for Lincoln is out of their mind.

I love Lincoln. That's who my vote would be for...but do you honestly think your average american would want lincoln?

McCain's fate in November will tell us if America today would want a Lincoln type President.

Remember, in 1860, Lincoln won with 39% of the vote.  In 1864, Lincoln spent the Summer months appearing to be a finished until a turnaround in the fortunes of the war saved him.  Lincon's America barely wanted Lincoln.

Whoa whoa whoa...I like McCain, but isn't it a little, 1) premature, 2) far fetched to compare him to Lincoln?

I'm simply saying that McCain's style is close to Lincoln.  Its very somber, its blood, soil, sweat, and tears stuff.

[NDN]

JFK?

America needs another pretty boy mediocrity who brings us to the brink of Armageddon through ill-considered foreign policies like we need a hole in the head.

I wouldn't call him mediocre. The New Frontier was pretty effective, he set the groundwork for the Civil Rights Act, he jump-started the Space Race, and if nothing else he at least managed to salvage the crisis in Cuba. I'd say for someone in office for little more than half a term, he had a big impact. He certainly comes off looking better than most of his successors.

Anyone not voting for Lincoln is out of their mind.

Lincoln might have saved the union, but his racism and stance on civil rights makes him an extremely poor match for now.

[NDN]

When asked why Americans like JFK, the standard "Ummm, because he was young, the first Catholic President, attractive, killed in office, etc." response was given.

Unfortunately this is pretty dead on.

What I want to know is, where the hell is Eisenhower on this list? Or TR? Or any of the founding fathers. Especially the last group, it's not like no one has heard of Washington.

[opebo]

Ecc 7:10  Do not say, "Why were the old days better than these?"  For it is not wise to ask such questions.

Haha, christian advice - 'don't learn from the past'.  But it is unsurprising that a right-winger wouldn't want people asking why things were so much better during america's brief flirtation with liberalism.

[HardRCafé]

Lincoln might have saved the union, but his racism and stance on civil rights makes him an extremely poor match for now.

Judging Lincoln racist by contemporary standards is absurd.  Lincoln never even attended one of Strom Thurmond's birthday parties.

[Senator Ben]

My top 5:

1.  FDR
2.  Harry Truman
3.  George Washington
4.  Teddy Roosevelt
5.  Bill Clinton