Who is the most underrated President in history?

[NDN]

Grover Cleveland.

[12th Doctor]

William H. Taft - He busted up more trusts than TR.

Chester A. Arthur - Pushed through much needed civil service reform, in spite of himself having been a product of the system.

[Tetro Kornbluth]

I have to go with James K. Polk.  He expanded the country dramatically, yet never gets any credit for it.

He expanded our country by conquering territory from a sovereign nation that had committed no act of aggression against the U.S., backed by slave-owners who wanted to spread slavery to the West. Morally, at least, he is one of the worst presidents we've ever had.

Among the most underrated presidents, I'd go for Grover Cleveland, Ulysses Grant, Warren Harding, or Calvin Coolidge. Unfairly, Harding and Grant are only remembered because of their  administrations' scandals, but they did accomplish important archievements that do not deserve to be ignored, Harding in the economy and Grant by protecting blacks' civil rights. Cleveland stood up to imperalists and protectionists, and Coolidge presided over a period of great economic prosperity generated by his (and Harding's) free-market policies.

^^^^^^^

[CARLHAYDEN]

John Addams

[Хahar 🤔]

John Addams

No presidents came from The Addams Family. Sorry.

[Franzl]

Considering the awful rap he gets compared to his slightly above average presidency, George W. Bush

ABOVE average?  At best he is below average, at worst a failure.

It is impossible to judge Bush's presidency and its effect at this juncture in time, that is why he is underrated.  Americans think in the here and now and not the future, that is our problem

in other words, according to you, there is no chance that he is currently being overrated. Bad way of thinking. You said it yourself, history will tell, but I don't see any reason to assume that he will become drastically more popular. Look what happened to Johnson.

About Americans judging presidents and thinking in the "here", wouldn't it be fair to say that many some presidents become artificially overrated, precisely because the public doesn't know very much about them? Look at FDR for example, I think he was what we needed at the time, but lots of people give him more credit than he deserves. Or Kennedy is a great example: although he didn't really accomplish much during his time in office (not his fault, but true anyway), people worship him for some reason.

I don't think you can discredit entirely what current public opinion is, but you're right that it'll most likely change eventually, whether positively or negatively. Look at Truman, he was hated at the time.

[jeron]

Considering the awful rap he gets compared to his slightly above average presidency, George W. Bush

ABOVE average?  At best he is below average, at worst a failure.

It is impossible to judge Bush's presidency and its effect at this juncture in time, that is why he is underrated.  Americans think in the here and now and not the future, that is our problem

This is hypocritical. Other people cannot say he's a bad president according to you, because it it impossible to judge his presidency, but you in your fantastic judgement and supreme knowledge can say he's above average. In the end I think he will not be among the worst presidents, but he will be rated below average as a weak president who achieved nothing in his second term and messed up the war in Iraq.

[12th Doctor]

Considering the awful rap he gets compared to his slightly above average presidency, George W. Bush

ABOVE average?  At best he is below average, at worst a failure.

It is impossible to judge Bush's presidency and its effect at this juncture in time, that is why he is underrated.  Americans think in the here and now and not the future, that is our problem

This is hypocritical. Other people cannot say he's a bad president according to you, because it it impossible to judge his presidency, but you in your fantastic judgement and supreme knowledge can say he's above average. In the end I think he will not be among the worst presidents, but he will be rated below average as a weak president who achieved nothing in his second term and messed up the war in Iraq.

While I think Bush's reputation will recover a bit after he has been out of office a while, I think history's "kinder" judgement will be something more along the lines of how Nixon is now seen, a decent President in most categories, but still wieghed down by huge negatives.

I personally think that this entire era post-Reagan will be veiwed as an age where president's failed to cope with the increasing demands of the the changing world and where they failed even more to deal with the hieghtened media presence and constant new cycle.

[War on Want]

I have to go with James K. Polk.  He expanded the country dramatically, yet never gets any credit for it.

Yeah I hate Polk!

[Хahar 🤔]

I have to go with James K. Polk.  He expanded the country dramatically, yet never gets any credit for it.

Yeah I hate Polk!

Me too! Polk-haters of the world, unite!

[The Dowager Mod]

Davis.

[Kaine for Senate '18]

Davis.

Jefferson Davis?

[The Mikado]

Davis.

Traitor.

[Bogart]

TR...he's responsible for the National Parks.

[ChrisFromNJ]

Lyndon Baines Johnson.

[dead0man]

Hey, this is a serious thread.

[Kaine for Senate '18]

Hey, this is a serious thread.

Yes, when did it not become a serious thread?

[dead0man]

LBJ and Teddy, underrated?  Wasn't LBJ one of the top Presidents last time we did something like that?  I won't argue here that he sucked (he did), but he certainly isn't "underrated".  It's almost as bad as saying Lincoln or FDR.

[Bogart]

LBJ and Teddy, underrated?  Wasn't LBJ one of the top Presidents last time we did something like that?  I won't argue here that he sucked (he did), but he certainly isn't "underrated".  It's almost as bad as saying Lincoln or FDR.

Your opinion is...?

[dead0man]

On the thread at hand?  You could make good arguments for a number of Presidents, as has been done in this thread.  But trying to make a case that Teddy (who I like) or LBJ (who I can't stand) are "underrated" as President's is a bit of a stretch.

Unless "underrated" doesn't mean what I think it means.

[Albus Dumbledore]

Polk as others have said. The man did achieve his campaign promises. My only complaint is that he didn't go further.

[Bogart]

On the thread at hand?  You could make good arguments for a number of Presidents, as has been done in this thread.  But trying to make a case that Teddy (who I like) or LBJ (who I can't stand) are "underrated" as President's is a bit of a stretch.

Unless "underrated" doesn't mean what I think it means.

Fine. I guess I think "underrated" applies to him. He's not in the, say "top 5" for most people.

[Kaine for Senate '18]

You cannot call TR underrated, since he is always in the top 5, but some people have LBJ in the bottom half, so he could be conceivably called underrated.

[Eleanor Martins]

Woodrow Wilson.

[Kaine for Senate '18]

Woodrow Wilson.

I think most people would call him overrated (I don't, but still).