RESULTS OF THE POLL ON BEST AND WORST PRESIDENTS IN CMSC 452 AND CMSC/MATH 858R RULES: For BEST could not pick George Washington (too obv), Abe Lincoln (too obv), William Henry Harrison (only in office a month), Barack Obama (too recent), Donald Trump (to recent). For WORST BEST could not pick William Henry Harrison (only in office a month), Barack Obama (too recent), Donald Trump (to recent). BEST PRESIDENTS: 452: FDR - 9 858: FDR - 8 ALL: FDR - 17 --------------------------------- Comments from 452 on BEST: FDR Something about handling the Great Depression well. I don't remember from history class. 4-time prez, probably did something right. He guided the country through the Great Depression and WWII. FDR cuz people liked him. Great Depression and WWII. Maybe FDR of Jimmy Carter. FDR because of his social programs and Carter because he never dropped a bomb or fired a bullet at anyone. They're all criminals though to be honest. Last president to really change the presidency in an interesting way. He led us through WWII. ---------------------------------------- Comments from 858 on BEST: FDR Only president elected for > 2 terms. From the point of view of the American ruling class, he saved capitalism. Antitrust laws helped set precedent for dismantling corporate hierarchy. New Deal era programs enabled state support for impoverished Americans. New Deal programs pulled the US out of the Great Depression. Because I am a social democrat. For leading the Allied forces to victory in WWII and helped to pass New Deal legislation. New Deal, defeated Hitler. 4 times pres prob did something right. For his pro-labor policies. COMMENT FROM BILL Clear first choice, in both classes and total --------------------------------------------------- 452: Teddy Roosevelt - 8 858: Teddy Roosevelt - 3 ALL: Teddy Roosevelt - 11 ----------------------------------------- Comments from 452: BEST- Theordore Roosevelt He was a badass, foreign policy, and wartime hero. Teddy bears are named after him (comment from Bill: this is really true). (1) Strong, (2) balanced, and (3) read Meditations by Marcus Aurelius. He had a really good mentality and was overall a badass. Because of his Big Stick diplomacy. He set the precedent for presidents protecting national parks. --------------------------------- Comments from 858: BEST- Theodore Roosevelt (1) Strong, (2) balanced, and (3) read Meditations by Marcus Aurelius. IDK. Anti-trust, environmentalism, etc. COMMENT FROM BILL Clear second choice in both classes, though in 858, aside from FDR, no one got that many votes ------------------------------- 452: William Howard Taft - 1 858: William Howard Taft - 2 ALL: William Howard Taft - 3 -------------------- Comment from 452: BEST- Taft: By mass. ----------------------------- Comments from 858: BEST-Taft: Only because of that fictional tale where he got stuck in the White House bathroom tub. By mass. COMMENT FROM BILL The 3 is really 2, since there was a student in both classes, who hence voted twice -------------------------------------- 452: Carter - 2 858: Carter - 0 ALL: Carter - 2 Comments from 452: BEST- Carter Maybe FDR of Jimmy Carter. FDR because of his social programs and Carter because he never dropped a bomb or fired a bullet at anyone. They're all criminals though to be honest. Modest guy, lives in normal house and builds houses to help people at the age of 95. (Comment from Bill G: That makes him the best ex-president) -------------------------------------------------------- 452: Bill Clinton - 2 858: Bill Clinton - 0 ALL: Bill Clinton - 2 Comments from 452: BEST- Clinton He had the highest IQ (comment from Bill Gasarch: Jefferson could kick Clinton's ass in the IQ department). People named Bill are rad. (Comment from Nathan: Bill G probably agrees, but is too "modest" to say so) -------------------------------------------------------- 452: Thomas Jefferson - 1 858: Thomas Jefferson - 1 ALL: Thomas Jefferson - 2 Comment from 452: BEST- Jefferson. Thomas Jefferson. That's the only one I know other than the ones Bill G. disallowed. Comment from 858: Jefferson cuz there's a statue of him at my alma mater. --------------------------------------------------------- 452: Don't know - 1 858: Don't know - 1 ALL: Don't know - 2 Comment from 452 on IDK: Unable to answer because I don't know enough about previous presidents to make a decision. Comment from 858 on IDK: Did not grow up in America (the ones I could list are not allowed) -------------------------------------------------------- 1 each from 452: ------------------------ Comments on the one-each from 452 Bernie cus he's a bro. Lyndon B. Johnson. Donald Trump KAG 2020. (Comment from Bill G: KAG = Keep America Great) Coolidge. One student just drew a flower. It was very pretty. --------------------------- 1 each from 858: -------------------- Comments on the one-each from 858 Richard Nixon because he provides great examples when writing certain things. JFK, moonshot. Whoever had those gigantic side burns. (comment by Saadiq: I believe this is referring to Martin Van Buren) Reagan arguably led to the fall of the USSR and I prefer his brand to the GOP today so nostalgic there. Grover Cleveland - From NJ and is the only historical thing that happened for NJ (talking as someone who took 3rd grade social studies in NJ) Andrew D. Basiago. (Comment from Bill G: I looked him up. He claims to be a time traveler who knows he will be president by 2028. I wish him well) ----------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------- WORST OF ALL TIME 452: Jackson - 3 858: Jackson - 10 ALL: Jackson - 13 --------------------------------- Comments from 452: WORST- Jackson Bad stuff. I don't think this needs an explanation. -------------------------------- Comments from 858: WORST-Jackson Mean man, trail of tears Gave the Native Americans a super raw deal (if you call lying and swindling a deal) ignored Constitution Trail of Tears: "the court has made their decision, now let them enforce it" Trail of fears or something? Trail of tears abusing the power of the executive branch to persecute Native Americans I feel like he did bad stuff Persecuted Native Americans. Very racist person. COMMENT FROM BILL G: 858 Worst prez was Jackson. 452 Worst prez was Nixon. 858 students are older and hence remember the Jackson presidency. ------------------------------------------------ 452: Nixon - 5 858: Nixon - 3 ALL: Nixon - 8 -------------------------- Comments from 452: WORST-Nixon. Nixon cuz people didn't like him. For sabotaging peace talks in Vietnam to improve his reelection chances. The straw that broke the camel's back in terms of trust of government. Because he got caught in a scandal (comment from Bill Gasarch: if he had gotten away with it, would that have been okay?) ------------------------ Comments from 858: WORST-Nixon. Severely damaged trust in US government Discredited the office Only president to be impeached and then removed from office (comment from Bill Gasarch: he resigned before he was removed, but I take your point) ------------------------------------------------------- 452: Buchanan - 3 858: Buchanan - 3 ALL: Buchanan - 6 -------------------------------- Comments from 452: WORST-Buchanan. He failed to prevent the Civil War. The president before Lincoln. You know, the one who led us into the Civil War. --------------------------- Comments from 858: WORST-Buchanan. Let the South secede Typically picked by historians as he helped exasperate divides that lead to the Civil War (Comment from Bill G: While probably true, you should not outsource your opinions from experts, except in the case of Ramsey Theory) ------------------------------------ 452: George W. Bush - 1 858: George W. Bush - 3 ALL: George W. Bush - 4 ------------------------- Comments from 452: WORST- George W Bush I don't know that many presidents. ------------------------ Comments from 858: WORST-George W Bush (1) Stupid wars (2) Personal rights / erosion thereof (Obama wasn't great for this one either) (3) PATRIOT Act etc. For all the blunders Iraq war was a strategic blunder for the American Empire --------------------------------------------------------- 452: Madison - 1 858: Madison - 2 ALL: Madison - 3 ---------------------------- Comment from 452: WORST- Madison (Madison?) By mass and height. (comment from Bill Gasarch: he was our shortest president) ------------------------ Comment from 858: WORST-Madison (Madison?) By mass and height Madison cuz my obnoxious uncle went to his school COMMENT FROM BILL G: Very good reasons to call him the worst of all time ------------------------------------------------------- 452: Reagan - 2 858: Reagan - 1 ALL: Reagan - 3 -------------------------- Comments from 452: WORST-Reagan His tax cuts on the rich have been known to be the start of large income/wealth inequality in the US. His "trickle-down economics" is one of the biggest scams we have ever been told. Because of the regime changes he did in South and Central America. He installed many authoritarian regimes that killed many people all to support American imperialism. ----------------------------- Comment from 858: WORST-Reagan Contributed to economic policy which has continued to improverish the poor and widen class divide. "Trickle-down" disasters. "War on drugs" was an excuse for police violence against black Americans and leftist groups. ---------------------------------------------------- 452: George Bush Sr - 1 858: George Bush Sr - 1 ALL: George Bush Sr - 2 -------------------- Comment from 452 and 858: George Bush Sr because he said atheists could not be true citizens or patriots (comment from Bill G: I thought this might have been George W Bush, but I looked it up and indeed it was George Bush Sr) COMMENT: This was a student who was in both classes and so voted twice. So really only 1 person voted for Bush Sr. ------------------------------------------------------ 452: Don't know - 1 858: Don't know - 1 ALL: Don't know - 2 ------------------------------ Comment from 452: on WORST IDK I don't know enough about previous presidents to make a decision. ------------------- Comment from 858: on WORST IDK Did not grow up in America (the ones I could list are not allowed) COMMENT FROM BILL G: Most Americans don't know enough about previous presidents to make an opinion ------------------------------------------------- Comment on 1-each WORST, from 452 Putin (comment from Bill Gasarch: should this be disallowed for not being a US president or disallowed for being our current president and hence too recent) Woodrow Wilson. Thomas Jefferson. That's the only one I know other than the ones Bill G. disallowed. Lincoln, didn't handle the situation well. Herbert Hoover, I guess he didn't do much about the Great Depression (which happened while in office I think). JFK because he didn't handle stuff like the Missile Crisis properly. Truman because he started a war after running to stop a war. George Bush Sr. said atheists could not be citizens or patriots. Andrew Johnson, who had to live up to Lincoln, and he failed. Jimmy Carter. He knows what he did. They are all pretty bad. One student just drew a flower. It was very pretty. ------------------------- Comments on 1 each: worst, from 858 Deez Nuts (look it up) Theodore Roosevelt. he shot a dog Lyndon B. Johnson because I likely won't be able to benefit from his social welfare programs Harding - outrageously boring and *still* managed to break everything. Coolidge - outrageously boring and *still* managed to break everything.