What rank does Obama have?

[WillK]

I agree with your top 7, and most of your bottom.  However, it's hard for me to see how George W. Bush is worse than Grant.  At least it can be said that most of the disasters of the Bush Presidency weren't of his doing, unlike Grant's terms.

This doesn’t make sense to me.

Can you identify disasters of Grant’s term that were his own doing?
 
Also the Bush disasters seem to me to be of his doing.  For example, what Bush is criticized for regarding Katrina wasn’t that a hurricane happened but it was the way Bush responded to it.

[WillK]

There's no cheap land to buy anywhere that could expand America by the scale of the Louisiana Purchase. 

If this is your reason for putting Jefferson so high, why isnt Andrew Johnson in the top 10 for purchasing Alaska?

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What really bad stuff did Fillmore do?

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Haven’t all presidents at times trusted the wrong people?

[WillK]

There's no cheap land to buy anywhere that could expand America by the scale of the Louisiana Purchase.  

If this is your reason for putting Jefferson so high, why isnt Andrew Johnson in the top 10 for purchasing Alaska?

Alaska was practically worthless for thirty years. 

So?  I ask the question again: If the scale of the Louisiana purchase, much of which wasnt worth anything for years,  is the sole justification for putting Jefferson in the top rank, why not put Johnson next to him for Alaska?

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Fugitive Slave Act.

Running on the bigoted (anti-immigrant, anti-Catholic) Know-Nothing ticket in 1856.

[/quote]

Fugitive Slave Act was an act of Congress, not an executive order; though it was part of an important sectional compromise achieved under Filmore. 

His appearance in the 1856 election was after his presidency -- I thought you knew of some really bad stuff he did as president; plus doesn't seem any worse that several other candidates running on bigoted ticket at other times.

Is that really what you consider bad stuff?  Compared to what has been done by a lot of other President's, seems weak justification for putting him at the bottom.

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Full of?  Really?  I can think of a couple individuals at most.

[WillK]

You could argue that signing the Compromise of 1850 was a worse option than just letting the crisis come to a head then as Zachary Taylor had planned on doing.  That said, that's a completely hindsight-based case. 

I suppose it depends on what one views as a good outcome.  If you think the union breaking up is a good outcome, then I suppose letting the crisis come to a head would be a better thing than achieving a compromise settlement.