Most OVERRATED President

[twenty42]

I think Obama's ratings will follow a trajectory similar to that of Ulysses Grant's. Grant was thought of as a terrific president when he left office and for some years after, but as time went on his popularity faded and his approvals sank to the lower end of the spectrum. I think people who did not live through the Obama administration will eventually see that his economy wasn't great, that his reelection was slim, that the two midterms over which he presided were terrible for Democrats, and that he ultimately failed to pass the torch to his hand-picked successor.

[twenty42]

I think Obama's ratings will follow a trajectory similar to that of Ulysses Grant's. Grant was thought of as a terrific president when he left office and for some years after, but as time went on his popularity faded and his approvals sank to the lower end of the spectrum. I think people who did not live through the Obama administration will eventually see that his economy wasn't great, that his reelection was slim, that the two midterms over which he presided were terrible for Democrats, and that he ultimately failed to pass the torch to his hand-picked successor.

The last 3 are totally irrelevant to Obama's performance as President. And the economy was fairly good at the end of his term. He was handed the worst economy since the Great Depression, yet he got us out of the recession way faster than FDR. Obama will look great in history as the President who helped get us out of such a horrible great depression despite facing such big opposition.

Obama was overall a good president, even if I didn't always like what he did.


As for overrated presidents: FDR, Kennedy, and Wilson. Moreso Kennedy and Wilson than FDR.

I don't see how you can say that the four elections since 2008 haven't been referenda on Obama. The gradual loss of Democratic seats in the House, Senate, and state governments will always be a part of Obama's legacy. I'd also venture to say that the 2010s will be remembered as a pretty divisive and polarizing time period, no doubt contributing to the rise of Donald Trump.

[twenty42]

But Obama won the two most important referendums on his performance (2008 and 2012)

2008 was a referendum on Bush, not Obama.

I think Obama's ratings will follow a trajectory similar to that of Ulysses Grant's. Grant was thought of as a terrific president when he left office and for some years after, but as time went on his popularity faded and his approvals sank to the lower end of the spectrum. I think people who did not live through the Obama administration will eventually see that his economy wasn't great, that his reelection was slim, that the two midterms over which he presided were terrible for Democrats, and that he ultimately failed to pass the torch to his hand-picked successor.

The last 3 are totally irrelevant to Obama's performance as President. And the economy was fairly good at the end of his term. He was handed the worst economy since the Great Depression, yet he got us out of the recession way faster than FDR. Obama will look great in history as the President who helped get us out of such a horrible great depression despite facing such big opposition.

Obama was overall a good president, even if I didn't always like what he did.


As for overrated presidents: FDR, Kennedy, and Wilson. Moreso Kennedy and Wilson than FDR.

I don't see how you can say that the four elections since 2008 haven't been referenda on Obama. The gradual loss of Democratic seats in the House, Senate, and state governments will always be a part of Obama's legacy. I'd also venture to say that the 2010s will be remembered as a pretty divisive and polarizing time period, no doubt contributing to the rise of Donald Trump.

2012, the election where Obama won by 4%, dems won the house PV by 1%, and won 2 seats in a Senate map that was supposed to be a disaster for democrats, was a referendum on Obama.

Where do you get these Galaxy brain level takes from? Deep in the pits of your hairy bum?

Reagan got OBLITERATED (harder than Obama) in 1982 and 1986, and no one cares about that in his history.

Republicans won the 2010 House by 6.8% and the 2010 Senate by 5.4%, the PV swung 3.4% Republican in 2012 from 2008, and then Republicans won the 2014 House by 5.7% and the 2014 Senate by 7.9%. Obama entered office with a Democratic House and a Democratic Senate, and left office with a Republican House and a Republican Senate. Our perception of Obama is colored right now because we lived through and remember his administration, but it's doubtful that somebody who reads these numbers in 50 years will not hold Obama accountable.

Remember also that Obama was only really popular in 2009, 2011-12, and 2016. He spent most of his presidency with approval ratings only slightly higher than where Trump's are now.

[twenty42]

Reagan is the first that comes to mind, although I think Washington is also a candidate, just given the near deification some people give him.

Washington was really the only president who ever completely transcended politics and was universally loved by practically every citizen of the country. That being said, the presidency really wasn't a political office until after 1796, so I don't know if you can really include Washington in this poll anyway.

[twenty42]

Regan is literally one of the worst presidents this country has ever had. Literally bottom 5. The damage of his idiotic ideology is being felt almost two decades after his death and three after he left office, and yet he is deified and considered great by the public and bootlicking historians.

Also in regards to the Obama discussion: he killed Bin Laden. For that reason alone he will be fondly thought of in the years to come. He’ll also have a long retirement to even further cement his legacy.

I honestly think as we get more distance between his presidency and the present, he’ll become even more widely recognized as a good president, faced with an obstructionist congress run by some of history’s worst politicians.

You deem Obama’s administration a complete success on the basis of one foreign policy win, but you completely whitewash the fact that Reagan brought about the end of the Cold War.

I don’t know what this “damage of idiotic ideology” is that you’re speaking of, but we have had 16 years of Democratic rule since Reagan left office. If his policies are supposedly still damaging the country so much, wouldn’t that be more the fault of Clinton and Obama for not overturning them?