How popular...

[PBrunsel]

William McKinley- 5, strong economy, successful war
Theodore Roosevelt- 5, everyone loved TR
William Taft- 2, misundestood and disliked due to slander by Teddy.
Woodrow Wilson- 3, too polarizing a figure for some
Warren Harding- 5, loved by all by restoring "normalacy".
Calvin Coolidge- 5, liked by all due to strong economy
Herbert Hoover- 2, liked at first, and never really hated by a majority of Americans.

[PBrunsel]

A healthy Wilson is a question mark; could he have won in 1920?  Very possibly.

Um, Wilson would have been crushed. It was his unpopularity and voter opposition to the League of Nations that ushered in the Republican 1920s.

And a GOP landslide at that. Even Champ Clark, former House Speaker, was defeated in his run for another term in 1920.

[PBrunsel]

William McKinley: 5
Theodore Roosevelt: 5
William Taft: 1
Woodrow Wilson: 2
Warren Harding: 5
Calvin Coolidge: 4
Herbert Hoover: 1

This is the best list i've seen so far.

Finally someone who understands that Harding was a popular President.

[PBrunsel]

William McKinley: 5
Theodore Roosevelt: 5
William Taft: 1
Woodrow Wilson: 2
Warren Harding: 5
Calvin Coolidge: 4
Herbert Hoover: 1

This is the best list i've seen so far.

Finally someone who understands that Haring was a popular President.

Thank you.

Your welcome. You seem to know your history and I salute you for that.

[PBrunsel]

William McKinley: 5
Theodore Roosevelt: 5
William Taft: 1
Woodrow Wilson: 2
Warren Harding: 5
Calvin Coolidge: 4
Herbert Hoover: 1

This is the best list i've seen so far.

Finally someone who understands that Haring was a popular President.

Thank you.

Your welcome. You seem to know your history and I salute you for that.

He's Australian and he knows US Presidential popularity better than any of us!

That is not true. Everyone here has at least a minimal knowledge of our Chief Executive. Most have an exceptional knowledge of our Presidents.

[PBrunsel]

How do historians measure the popularity of presidents? Were there any kind of reliable polls?

Polls mean little. You have to know the issues that sorrounded a Preident and the national "mood" or perhaps even "malaise."

[PBrunsel]

Uh, what people think means little? We're talking about popularity here.

The national "mood" is what makes a President popular or unpopular. His policies reflect or repel the national mood.

That Malaise Speech" of 1979 is a good example. Carter was not popular, but he informed us that he was not through his "Malaise Speech."

Harding was popular. He promised a "Return to Normalcy." He was saying that he would have a presidency without major Progressive Reform [spare the first executive written budget] or international intervention. After WWI and the Progressive Era, the nation was ready for that. His low key Presidency that was "in touch" with the regular man was what made him popular.

[PBrunsel]

What was the first executive written budget?

What you list are the REASONS they were popular, but public opinion is the actual popularity.

To your first question:

I said that in a strange way. I meant the first budget the President edited and presented to the Congress. Harding was the first to do that. What he put in it I am not sure of.

Reasons they were popular leads to those polling numbers, so I feel I answered your question in a satisfactory way.

[PBrunsel]

If McKinley was so popular, how come he never got more than 52% of the vote?

That's why you need poll numbers to confirm that he was popular.

First of all no polling was done back then, or at least noticable polling.

Second of all, McKinley was very popular due to a popular war and he won the greatest Republican landslide since 1864 in 1900.

[PBrunsel]

Second of all, McKinley was very popular due to a popular war and he won the greatest Republican landslide since 1864 in 1900.

1900-1944 was landslide after landslide, with 1916 being the exception.

But that really does not matter much. My fact was McKinley proved popularity by having a popular war, a strong economy, booming business, and having the biggest landslide since 1864. I think that proves he was popular.

[PBrunsel]

If McKinley was so popular, how come he never got more than 52% of the vote?

That's why you need poll numbers to confirm that he was popular.

First of all no polling was done back then, or at least noticable polling.

Second of all, McKinley was very popular due to a popular war and he won the greatest Republican landslide since 1864 in 1900.

If 52% is a landslide, what is not a landslide?

McKinley did better in the electoral college, but in the popular vote, Grant did way better.

EDIT: I take that back. Grant did way better in the electoral college too.

Thanks for proving my point that national mood is more important than polls. National mood favors war heroes after a long war, so Grant was elected by a landslide. In 1872 he was reelected by waving the bloody shirt, another national mood.

Let us not forget that from 1876-1896 no candidate recived a majority of the popular vote. McKinley did twice, and in a nation divded on gold or silver. He was popular all right.

[PBrunsel]

What do you base his popularity on?

As I said, the national mood. I read about our Presidents and their connection with our nation's mood, then I make the assumption of if they were popular or no.

McKinley went to war, the nation wanted war, he was popular.

Harding promised "Normalcy", the nation wanted "normalcy", so he was popular.

Taft did not appease TR enough, the nation loved TR, so Taft was unpopular.

[PBrunsel]

How do you know what the national mood was?

Read up on Presidents. You could learn a lot about our national mood from them.