The charisma of each major Presidential candidate since 1948

[Phony Moderate]

Out of 5.

Harry Truman - 3
Thomas Dewey - 3
Dwight Eisenhower - 3
Adlai Stevenson - 3
John F. Kennedy - 5
Richard Nixon - 2
Lyndon B. Johnson - 3
Barry Goldwater - 3
Hubert Humphrey - 3
George Wallace - 4
George McGovern - 2
Gerald Ford - 2
Jimmy Carter - 3
John Anderson - 3
Ronald Reagan - 4
Walter Mondale - 2
George H.W. Bush - 2
Michael Dukakis - 2
Bill Clinton - 4
Ross Perot - 4
Bob Dole - 2
Al Gore - 3
George W. Bush - 3
John Kerry - 2
Barack Obama - 4
John McCain - 3

[Obnoxiously Slutty Girly Girl]

Harry Truman - 2
Thomas Dewey - 1
Dwight Eisenhower - 3
Adlai Stevenson - 2
John F. Kennedy - 3
Richard Nixon - 2
Lyndon B. Johnson - 2
Barry Goldwater - 2
Hubert Humphrey - 2
George Wallace - 3
George McGovern - 2
Gerald Ford - 2
Jimmy Carter - 2
John Anderson - 2
Ronald Reagan - 3
Walter Mondale - 2
George H.W. Bush - 2
Michael Dukakis - 1
Bill Clinton - 3
Ross Perot - 2
Al Gore - 1
George W. Bush - 1
John Kerry - 1
Barack Obama - 2
John McCain - 2

[DS0816]

Out of 5.

Harry Truman - 3
Thomas Dewey - 3
Dwight Eisenhower - 3
Adlai Stevenson - 3
John F. Kennedy - 5
Richard Nixon - 2
Lyndon B. Johnson - 3
Barry Goldwater - 3
Hubert Humphrey - 3
George Wallace - 4
George McGovern - 2
Gerald Ford - 2
Jimmy Carter - 3
John Anderson - 3
Ronald Reagan - 4
Walter Mondale - 2
George H.W. Bush - 2
Michael Dukakis - 2
Bill Clinton - 4
Ross Perot - 4
Al Gore - 3
George W. Bush - 3
John Kerry - 2
Barack Obama - 4
John McCain - 3

Give Eisenhower: 4
Give both Reagan and Obama: 5

[Phony Moderate]

Oh, and Bob Dole - 2.

[Bo]

Only major party nominees:

Truman-3
Dewey-1
Ike-3
Stevenson-1
JFK-5
Nixon-2
LBJ-2
Goldwater-2
Humphrey-2
McGovern-2
Ford-2
Carter-3
Reagan-5
Mondale-1
Bush Sr.-2
Dukakis-1
Clinton-4
Dole-1
Bush Jr.-3
Gore-1
Kerry-1
Obama-5
McCain-3

[justW353]

Harry Truman - 3
Thomas Dewey - 1
Dwight Eisenhower - 3
Adlai Stevenson - 2
John F. Kennedy - 5
Richard Nixon - 2
Lyndon B. Johnson - 2
Barry Goldwater - 3
Hubert Humphrey - 2
George Wallace - 4
George McGovern - 2
Gerald Ford - 2
Jimmy Carter - 3
John Anderson - 2
Ronald Reagan - 5
Walter Mondale - 1
George H.W. Bush - 2
Michael Dukakis - 2
Bill Clinton - 5
Ross Perot - 3
Bob Dole - 1
Al Gore - 1
George W. Bush - 3
John Kerry - 2
Barack Obama - 5

[Sasquatch]

Harry Truman - 3
Thomas Dewey - 2
Dwight Eisenhower - 3
Adlai Stevenson - 2
John F. Kennedy - 5  (The most charismatic president)
Richard Nixon - 2
Lyndon B. Johnson - 3
Barry Goldwater - 3
Hubert Humphrey - 3
George Wallace - 4
George McGovern - 3
Gerald Ford - 2
Jimmy Carter - 3
John Anderson - 2
Ronald Reagan - 5  (He was an actor afterall....)
Walter Mondale - 2
George H.W. Bush - 2
Michael Dukakis - 1  (Just a disaster)
Bill Clinton - 5  (BS Artist #1)
Ross Perot - 5  (The most folksy/charming one of the bunch)
Bob Dole - 1  (Boring candidate to go along with a boring election)
Al Gore - 2 
George W. Bush - 3  (He was more charismatic in 2000. You know you want to have a beer with him.)
John Kerry - 1 (Kerry, Dukakis, Dole, and Mondale are the Mt. Rushmore of boring)
Barack Obama - 5  (Over hyped! Over rated! But he does send a shiver down the leg or at least he used too)
John McCain - 2

[Derek]

Truman- 3
Dewey- 2
Eisenhower- 2
Stevenson- 3
Kennedy- 5
Nixon- 3
Johnson- 3
Goldwater- 4
Humphrey- 4
Wallace- 4
McGovern- 4
Ford- 2
Carter- 3
Reagan- 5
Mondale- 1
Dukakis- 1
Bush Sr.- 2
Clinton- 4 and a half
Dole- 1
Gore- 1
Bush Jr.- 3
Kerry- 2
McCain- 2
Obama- 5

[Ameriplan]

obama doesn't have charisma, he just has George Bush.

[Derek]

obama doesn't have charisma, he just has George Bush.

I don't see his charisma as much as other people do and really if you don't feed him his teleprompter, he stutters and sounds like an angry smart ass.

[Ameriplan]

obama doesn't have charisma, he just has George Bush.

I don't see his charisma as much as other people do and really if you don't feed him his teleprompter, he stutters and sounds like an angry smart ass.

yeah he sounds like a viagra salesman

[Badger]

What am I missing with all the 4's for George Wallace? I honestly don't think I'm confusing his loathsome racist policies with lack of charisma, and I just don't see it. IMHO he looked slightly like a frog and otherwise his charisma and speaking ability was average at best for a national politician.

[justW353]

obama doesn't have charisma, he just has George Bush.

I don't see his charisma as much as other people do and really if you don't feed him his teleprompter, he stutters and sounds like an angry smart ass.

Most speech teachers promote pauses in speech between words, it prevents your voice from being monotone.

[Bo]

Clinton- 4 and a half

No halves or fractions allowed.

[All Along The Watchtower]

Clinton has 10 out of 5 when it comes to charisma.

[Bo]

Clinton has 10 out of 5 when it comes to charisma.

No, JFK and Reagan do. Clinton isn't that charismatic.

[Dr. Cynic]

Truman\Dewey: Dewey did have charisma as he was a former prosecutor. He just didn't bother in 48 cause he thought it was in the bag. Give both men 3.

Eisenhower\Stevenson: Eisenhower had personal charisma, but was not a great speaker. Stevenson was a remarkable speaker, but he was "eggheadish". Give both men 4.

Kennedy\Nixon - Kennedy gets a 5, duh. Nixon was always cold, suspicious, secretive. Maybe a 1.5-2

LBJ\Goldwater - LBJ had extraordinary charisma, but in that Yosemite Sam way. Give him a 4. Barry Goldwater is maybe a 2.5.

HHH\Nixon - We've scored Nixon already. Humphrey could talk and his personal warmth was very high, but he did sometimes come off as a buffoon. Give him a 3.

Nixon\McGovern - Nixon's been scored. McGovern was strong among the younger set, but nowhere else. Give him a 2.5

Carter\Ford - Carter didn't have much about him that said he was a leader. Ford was a nice guy who is most remembered as a klutz. Neither were really good talkers. 2.5 each.

Carter\Reagan - Scored Carter already. Reagan came from a profession where charisma is key. Give him a 5.

Reagan\Mondale - Reagan already scored. Mondale was a good debater but he has always seemed to lack backbone. Give him a 3.

Bush\Dukakis - Bush41 has always come off to me as a doddering Mr. Rogers. I'd give him maybe a 2. Dukakis was like a little Greek robot. 1.5.

Bush\Clinton\Perot - Bush41 already scored. Clinton has always been very charismatic. I'd give him a 4.5. Perot could talk and certainly had the charisma to bring people around him, but he always came off as unstable. Give him a 4.

Clinton\Dole\Perot - Clinton and Perot already scored. Whenever I think of Bob Dole, I think of those SNL sketches about Bob Dole's Peanut Butter. He was monotone and old by 1996. Give him a 1.5

Gore\Bush - Gore was a robot, but was usually strongly regarded as a debater before his poor 2000 performances. Give him a 2. Dubya can hardly string a sentence together without grammatical error but he was fairly popular with the rural set. I'd give him a 2.5 for that.

Bush\Kerry - Bush has been scored already. Kerry had no fire in his belly. A 1.5

Obama\McCain - McCain used to have charisma. But by 2008, with his growling refusal to look at Obama during one debate and his aimless wandering around in the town hall debate, I'd lower his score from a once 4 to now a 3. Obama has a huge level of charisma but is a middling debater. Even still, he connects with people. He's a 4.5 at least.

[Stranger in a strange land]

Harry Truman - 4
Thomas Dewey - 3
Dwight Eisenhower - 4
Adlai Stevenson - 2
John F. Kennedy - 5
Richard Nixon - 2
Lyndon B. Johnson - 3
Barry Goldwater - 3
Hubert Humphrey - 3
George Wallace - 4
George McGovern - 2
Gerald Ford - 2
Jimmy Carter - 3
John Anderson - 2
Ronald Reagan - 5
Walter Mondale - 2
George H.W. Bush - 2
Michael Dukakis - 1
Bill Clinton - 4
Ross Perot - 3
Bob Dole - 2
Al Gore - 2
George W. Bush - 3
John Kerry - 1
Barack Obama - 5
John McCain - 3

[GeorgiaSenator]

Harry Truman - 2
Dwight Eisenhower - 2
Adlai Stevenson - 3
John F. Kennedy - 5
Richard Nixon - 3
Lyndon B. Johnson - 3
Barry Goldwater - 2
Hubert Humphrey - 4
George Wallace - 4
George McGovern - 2
Gerald Ford - 2
Jimmy Carter - 2
John Anderson - 2
Ronald Reagan - 5
Walter Mondale - 1
George H.W. Bush - 3
Michael Dukakis - 1
Bill Clinton - 5
Ross Perot - 2
Al Gore - 2
George W. Bush - 3
John Kerry - 1
Barack Obama - 4
John McCain - 2 ( I am being generous on this one)