CSPAN just did a poll on the best and worst Presidents of the US by polling a set of historians. The top five were: Lincoln, Washington, FD Roosevelt, T Roosevelt, and Truman. The bottom five were: Buchanan, Johnson, Pierce, Harrison, Harding. GWB was ranked #36.

I found it interesting that the lowest ranked Presidents were likely those that most Americans could not identify, while the top five were likely the most high profile. My favorite (as a non-historian) would be Lincoln (role in keeping country together), Washington (no brainer), Jefferson (Louisiana Purchase was brilliant), FDR (role in Depression and WWII), and Truman (role in rebuilding Europe after WWII). I think it is too early to say where GWB or WJC will fall out. Who are your favorites?

(Note added) For those of you too lazy to link through to the rankings, they are provided below:

1. Abraham Lincoln
2. George Washington
3. Franklin D. Roosevelt
4. Theodore Roosevelt
5. Harry S. Truman
6. John F. Kennedy
7. Thomas Jefferson
8. Dwight D. Eisenhower
9. Woodrow Wilson
10. Ronald Reagan
11. Lyndon B. Johnson
12. James K. Polk
13. Andrew Jackson
14. James Monroe
15. Bill Clinton
16. William McKinley
17. John Adams
18. George H. W. Bush
19. John Quincy Adams
20. James Madison
21. Grover Cleveland
22. Gerald R. Ford
23. Ulysses S. Grant
24. William Howard Taft
25. Jimmy Carter
26. Calvin Coolidge
27. Richard M. Nixon
28. James A. Garfield
29. Zachary Taylor
30. Benjamin Harrison
31. Martin Van Buren
32. Chester A. Arthur
33.Rutherford B. Hayes
34. Herbert Hoover
35. John Tyler
36. George W. Bush
37. Millard Fillmore
38. Warren G. Harding
39. William Henry Harrison
40. Franklin D. Pierce
41. Andrew Johnson
42. James Buchanan