Happy President's Day!
To celebrate, we kickoff of our newsletter- Okay History.
Established in 1879 as a federal holiday to celebrate George Washington's birth, President's Day has evolved from Washington's Birthday to Washington and Lincoln's Birthday, to currently named President's Day because all presidents need to be celebrated. Even the ones that screwed us over.
As the first post of my new blog, I will dive into a favorite hobby - ranking the presidents. Okay?
I've been ranking presidents in my head all my life. It mainly was a top ten list; then, around January of 2017, I decided to begin a project where I would try and rank them in a structured order and read at least one book on each of them. Every two years, I would rerank them, and by now, you may have clicked onto something else to read.
BUT!
If you have remained, I invite you to keep reading. Throughout the year, I will present my brief profile of the next president on the rankings. Think of it as an additional lesson.
Let's have some fun. Let's investigate the good, the bad, and the ugly of each of the 45 men to occupy the office of President of the United States.
We will dive into the first two rankings beginning from the bottom.
I present the Dake Presidential Power Rankings:
NR: Joe Biden
President 46
2017 Ranking: NR
2019 Ranking: NR
Term – January 20, 2021 – Incumbent
The Good:
Joe Biden broke the mold of an elected "outsider" when this long-tenured statesman captured the White House in November 2020. The country had not elected someone of Biden's resume since George HW Bush in 1988. The fact he defeated Donald Trump is alone a good thing.
The Bad:
Biden is 735 years old. The oldest person ever to be sworn in. That's not ideal. Biden ran for president when I was in the 7th grade. I graduated from college 23 years ago.
The Ugly:
Biden brings back the neoliberal thought of government, which is not all that dissimilar to neoconservatives thinking of government, and that thinking is – the market doesn't need to be touched too much. No touching! Touching is also something Joe does too much of.
Why did I rank him here?
The Biden administration is just beginning. This list tries to look at a term in office with the benefit of time to get a new view of history. However, the bar is low at the bottom.
44: Donald Trump
President 45
2017 Ranking: NR
2019 Ranking: 44
Term – January 20, 2017 – January 20, 2021
The Good:
Hmm. Well. Let's see. Trump only served one term.
The Bad:
Trump's handling of the COVID-19 pandemic was super, duper bad. It's hard to recover from falling flat on your face when the pandemic hits your shore, and you have zero federal plan to try and beat it. We have been playing from behind since a year ago this month.
The Ugly:
Trump is an incredibly gifted liar. He is a product of failed government action for good – republicans hate government, and democrats are scared to govern. Our friends and family turned to a liar because, for the most part, we identify with tribes. Trump wanted to keep power through the Big Lie, simply so his brand could continue to reap the financial benefits.
Why did I rank him here?
Trump will be 45 soon enough. What he did to the country between November 2020 through February 2021, alone will not be undone anytime soon. No one since James Buchanan wanted to be president less.
Let me know what you think of the first two positions of this ranking. Off the mark? Is Trump a top ten one-term president?