Heeeeere's Your Next Presidential Rankings!
Heeeeere's Your Next Presidential Rankings!
Johnny Carson signed off on this day in 1992. He didn't die; he just ended hosting The Tonight Show. We bring the bottom third of the presidential rankings to a conclusion. Read on!
Johnny Carson hosted the last episode of his late-night show, The Tonight Show, with Johnny Carson, on this date, May 22, 1992. He had zero guests, and the audience was by invitation only, which was filled by family and friends. The farewell show was devoted to remembering some of Carson’s favorite clips.
Carson was the King of Late Night for three decades. He established the modern format, with an opening monologue, interviewing guests who had projects to promote and sketch comedy bits. Carson ranks high on rankings that are devoted to such things. I’m sure there is an okaytv.com out there that explains more of this in mediocre detail.
The last episode is the theme as we end the bottom third of the Dake Presidential Power Rankings. Congrats for reading thus far! If you need to catch up, start here. Then here. Then here. Then here. Then here. Then here. Then here.
You are all caught up! Let’s dive in!
31: Chester Arthur
21st President
2017 Ranking: 31
2019 Ranking: 31
Term – First Show September 18, 1881 – Last Show March 4, 1885
The Good:
Mark Twain supposedly liked Arthur. I read that on the internet machine, so it must be true.
The Bad:
In a strange twist, Arthur's previous job, the vice presidency, was never filled, which seems bad once you read the Why did I rank him here section.
The Ugly:
Arthur signed the Chinese Exclusion Act, which is just as ugly as it sounds. It's the only law passed that targeted a specific ethnic group of people. Gross.
Why did I rank him here?
Arthur was fired from a job by President Hayes, rose to gain a spot on the James Garfield ticket, and then four months later, an assassin promoted him to the presidency. Yet Arthur is embarrassingly unknown, mostly because he was in bad health for the entire time he was in office. Plus, the guys below him were just worse. Ask yourself, what's the one thing you know about Arthur? Thought so.
30: Calvin Coolidge
30th President
2017 Ranking: 26
2019 Ranking: 25
Term – First show August 2, 1923 – Last Show March 4, 1929
The Good:
Coolidge hated the KKK, and there was no known Klansman ever appointed to his administration. I'm sure people have looked.
The Bad:
Cal hated regulations. He wanted you and your family to eat beef however it arrived. His belief system thought that states should handle everything, and Ronald Reagan loved him for it.
The Ugly:
Coolidge woke up one day and decided he didn’t want to be president anymore. That left us with Herbert Hoover, and I’ll just leave that there.
Why did I rank him here?
I ranked Coolidge too high in previous rankings, so I corrected it this time around. He needs to be in the bottom third. The Mississippi River flooded in 1927, and it was a disaster. But Cal, with a small government mindset and trying to keep spending down, didn't do much to correct flooding problems.
It's graduation season - my best wishes to all the graduates and their families. It's a fun time of transitioning to new beginnings and new adventures. When I graduated from Xavier, I gave a speech that referenced Shakespeare, most of the monologue from As You Like It. The All the World is a stage, and the men and women are merely players, idea. I crushed it.
Speaking of college, I took a class that was focused on scriptwriting. We had to come up with story ideas and make pitches - that sort of thing. I once pitched the idea of a late-night show which I called Up Too Late with Chris Dake. It was nothing groundbreaking, and I don't believe I received any "investment," which was how we were graded. Whatever, I still liked the name.