The recent presidential election and inauguration prompted everyone from political pundits to former plumbers to offer their assessment of our nation’s presidents - past, present and future. As an historian of U.S. presidents, I find it hard to resist the temptation to join in the flurry of presidential assessing that has been taking place, especially now that the two terms of our 43rd president have come to a close. However, as tempting as it might be to add my voice to the cacophony of opinions about our recently departed president, it might be worthwhile to pause to reflect on how the Commonwealth of Virginia’s presidents stack up in the rating game, as well as pause to consider whether we should be so quick to jump on the bandwagon that is trying to bump history’s record-holding last-place president - Warren G. Harding - with George W. Bush.
Known as the “Mother of Presidents,” the Commonwealth of Virginia is the most frequent birthplace of U. S. presidents, with eight of 44 born here. Virginia also stands out for setting the nation off on solid presidential footing, with four of the first five U.S. presidents - and six of the first 10 U.S. presidents - coming from the Commonwealth.
Even more notable than the volume and initiative of Virginia’s production of presidents is the stature of the presidents this Commonwealth has produced. Over the course of the major U.S. presidential rankings that have been conducted, from the mid-20th century to just weeks ago, Virginia’s presidents consistently receive high scores.
In Arthur M. Schlesinger, Sr.’s groundbreaking presidential poll in 1948 and follow-up poll in 1962, Virginia presidents captured three of the top five slots, with George Washington coming in second, Woodrow Wilson coming in fourth, and Thomas Jefferson coming in fifth both times. In those polls, James Madison and James Monroe both captured top-twenty slots, with John Tyler and Zachary Taylor placing in the top twenty-five. The only Virginia-born president who was not included in Schlesinger’s polls (or in many polls that have been conducted since that time) was William Henry Harrison, who only served a few months of his presidency before dying of pneumonia.
The most recent major presidential ratings, which were released over President’s Day weekend by C-SPAN, bear an amazing resemblance to Schlesinger’s earlier polls, when it comes to Virginia’s presidents. Washington remains in second position, with Jefferson and Wilson in the top ten. Madison and Monroe remain in the top twenty, while Tyler and Taylor slip a bit, but remain well above the worst-ranked presidents.
Certainly, when it comes to U.S. presidents, one thing Virginia is not known for is producing our nation’s worst ranked leader - a topic of hot debate, leading up to and following the recent transition in the White House.
Eric Foner, preeminent historian at Columbia University, wrote a compelling piece in The Washington Post in 2006 about President George W. Bush, entitled, “He’s the Worst Ever.” Foner noted that, while “Historians are loathe to predict the future … there is no alternative but to rank him as the worst president in U.S. history.” And, in the January 19, 2009 issue of Newsweek, Jacob Weisberg (author of The Bush Tragedy) stated, “Among presidential historians, it is hardly an eccentric view that 43 ranks as America’s worst president ever.”
In a national poll that was conducted by CNN/Opinion Research Corporation and released on November 10, 2008, the day Barack Obama first visited the White House in his then role as President-elect, President Bush was ranked as the most unpopular president since presidential approval ratings were first conducted more than six decades ago. Coming in at a 76 percent disapproval rating, President Bush became the first president to beat Richard Nixon’s disapproval rating of 66 percent when Nixon resigned from office during Watergate. The recent C-SPAN poll, which was released just months after the CNN poll, placed President Bush at 36th - still close to the bottom of the pack, but not last. However, some speculate that Bush will ultimately and consistently topple Warren G. Harding’s long-standing status as the worst president in the history of all U.S. presidents. To those who make such predictions, I would note that conspicuously absent from the two-term administration of President Bush - unlike the two-year administration of Harding - is a major personal or administrative scandal.
For many historians, political scientists, and professional pollsters, Harding remains - and will always remain - in a class of his own when it comes to presidential failure. Since 1948 when Arthur M. Schlesinger, Sr. started the practice of presidential polling, Harding has fallen consistently at the bottom of the list. This long-held distinction is all the more notable, given that in 1920 Harding was elected by the biggest majority any President had received up to that time and, when he died in office in 1923, his loss was widely mourned by the public, and he was called the most beloved president since Lincoln.
However, Harding’s precipitous fall from public grace began within weeks of his death, as shocking stories of his personal malfeasance and administrative corruption began to break in the media. Just a few of the highlights (or, rather, lowlights) of Harding’s legacy include: an illegitimate child born by a blonde flapper thirty years Harding’s junior, which was just one of Harding’s infidelities; his penchant for drinking liquor in the White House during national prohibition; his association with “The Ohio Gang,” the political and industrial cronies who allegedly helped Harding get the Republican presidential nomination in return for Cabinet appointments and other presidential favors; and, probably the most egregious faux pas of Harding’s administration, the Teapot Dome scandal, a complex series of illegal events involving government contracts and Big Oil. Harding’s lackluster record of accomplishments while in office has done little to mitigate the reputational blow of the posthumous allegations launched against him and the court indictments rendered on his cabinet members, political associates, and “friends.” In fact, so unimpressive was Harding’s presidential dossier that even Virginia-born William Henry Harrison (on those rare occasions when he has been included in polls) has rarely under-ranked Harding in the long history of presidential surveys.
Undoubtedly, Bush’s ill-founded decision to invade Iraq, his world alienating and constitutionally questionable “war on terror,” and the colossal financial crisis that comprise his legacy will not earn him a top-seeded position on presidential polls for the foreseeable future. Even without the benefit of multiple years of hindsight on Bush’s presidency, it is safe to assume that Bush will never be on par with many of the highly-ranked presidents Virginia has produced. But, with Harding’s service as the benchmark for presidential failure having survived 15 subsequent presidents, some of whose terms spanned the Vietnam War, Watergate, Monica Lewinsky and other politically calamitous events, how can a president like George W. Bush with no currently known personal or administrative scandals be considered the worst president of all time? As Harding’s legacy has taught us, only time will tell.
Certainly, time has been kind to Virginia’s presidents, who have held on strong to their high rankings. Only William Henry Harrison has ever slipped to the bottom tier, coming in 39th in the recent C-SPAN poll. However, I have to question the validity of including a president who only served a few months (during most of which he was gravely ill), amidst a large pool of presidents who served full - if not multiple - terms. Even Thomas Jefferson has remained highly ranked, after falling from hero status to human status when more than a decade and a half after his presidency some of his imperfections were revealed. Whatever time reveals in the future, Virginia’s presidents are not at risk of falling in last place - Harding’s legacy seems to have secured that spot.
Dr. Eugene P. Trani is President of Virginia Commonwealth University and President and Chair of the VCU Health System. He is the author of The Presidency of Warren G. Harding.
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