Happy Presidents' Day! Ranked the 5 Best and 5 Worst U.S. Presidents Ever

Here is how one expert made his picks. Did Trump or Obama rank? Take a look.

By James Jay Carafano

Historians and journalists often churn out lists ranking the U.S. presidents. Typically, these rankings do little more than reveal the politics of those compiling the list. If you want objective assessments of the past, we can do better.

First, let’s be honest. Presidents are not responsible for everything that happens in America. Ford beat Ferrari without help from the White House. Presidents shouldn’t be given credit or assigned blame for everything that goes right and wrong.

Further, presidential action is a mélange of domestic and foreign activity. Add up anybody’s four years in the Oval Office, and it’s a bit of a fruit salad.

Ranking NCAA basketball teams make more sense. And while you might not agree with all the bracket assignments, at the end of the day, it’s all decided in a championship face-off game. You really can’t do that with presidents. No one can organize a death match between Franklin Pierce and William Henry Harrison.

While precise rankings might not have much credibility, it’s worth pondering who should be lumped into the top bracket and who can be consigned to the losers circle. After all, there is a credible standard to apply. Presidents who handled existential threats to the nation ought to get top grades. Presidents who dragged us down get bupkis.

First, let’s look at the winners.

.Presidents' Day 2020 History.Com Editors

Updated:Feb 14, 2020 original:Oct 26, 2010

Presidents' Day is a federal holiday celebrated on the third Monday in February; Presidents' Day 2020 occurs on Monday, February 17. Originally established in 1885 in recognition of President George Washington, the holiday became popularly known as Presidents' Day after it was moved as part of 1971’s Uniform Monday Holiday Act, an attempt to create more three-day weekends for the nation’s workers.

While several states still have individual holidays honoring the birthdays of Washington, Abraham Lincoln and other figures, Presidents' Day is now popularly viewed as a day to celebrate all U.S. presidents, past and present.

Washington's Birthday

The story of Presidents' Day date begins in 1800. Following the death of George Washington in 1799, his February 22 birthday became a perennial day of remembrance.

At the time, Washington was venerated as the most important figure in American history, and events like the 1832 centennial of his birth and the start of construction of the Washington Monument in 1848 were cause for national celebration.

While Washington’s Birthday was an unofficial observance for most of the 1800s, it was not until the late 1870s that it became a federal holiday. Senator Steven Wallace Dorsey of Arkansas was the first to propose the measure, and in 1879 President Rutherford B. Hayes signed it into law.

.Inspiring Presidential Quotes On Life, Liberty, And The Pursuit Of Happiness

By Drake Baer July 4 2014

In honor of America's 238th birthday, we collected the finest aphorisms to come from the Oval Office. They include life lessons from George Washington, leadership advice from Thomas Jefferson, and reflections on success from Abraham Lincoln.

These leaders probably had the toughest job in the world. Here are a few of the things they learned from it.

George Washington 1789-1797

"Associate yourself with men of good quality if you esteem your own reputation; for 'tis better to be alone than in bad company."

John Adams 1797-1801

"You will ever remember that all the end of study is to make you a good man and a useful citizen."

Thomas Jefferson 1801-1809

"When angry, count ten, before you speak; if very angry, a hundred."

James Madison 1809-1817

"The advancement and diffusion of knowledge is the only guardian of true liberty."