"Rating America's Presidents" by Robert Spencer (Aug. 2020); 548 pp.
After analyzing the economic, social, military, and foreign policies of all of America's 45 presidents, in this book the author presents his 10-point-scale "ratings" of their administrations' view of limited government (based on a scale of 1-low through 10-great), rather than an overall "ranking" of them (from best to worst).
The author noted that his rating criteria differs significantly from those used in most of the other well-known presidential rankings that have been published since Pres. FDR's administration. Mr. Spencer contends that most of the criteria used in these earlier surveys are "deeply flawed" (p. 3), as they were proffered by academicians favoring presidents who advocated strong liberal, activist, domestic socialistic "Big Government" and military supported foreign-policy interventionism, i.e. supporting the ever expanding American "Welfare state" or sending U.S. troops to continuously intervene in never ending "police conflicts" overseas. American liberals, besides favoring liberal presidents such as FDR, JFK, and Obama, also liked Pres. G. Washington (for supporting the replacement of the laissez faire Continental/Confederation Congress into our current federalized government), and Pres. T. Jefferson (touted as the 'founder' of the current Democratic Party).
Contrary to them, Mr. Spencer contends that "great" presidents should be graded instead by their "Preserving, protecting, and defending the Constitution of the United States. Or...is one who puts America first" (p. 4).
Some leftist critics might try to whitewash Mr. Spencer's "America First" rating-yardstick as being just a disguise that "America First" or conservatism is really nothing more than anti-Black racism. Much to the contrary: The author opined: "The term 'America first" has also been associated...with racism and anti-Semitism. The funding principles of the republic, notably the proposition that, as the Declaration of Independence puts it, "all men are created equal, and endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights,'" shows that putting America first has nothing to do with such petty and irrational hatreds" (p. 6). In analyzing Pres. R.B. Hayes, the author noted that Hayes' withdrawal of federal troops out of the Confederacy thereby "enabled the creation of the 'Solid South', which voted nearly unanimously Democratic in virtually every national, state, and local election for the next eighty years and systematically deprived black Americans of equality of rights" (p. 213}.
Pres. Woodrow Wilson has been ranked high in most progressive presidential rankings. However, since the Summer 2020 "Black Lives Matter" (BLM) protests, illiberal progressives have been whittling away his liberal standing due to his racist statements. The current illiberal progressives are now denouncing both Washington & Jefferson for their Black-slave ownership, and, argue that their entire 1780s freedom beliefs should be replaced by statist-socialist policies.
The author argues that Pres. A. Lincoln should receive a 10-rating rather than a 9, even though Lincoln declared a suspension of habeas corpus in April 1861 (p. 179).
Pres. Donald Trump receives a 10-rating, based on his promoting limited government and attempting initially to support a robust private-enterprise domestic economy -- until the Chicom Covid-19 virus hit.
Rather than reveal Mr. Spencer's analysis of other presidents, I believe that the author provides a fresh and consistent look in evaluating the political impact of our presidents -- in terms as to how they viewed limited government and international intervention. Some may question the author's isolationist tone, but it is one based on his sincere beliefs that the U.S. Constitution provides for both a Congress and president dedicated to limited government intervention into the lives of both domestic citizens and foreign individuals.
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