Happy Presidents' Day!
A new ranking of presidents, as voted on by historians, was published today. Dubya comes in 36th out of 42.
By the way, if you're wondering why Obama is referred to as the 44th president when there only 42 ex-presidents, it's because one of them - Grover Cleveland - counts twice (he served two non-consecutive terms). So when Obama started his inauguration speech by saying that "44 presidents have now taken this oath," he was wrong. Afterwards, his people claimed it was a deliberate mistake. Hmm.
REAGAN was No. 10?!?!
I just nearly choked on my coffee, reading that.
These historians need to dust off their copies of "The Triumph of Politics" by Reagan's first budget director, David Stockman. The so-called Reagan Revolution is one of the main, deep-rooted causes of today's American (and thereby global) economic mess! Nevermind the Iran-Contra Affair -- we've developed a culture in which former-Veep Dick Cheney felt comfortable declaring, "Everyone knows that deficits don't matter" thanks to the Reagan era.
For that, Reagan should be down there with 43 on this list.
Posted by: Lyle | February 17, 2009 at 06:40 AM
I buy the "deliberate mistake" argument. In theater, there is always the issue of whether to present something as historically accurate or historically inaccurate when the audience is likely going to have the strong pre-existing belief that the inaccuracy is true. If you present historical accuracy in the play, it could knock the audience out of its enjoyment and distract it by asking: Wait, did he just get a fact wrong? This is, of course, abhorrent to theatrical productions.
Posted by: Kyle | February 17, 2009 at 01:09 PM