Unexplained List: Storrow

53) Ben Smith (1960) 52) John Davis (1835) 51) James Lloyd (1808) 50) Jonathan Mason (1800) 49) John Kerry (1985) 48) David Walsh (1919) 47) Henry Wilson (1855) 46) Scott Brown (2010) 45) Henry Dawes (1875) 44) Paul Kirk (2009) 43) Elizabeth Warren (2013) 42) Edward Brooke (1967) 41) Daniel Webster (1827) 40) Henry Cabot Lodge (1893) 39) Henry Cabot Lodge Jr. (1937) 38) William M. Butler (1924) 37) Ed Markey (2013) 36) Christopher Gore (1813) 35) John Kennedy (1953) 34) Ted Kennedy (1962) 33) George Cabot (1791) 32) Charles Sumner (1851) 31) John Quincy Adams (1803) 30) Marcus Coolidge (1931) 29) John W. Weeks (1913) 28) Mo Cowan (2013) 27) Elijah Mills (1820)

26) George F. Hoar (1877) 25) Isaac C. Bates (1841) 24) Caleb Strong (1789) 23) Robert C. Winthrop (1850) 22) Edward Everett (1853) 21) Paul Tsongas (1979) 20) Dwight Foster (1800) 19) Willie Washburn (1874) 18) Harrison Otis (1817) 17) Benjamin Goodhue (1796) 16) George S. Boutwell (1873) 15) Robert Rantoul Jr. (1851) 14) Samuel Dexter (1799) 13) Timothy Pickering (1803) 12) Frederick H. Gillett (1925) 11) Eli Ashmun (1816) 10) Julius Rockwell (1854) 9) Rufus Choate (1841) 8) Joseph Bradley Varnum (1811) 7) Theodore Sedgwick (1796) 6) Prentiss Mellen (1818) 5) Sinclair Weeks (1944) 4) Nathaniel Silsbee (1826) 3) Winthrop Crane (1904) 2) Tristram Dalton (1789) 1) Leverett Saltonstall (1944)

Fun with Ranking Presidents

Boise State has released their latest ranking of the Presidents. As I’ve said many times before, this is an absurd undertaking. It’s impossible to fairly compare Presidents who faced different challenges, different worlds, different expectations, different jobs. I do find them fascinating. It’s worth it to see how modern politics affects how experts view history. Before reading further, I suggest you click the link above and look at their methodology and breakdowns. Don’t comment on bias in this list. It’s addressed in the breakdown.

On the breakdown, they mention that they asked the experts about which presidents were the most polarizing. More fascinating than the answer to that question is the actual breakdown on ideological lines in the study itself. They broke down how the experts voted based on their political affiliation. The differences and similarities among Republicans, Democrats, Conservatives, and Liberals is worth a look. First, where all four groups agree:

Within the Top 10: Lincoln Washington FDR T Roosevelt Jefferson Truman Eisenhower

Firmly in the middle: Cleveland Grant Ford

Within the Bottom 10: Taylor Tyler Harding Fillmore Trump Pierce A Johnson WH Harrison Buchanan

Keep Reading >>

Unexplained List: Amendments

10) XXVI
9) III
8) XV
7) XII
6) IX
5) XXV
4) XXI
3) XIX
2) XIII
1) I