The American presidency is one of the strangest jobs in the world.
Politicians aspire to it. The media focuses obsessively on the person who holds it and those who want to win it. Millions of books and articles have been written about it. And yet, most of the people who've held the job really weren't that good.
There are a few truly great presidents, some pretty good ones, and a handful of complete disasters. But most can be summed up, as the Simpsons famously once did, as the "adequate, forgettable, occasionally regrettable, caretaker presidents of the U.S.A."
In fairness, the presidency radically changed in the 20th century, especially as the United States became a global power, so it's a bit hard to compare the earlier commanders in chief to the modern ones. And despite the many mediocrities, ranking the presidents is a popular pastime, one I've dabbled in myself. So let's ask a slightly different question: Who are the most overrated and underrated holders of the most thankless job in American politics?
This is a preview of Michael A. Cohen's latest article. Read their full column here.
