Stephen Moore: Scholars Rank Biggest Spending Presidents as the Greatest

Before Joe Biden became President, he had consulted several historians about the best way to be a great commander and chief. They had one simple answer: Grow government. Spend, spend, spend. Do not worry about paying off your debt.

It was the worst advice and it contributed to our economic disaster.

I was therefore not surprised to learn about the poll that surveyed more than 100 academic historians in America. They rated which president was the best and worst. This is the Siena College Research Institute’s absurd popularity contest. It happens every few years.

These results reveal a lot more about historians’ leftward political tendencies than they do about President Obama’s performance.

Franklin Delano Roosevelt is the president that has consistently been ranked highest in recent polls. Theodore Roosevelt, George Washington and Abraham Lincoln are also among the top five.

FDR is a great president. Yes, he was the commander-in-chief of the military during World War II. He also deserved high marks because he won the war. However, his domestic economic plan was a disaster of epic proportions. The New Deal expanded modern-day government for eight years, but the unemployment rate remained around 10% the entire time. The Great Depression continued.

Woodrow Wilson is also considered a great president. He increased the income tax from 7 to 70%, pulled America into war it shouldn’t have, ran up debt, and inaugurated the first disastrous era in American history. “progressive” government. He is undoubtedly one of the five worst presidents.

Biden was ranked 19th overall. The president who has pushed the national debt to the stratosphere, and allowed inflation to rise to its highest point in 40 years is above-average. Why? What is it?

In terms of economic failures President Barack Obama is at 11th place and President Lyndon Baines Johnson at 8th. His legacy included the disastrous Vietnam War, the failed Great Society, and the birth the modern welfare state.

On the other hand, President Ronald Reagan is only ranked 18th best national leader. He won the Cold War and defeated communism. Biden is barely better than Reagan.

Donald Trump is the last-to-last of all presidents. Trump reduced taxes, deregulated, made America more energy independent, and engineered Operation Warp Speed, which saved millions of lives around the world. He’s not far from the bottom for this.

So who were the greatest presidents ever? Everybody has their favorite presidents, but here is mine based on security, prosperity, and limited government: Grover, Calvin Coolidge and Jefferson.

These presidents were advocates of liberty and saw government growth as the best way to end tyranny. Trump, who I was privileged to have worked for, should be included in the “near great” category. But I’m biased.

Stephen Moore is a Senior Fellow at Heritage Foundation and an economist for FreedomWorks. His latest book is “Govzilla: How the Relentless Growth of Government is Devouring our Economy.”

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