Robert W. Merry - Where They Stand: The American Presidents in the Eyes of Voters and Historians

The author of the acclaimed biography of President James Polk, A Country of Vast Designs , offers a fresh, playful, and challenging way of playing Rating the Presidents, by pitching historians views and subsequent experts polls against the judgment and votes of the presidents own contemporaries.

Merry posits that presidents rise and fall based on performance, as judged by the electorate. Thus, he explores the presidency by comparing the judgments of historians with how the voters saw things. Was the president reelected? If so, did his party hold office in the next election?

Where They Stand examines the chief executives Merry calls Men of Destiny, those who set the country toward new directions. There are six of them, including the three nearly always at the top of all academic pollsLincoln, Washington, and FDR. He describes the Split-Decision Presidents (including Wilson and Nixon)successful in their first terms and reelected; less successful in their second terms and succeeded by the opposition party. He describes the Near Greats (Jefferson, Jackson, Polk, TR, Truman), the War Presidents (Madison, McKinley, Lyndon Johnson), the flat-out failures (Buchanan, Pierce), and those whose standing has fluctuated (Grant, Cleveland, Eisenhower).

This voyage through our history provides a probing and provocative analysis of how presidential politics works and how the country sets its course. Where They Stand invites readers to pitch their opinions against the voters of old, the historians, the pollstersand against the author himself. In this year of raucous presidential politics, Where They Stand will provide a context for the unfolding campaign drama.

PRAISE FOR

WHERE THEY STAND

There is no better guide for evaluating our current presidential candidates than this remarkable book. Reporters, commentators and citizens alike should read Robert Merrys illuminating journey into the past to discover what made our previous presidents succeed or fail. The history is lively; the writing is graceful; the analysis is brilliant.

DORIS KEARNS GOODWIN, author of Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln

Its no secret that presidential reputations can bounce around like corn in a popper. Why, and how, this is so has long sustained that favorite academic parlor game, Ranking the Presidents. Bob Merrys Where They Stand sets a new standard in historical (re-)assessment. Is Wilson really as overrated as Merry claims? Are Grant, Eisenhower and Reagan as deserving of their newfound luster? The argument rages on, as provocative as it is entertaining. There may be dull presidents in our past, but theres not a dull page in this Bible of revisionism.

RICHARD NORTON SMITH, author of the Colonel: The Life and Legend of Robert R. McCormick and Patriarch: George Washington and the New American Nation

Madison or Reagan? Ulysses Grant or Jimmy Carter? Readers who accept Robert Merrys challenge to rank the forty-four U.S. presidents will learn a great deal painlessly about Americas history but may also confront a few uncomfortable biases and blinders of their own. Where They Stand is the most enjoyable of election-year party games.

A.J. LANGGUTH, author of Driven West: Andrew Jackson and the Trail of Tears to the Civil War

Nobody is a shrewder judge of American politicsnow or thenthan Bob Merry. He takes us down a new path to rate the presidentsand has some fun along the way.

EVAN THOMAS, author of Ikes Bluff: President Eisenhowers Secret Battle to Save the World

It is rare that such a breezy book exhibits both serious intent and skillful analysis. Such grounded reflections make this an unusually authoritative book. While likely to be catnip for aficionados of presidential studies, this will also quickly rank high among serious works on the presidency.

Publishers Weekly , starred review

SCOTT J. FERRELL

ROBERT W. MERRY , editor of The National Interest , has been a Washington correspondent and publishing executive for thirty-eight years. He covered the White House, Congress, and national politics for The Wall Street Journal for a decade and spent twenty-two years as an executive at Congressional Quarterly , including twelve years as CEO. This is his fourth book. Merry lives in McLean, Virginia.

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ALSO BY ROBERT W. MERRY

A Country of Vast Designs:

James K. Polk, the Mexican War, and

the Conquest of the American Continent

Sands of Empire: Missionary Zeal ,

American Foreign Policy, and the Hazards of Global Ambition

Taking On the World: Joseph and Stewart

AlsopGuardians of the American Century

The American Presidents in the Eyes of Voters and Historians

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Copyright 2012 by Robert W. Merry

All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book or portions thereof in any form whatsoever. For information address Simon & Schuster Subsidiary Rights Department, 1230 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10020

First Simon & Schuster hardcover edition June 2012

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Merry, Robert W., date.

Where they stand: The American presidents in the eyes of voters and historians /By Robert W. Merry.

p. cm.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

1. PresidentsRating ofUnited States. 2. PresidentsUnited StatesBiography. 3. PresidentsUnited StatesHistory. 4. Political leadershipUnited StatesHistory. 5. United StatesPolitics and government. I. Title.

E176.1.M468 2012

973.009'9dc23

[B] 2011039883

ISBN 978-1-4516-2540-0

ISBN 978-1-4516-2543-1 (ebook)

All photos courtesy of the Library of Congress, except that of George W. Bush, which is courtesy of the White House (photo by Eric Draper).

To Rob, Johanna, and Stephanie ,

who sparkle in life like aspen leaves in an autumn breeze

WHERE THEY STAND

M ark Twain once wrote, It is difference of opinion that makes horse-races.)

As a longtime political journalist in Washington and a presidential biographer, I have succumbed to this indoor sport over the years. Now I propose to pull you into the Great White House Rating Game. It is fun to play, on a muddy or dry field, on a murky or clear day. Thats partly because the game is ongoing and open to all. With horse races, the difference of opinion gets settled definitively at the finish line. In the White House Rating Game, there is no finish linejust endless difference of opinion. I believe that is one huge value derived from the periodic polls of academic experts on presidential success. They spark lively debate and generate in turn interest in the American past. I hope to do the same with this book.