The Leaders We Deserved (and a Few We Didn't): Rethinking the Presidential Rating Game Book

This should be required reading in every classroom in America. It's non-partisan -- Reagan and FDR are near the top with the usual suspects like Lincoln and Washington. And Nixon and Buchanan (and Carter) are near the bottom. So this guy isn't one of the Nixon-hung-the-moon, FDR-gave-away-Europe wackos on the right or a Reagan-was-the-worst-ever wacko on the left. He grades most presidents (not the current one who's still in office, or the two -- Garfield and the first Harrison -- who only had a cup of coffee as president) on 6 different categories, and averages them.

It's a fine study. I saw a few typos that a fact-checker should have caught. But nothing most people would notice. (I think he quotes a Lincoln speech in 1865 sted 1860.... But only a freak -- or me -- would notice.)

You know a book is good when you're recommending it to friends before you've even finished.

A must read for any kid who wants to major in history. Or any politician who aspires to be president. Or just for anybody who wants to argue about this subject. (T. Roosevelt better than F. Roosevelt? Coolidge and Kennedy on the same level? Harding gets a higher grade than Old Hickory?)

Enjoy. I did.