NEVER MOUNT TRUMPMORE
The Donald already lags in decennial presidential ranking
The Great Emancipator can rest easy — but George Washington, Franklin Roosevelt and all the other presidential greats, watch out.
“I will be the most presidential president this country has ever had,” Donald Trump brags, “except for honest Abe Lincoln. I cannot beat him.”
Let’s just carve his bust into Mount Rushmore now, shall we? I’m pretty sure the Father of Our Country, the author of the Declaration of Independence and the great Bull Moose will gladly move over to accommodate Trump. But because he is sure he’ll be greater than them, of course, his head will have to be bigger than their puny 60 feet.
Or perhaps we should pause and ask a question that Trump himself should ponder: What makes for presidential greatness in the first place?
Every 10 years, Siena College answers this question by asking historians, political scientists and presidential scholars to rank the 43 men who have been president based on 19 categories. Sorry, Mr. Trump, but the size of your, uh, hands, isn’t one of them. AND THE CATEGORIES ARE
The greatest presidents are the usual titans: Thomas Jefferson is fifth, George Washington is fourth and Lincoln is third. Topping the list are two New Yorkers: Theodore Roosevelt is second, and his distant cousin Franklin is the greatest of them all.
Among the categories that vaulted the Roosevelts, Lincoln, Washington and Jefferson to the top are some that can’t be used to judge a presidency until it has concluded: avoiding crucial mistakes, handling of the economy, domestic and foreign policy achievements, and court appointments, for example.
But we can make early observations on other categories that can help determine ultimate greatness. One of Siena’s rankings is background, namely family, education and experience. Like many presidents, Trump was born into privilege and connections and made the most of both. Like many presidents, he has an Ivy League degree (from the University of Pennsylvania). George W. Bush went to Yale and Harvard Business School and ranks 39th. But his dad and Bill Clinton, both of whom earned degrees from Yale, fare much better.
So does Harvard and Columbia alum Barack Obama, for that matter, though Siena’s last survey was in 2010, toward the start of the Obama presidency. He’ll get the full treatment, for better or worse, in 2020.
Trump would be the first president since Dwight D. Eisenhower with no political experience. But Eisenhower — who ranks 10th — was a five-star general during World War II and later became the first supreme commander of NATO, a pillar of global security that Trump criticizes as obsolete.
Ike came to the presidency deeply experienced in national security; Trump apparently is unfamiliar with the nuclear triad. ‘PANTS ON FIRE’
Some of Siena’s other leadership qualities also hint at trouble: How well, for example, a president leads his or her party and how well he or she gets along with Congress. The greatest presidents scored highly here. But Trump, though he is wavering, started his presumptive-nominee period by having a falling out with House Speaker Paul Ryan and dismissing the importance of party unity.
Other leadership qualities include imagination, the ability to compromise and the willingness to take risks. All the greats generally got high marks on these.
Good scores here can also move second-tier presidents up the rankings: Ronald Reagan (18th) and Clinton (13th) famously gave a little to get a little from House Speakers Tip O’Neill and Newt Gingrich, respectively. John F. Kennedy (11th) imagined an American on the moon when few others did. Obama will get credit for rolling the dice on the raid that killed Osama bin Laden.
Trump’s record suggests he is a fan of negotiated compromise. He has already demonstrated an affinity for risk and big ideas, but would these qualities transfer well to the much larger, complex arena of the presidency? If the area is nuclear proliferation — such as his suggestion that allies Saudi Arabia and South Korea maybe should have nuclear weapons — count me out.
Finally, integrity is a big one. All politicians are devious to some degree, bluffing, using spin, disinformation and the occasional sleight of hand to get their way. But outright lying? That’s another matter. Trump, a wheeler-dealer in the rough world of New York real estate, is certainly devious, and this isn’t a criticism. Is he a liar? Politifact says 61% of the Trump claims it has checked are false, some of them “pants on fire” false.
So Trump is right: At least in that category, he cannot beat Honest Abe.