In
recent weeks, former presidents Bill Clinton and Jimmy
Carter have been vilified for criticizing a sitting president.
And veteran reporter Helen Thomas has been targeted by the
Republican National Committee, whose members were instructed
to "call her out" for deeming G. W. Bush "the
worst president in all of American history." But
if former presidents can't speak out and 82-year-old icons
are intimidated, who will champion the America we love? William
J. Ridings and Stuart B. McIver offer a solution.
Authors of "RATING THE PRESIDENTS: A Ranking of U.S.
Leaders, From the Great and Honorable to the Dishonest and
Corrupt," they polled hundreds of academics and historians
throughout the U.S. and Europe and rated presidents in terms
of leadership, political skill, appointments, accomplishments
and crisis management and character and integrity.
As is the case with any such list, it's open for nitpicking,
but even so, delving into the lives and words of our nation's
finest connects us to America's beacons. And though reminders
of our noble birth and traditional values underscore how far
we've fallen, these sentiments remain in the hearts of patriots
everywhere.
Here, then, is a sampling of ideals set forth by our best
and brightest, in contrast to those we presently endure:
Hail
to the Chiefs:
