A lot of America has the day off today to celebrate Presidents' Day.
I am not one of those people.
Since I must labor today, I thought I would bring some presidents along--our first, George Washington, and our current, Barack Obama, join our 16th, Abraham Lincoln, whom I brought in Thursday to celebrate his 200th birthday.
A recent poll of historians and scholars named Lincoln as our best president, with Washington in second place. Obama wasn't included in the poll, nor should he have been--the man hasn't even been on the job for a month yet, though it already feels like it's been a good deal longer than that.
Where will he rank when this poll is taken again in four years? Will he be up near the top, with Franklin Roosevelt and Harry Truman? Or will he linger at the bottom with the likes of Warren Harding, James Buchanan and most recent occupant of the office, George W. Bush? Much depends on what happens with the economy within the next 12-18 months. If the jobless rate goes down, if banks start lending again, if real estate prices stop their freefall...President Obama would rank pretty well. But if people keep losing their jobs, if banks keep hanging onto their bailout money with a deathgrip, if housing prices bottom out while no one has the money to buy...he and Franklin Pierce might be bunkmates at the bottom.
Only time--and money (or, rather, the appropriate spending thereof)--will tell.
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