I'd say we should start with Wilson, but others say it makes more sense to start with Lincoln. However, Lincoln would be a Democrat today, so I'd say it would make sense to start with Wilson, since he was the first progressive Democrat. Even though Grant, Arthur, Taft, McKinley (to a degree) were conservative, B Harrison and TR were not, while Cleveland was, it's fairest to start with Wilson.
Okay, Wilson was the 3rd president to produce the ratchet effect.
I'll rank him an F (0 points).
Harding gets an A, no doubt (4 points).
Coolidge also gets an A, w/o a doubt (4 points).
Hoover gets a D so that's 1 point.
FDR was the 4th president to produce the ratchet effect. 0 points for him, so far, the Democrats are at an average of F.
Truman retired some of the Federal debt if I'm not mistaken, although he still spent a lot. He gets a C (although closer to a D+) so that's 2 points.
Eisenhower was the last President to have a year during his admin with a true federal surplus, but he still spent far more than he took in. The interstate highway system was a waste of money in particular. He gets a C, although more like a C+. Still, he gets 2 points, as I'm not going to do +/-.
JFK gets a D, because he wasted too much money; he increased spending quite a bit from Eisenhower's first year, although spending went down for the 2nd budget he submitted, so that save him from an F. Had his 2nd budget been balanced, he would've received a C- but it wasn't so JFK gets a D.
LBJ gets a D, although it's a D+. While his deficits were smaller than Ike's (when Ike had deficits), he never had a true federal surplus, plus he had a lot more revenue than Ike did.
Nixon also gets a D. He didn't quite produce the ratchet effect nor did he spend like Reagan, but he still spent too much.
Ford gets a D.
Carter gets a D, because he spent significantly less than Reagan and because he actually did make some attempts to reduce spending, unlike Reagan.
Reagan gets an F.
Bush 41 gets an F, even if it borders a D-.
Clinton gets a C, although it borders a B-.
Bush 43 gets an F.
I'll go ahead and rank Obama with an F.
Okay, so there are 8 Ds whom accumulated 7 points total, which is a GPA of .875, which is basically a D. There were 9 Rs whom accumulated a total of 13 points. The Republican GPA is ~1.4, which is basically borderline C/D, and they're only so high because I started with the first progressive Democrat (when the parties' rhetoric about the size of government shifted) rather than with Lincoln. Worse still for the Republicans, if one were to take Harding and Coolidge out of the picture, the Republican GPA would be a lot lower than the Democratic GPA, as the Republicans got more Ds and Fs than they got Cs (and the 3 most recent Republicans got Fs).
Does my analysis make sense or should we start with Lincoln? I didn't fail Carter or Ford, because Reagan spent a lot more than they did (and raised taxes also). However, I gave Clinton a C, because he still increased spending, so the grades are based somewhat on absolute spending, but also on relative spending.
Okay, Wilson was the 3rd president to produce the ratchet effect.
I'll rank him an F (0 points).
Harding gets an A, no doubt (4 points).
Coolidge also gets an A, w/o a doubt (4 points).
Hoover gets a D so that's 1 point.
FDR was the 4th president to produce the ratchet effect. 0 points for him, so far, the Democrats are at an average of F.
Truman retired some of the Federal debt if I'm not mistaken, although he still spent a lot. He gets a C (although closer to a D+) so that's 2 points.
Eisenhower was the last President to have a year during his admin with a true federal surplus, but he still spent far more than he took in. The interstate highway system was a waste of money in particular. He gets a C, although more like a C+. Still, he gets 2 points, as I'm not going to do +/-.
JFK gets a D, because he wasted too much money; he increased spending quite a bit from Eisenhower's first year, although spending went down for the 2nd budget he submitted, so that save him from an F. Had his 2nd budget been balanced, he would've received a C- but it wasn't so JFK gets a D.
LBJ gets a D, although it's a D+. While his deficits were smaller than Ike's (when Ike had deficits), he never had a true federal surplus, plus he had a lot more revenue than Ike did.
Nixon also gets a D. He didn't quite produce the ratchet effect nor did he spend like Reagan, but he still spent too much.
Ford gets a D.
Carter gets a D, because he spent significantly less than Reagan and because he actually did make some attempts to reduce spending, unlike Reagan.
Reagan gets an F.
Bush 41 gets an F, even if it borders a D-.
Clinton gets a C, although it borders a B-.
Bush 43 gets an F.
I'll go ahead and rank Obama with an F.
Okay, so there are 8 Ds whom accumulated 7 points total, which is a GPA of .875, which is basically a D. There were 9 Rs whom accumulated a total of 13 points. The Republican GPA is ~1.4, which is basically borderline C/D, and they're only so high because I started with the first progressive Democrat (when the parties' rhetoric about the size of government shifted) rather than with Lincoln. Worse still for the Republicans, if one were to take Harding and Coolidge out of the picture, the Republican GPA would be a lot lower than the Democratic GPA, as the Republicans got more Ds and Fs than they got Cs (and the 3 most recent Republicans got Fs).
Does my analysis make sense or should we start with Lincoln? I didn't fail Carter or Ford, because Reagan spent a lot more than they did (and raised taxes also). However, I gave Clinton a C, because he still increased spending, so the grades are based somewhat on absolute spending, but also on relative spending.
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