William Henry Harrison should not be rated as a bad president, he should be the bar we rate the rest on. - eviltoast

Slightly late for President’s Day in America, apologies.


Saw this article about the presidents being rated. William Henry Harrison came in 41st.

The thing to know about him is he was president for a month and then he died. That was his impact. He died. He didn’t noticeably improve or worsen things (Based on his inaugural speech he might’ve been bad but he never got to act on it) because he had no time to because he died. Which consequently means he should be the null point we can base every other president on.

If the country was left even slightly better then you got it? Then you did a better job then Harrison. Was it left worse? Then you did worse. Did 40 presidents all make the country better and only 4 leave it worse? Tough to believe.

  • HobbitFoot @thelemmy.club
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    9 months ago

    Approaching the discussion in good faith, as I feel you are trying to do far, it isn’t just that he was a Presidential void. A Presidential void would be one that has their term mainly dictated by outside political forces that led to neutral outcomes. There are a lot of Presidents that fit that description and have been judged based on that.

    WHH is judged on three things. First, he probably wouldn’t have been a good President if he lived. Second, his death introduced a lot of instability in the government. Third, his Vice President doesn’t show up high in the rankings eit her. None of those issues lead to a better Presidential ranking.