John F. Kennedy - 1961-1963
was a strong leader who inspired people, but tragically was killed just three years into his presidency. He faced down the Soviets during the Cuban Missile crisis. I really can't see any of the rest of them pulling that off, other than perhaps Reagan.
Lyndon B. Johnson - 1963-1969
Signed into law the Civil Rights act. If only he hadn't been led astray by the military industrial complex, he might have been a great president.
Richard Nixon - 1969-1974
finally got us out of Vietnam, but left behind a mess, much as our later withdrawal from Iraq has left a mess. He signed into law the EPA. No more rivers have caught fire since then.
If he hadn't tried to cover up that burglary, he might have been a great president. Unfortunately, Watergate seems to be his legacy.
OH, yes, he was president, wasn't he? It must have been pretty uneventful, or maybe I just don't remember. Anyway, there is something to be said for an uneventful presidency.
had the bad luck to be president during the OPEC oil crisis. Carter was a decent man, perhaps too kind to be good at the nasty world of politics.
Ronald Reagan - 1981-1989
Credited with a lot of things that he didn't really do, like winning the cold war. Reagan was another man able to inspire people to greatness. If only he had been successful at decreasing the size of the federal government, if he had put a stop to Iran Contra before it started, he might have been a great president. Some people think he was anyway, but they just don't remember.
George Bush Sr. - 1989-1993
did a decent job, didn't get us involved in a lengthy war in the ME despite Saddam's invasion of Kuwait, and might have accomplished more had he been reelected. I never did understand why he wasn't. \
did an adequate job, but a great president? the best of the 10? Somehow, I just don't see it. It would have helped had he kept his pecker in his pants.
George W. Bush - 2001-2009
OMG! Surely no one will pick the guy who got us into Iraq and Afganistan and put the war on the national MasterCard. I never forgave him for that. Otherwise, he was OK.
Barack Obama - 2009-pres.
Might have been an excellent president had he had some experience. Had he done anything of note before being elected, and if the opposition party had had some goal other than making him a one term president, he might have accomplished something. Were he able to reach across the aisle and get people to make compromises, in other words, if he had a bit more experience, he might have done a good job. As it is, however, the biggest surprise was his reelection.
I'd have to say John Kennedy was the best of the lot.