Brad Delong is surprised. The National Review organized a Presidents' Day symposium of historians on great presidents, yielding this list:
Richard Brookhiser... George Washington
H. W. Crocker III... Ronald Reagan
John Derbyshire... Calvin Coolidge
Bruce Frohnen... William Henry Harrison
Paul Kengor... Ronald Reagan
John J. Miller... Calvin Coolidge
Delong remarks:
It would be inconceivable for any of them to name... Abraham Lincoln, wouldn't it?
Of course, because why honor a man who ended slavery?
What surprises me is that Teddy Roosevelt, champion of the little man, robust outdoorsman, and profound believer in America's power to promote our values through threats of military force. His Presidency represented exactly the sort of compassionate conservatism that George W. Bush claims to believe in. In many ways, Roosevelt was the sort of President that Bush claims he wants to be (and isn't).
Harrison's being on this list has to be a flat-out joke: his greatness is that he literally didn't live long enough to do anything (beyond appoint his Cabinet)? Hardee-har-har.
And what about FDR?
Just guessing, but I imagine each scholar they tapped just chose a subject he had studied. Seems the only explanation for the weird assortment of Presidents.
BTW, in a recent poll, Americans thought George Washington was the greatest president, and Shrub was number eight. Maybe because he has put us firmly behind the 8 -ball?
Wait a minute. TWO guys are doing Coolidge? This is really strange.
Of course there's no FDR, this is the National Review. They are incapable of saying nice things about Democrats.