Rank of US Presidents by a Libertarian

[madviking]

Link

I consider myself a paleolibertarian. I enjoy reading rankings of the American presidents. But, it's very difficult to find libertarian presidential rankings. (I found only one online that is decent, but there is also a book.) Most rankings are problematic because they reward successful conquests and legislating as much as possible. Shouldn't presidents be commended for not killing people and for giving us as much freedom as possible? Another problem is that we rarely read about what presidents actually did. All we read is the twisted propaganda (e.g., Lincoln preserved the nation, FDR got us through the Great Depression). And so, my goal in this article, which took about 60 hours of research over two months to create, is to (1) objectively rank the 43 US presidents from best to worst by libertarian standards and (2) summarize and score the actions that they took.

Top five
1. Van Buren
2. Cleveland
3. Tyler
4. Coolidge
5. Taylor

Bottom five
40. Truman
41. Reagan
42. FDR
43. Lincoln
44. Dubya

Other notables
34. Clinton
32. Obama
27. Kennedy
22 ('halfway'). Polk
18. Washington
15. Jefferson
6. Grant

Not trying to be propagandistic here, but it is interesting to see how see like the more authoritarian presidents. But the only qualm I see is that its a bit to harsh, IMO, on expansion... It's an inevitability of a nation to expand, but at the same time I see if it is by force that is not really 'free'.

 

[nc-1701]

I would have thought Jefferson would be at the very top of the list, his philosophy seems to be the foundation of American Libertarianism. Sure he isn't looked at very kindly by many who call themselves Libertarian today, but that is only because many people who call themselves Libertarians today are actually members of the radical right, who for various reasons are against more true Libertarianism like Jefferson supported.
Otherwise I'm not surprised by the list though Dubya seems a little lower than I would have expected. Also interesting concept and listing, thanks for posting it.

 

[Louis XXIV]

I expected Jefferson to be close to first, but he's at a decently close number. My guess is that the embargo act hurts him. I'm surprised he didn't put LBJ in the bottom 5 if Libertarianism is his only concern.

Also, I realize what his goal is for this, but there's something wrong with seeing Silent Cal in the top 5. Do nothing Presidents might respect personal freedom, but they can't be "good" by any stretch of the imagination.

 

[madviking]

Also, I realize what his goal is for this, but there's something wrong with seeing Silent Cal in the top 5. Do nothing Presidents might respect personal freedom, but they can't be "good" by any stretch of the imagination.

Well, if it ain't broke don't fix it? But if you look into the link, Coolidge has a decent list of accomplishments in his name. Do nothing presidents aren't "bad" either, of course if there's nothing that dying. But Coolidge didn't need to do anything; it was the Roaring Twenties, everything was going smoothly. It wasn't until Hoover that the economy became mismanaged (and led to the GD).

Some presidents whom we consider "bad" (a la Johnson, Harding, Grant) did not so badly in the rankings, which I thought was interesting to me...

 

[Cutlass]

That's quite an odd list. And it's hard to imagine that very many people of any description would agree with it.

 

[LightSpectra]

I lol'd at a libertarian putting Abraham Lincoln at the bottom of the list. Because, you know, ending slavery isn't really that crucial to freedom, mirite?

For the most part an awful list, though I do at least appreciate somebody who likes Grant, a president I think is deeply underrated.

 

[Cheezy the Wiz]

A "paleolibertarian" would be a leftist, since the term originated with them.

I lol'd at a libertarian putting Abraham Lincoln at the bottom of the list.

Abe was pretty firmly against capitalists and, well, anything that a "libertarian" likes. Yes, even peanut butter.

 

[LightSpectra]

Abe was pretty firmly against capitalists and, well, anything that a "libertarian" likes. Yes, even peanut butter.

In what manner was he firmly against capitalists? He was a strict adherent of the American School, which advocated protectionism, but otherwise was for the most part free-marketism.

 

[madviking]

A "paleolibertarian" would be a leftist, since the term originated with them.

Actually, quite the opposite.

 

[Cheezy the Wiz]

Actually, quite the opposite.

I didn't think it was possible for them to become less credible than before, but by golly, its happened.

In what manner was he firmly against capitalists? He was a strict adherent of the American School, which advocated protectionism, but otherwise was for the most part free-marketism.

A few choice words from the man's mouth:

Labor is prior to, and independent of, capital. Capital is only the fruit of labor, and could never have existed if labor had not first existed. Labor is the superior of capital, and deserves much the higher consideration.

These capitalists generally act harmoniously and in concert, to fleece the people.

 

[GoodGame]

I think the bottom 5 would be right by a Libertarian, except I agree too about Lincoln being near the bottom is strange.

 

[LightSpectra]

"[Labor] deserves much the higher consideration" does not mean he's in favor of government intrusion to make it so. I'd like to hear the full context of this.

As for the "capitalists generally act [...] to fleece the people" quote, perhaps you've heard a similar statement by Adam Smith: "People of the same trade seldom meet together, even for merriment and diversion, but the conversation ends in a conspiracy against the public, or in some contrivance to raise prices. It is impossible indeed to prevent such meetings, by any law which either could be executed, or would be consistent with liberty or justice. But though the law cannot hinder people of the same trade from sometimes assembling together, it ought to do nothing to facilitate such assemblies; much less to render them necessary." (Wealth of Nations, I, x.)

 

[aelf]

I lol'd at a libertarian putting Abraham Lincoln at the bottom of the list. Because, you know, ending slavery isn't really that crucial to freedom, mirite?

Because libertarians don't disagree with slavery per se? After all, you have the moral right to sell yourself into it and, after doing so, others are entitled to your freedom since you have handed it over to them.

 

[LightSpectra]

Because libertarians don't disagree with slavery per se? After all, you have the moral right to sell yourself into it and, after doing so, others are entitled to your freedom since you have handed it over to them.

That would be conditional slavery, which had nothing to do with New World slavery. Libertarians likely agree that the Civil War was an unjust war by their standards, so they rank Lincoln poorly, thinking that this is more critical than the Thirteenth Amendment.

 

[aelf]

That would be conditional slavery, which had nothing to do with New World slavery. Libertarians likely agree that the Civil War was an unjust war by their standards, so they rank Lincoln poorly, thinking that this is more critical than the Thirteenth Amendment.

Precisely because they don't really mind slavery. It's not like we can pretend that all property that has been acquired are not acquired by the use of coercive force. If one is to be a 'pure' libertarian, one would probably have want the redistribution of property first, such that everyone begins on an equal footing akin to a natural state of equality, after which people play by libertarian rules. Otherwise, current conditions would be immoral by default.

At the end of the day, right-libertarianism is just a flimsy disguise for unjust propertarianism. And its view of the physical being as something at the disposal of moral agents ends up categorising people as property that can change hands.

 

[LightSpectra]

Yes, I'm sure that's totally far removed from forcibly stealing the labours of one individual to give them to another under the justification that one is arbitrarily more deserving of it than the other.

 

[Naskra]

Lincoln was not much of an abolitionist. He endorsed the 13th amendment as a means to further the war effort.

 

[aelf]

Yes, I'm sure that's totally far removed from forcibly stealing the labours of one individual to give them to another under the justification that one is arbitrarily more deserving of it than the other.

Well, that seems to be the result of the current system, whereby such a status of deservingness is granted by property rights.

I'm not sure what your point is, though.

 

[Karalysia]

Lol list just proves that libereterans are nutjobs.

 

[civ_king]

43. George Walker Bush (2001-2009)
Good: Significant tax cuts (+5), opposed Kyoto Protocol (+5).
Bad: 9/11 (-10), invasion of Afghanistan (-10), Military Commissions Act that ended habeas corpus (-9), USA PATRIOT Act that destroyed civil liberties: spying on citizens (-9), restriction of freedom of association (-7), seizure of private "evidence" (-9), indefinite suspensions without evidence (-9), as well as various regulations/expenditures (-9), tortured prisoners (-9), created No Child Left Behind (further federal control over education) (-7), Sarbanes-Oxley Act (-9), Iraq invasion (-10) and occupation (-10), created Dept. of Homeland Security (centralized police state) (-9), vastly expanded Medicare (-8), Energy Policy Act of 2005 (-6), $286 billion for transportation projects (-7), Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act (-5), spending to overthrow Iran's government (-10), wasteful spending on Vision for Space Exploration (-4), steel tariff (-5), US$1 billion for tsunami aid (-1), Hurricane Katrina incompetence/martial law (-4), incredible spending/deficits (-9), funded Somali warlords against ICU (-10), supported Ethiopian invasion of Somalia (-10), attempted coup in Venezuela (-10), provoked Palestinian civil war after Hamas was democratically elected (-10), attempted destabilization of Pakistan (-10), orchestrated civic coup in Bolivia (-10), Operation Pipe Dreams/expanded drug war at home (-7) and militarily abroad (-10), "counterterrorism" military training abroad (-10), restricted Second Amendment (Project Safe Neighborhoods) (-4), nationalized (-9) and bailed out (-9) economic disasters, encouraged easy credit/housing bubble (-8), created "free-speech zones" (-7), one-million people on "no fly lists" (-9),[307] TSA searches (-7), US$190 billion farm subsidies (-7), Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act (-4), sought partial privatization of Social Security that would have accelerated borrowing/spending (-2), no-bid contract corruption (-2), vetoed less than any other President (-2).
Score: -332


WOW...