# The President Elimination Game **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [September 24, 2009, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-president-elimination-game/511317 "2009-09-24T01:36:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 36
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2009, 5:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-president-elimination-game/511317/701 "2009-12-11T05:15:15Z")
I can see that Monroe’s getting no traction, so I’ll switch my vote to Arthur. JFK was a better President than both of them combined. ---
**Author:** ![Cullain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d26b3c/32.png) [@Cullain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cullain)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2009, 8:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-president-elimination-game/511317/702 "2009-12-11T08:00:53Z")
buh-bye chester arthur! ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2009, 10:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-president-elimination-game/511317/703 "2009-12-11T10:05:08Z")
Arthur, just so everyone will shut up about him already. ---
**Author:** ![septimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/septimus/32/410_2.png) [@septimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/septimus)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2009, 10:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-president-elimination-game/511317/704 "2009-12-11T10:44:06Z")
Arthur, if newcomers are allowed a vote. What _ **is** _ the criterion anyway? Reagan and Jackson are often called “great” Presidents. Even I – no right-winger – would argue Reagan’s and even Nixon’s Presidencies had redeeming merit. Other than missing Jackson (and perhaps Reagan or Adams) the list seems to be moving towards a best-ever list. If it’s allowed, can I change my vote to G.W. Bush? I know he was eliminated at the outset, but I’d like the pleasure of eliminating him again. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2009, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-president-elimination-game/511317/705 "2009-12-11T15:38:05Z")
> [@septimus](#): > > …What _ **is** _ the criterion anyway? Reagan and Jackson are often called “great” Presidents. Even I – no right-winger – would argue Reagan’s and even Nixon’s Presidencies had redeeming merit. Other than missing Jackson (and perhaps Reagan or Adams) the list seems to be moving towards a best-ever list… Welcome, **septimus**! See page 1, post 1: “In this game you will pick one (1) president to eliminate, the one that you think is the worst of those listed.” Everyone will have, and has had, their own definition of “worst.” ---
**Author:** ![Skammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skammer/32/143_2.png) [@Skammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skammer)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2009, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-president-elimination-game/511317/706 "2009-12-11T15:44:08Z")
FWIW, I agree that Reagan, especially, was eliminated unfairly early. But that was before I started voting so I can’t complain. ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Scud](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f08c70/32.png) [@Tom\_Scud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Scud)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2009, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-president-elimination-game/511317/707 "2009-12-11T15:44:33Z")
> [@septimus](#): > > What _ **is** _ the criterion anyway? Reagan and Jackson are often called “great” Presidents. Even I – no right-winger – would argue Reagan’s and even Nixon’s Presidencies had redeeming merit. Other than missing Jackson (and perhaps Reagan or Adams) the list seems to be moving towards a best-ever list. Broadly speaking, the voters in this game have been more willing to eliminate Presidents who were effective, but towards a bad end, than the usual surveys of “greatest Presidents”. Jackson, in particular, got the boot for the Trail of Tears. See also Woodrow Wilson. ---
**Author:** ![StusBlues](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dc4da7/32.png) [@StusBlues](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StusBlues)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2009, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-president-elimination-game/511317/708 "2009-12-11T15:51:01Z")
> [@Tom\_Scud](#): > > Broadly speaking, the voters in this game have been more willing to eliminate Presidents who were effective, but towards a bad end, than the usual surveys of “greatest Presidents”. Jackson, in particular, got the boot for the Trail of Tears. See also Woodrow Wilson. And Reagan. I believe the prevailing rationalle in booting RWR was his enabling of the religious right, creating the “culture war” dichotomy that persists until today. This game tends to work against polarizing figures, at least on the right. If the game were played in reverse–pick your favorite, then set him aside and go for the next–Reagan may well finish toward the top. ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Scud](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f08c70/32.png) [@Tom\_Scud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Scud)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2009, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-president-elimination-game/511317/709 "2009-12-11T16:08:03Z")
Current vote total: Arthur 13 Kennedy 6 I’m calling this one. ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Scud](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f08c70/32.png) [@Tom\_Scud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Scud)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2009, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-president-elimination-game/511317/710 "2009-12-11T16:20:17Z")
Chester Alan Arthur is the 24th President voted out. Having Mark Twain in your corner only carries you so far, apparently. George Washington (None, 1789-1797) Thomas Jefferson (Democratic-Republican, 1801-1809) James Monroe (Democratic-Republican, 1817-1825) James Polk (Democrat, 1845-1849) Abraham Lincoln (Republican, 1861-1865) Grover Cleveland (Democrat, 1885-1889, 1893-1897) William McKinley (Republican, 1897-1901) Theodore Roosevelt (Republican, 1901-1909) William Howard Taft (Republican, 1909-1913) Franklin Delano Roosevelt (Democrat, 1933-1945) Harry S. Truman (Democrat, 1945-1953) Dwight Eisenhower (Republican, 1953-1961) John Fitzgerald Kennedy (Democrat, 1961-1963) Lyndon Baines Johnson (Democrat, 1963-1969) William Jefferson Clinton (Democrat, 1993-2001) Eliminated Presidents: 1. James Buchanan (Democrat, 1857-1861) 2. Franklin Pierce (Democrat, 1853-1857) 3. Andrew Johnson (National Union, 1865-1869) 4. Warren Harding (Republican, 1921-1923) 5. Millard Fillmore (Whig, 1850-1853) 6. Richard Milhous Nixon (Republican, 1969-1974) 7. Herbert Hoover (Republican, 1929-1933) 8. Ronald Reagan (Republican, 1981-1989) 9. Andrew Jackson (Democrat, 1829-1837) 10. Rutherford Hayes (Republican, 1877-1881) 11. Ulysses Grant (Republican, 1869-1877) 12. John Tyler (Whig, 1841-1845) 13. James Earl Carter (Democrat, 1977-1981) 14. James Madison (Democratic-Republican, 1809-1817) 15. Martin Van Buren (Democrat, 1837-1841) 16. Woodrow Wilson (Democrat, 1913-1921) 17. Calvin Coolidge (Republican, 1923-1929) 18. John Adams (Federalist, 1797-1801) 19. Benjamin Harrison (Republican, 1889-1893) 20. Gerald Ford (Republican, 1974-1977) 21. Zachary Taylor (Whig, 1849-1850) 22. George Herbert Walker Bush (Republican, 1989-1993) 23. John Quincy Adams (Democratic-Republican, 1825-1829) 24. Chester Arthur (Republican, 1881-1885) Continuing with John F. Kennedy. Barring another runaway, voting closes at 2 PM on Monday, December 14. ---
**Author:** ![Skammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skammer/32/143_2.png) [@Skammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skammer)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2009, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-president-elimination-game/511317/711 "2009-12-11T16:25:07Z")
JFK, your time is up. ---
**Author:** ![StusBlues](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dc4da7/32.png) [@StusBlues](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StusBlues)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2009, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-president-elimination-game/511317/712 "2009-12-11T16:29:37Z")
A couple of months ago, I presented a a paper on vampires (wazimamoto) in Kenya. In it, I gave the British all kinds of hell for what they did in Kenya. I realize that business-as-usual imperialism in the Philippines and elsewhere did not compare to _kipande_ and the myriad of other abuses visited upon Africans during British hegemony. That’s why I’ve held back this long. It’s time to vote out the chief proponent of overseas imperialism in American history. I vote for William McKinley. ---
**Author:** ![gloriye](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e95f7d/32.png) [@gloriye](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gloriye)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2009, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-president-elimination-game/511317/713 "2009-12-11T16:41:14Z")
JFK. His legacy seems more based on his looks and his untimely death than substantive achievements (of which there were a few, but not as many as LBJ). ---
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2009, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-president-elimination-game/511317/714 "2009-12-11T17:20:02Z")
McKinley as my pro-JFK vote. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2009, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-president-elimination-game/511317/715 "2009-12-11T17:56:30Z")
I’ll go for Monroe again. Little to show for eight years in office; far less than JFK had for just three-plus. ---
**Author:** ![Algorithm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/algorithm/32/12204_2.png) [@Algorithm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Algorithm)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2009, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-president-elimination-game/511317/716 "2009-12-11T20:52:58Z")
JFK: GTFO! a ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2009, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-president-elimination-game/511317/717 "2009-12-11T21:16:44Z")
James Monroe. When you get down to it, what right did the US have to establish the Monroe Doctrine? ---
**Author:** ![Leiko](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Leiko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leiko)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2009, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-president-elimination-game/511317/718 "2009-12-11T21:19:16Z")
Next on my average-ranking list is William Howard Taft. Unlike most of the presidents, his average score was a round number. According to the polls, he’s the 20th best president. ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Scud](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f08c70/32.png) [@Tom\_Scud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Scud)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2009, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-president-elimination-game/511317/719 "2009-12-11T21:23:01Z")
> [@Leiko](#): > > Next on my average-ranking list is William Howard Taft. Unlike most of the presidents, his average score was a round number. According to the polls, he’s the 20th best president. I’m surprised Taft has escaped a vote so far; I believe he’s the only President to ever finish third in a re-election campaign. ---
**Author:** ![Sternvogel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bc79bd/32.png) [@Sternvogel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sternvogel)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2009, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-president-elimination-game/511317/720 "2009-12-11T21:32:10Z")
Nothing really against Taft, but somebody’s gotta go, so it might as well be him. However, I’ve always liked this anecdote: [Quote=[http://www.ourwhitehouse.org/prespgs/wtaft.html](http://www.ourwhitehouse.org/prespgs/wtaft.html)] Taft was also the largest president at 6 feet 2 inches and approximately 325 pounds. He apparently was very good natured about his size. Before becoming president, he once visited a small town on legal business. After his meeting, he learned that the next train would not arrive for several hours, although a fast train would run through in an hour. He therefore wired the railroad superintendent to ask if the fast train would stop for a “large party.” The superintendent agreed. When Taft boarded the train, he remarked to the bewildered conductor, “You can go ahead; I am the large party.” [/quote] [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-president-elimination-game/511317.md?page=35) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-president-elimination-game/511317.md?page=37)