Thanks to Beltway Dem's diary, I saw that C-SPAN asked these 65 professional historians or observers of the presidency to rank the 42 presidents on the following criteria:  

   * Public Persuasion
    * Crisis Leadership
    * Economic Management
    * Moral Authority
    * International Relations
    * Administrative Skills
    * Relations with Congress
    * Vision/Setting An Agenda
    * Pursued Equal Justice For All
    * Performance Within Context of Times

Here are the overall scores and rankings. My comments are after the jump.

(There are lots of good comments in Beltway Dem's thread too.)

There's more...

You know I am a Democrat because of two families who I respect greatly.  One of those families has seen great tragedy over and over and survived to continue fighting for what is right.  The other family has overcome great odds and fought to ensure they can continue to support and help working class americans.  

The first family as i'm sure you can guess is the Kennedy family.  If i had to name one person who affected and influenced my life more than anyone else on earth it would have to be President Kennedy.  I was born years after he was assasinated that day in Dallas.  I never got to see him speak on television or see him at a campaign rally, but i have read his speeches, his books and feel i have a good understanding of what he believed.  

The second family is the Clinton family.  President Clinton himself has a special place in his heart for President Kennedy, as do I.  As President Bill Clinton did everything he could to help people in the middle class, as well as trying to improve the lives of people in poverty all over the world.  If i had to pick a second most influential person on my life it would be a tie.  Hillary and Bill Clinton.  I have been to rallies and seen the President on television in this instance, and i know that the Clintons care about the American people.

There is a man today who i used to respect as a politician and a rising star in US politics, who I can no longer respect.  That man is Barack Obama.  This is a man who would have the audacity to run around the country with no plan for how he will fix the problems we have, but campaigns instead on the nebulous idea of change.  This man further has the audacity to compare himself to great American leaders such as my beloved President Kennedy, and Martin Luther King Jr.  

There's more...

Barack Obama has again shown his approgant true colors.  He is exploiting the image of John F Kennedy in a tv ad paid for by his campaign.

Lets point out one fact here to start.  John F Kennedy has not endorsed Barack Obama.  Regardless of what Kennedy family members have have, it is out of bounds for Obama to use JFK's image to further his political ambition.  Would he do this if Jackie were still alive?

There's more...