Task II

Joseph Ng

In 1999 the network C-Span conducted a survey to determine which presidents of the United States from all time periods were the most effective. The surveyed people were distinguished historians. The historians were asked to rank the presidents on a scale. However, the techniques used by the network when conducted can be argued that it is unfair.

It was a poll conducted for all presidents including Bill Clinton. Bill Clinton and George Bush Sr. were both recent presidents. It would be unfair to rank them because they were recent presidents. "It is particularly difficult to judge recent presidents accurately… successes and failures seem much larger to us because we see them up close". That’s true regardless of how unbiased the panel is and even if the historians had no particular favorites or disliked any one.

Another factor is that there were only ten categories in the survey. With the limited categories, it rules out the potential of other ranking a president on other categories. Different presidents did different things, had different goals, and were in different parties. It would have been fair if there were more categories.

Also, since all the presidents were ranked, it would be unfair to rank them all together. Since there has been about two centuries worth of presidents, it would have been fair to have ranked them within a certain period or interval, and then in a whole. The first couple of presidents such as George Washington had the task of trying out a new government and building a nation. The middle presidents such Abraham Lincoln had to maintain the government and stop a Civil War. The latter presidents such as John Kennedy had to deal with the Cold War, and foreign relations.

The C-Span survey didn’t seem to be fair or realistic. Even with distinguished historians, people had individual favorites, and disliked others. Also, with the there being limited categories for all the presidents that had to deal with different tasks. In addition to that, recent presidents would be looked into more, and would have been looked upon with more magnification. Therefore the surveys weren’t fair.