How Will Historians Rank Obama?

Politico: “Historians who try to rank the 44th president in our national pantheon are surely going to ask why he has not made better use of his ‘bully pulpit.’ It’s become common to ask where Barack Obama the electrifying speechmaker has gone. But if we compare him with other presidents who managed economic crises or the aftermath of major wars, the mystery starts to clear up. Neither Eisenhower nor Nixon was, to say the very least, considered a great communicator. Add Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter and George H.W. Bush to the group, and the pattern is hard to miss. When America’s national fortunes turn downward, our presidents usually seem pretty inarticulate.”