I agree with James that FDR is a top-tier President, even if you hate the New Deal (which I should remind everyone here that our much-vaunted Grandfather "Ray" of OSS fame DID hate)... and he might even make my top five list (I'll have to think about it first, though), but if I am going to point at Jackson for the institution of policy that abridged the rights of Indians, then some mention and consideration has to be made for FDR's abridgement of the rights of thousands of Japanese and German Americans, don't I?
In fact, more so... his actions to incarcerate ethnic Japanese and Germans into camps for the duration of the war was (as Jambo pointed out) an Executive Order, where the Indian Removal Act was Congress passing legislation that Jackson simply didn't choose to veto. I think there is a difference here (although, perhaps it is simply a matter of degrees).
Further more, why have we abandoned the "Report Card" project? This is a topic that is more important now than ever, as Ryan has pointed out... imagine if we leave the interpretation of Presidential legacies to the likes of all the Ward Churchills teaching in all those liberal colleges like Berkeley, or USC, or Columbia, or Cornell... {shudder}
Is anyone interested anymore? Has Ryan abandoned the dream of a coffee-table book detailing the specifics of what makes a great President with his name as the author (giving all credit due to the Bund, of course)?
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