Various measurements put Washington, Lincoln, Johnson as the most popular U.S. president
You wanted to know
"Who was the most popular president and how many votes did he get?" asked a young patron at Vernon Area Public Library, Lincolnshire, who attended the Write Away! workshop.
In only 19 months, all U.S. citizens ages 18 and older will be called to the polls to elect the 45th president.
First President George Washington, sworn into office April 30, 1789, at Federal Hall in New York City, was first in a long line of chief executives who have courageously ruled our nation through joyous events and in tragic times, in times of prosperity and deep depression.
A few directives included in the Constitution, Article II, offer sparse guidelines for the nation's Commander-in-Chief. As our 36th president Lyndon Johnson said, "The presidency has made every man who occupied it, no matter how small, bigger than he was; and no matter how big, not big enough for its demands."
Visiting Assistant Professor Nick Kachiroubas, DePaul University's School of Public Service, looks at the question from a few perspectives with different results.
"This is an interesting question to consider, especially when attempting to interpret the term popular and when a president's popularity is measured. For example, most presidents are most popular when they are first elected, but this changes throughout their time in office. Recent past presidents are considered popular by people who liked the policies they approved and unpopular by people who did not like the policies they approved."
The process of how to select the president was carefully considered by our Founding Fathers. Should Congress appoint someone to take the job? Should each state's legislature make that choice? Should individual votes be tallied to determine the winner? Each idea had its merits and downsides.
The founders drew on a process used in Ancient Rome; they formed a College of Electors and decided those individuals would be chosen by their political party. Each state is allowed a number of electors based on the state's population, and for the most part those electors cast the presidential vote based on how the residents of their states voted.
Kachiroubas said one way the question can be answered is by reviewing results of the percentage of votes cast by the Electoral College.
"From this perspective, George Washington is the most popular president, being elected with 100 percent of the vote in 1789, followed by President James Monroe, who was elected by 99.6 percent of the Electoral College in 1820."
Another way to answer the question might be determined by the percentage of votes cast by the people.
"If we look at the percentage of the total number of votes cast, President Lyndon Johnson achieved 61 percent of the popular vote in 1964, followed by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, who achieved 60.8 percent of the popular vote in 1936," Kachiroubas said.
One more way to look at the question is to ask historical experts, he said.
"Ask professional historians who research each president. Out of 20 rankings of most popular or important presidents by historians, President Abraham Lincoln ranks number one in almost all studies. According to historians, there is a tie for second place between President George Washington and President Franklin Delano Roosevelt."
Check it out
The Vernon Area Public Library District suggests these titles on the presidents:
• "A Kid's Guide to the Voting Process" by Tammy Gagne
• "Vote!" by Eileen Christelow
• "See How They Run: Campaign Dreams, Election Schemes and the Race to the White House" by Susan E. Goodman
• "Franklin Delano Roosevelt: Nothing to Fear!" by Deborah Kent
• "Lyndon B. Johnson" by Michelle Hasselius
• "James Monroe" by Stuart Kallen
• "What Lincoln Said" by Sarah Thomson
• "George Washington" by Cheryl Harness