James Taranto has an interesting article about ranking American Presidents. Only three Presidents are ranked as great: Washington, Lincoln, and FDR. Each was associated with a victorious war: the American Revolution, the Civil War, and WWII. Clear-cut victory is good for a high ranking, it would seem. He has a new book out about the topic: Presidential Leadership: Rating the Best and the Worst in the White House.
A curious concluding observation: "Those who believe that history runs in cycles will be interested to note that the three great presidents took office at 72-year intervals--Washington in 1789, Lincoln in 1861 and FDR in 1933--and that this November it will have been exactly 72 years since the election of our last great president."