19 February 2024
Happy Presidents’ Day! I think with the background of all my history courses (a minor at Ole Miss) my favorite is FDR. A close second is Teddy. I think Jimmy Carter made a much better ex-President than President and set and example for all to follow. Here’s the current rating of the American Political Science Association. The info below was on the ElectoralVote.com web site.
“The Presidents and Executive Politics Section of the American Political Science Association surveyed its members about presidential greatness. The 525 members were ask to score each president from 0 (failure) to 100 (great). Here are the results:
| Rank | President | 2024 Rating |
| 1 | Abraham Lincoln | 93.87 |
| 2 | Franklin D. Roosevelt | 90.83 |
| 3 | George Washington | 90.32 |
| 4 | Theodore Roosevelt | 78.58 |
| 5 | Thomas Jefferson | 77.53 |
| 6 | Harry S. Truman | 75.34 |
| 7 | Barack Obama | 73.80 |
| 8 | Dwight D. Eisenhower | 73.73 |
| 9 | Lyndon B. Johnson | 72.86 |
| 10 | John F. Kennedy | 68.37 |
| 11 | James Madison | 67.16 |
| 12 | Bill Clinton | 66.42 |
| 13 | John Adams | 62.66 |
| 14 | Joe Biden | 62.66 |
| 15 | Woodrow Wilson | 61.80 |
| 16 | Ronald Reagan | 61.62 |
| 17 | Ulysses S. Grant | 60.93 |
| 18 | James Monroe | 60.15 |
| 19 | George H.W. Bush | 58.54 |
| 20 | John Quincy Adams | 55.41 |
| 21 | Andrew Jackson | 54.70 |
| 22 | Jimmy Carter | 54.26 |
| 23 | William Howard Taft | 51.67 |
| 24 | William McKinley | 51.23 |
| 25 | James K. Polk | 49.83 |
| 26 | Grover Cleveland | 48.31 |
| 27 | Gerald Ford | 46.09 |
| 28 | Martin Van Buren | 45.46 |
| 29 | Rutherford Hayes | 41.15 |
| 30 | James Garfield | 40.98 |
| 31 | Benjamin Harrison | 40.64 |
| 32 | George W. Bush | 40.43 |
| 33 | Chester Arthur | 39.61 |
| 34 | Calvin Coolidge | 39.38 |
| 35 | Richard Nixon | 36.41 |
| 36 | Herbert Hoover | 34.08 |
| 37 | John Tyler | 32.99 |
| 38 | Zachary Taylor | 32.97 |
| 39 | Millard Fillmore | 30.33 |
| 40 | Warren Harding | 27.76 |
| 41 | William Henry Harrison | 26.01 |
| 42 | Franklin Pierce | 24.60 |
| 43 | Andrew Johnson | 21.56 |
| 44 | James Buchanan | 16.71 |
| 45 | Donald Trump | 10.92 “ |
Of course, the list is mostly subjective and more recent Presidents often fair better than earlier Presidents. It’s always an interesting list and one that elicits plenty of discussion.
Last evening, I had a burst of energy and made Grandma Laura’s tea cakes.
For dinner I decided to do the vegetarian version of beef stroganoff. It uses a lot of mushrooms and onions and is delicious. I put it over egg noodles.
This morning was pretty cool for us (59°F) with 25 mph gusts. The sky was overcast. In short, a perfect day for walking if you bundled up.
I did 0.9 miles this morning and I was pleased that my gait was decent and I noticed a distinct lessening of foot drop as I walked. When I was almost home, I did notice the foot drop increasing but I feel that physical therapy is helping with that.
I now have a consensus. Dr. Wu, pain specialist, agrees that the neuropathy is due to the Taxol treatments. He’s suggested to stick with the Gabapentin and even up the dosage if Dr. Chamely approves which he’s already said he’s willing to go higher on the dosage.
As to the lower back, it’s interesting what one doctor will tell you as opposed to another. Dr. Chamely did not tell me that my L5-S1 disc was completely gone but according to Dr. Wu, it is. To be honest, most of the time the pain in my lower back is around 1 out of 10. If I suddenly twist it or bend forward or backward too quickly, it shoots up to around 5 out of 10. When sciatica hits, it’s a 10 out of 10 but fortunately that doesn’t happen often – maybe once every two weeks.
Dr. Wu says taking Advil for the pain is OK as long as it is not a prolonged dosage. I never take it for long periods of time anyway. So, he wants to see me in 3 months but I made it 4. Funny how there’s nothing to do but go back and see him again. They have to earn a living some how.
As the afternoon progressed, I noticed the foot drop has reappeared. I guess that’s to be expected.
Tomorrow is the Herceptin treatment at 9:15 am. I should be out of there by noon, fingers crossed.
Stay tuned!