When blogger Geoff Micks first raised this vital question in 2012, I responded with a spreadsheet rating the 43 men who have served as US president on six variables: Coalition-Building Ability, Visual Inconspicuousness, Expertise in Hand-to-Hand Combat, Willingness to Kill (a.k.a. Badass Quotient, or BQ,) Physical Fitness, Spatial Awareness. The numbers I assigned each president under each variable came from the POOMA Institute, but I think they look pretty reasonable. So here it is again:
President | Coalition Building | Visual Inconspicuousness | Hand to Hand | BQ | Physical Fitness | Spatial Awareness | Total |
Washington | 5 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 21 |
J Adams | 2 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 16 |
Jefferson | 5 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 4 | 19 |
Madison | 2 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 2 | 15 |
Monroe | 3 | 3 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 24 |
J Q Adams | 3 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 3 | 17 |
Jackson | 5 | 1 | 5 | 5 | 3 | 5 | 24 |
Van Buren | 3 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 3 | 15 |
W Harrison | 2 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 16 |
Tyler | 1 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 3 | 15 |
Polk | 1 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 12 |
Taylor | 2 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 5 | 19 |
Fillmore | 2 | 4 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 17 |
Pierce | 2 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 13 |
Buchanan | 2 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 13 |
Lincoln | 5 | 1 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 22 |
A Johnson | 2 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 18 |
Grant | 3 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 21 |
Hayes | 3 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 4 | 17 |
Garfield | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 5 | 4 | 22 |
Arthur | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 9 |
Cleveland | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 8 |
B Harrison | 1 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 3 | 14 |
McKinley | 3 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 24 |
T Roosevelt | 4 | 1 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 23 |
Taft | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 8 |
Wilson | 1 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 3 | 14 |
Harding | 3 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 13 |
Coolidge | 2 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 15 |
Hoover | 3 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 5 | 19 |
F Roosevelt | 3 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 15 |
Truman | 2 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 22 |
Eisenhower | 4 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 19 |
Kennedy | 2 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 12 |
L Johnson | 4 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 15 |
Nixon | 1 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 11 |
Ford | 3 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 5 | 4 | 20 |
Carter | 1 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 5 | 18 |
Reagan | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 12 |
G H W Bush | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 18 |
Clinton | 3 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 3 | 15 |
G W Bush | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 4 | 16 |
Obama | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 3 | 11 |