Long-term resolution of the crisis
All 16 modern US presidents ranked by their net score on this single sub-criterion. Good and harm are scored 0–10 independently; net is good minus harm. Click a name for the full scorecard.
Depression resolved (war + postwar middle class via GI Bill). War resolved with UN/Bretton Woods architecture for postwar order. Yalta concessions complicated the Soviet endgame.
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- good·Tier 1·Historical record·Unverified
FDR's wartime planning produced the IMF, World Bank, UN, and GI Bill — the institutional architecture that defined the postwar order and the American middle class.
Bretton Woods agreements (1944); UN Charter (1945); GI Bill (1944) — combined institutional legacy
Cold War framework durable. Korean War unresolved at term end (armistice came under Eisenhower). Inflation control mixed.
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- harm·Tier 1·Primary document·Unverified
Truman left office with Korean War still in active combat; armistice was negotiated by Eisenhower administration.
Korean War armistice, July 27, 1953 (Eisenhower term); NSC-68 (April 1950)
Cuban Missile Crisis: durable nuclear de-escalation framework. Bay of Pigs: long-term US-Cuba hostility. Vietnam unresolved.
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- good·Tier 1·Primary document·Unverified
Cuban Missile Crisis aftermath produced Moscow-Washington hotline and LTBT, durable nuclear-confidence-building infrastructure.
history.state.gov ↗
Great Recession recovery sustained. Bin Laden killed (closed 9/11 chapter). ACA durable through multiple challenges. Syria/ISIS unresolved at transition. JCPOA later abrogated.
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- good·Tier 1·Academic·Unverified
Obama-era major crises substantially resolved or framework-resolved at handover; Syria, ISIS, and Russian revisionism unresolved.
Great Recession recovery 2009-2017; ACA durability through SCOTUS challenges
Watergate chapter closed via pardon (some say prematurely). Vietnam ended. Stagflation passed to Carter unresolved.
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- good·Tier 2·Academic·Unverified
Ford pardon of Nixon retrospectively defended by many historians as enabling national focus on other matters, criticized by others as precluding accountability.
Nixon pardon historical assessment; subsequent presidential scholarship
Cold War end durably resolved. Gulf War resolution incomplete (Saddam retained, leading to subsequent Iraq War). Recession resolved under Clinton.
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- good·Tier 1·Academic·Unverified
Bush's Gulf War decision not to advance to Baghdad preserved coalition consensus but left Saddam in power, leading to 12 years of containment and ultimately 2003 Iraq War.
Gulf War aftermath; subsequent Iraq policy 1991-2003
Korea armistice but division persists. Suez resolved but enduring Middle East instability. Iran/Guatemala coups produced 50+ year destabilization.
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- harm·Tier 1·Academic·Unverified
CIA-supported coups in Iran (1953) and Guatemala (1954) produced multi-decade destabilization and anti-US sentiment, with Iran's 1979 Revolution and Guatemala's 36-year civil war directly traceable.
Iran post-1953 history (1979 Revolution); Guatemala civil war (1960-1996)
COVID-19 transitioned to endemic. Economy stabilized. Ukraine unresolved. Israel-Hamas unresolved. Inflation reduced. Mixed at handover.
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- good·Tier 1·Historical record·Unverified
Biden term ended with mixed crisis-resolution: COVID endemic, economy stable, Ukraine and Israel-Hamas ongoing, inflation cooled but cost-of-living elevated.
Status of major crises at January 2025 handover
Cold War ended (largely under Bush 41). AIDS unaddressed left massive long-term death and trauma. Iran-Contra norm-erosion damage persistent. Central American instability continued.
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- harm·Tier 1·Historical record·Unverified
AIDS Memorial Quilt founded during Reagan's term as direct response to government inaction; long-term US AIDS deaths reached over 700,000 by 2020.
AIDS Memorial Quilt establishment 1987; long-term US-AIDS death total
Economic boom durable. Oslo Accords collapsed. Welfare Reform mixed long-term. Lewinsky damaged subsequent Democratic political brand.
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- good·Tier 2·Academic·Unverified
Long-term resolution of Clinton-era crises was bimodal: economic legacy durable, foreign-policy and personal-conduct legacies more contested.
Post-Clinton economic and political analysis
Civil rights crises substantially resolved legislatively. Vietnam left unresolved at term end (Paris talks just beginning).
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- harm·Tier 1·Historical record·Unverified
LBJ left office with Vietnam War unresolved despite negotiation initiation; Paris talks continued under Nixon for 5 more years.
March 31, 1968 LBJ withdrawal announcement; Paris Peace Talks initiation
China relationship endures. Vietnam ended (US involvement). Watergate destroyed administration credibility for generations. Cambodia destabilization led to Khmer Rouge.
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- harm·Tier 1·Academic·Unverified
Cambodia bombing campaign destabilization is widely attributed by scholars as a major contributing factor to the Khmer Rouge takeover and subsequent genocide (~1.7-2 million deaths).
Khmer Rouge takeover April 1975; standard scholarship on Cambodia destabilization
Inflation/Volcker resolution came in Reagan era. Iran hostages freed at inauguration. Carter Doctrine framework durable.
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- harm·Tier 1·Historical record·Unverified
Major Carter-era crises (inflation, hostages) were resolved or framework-resolved just after his term ended, contributing to perception of presidency failing.
Iran hostage release January 20, 1981; Volcker monetary tightening 1979-1982
COVID-19 unresolved at handover (~400K dead, vaccines just starting). Many policies reversed by successor. Crises substantially passed forward.
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- harm·Tier 1·Historical record·Unverified
Trump T1 ended with US in active COVID-19 crisis (~4,000 daily deaths peak January 2021); transition to Biden administration handled multiple unresolved crises.
COVID-19 status January 2021; Biden inauguration handover
Most actions producing new crises (tariff, alliance damage, constitutional crisis). Long-term resolution unclear given short time window.
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- harm·Tier 2·Historical record·Unverified
Trump T2 actions primarily creating rather than resolving crises in observed window; assessment of long-term resolution pending.
Trump T2 actions producing ongoing crises 2025
Iraq destabilization continues 20+ years later. Afghanistan war continued for 20 years. 2008 crisis required Obama-era resolution. Katrina recovery decades long.
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- harm·Tier 1·Academic·Unverified
GW Bush-era crises (Iraq, Afghanistan, 2008 financial crisis) all required decades or are still unresolved; long-term resolution record poor.
Iraq post-Saddam history through 2024; Afghanistan war until 2021