The Presidents: History's Judgment

When TIME asked nine presidential historians to rank, from best to worst, the 17 American Presidents of the 20th century, we left some questions to their discretion: What do we expect from our leaders? Are effective Presidents also the most significant ones? What constitutes greatness? Here is our panel's consensus:

1 FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT

Term: 1933-45

Chief accomplishments: Rescued country from Depression; led U.S. through its greatest foreign war

Biggest blunder: Tried to "pack" the Supreme Court in 1937

Historians' comments: "Changed the landscape of American life"; "In a class by himself"; "Indisputably the century's greatest"

2 THEODORE ROOSEVELT

Term: 1901-09

Chief accomplishments: Busted trusts; expanded public lands; increased U.S. influence abroad

Biggest blunder: Somewhat unlawful meddling in Latin America

Historians' comments: "The great prophet of affirmative government"; "The best example of an 'activist' President. Bully!"

3 WOODROW WILSON

Term: 1913-21

Chief accomplishments: Created Federal Reserve System; led country through World War I and devised League of Nations

Biggest blunder: Failed to secure domestic support for League Historians' comment: "A great visionary who presided over major domestic advances"

4 HARRY S TRUMAN

Term: 1945-53

Chief accomplishments: Launched Marshall Plan, NATO; desegregated armed services

Biggest blunder: Overreached in the Korean War

Historians' comments: "Architect of the winning strategy in the cold war"; "A decent human being with homespun virtues"

5 DWIGHT D. EISENHOWER

Term: 1953-61

Chief accomplishment: Quietly presided over period of peace and unprecedented prosperity

Biggest blunder: Reluctance to tackle civil rights issues

Historians' comments: "Articulated clearly the values shared by Americans"; "No hint of scandal either. The good old days"

6 RONALD REAGAN

Term: 1981-89

Chief accomplishments: Confronted Soviet threat; gutted Great Society programs

Biggest blunders: Iran-contra; national debt; "We begin bombing in five minutes..." Historians' comments: "Brought about sea change"; "Maybe ended the cold war"; "Jury still out"

7 LYNDON B. JOHNSON

Term: 1963-69

Chief accomplishments: Passed Medicare, Medicaid, Civil Rights Act, Voting Rights Act

Biggest blunder: Vietnam War Historians' comments: "America would have found a way to give blacks the vote without him, but don't ask me how"; "Greatest domestic legislator in history"

8 JOHN F. KENNEDY

Term: 1961-63

Chief accomplishments: Inspired nation and created Peace Corps; defused Cuban missile crisis

Biggest blunders: Bay of Pigs; increased involvement in Vietnam

Historians' comments: "Might be first-tier if he had lived longer"; "Averted a nuclear war"; "Foreign policies were disastrous"

9 GEORGE BUSH

Term: 1989-93

Chief accomplishment: Assembled international coalition in Gulf War

Biggest blunders: Broke "no new taxes" pledge; made few domestic initiatives amid recession

Historians' comments: "A skilled and decent administrator"; "Lacked the 'vision thing'"

10 BILL CLINTON*

Term: 1993-

Chief accomplishments: Signed balanced-budget deal; ended federal welfare guarantee

Biggest blunders: Failed to pass health-care plan; Administration plagued by scandal

Historians' comments: "Jury out here too--maybe literally!"

*Only seven opinions given

11 WILLIAM HOWARD TAFT

Term: 1909-13

Chief accomplishment: Signed many antitrust laws, including corporation tax

Biggest blunder: Ineffectual "dollar diplomacy" interventions in China and Latin America

Historians' comment: "Achieved nothing good with excellent situation left him by T.R."

TIE 12 GERALD FORD

Term: 1974-77

Chief accomplishment: Ended "long national nightmare" of Watergate; got U.S. out of Vietnam

Biggest blunders: Mishandled Nixon pardon; resisted easing New York City financial woes

Historians' comments: "Returned nation to normality"; "Essentially a do-nothing President"

TIE 12 CALVIN COOLIDGE

Term: 1923-29

Chief accomplishments: Slashed federal taxes and spending; scaled down German reparations

Biggest blunder: Failed to anticipate economic disaster

Historians' comments: "Left little historical legacy"; "Could have been greater if faced with challenges"

14 JIMMY CARTER

Term: 1977-81

Chief accomplishment: Camp David accord brought temporary Middle East peace

Biggest blunder: Botched attempt to rescue 52 American hostages from U.S. embassy in Iran

Historians' comments: "Victim of events beyond his control"; "Should have been a preacher"

15 RICHARD NIXON

Term: 1969-74

Chief accomplishments: Opened relations with China; pursued detente with Soviet Union

Biggest blunder: Watergate--only President in history to resign

Historians' comments: "The most difficult President to assess"; "Uniquely a failure among American Presidents"

16 WARREN HARDING

Term: 1921-23

Chief accomplishment: Negotiated international armaments treaty in 1922

Biggest blunders: Teapot Dome oil-leasing scandal; other instances of Administration graft

Historians' comment: "Whatever personal shortcomings, presided over a period of economic growth"

17 HERBERT HOOVER

Term: 1929-33

Chief accomplishment: Introduced programs later copied in the New Deal

Biggest blunders: Signed Smoot-Hawley tariff; ineffective in alleviating Great Depression

Historians' comments: "Approach to Depression rigid and dogmatic"; "Victim of bad luck"

THE JUDGES Stephen E. Ambrose, Alan Brinkley, Robert Dallek, David M. Kennedy, William E. Leuchtenburg, Ernest R. May, Walter A. McDougall, Herbert S. Parmet, Arthur Schlesinger Jr.