American Presidents: Totalus Rankium - The Draw

Episode Date: June 14, 2024

We now have ranked all the presidents. But now the real challenge begins. 17 got the coveted AmeriCAN. 16 will be put into round of 4 to battle their way to a final. Who is in what round? Find out! 

Welcome to Totalus Rankium. This week, Presidential Draw. Hello and welcome to American Presidents Totalus Rankium. I am Jamie. And I'm Rob ranking all of the presidents. All of them. We did them. We did them all. So what's this, Jamie? What are we doing here? Well, it looks like we're now ranking their drawing abilities from what Sound Guy said, right? It's similar. Similar to that. What we're going to do, we're going to be doing some pulling out hats and stuff. That's what's similar similar to that what we're gonna do we're gonna be doing some pulling out hats and stuff that's what we're gonna do because we have got to the end of the presidents it's time to set all of the americans off against each other in our rounds at the end

of the series nice now this is something we set out right at the start because it's what we did in our roman series at the end of the, we get all the presidents that get American and we fight them against each other. That's what we're going to be doing. But we're not doing it today. We are just putting them in their rounds. That's all. It's a short episode. But before we do that, Jamie, before we do, let's just have a quick look at the scores.

Now, we are going to go into each round in more detail when we go through all of the rounds, but we're talking total scores here, Jamie. Yeah. Let's have a quick rundown of who came in the top ten, but just to remind you and the listener, the way our score system works, our total score does not show the best president.

No. No, our score is, it's more the most interesting, I'd say. Yeah, like we said in the roman ones it's sort of like who would you tell somebody an interesting fact yeah yeah if if if it's a rainy sunday and you're bored and you want to go and find out about a president and you've never thought to do that before well who should you start with that kind of thing so here we go then shall we in 10th place uh one of only two Democrats to get into the top 10. Really? Interesting. Yeah. It is

none other than the 35th president. It's John F. Kennedy. Makes sense. With 30 points. A nice round score of 30 points. Reliable. Well done. Yes. In 9th place, it is a Democratic Republican. One of the early

guys. It's in fact our fifth president It was James Monroe Oh, I remember him And then in eighth place It was his pal Another Democratic Republican It was the fourth president, James Madison We're getting our founding fathers

In the top ten, that's for sure In seventh place, we get our first Republican. It is the 18th president, Ulysses S. Grant. He scored a total of 33.75. Not much between them. It's between 10th and 8th place. Interesting. No, oh, sorry.

I just realised I didn't actually say the scores for the other two. Munro in ninth place got 31.5. And Madison in eighth place got 32.25, and then Grant gets 33.75. They are close scores. Then we jump up to a score of 35.25, putting him in sixth place overall, and he was the sixth president as well. It is the Democratic-Republican John Quincy Adams.

Oh, JQA. Yeah. We just found him interesting. Yeah, surprisingly so. We ended up scoring him quite high. In fifth place, possibly controversial, with 37 points. Sorry, just said fifth here. Joint fourth.

We've got two in the same amount. So I'll just say the first one on the list first. 37 points. It is George Washington. Ah, the elder. Yeah, that's right. I've got him down as none in what party he was in because I just don't think he was really in a party,

but maybe Federalist. I think he visits parties now and again. Yeah, I think so. But who did he tie with? Well, I think this person would be very pleased to tie with George Washington. He was the 34th president. He was a Republican. It was Dwight Eisenhower.

Oh, he'd have loved that. Bless him. Yeah. I don't think many lists have Eisenhower drawing with Washington, but that's what ours does. We're a very subjective podcast. So who's our top three? Can I guess? Can I guess?

Go on then. Who have we got? Who's our top three uh can i guess can i guess go on then who we got uh jackson trump and somebody else that's really bad i couldn't finish the joke i'm gonna name somebody else it was not jackson or trump uh no uh with a score of 38.5 it is theodore roosevelt oh he was he was good though he was a very interesting guy, wasn't he? Like Egypt, riding things, getting shot and all sorts. Great. Yeah, yeah.

There you go. But he was beaten by our second place. Lincoln? That's right. It is Abraham Lincoln on a nice round 40 points, which leaves only one person who can possibly win. It's only the second Democrat on our top 10 list. It is on 41.25, Franklin D. Roosevelt.

Ah, yeah, that makes sense. So Franklin Roosevelt wins our series in terms of total score, but that's not how we do it in total. It's ranking the score. It's just there out of interest, really, so we can do ranking and maths. What is important is the rounds. And you only go through to the rounds, Jamie,

if you have one of the coveted American badges. Yes. Yeah. And not many people get one of them. How many have we got? Well, there are, as you know, we covered 44 individuals for the 45 president slots, and 17 got American. Okay.

Odd number. That's annoying. Yeah. And it's a bloody prime number as well. Yeah, it's really annoying, a 17. So we'll talk about that in a moment. I'm going to go through those 17. I'm going to give you a one-sentence summary of who they are, just to remind you, because you're going to be making a decision at the end of the list.

Okay, I will type them out as you're talking. Well, as you rightly say, 17 is an awful number. So whilst we're going through the list, just bear this in mind. At the end, I'm going to be asking you to just get rid of one of them immediately. It doesn't even get into the rounds. Got it. Roosevelt, highestvelt high scorer gone screw him okay well i'm gonna go through chronological order i thought that would be fairest so our first american winner was george washington the first president he helped win

independence for the country and he stepped down from power. How tough do you think everyone would be if I just got rid of all George Washington from this? It's like, no, never liked him. Boring. Never liked him. Big stuff. Big, big stuff. Good old George Washington.

There's a reason why he gets it. Then second to get our Geni... Not Genesis, sorry, I'm slipping into the Romans. It was there. Second to get American was Thomas Jefferson. Founding father wrote the Declaration of Independence and purchased Louisiana. And also,

as we found, was a bit of a d***. Yeah, that's interesting. But it is interesting. Next up, we're sticking with our founding fathers. It was James Madison, father of the Constitution he's known as. Wrote a lot of the Constitution and wrote those amendments. And yeah, it's hard not to give it to him. So we gave it to him.

Same with James Monroe, another founding father, quite often lumped in with James Madison. But is that just because of their similar names? Monroe, author of the Monroe Doctrine, which shaped American foreign policy for decades to come, so had a big impact. But yeah, I think we were more just impressed that he was a founding father and had an interesting life. And then we finally get away from the founding fathers. They did well, though. They did.

In fact, it was only John Adams who didn't get it. Loser. Out of the founding father presidents. Yeah, which will upset him. But hey, who's this? It's his son. John Quincy Adams is next. He got it when his dad didn't.

We thought he was just very underrated and a fairly decent guy. We just covered a lot of people who had a lot to say and they were very interesting, but they weren't necessarily nice people uh john quincy adams we thought was and that impressed us uh and yeah lowest disgrace gate of this early age so i think that's why we gave it to him next up andrew jackson oh i was just i was gonna ask did we give him americana i'm glad we did. If I remember correctly, it was hotly debated.

But he made the country more democratic. He was the first Democrat president. He was also an awful, awful human being. He used to beat people up. He used to go for jewels. He was the Trail of Tears. Oh, there's a lot of bad stuff going on. But there was no denying he is an interesting person to study.

Absolutely. So we said Americana for him. Is he still on the American money? That's a good question, though. We're going to get rid of him, weren't they? But I don't think they did. Maybe they did. I don't know.

Well, it's a postcard, America. Next up, James Polk. He came into the presidency with several promises and he delivered on all of them. That's what we were impressed with. He came in saying, I'm going to do this, this, this, and this, and then he just did them. That never happens. No nonsense.

Some of those things we did point out was like, just invade Mexico to get more land. But hey, hey, he did it. He delivered on his promise. I can't argue with that. That was James Polk. And then another big one Abraham Lincoln

I mean what do I need to say Obviously won the Civil War Ended slavery Axe wielding wrestler as well which is fun Oh yes Next up was Ulysses S. Grant Helped win the Civil War General there attempted to make things better in Reconstruction

as well. Generally we thought he was a good egg with some flaws if I remember correctly. Next absolutely forgotten man in history but one of our personal favourites. It's Rutherford B. Hayes. Oh yes! A lollipop of a man

and we were mostly impressed with how seemingly decent a human being he was. He could have been in Downton Abbey. He's that kind of person. He just seemed like a nice guy. And we have not had many nice presidents. I'd say less than five in the 45 men who have occupied the presidency. I would count as, like, actually nice people.

And Rutherford, he was one of them. And his diary entries are just really lovely. Exactly. He definitely is not considered one of the greats, but we liked him. He was our hidden gem. But maybe he's not

up to the task against these other big names. We will see. Well, he wouldn't mind. He'd be like, of course, I'll step down. Of course, of course he'd step aside. I want to try and tie with my wife. All right, a couple of big hitters next. We've got Theodore Roosevelt. Some decent reforms in there,

but mostly it was his amazing adventures in life that we loved. Yeah. And don't worry, listeners, I have not forgotten. I did promise an episode three on Roosevelt for his post-presidency life because he got up some interesting stuff afterwards and that will happen, don't worry. Next up, Franklin D. Roosevelt. He led the United States through the Great Depression

and World War II and the country was fairer by the end of it and generally doing well. We scored him top marks. We did. And we gave him American. So he's there. Okay. Dwight Eisenhower, next World War II hero.

Did a decent job. Scored equal to Washington, as I just mentioned. Interestingly. Looking back, I'm not entirely sure how. I'll have to go back and listen to the episode. Yeah. I mean, winning a World War is better than a civil, better than a, well, I don't know. I don't know. If you're American, I guess it sounds ridiculous.

And anyway, we start getting a little bit more modern now. We've got John F. Kennedy. He helped bring in a lot of progressive reforms. He was assassinated very dramatically and he was a bad man with the women. He was a bad bad man he was a bad man uh but he's certainly an interesting man and he made his mark on american history mostly you could argue because he was shot but hey he was shot you can't take away from him so it certainly helped him get here so there we go uh only three more lyndon b johnson once kennedy was gone uh it was was Johnson who pushed through all the rest of the civil rights reforms. So we were quite pleased with the way that he helped improve America. So he got America on there. And then finally, oh no, sorry, not finally, only two more. Two big hitters from each party. We have Ronald Reagan, saw the end of the Cold War,

transformed the country in terms of Reaganomics, shifting the country to the right for the last half a century. We're still seeing it to this day. You cannot deny the impact that Reagan had on America. You could argue whether it's good or not, though. And then Barack Obama comes in with our last one. He reformed healthcare in a highly divided, gridlocked age. He was the first non-white man to become president, which is a big milestone. But arguably, if you put him against some of the big hitters in history, he doesn't really stand up.

So there you go. That's our 17. And we will be putting them in rounds against each other soon. But was there anyone on that list that made you go. That's our 17. And we will be putting them in rounds against each other soon. But was there anyone on that list that made you go, really? Do they deserve to be here? No. I've put a question mark next to two because I think those two are worthy of consideration. Okay.

I'll be able to very briefly explain mine. Let's see. Let's see if I can predict who. Oh, go on. I think it's going to be the ones that you remember the least i'm going to say you've put it next to monroe and polk no oh i got it wrong okay um i've the first one is john quincy adams okay great guy yeah it's a lot of good stuff but more admin than interest hmm that's why i put a question mark there. And the next one is, and this pains me to say,

is Rutherford B. Hayes. The same reason. Lovely guy, interesting in terms of he's basically a lollipop, but is it enough to carry himself into the finals? I don't know. Doubt he'll get to the finals, you're right, but I personally think he deserves to be in the rounds. He will get destroyed and he will love it

and be so grateful for being there. Remember, this is how interesting are they? Would you stop and talk about them? I think Hayes is in one of my top three go-tos if someone says, oh, what's your podcast about? Presidents. Oh yeah, what do you know? Well, did you know about Rufferby Hayes?

He's a hidden gem. I like a hidden gem. You've made a very good argument. I've removed the question mark. Okay, soufferby Hayes? He's a hidden gem. I like a hidden gem. You've made a very good argument. I've removed the question mark. Okay, so we'll keep Hayes. You know what? I think... Unless you've got one that stands out for you,

I think JQA is probably the one for me. I'll be honest. The two I mentioned were two that I was thinking. I was thinking, really? Do we really still need them? Polk. I think we gave it to him because he was efficient, really? Do we really still need them? Polk. I think we gave it to him because he was efficient, but it wasn't amazing.

Monroe. Okay, the Monroe Doctrine's kind of big, but maybe it's because it's a long time ago. We did his episode now, but I'm hardly brimming with facts off the top of my head about Monroe. He's not one that really sticks out to me. But I would also say the

same about John Quincy Adams and I am also happy to agree with that so if that was your first thought I'm happy to go with we get rid of John Quincy I remember more about John Quincy than I do like James Polk he made a very good point um or Monroe but with the Monroe document doctrine that's in like you said that's interesting in a way. Polk, let's go to Polk. Are we getting rid of Polk? Tell you what, if you narrow it down to two, I'll quickly read out their silver screen to you,

and then you can make a decision. Ooh. Yeah. Let's go to the two that you said, Monroe and Polk. Let's go with those two. That's a really good way of doing it. Because actually, silver screen is arguably the most important round we do.

Yeah, exactly. I just realised that. Let's do all three then. It is like four years. Let's do Monroe, Quincy Adams and Polk. Let's just quickly look at those then, shall we?

And then we'll make our decision. Okay, let's just find those. Okay. And I did no prep for this at all. This was just a thought I just had. So I'm literally going to my silver screen round in the notes and I'm just going to read what I put.

Now, my silver screen notes aren't usually hugely detailed because I've usually done the episode and I remember a lot. So we'll see how well this goes. For John Quincy Adams, I wrote pretty good. Seeing the Battle of Bunker Hill in the opening when he was a small little baby. Ah, yes, I remember that. Then he trekked through Europe, remember?

Oh, yes, he did. He went through Europe and he had a nice little baby. Ah, yes, I remember that. Then he trekked through Europe, remember? Oh, yes, he did. He went through Europe and he had a nice time with the ladies. He got rejected to Harvard. Then he gets in. He was chosen to go back to Europe. He got married in London. He was friends with the King of Prussia.

Then he worked in Congress. And then he went off to Russia when the Napoleon invasion was going on. Yes, this is why he got it. It was all that really interesting early stuff. I'm remembering now. Yeah. Then they trek through war-torn Europe during Napoleon Wars.

Then back in the United States, the rise of Jackson, him dealing with Clay to get the presidency. I remember that. The whole skinny dipping thing. And then he retires in shame. He fought slavery in Congress because he was anti-slavery, which pleased us. And then he dies on the floor of the Capitol building, remember?

Oh, yeah. Which is post-presidency, but it's a very cool fact, so we kind of put that in. Oh, and then as an added bonus, near the start of the series, you could have him dining with an aging Washington, and then the last scene, you could pan across the floor of Congress and see a young Abraham Lincoln. Yeah, which is nice.

Yeah. Okay, he stays. Okay, that seems pretty good. Right, and then next up... Oh, sorry, I meant to be going through an order and I just brushed past Monroe there, didn't I? Okay, well, let's jump back to Monroe, shall we? What did John Quincy Adams get as a score?

Can you remember? John Quincy Adams, as his score, got 35.25, beating Monroe and beating Polk, who did not get in the top 10. So Quincy Adams is our top scorer as well, so bear that in mind. Okay, so silver screen for Monroe now.

He served in the war under Washington's cousin, and he was shot, and he met Washington, and then Jefferson. He was tutored by Jefferson. Got his uncle helping him, something to do with his annoying brothers. He was in France during the Revolution, seeing the aftermath of the Reign of Terror.

He almost had a duel with Hamilton. The Louisiana Purchase happens. He hates England. He fell out with Jefferson and Madison. The War of 1812 happens. Not much cinematic happens during his presidency. You could get something out of Jackson and Calhoun, maybe. Some political drama out of the Monroe Doctrine.

Calhoun. Yeah. His Treasury Secretary, Crawford, almost attacked him with a cane once. That was about it. Okay, going off those two, I'm saying Quincy Adams is staying and Munro's going. Out of those two? Yeah. Yes. But now let's check Polk. Let's refresh our memories on

Polk. Let's see if Polk deserves to stay. So, ooh, I was feeling lazy. I have a very short silver screen here. He was born sickly. I've got trip to Tennessee. Urinary stones an operation yes remember he had the horrible operation oh yes almost killed him yes of course he did uh school university

lawyer was this one on the boat oh you're thinking of tyler oh okay yeah you're thinking massive cannon probably yeah yeah uh anyway he went to school university lawyer state senate he met someone got married he was went to congress he was lawyer, state senate. He met someone, got married. He went to Congress. He was the speaker. He was a governor. He was a dark horse candidate. And the Mexican War happens.

And then I've just written Sudden Death. I really did not go through much detail at all in his silver screen, which is perhaps unfair to him. That's maybe what we had. Maybe that's it. Yeah, maybe. Maybe that is it. I know one thing quincy

adams is staying polk or monroe who's going i think polk because the fact monroe went to go and see the russian revolution pretty much you know saw heads rolling and uh against slavery that's that they're big things especially that was quincy adams yeah monroe saw the Reign of Terror. That's what I meant, yeah. Okay, yeah, the French thing. So that's... Okay.

Fair enough. I'm happy to get rid of Polk. Okay, so Polk is our first one to go out, but now let's figure out who our rounds are. So... Okay, so I have my grid here. Jamie is going to call out a grid reference, and he's going to call out four, and that will make up our round one.

Uh, B2. B2. We have Dwight Eisenhower. Dwight Eisenhower, Republican, 34th President of the United States with a score of 37. Okay. And he will be against? D3. D3. Ooh, it's a tough one. He is against Franklin D. Roosevelt. Franklin D. Roosevelt, Democrat, 32nd President of the

United States, top scorer of 41.25. Okay, and the third one in the round? A4. A4. Next in the round is Ulysses S. Grant. Ooh, it seems like a tough round, this one. Ulysses S. Grant, Republican, 18th president, a score of 33.75. Okay, and lastly? C1. C1. It's Lyndon B. Johnson. Lyndon B. Johnson, Democrat, 36th president with a score of 30.

So that is round one. That is Eisenhower, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Ulysses S. Grant, Lyndon B. Johnson. What do you think about round one? Franklin D's got it, I think. Yeah, I don't know. Grant might give him a bit of a run for his money. He might. He might, but, yeah.

Okay, on to round two. I'll go for explosive one. C4. C4. It's Barack Obama. Yeah. Barack Obama, Democrat, the 44th president, with a score of 28.75. Let's go with D1. D1. D1 was almost not in it at all.

Oh. But saved last minute with last minute reprieve. It's John Quincy Adams. John Quincy Republican sixth president with a score of 35.25. Ooh. B3. B3. Ooh. He was almost not in it. But he got a last-minute reprieve. It's James Monroe.

James Monroe, Democratic Republican fifth president with a score of 31.50. Well, I think Barack's going to be smiling at this point because he knows he's against two people we already almost knocked out. Yeah. Yeah. But who's the fourth person going to be? Let's see if A2 can mix that up a little bit. Oh, A2 certainly will mix things up a bit. It's Theodore Roosevelt.

Oh. That's going to be a tough one to beat that one. Theodore Roosevelt, Republican, 26th present with a score of 38.50. Okay, so that's round two. Barack Obama, John Quincy Adams, James Monroe and Theodore Roosevelt. You've got to expect Theodore Roosevelt to have that one in the bag, surely. I think so. I think that's the way the polls are turning.

But who knows? Who knows? Okay, next. D2. D2. Starting with a big hitter, it's Abraham Lincoln. Yeah. Abraham Lincoln, Republican, 16th President of the United States with a score of 40. I can tell you've been watching a lot of politics.

This is brilliant. I love it. Why did you think that? I've been watching a lot of politics. This is brilliant. I love it. Why did you think that? Yes, if you are listening in the future,

it's election season in Britain at the moment. Oh, all sorts of fun going on. Four weeks away. Yeah. And just for future reference, currently, Conservatives might not even be the opposition, but we'll see how that pans out. It could be reform.

Well, no. No, it won't. But anyway. A1. A1. You're going A1. Yeah. I think we've already got a round of death and we're only two in. It's George Washington. Oh.

This is why people seed things in competition, Jamie, because we've got Abraham Lincoln and George Washington already in round three. George Washington, arguably a Federalist, but he claims otherwise. He was the first president and a total score of 37 points. C3. C3. Okay, this is officially round of death time. It's Ronald Reagan. Oh.

Another big, big name in American history. Ronald Reagan, Republican, 40th president, with a score of 28.50. Wow. Didn't score him very highly. He was not in the top 10, but he has a big impact. Okay.

Let's go B4. B4? B4. B4. Another big name. Let's go B4. D4? B4. B4. Another big name. It's Thomas Jefferson. Thomas Jefferson, Democratic Republican, third president, with a score of 23.50. Round three is the round of death. We have Abraham Lincoln, George Washington, Ronald Reagan, and Thomas Jefferson, that is.

I mean, no one wants to be in that round, do they? No. For the first time, genuinely don't know. Could go either way. I'm not expecting Reagan to go through, though. I'm just going to say that now. No, I don't think so. Not against those names.

No. Okay, well, that means we don't actually need to do it for the last one, but just because it's more fun, go on. Dramatic. Yeah. B-1. B-1. It's the lo. Go on. Yeah. B1. B1. It's the lollipop.

Oh. It is Rutherford B. Hayes. Rutherford B. Hayes, Republican, 19th president, with a score of 19.75. Who's he going to go up against? D4. D4 is Andrew Jackson. Ho, ho, ho, ho. D4 is Andrew Jackson Andrew Jackson Democrat 7th President

With a score of only 12.50 And all round f***ed A3 A3 It's John F. Kennedy That's John F. Kennedy Democrat 35th President of the United States With a score of 30 points

And of course I think I can name this one It is going to be Democrat 35th President of the United States with a score of 30 points. And of course, I think I can name this one. It is going to be... No, I can't. Oh, it'll be Johnson, won't it? No. C2. No? Oh, we got rid of Polk, didn't we?

Yeah. Madison. Madison. It is Madison. James Madison, Democratic Republican, 4th President of the United States with a score of 32.25. So there we go. Round four is Rutherford B. Hayes, Andrew Jackson, John F. Kennedy and James Madison.

Hayes will be delighted with this. I think if he went in any of the other rounds, he's a definite no, but that is not necessarily the hardest round in the world. No. So just to recap, that is round one, Eisenhower, FDR, Grant, and Lyndon B. Johnson. Yes.

A possible favourite in there. Round two, Obama, JQA, Monroe, and Theodore Roosevelt. Arguably a favourite in there. Then round three, round of death, Lincoln, Washington, Reagan, and Jefferson. And then round four, Hayes, Jackson, JFK and Madison. Yeah. So there are rounds. We will spend one episode on each of these rounds and we will put forward just one to go forward. Wow. Yeah. They will go into a semi-final where we will decide who goes through to the very final. And then maybe if I can get myself organised,

we might do something a tad different in the actual final. OK. But we will see. OK, so we've got our rounds. We have. We have. So I suppose I should start getting organised and sorting out these episodes then, shouldn't I?

Yeah, good luck with that. Yeah, excellent. OK, right. Well, thank you very much for listening. And thank you for downloading us wherever you do download us from whether itunes pop bean amazon whatever thank you very much yes and until next time goodbye goodbye Thanks for watching!