May the Wittiest Win in 2020

Though this is hardly scientific and inherently subjective, I ranked the Presidents of the last 75 years according to their sense of humor, from most to least.

1. Obama
2. FDR
3. JFK
4. LBJ
5. Clinton
6. Carter
7. Truman
8. Ford
9. Eisenhower
10. Reagan
11. Bush Sr.
12. Nixon
13. Bush Jr.
14. Trump

The party affiliation of the top and bottom clusters is pretty stark, even if one can argue about the specifics within them. (I think Ike’s wry style was more genuine than Reagan’s avuncular anecdotalism, for example.) But far more striking is how closely it tracks to their competence as President, which supports my thesis that the more successful Presidents are also the wittiest.

Like most everyone else, I’ve been obsessed with electability, but let’s face it, not one really knows who is most likely to beat Trump, no matter how much they insist they do. Since (according to me and Paul Krugman, at least) all the Democrats running in 2020 would be able to get about the same basic legislation passed if elected, deciding…