State of Barack Obama's Pesidential Legacy

Watching the State of the Union speech last night, I couldn't help wondering, how does the President measure up? It was that kind of speech. How do you measure a President's legacy? It's not just how many years you hold the office. Passing your legislative agenda requires your party to control the House and Senate, or at least one of them. Supreme Court appointments cast a shadow after you leave office.

I've created a point system. One point for each year in office, for each year of party control of the House of Representatives and the Senate, and for each Supreme Court appointment:

President	Presidency	House	Senate	Supremes	Points
Harry Truman	7.8	5.8	5.8	4.0	23.4
George W. Bush	8.0	6.0	6.0	2.0	22.0
Barack Obama	8.0	2.0	6.0	2.0	18.0
Ronald Reagan	8.0	0.0	6.0	4.0	18.0
Lyndon Johnson	5.2	5.2	5.2	2.0	17.6
Dwight Eisenhower	8.0	2.0	2.0	5.0	17.0
Bill Clinton	8.0	2.0	2.0	2.0	14.0
Jimmy Carter	4.0	4.0	4.0	0.0	12.0
John Kennedy	2.8	2.8	2.8	2.0	10.4
Richard Nixon	5.5	0.0	0.0	4.0	9.5
George H.W. Bush	4.0	0.0	0.0	2.0	6.0
Gerald Ford	2.5	0.0	0.0	1.0	3.5

This isn't the final scorecard. Barry could get several more Supreme Court appointments and catch W. although that seems unlikely. He could still break the tie with Ronnie. Nor is this a judgment as to whether the legacy is good, Read My Lips H.W. and Pardon Me Jerry are there at the bottom, but really weren't so bad. Jimmy will be glad to know he nudges out Johnny and is just a notch below Billy.