The Key to Being a 'Great' American President: Get Lots of Americans Killed

David Henderson and Zachary Gochehou find anecdotal evidence

 that wars in which a large percentage of the U.S. population is killed will, all other things equal, cause historians to judge as great a president on whose watch those wars occurred... When they spend resources on war, they are spending almost entirely other peoples money and lives. They get little credit for avoiding war. Martin Van Buren, for example, effectively avoided a war on the northern border of the United States.8 How many people know that today? Indeed, how many people have even heard of Martin Van Buren?

Henderson and Gochehou  mapped the C-Span score that measures  65 historians’ rankings of  presidents and their level of deaths per capita. Those with the most blood on their hands, including Lincoln and FDR came out on top.

BTW, This view falls in line with Ralph Raico's take on "great" world leaders.