As an adjunct college professor, I was known as an easy grader. I set out some clear, achievable goals for the semester, and if my students checked all the boxes, they’d get an A. I didn’t grade on a curve, so it was theoretically possible for all my students to be above average, although that never happened.

Grading presidents is not so straightforward. The problems they face are usually the ones that previous presidents have failed to solve after four or eight years of trying. Often, they are intractable with options that all carry significant risks. Success may be defined as making progress, not a solution.