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Barack Obama is One of the Worst Presidents Ever So Far…For Tennessee Vols Athletics

By Caleb Calhoun

Jan 12, 2016; Washington, DC, USA; President Barack Obama after delivering the State of the Union address from the House chamber of the United States Capitol in Washington. Mandatory Credit: Andrew P. Scott-USA TODAY Network
Jan 12, 2016; Washington, DC, USA; President Barack Obama after delivering the State of the Union address from the House chamber of the United States Capitol in Washington. Mandatory Credit: Andrew P. Scott-USA TODAY Network /
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Apr 1, 2016; Appleton, WI, USA; Bill Clinton speaks during a campaign event for wife and Democratic presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton at Lawrence University Warch Campus Center. Mandatory Credit: William Glasheen/The Post-Crescent via USA TODAY NETWORK
Apr 1, 2016; Appleton, WI, USA; Bill Clinton speaks during a campaign event for wife and Democratic presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton at Lawrence University Warch Campus Center. Mandatory Credit: William Glasheen/The Post-Crescent via USA TODAY NETWORK /

1. Bill Clinton, 1993-2001

This one is not even close. Slick Willie oversaw the most prosperous U.S. Economy in modern history, and he also oversaw the most prosperous period of Tennessee Vols athletics during the same time period. How much credit you want to give him for either of those things is up to you.

But let’s start with the most important…football.

Clinton became president the first full year that Phillip Fulmer was named head coach of the Vols without the interim tag. And the Vols had their best period in football history since the Robert Neyland years by far. Under Clinton, the Vols finished off in the Top 25 every one of his eight years as president. They also had six Top 10 finishes and two Top 5 finishes.

But the highlight came in 1997 and 1998, when the Vols won back-to-back SEC Championships and their first non-retroactive National Championship since 1951 in 1998. A football national championship alone puts him in elite category with Truman, FDR, and LBJ. Then comes all the other stuff.

Men’s basketball suffered through most of his tenure, but the final three years saved it. During that time, the program enjoyed three straight NCAA Tournament appearances, two straight Top 25 finishes, and a Sweet 16 appearance in 2000. That’s right on par with every other president, and above many of them, in terms of Tennessee basketball success.

Meanwhile, women’s basketball was at its most prosperous under Bill Clinton. Pat Summitt’s teams won three straight national championships from 1996 to 1998, and the 1997-1998 team is widely regarded as the greatest women’s team ever after going 39-0. The program also made four straight national championship games and five in six years under Clinton.

In baseball, the Vols had their greatest run since the days of Truman, making the College World Series in 1995, winning two straight SEC Championships in 1994 and 1995, winning three straight SEC Tournament Championships in 1993, 1994, and 1995, and going to five straight NCAA Tournaments from 1993 to 1997. That’s the greatest run in Tennessee baseball history.

Meanwhile, the softball program was just starting, and Clinton oversaw them making their first NCAA Tournament in 1999. So with a look at all of the major sports, he was the greatest success for Tennessee Vols athletics as a president. And that is what puts him at No. 1.

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