Reagan Gazes into the eyes of Jesus Christ after strangling the Soviet Empire to death with an American flag.

On Valentines Day, we bring you a story a true love. Not love between two people mind you, but the greater, more complex kind of love that can form between a great leader and grateful nation. This is a story about Ronald Reagan and the American People, some of whom really, really love him.

A poll conducted by Harris Interactive found that Americans view Ronald Reagan as - ready? you may want to sit down - the best American president since World War II. Wait, it gets better. The same group voted George W. Bush the worst, which he is, a result we’d find heartening if we could somehow forget they said Reagan was the best. HEY AMERICA! GUESS WHAT? THEY’RE THE SAME IDIOT! We will parse results and demand accountability from Harris Interactive after the jump.

This:

When asked to pick the best president since and including Franklin D. Roosevelt, half of the Republicans chose Mr. Reagan, compared to 6 percent of Democrats. Overall, Mr. Reagan won 25 percent support, while in second place, Mr. Roosevelt had 21 percent of votes.

But Americans are not without perspective. When choosing from the list of all-time presidents, including the ones that invented America, or saved it from collapse or destruction at various points, Reagan only comes in second:

In the survey that asked people to choose the best president, including all recent and the more-famous past presidents, Abraham Lincoln came in first with 20 percent, followed by Mr. Reagan, Franklin D. Roosevelt, John F. Kennedy and George Washington.

And, examining the ass-end of the poll:

On the matter of the worst president, Mr. Bush got a landslide victory, with 34 percent of people surveyed. Again, party bias played a big role: 58 percent of Democrats picked him, and just 9 percent of Republicans did.

Not that the most-recent Democrat did much better: Bill Clinton finished second behind Mr. Bush in the “worst president” polling, with 17 percent. He was the choice of 33 percent of Republicans and 7 percent of Democrats.

Finally, this:

Still, both Mr. Bush and Mr. Clinton have reason for hope since, according to the survey, perceptions of previous presidents change over time, citing the example of Harry S. Truman.

Yes, Harry Truman is an example of how perceptions of presidents can change over time. Another one that springs to mind, though, is Ronald Reagan.

Regan Regarded as Best President [Washington Times]