14 JUNE 2008, Page 24

The other side of the desk

Sir: Those who presume to judge ‘Who’s the worst PM?’ (Letters, 7 June) should reflect on President Kennedy’s deep dissatisfaction with the glib way historians had rated some of his predecessors as ‘below average’ and some as ‘failures’. He said: ‘No one has a right to grade a president — who has not sat in his chair, examined his mail and information that came across his desk, and learned how he made his decisions.’ This rule should apply to prime ministers as well.

Tom Benyon

Bladon, Oxfordshire