Identify your top five Presidents of all time, since 1900 (to keep it modern). Only rule is you have to include at least one President from both political parties to make it interesting.
1. Reagan. 80's had the best economic expansion in recent memory. Created amazing amounts of wealth and American renewal. Bankrupted USSR and defeated Communism.
2. FDR. Brought us back from the Great Depression and was fantastic during WWII. One of the greatest leaders in the history of politics.
3. Eisenhower. Generally a conservative and well liked amongst his peers. 50's had a prosperous expansion and his steady hand played a role in that.
4. Clinton. I grew up in this decade, and it was a great time to grow up in. Followed the Reagan expansion, balanced the budget, governed from the center. Great domestic policy President.
5. Truman. Ended WWII, albeit controversially. Although he was unpopular, I think history points to his Presidency as successful. Came into a tough spot and did pretty well.
Honorable mention: LBJ (civil rights), Nixon (ended Vietnam War), Teddy
I am not familiar enough with presidents prior to Carter to rank them.
I enjoyed the Reagan and Clinton years the most, but it could just be the member berries talking.
Just Reagan and Eisenhower.
Nixon wasn't shabby. LBJ wrecked the War on Poverty. JFK is saved by his martyr status. Teddy was a progressive. The older Bush isn't bad. Clinton is not a scumbag. Young Bush blew it. Obama is top 2 in all time bad. Truman sacked General MacArthur. Coolidge actually was a good president. He understood that a president doesn't need to do something. Hoover deserved a second term to show the economy would naturally rebound.
FDR is easily one of the worst presidents in history. He prolonged the Depression and let Russia have Eastern Europe.
Theodore Roosevelt
Everybody else was just a footnote.
(11-03-2016 09:08 PM)HarmonOliphantOberlanderDevine Wrote: [ -> ]Just Reagan and Eisenhower.
Nixon wasn't shabby. LBJ wrecked the War on Poverty. JFK is saved by his martyr status. Teddy was a progressive. The older Bush isn't bad. Clinton is not a scumbag. Young Bush blew it. Obama is top 2 in all time bad. Truman sacked General MacArthur. Coolidge actually was a good president. He understood that a president doesn't need to do something. Hoover deserved a second term to show the economy would naturally rebound.
FDR is easily one of the worst presidents in history. He prolonged the Depression and let Russia have Eastern Europe.
I'm younger so this is an interesting perspective. Thanks for posting!
(11-03-2016 09:12 PM)WalkThePlank Wrote: [ -> ] (11-03-2016 09:08 PM)HarmonOliphantOberlanderDevine Wrote: [ -> ]Just Reagan and Eisenhower.
Nixon wasn't shabby. LBJ wrecked the War on Poverty. JFK is saved by his martyr status. Teddy was a progressive. The older Bush isn't bad. Clinton is not a scumbag. Young Bush blew it. Obama is top 2 in all time bad. Truman sacked General MacArthur. Coolidge actually was a good president. He understood that a president doesn't need to do something. Hoover deserved a second term to show the economy would naturally rebound.
FDR is easily one of the worst presidents in history. He prolonged the Depression and let Russia have Eastern Europe.
I'm younger so this is an interesting perspective. Thanks for posting!
I am college aged but history is my hobby. A passionate one.
Best - Reagan, Clinton, Eisenhower, Coolidge, Truman. Fifth one was hard, but Barry Goldwater spoke highly of him.
Worst - Zero, Carter, Shrub, Wilson, LBJ.
(11-03-2016 09:03 PM)WalkThePlank Wrote: [ -> ]Clinton. I grew up in this decade, and it was a great time to grow up in.
Are presidents (any president) really responsible for that? To look at it from a different angle, I've never read that the 1790s or 1860s were "a great time to grow up in", yet Washington and Lincoln are typically rated as the top two presidents. Aren't you combining two unrelated subjects?
Quote:Followed the Reagan expansion
How does a president (any president) earn credit for following someone else?
Quote:balanced the budget
Meh, sort of. And to the limited extent that is true, I would argue that passing budgets is a distinctly Congress-centric process, anyway.
Quote:governed from the center. Great domestic policy President.
Examples?
Quote:Nixon (ended Vietnam War)
An enormously positive and significant event in our history, yet one that is rarely acknowledged or credited to Nixon. He also orchestrated the
peaceful racial integration of two hugely complex/diverse but firmly segregated institutions: public schools in the South, and the U.S. Navy. Other than that, he saved Israel from military invasion, initiated diplomatic relations with China, and carried 49 states when he ran for re-election. Finally, he had the grace to get off the stage when the curtain came down in Watergate. Should've done so a bit sooner, but still.
(11-03-2016 09:42 PM)Owl 69/70/75 Wrote: [ -> ]Truman (Barry Goldwater spoke highly of him
I'd be curious to know exactly what Goldwater praised about Truman, and exactly when that praise was offered.
Other than that, there is a certain symmetry between the two men. Truman was the last President who never went to college, and Goldwater was the last major-party nominee who never graduated from college (2 years at U/Arizona; dropped out to run the family business when his father died). As far as I can tell, their lack of academic credentials was never a significant issue in the political-career of either man.
(11-03-2016 09:03 PM)WalkThePlank Wrote: [ -> ]Identify your top five Presidents of all time, since 1900 (to keep it modern). Only rule is you have to include at least one President from both political parties to make it interesting.
1. Reagan. 80's had the best economic expansion in recent memory. Created amazing amounts of wealth and American renewal. Bankrupted USSR and defeated Communism.
2. FDR. Brought us back from the Great Depression and was fantastic during WWII. One of the greatest leaders in the history of politics.
3. Eisenhower. Generally a conservative and well liked amongst his peers. 50's had a prosperous expansion and his steady hand played a role in that.
4. Clinton. I grew up in this decade, and it was a great time to grow up in. Followed the Reagan expansion, balanced the budget, governed from the center. Great domestic policy President.
5. Truman. Ended WWII, albeit controversially. Although he was unpopular, I think history points to his Presidency as successful. Came into a tough spot and did pretty well.
Honorable mention: LBJ (civil rights), Nixon (ended Vietnam War), Teddy
1. disagree. a POTUS legacy changes rapidly over the following 10, 20, 50, and 100 years. History will judge reagan harshally IMO.
5. Are you talking about the a-bomb?
I would rank them:
1. FDR
2. Truman
3. LBJ
4. JFK
5. Teddy
I would say Ford Bush I & Carter are underrated.
(11-03-2016 09:58 PM)john01992 Wrote: [ -> ] (11-03-2016 09:03 PM)WalkThePlank Wrote: [ -> ]Identify your top five Presidents of all time, since 1900 (to keep it modern). Only rule is you have to include at least one President from both political parties to make it interesting.
1. Democrat
2. Democrat
3. Democrat
4. Democrat
5. Longest-time-ago Republican
Edited for brevity/clarity.
Theodore Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson are an interesting pair, IMHO. They hated one another with a greater intensity than just about any other 2 presidents (Truman and Eisenhower perhaps equal in that category). Yet viewed from a century's distance, their governing ideology/philosophy seems remarkably similar.
1) Reagan - Stuck with his principles but without meanness. Had a positive vision of America. Treated opponents well without backing down. Punched the Cold War ball into the end zone.
2) FDR - Great war leader. Would have been #1 if not for a little too much experimentation and Supreme Court packing efforts.
3) Truman/Eisenhower - Combined effort set up the governmental structures and policies that would ultimately win the Cold War.
5) Theodore Roosevelt - A Progressive Republican who was an individualist who conserved. A hell of a package.
Ike
Reagan
Clinton
JFK
Coolidge
(11-03-2016 10:20 PM)Native Georgian Wrote: [ -> ] (11-03-2016 09:58 PM)john01992 Wrote: [ -> ] (11-03-2016 09:03 PM)WalkThePlank Wrote: [ -> ]Identify your top five Presidents of all time, since 1900 (to keep it modern). Only rule is you have to include at least one President from both political parties to make it interesting.
1. Democrat
2. Democrat
3. Democrat
4. Democrat
5. Longest-time-ago Republican
Edited for brevity/clarity.
It is true. Yall had to prop up reagan because you literally had no one else.
these discussions come down to Reagan, Teddy, Ike, JFK, LBJ, Clinton, Truman, & FDR as the most commonly cited choices. a very strong dem lean. haven't most posters also had a majority dem or at the very least a heavy dem presence on theirs?
(11-03-2016 10:49 PM)john01992 Wrote: [ -> ] (11-03-2016 10:20 PM)Native Georgian Wrote: [ -> ] (11-03-2016 09:58 PM)john01992 Wrote: [ -> ] (11-03-2016 09:03 PM)WalkThePlank Wrote: [ -> ]Identify your top five Presidents of all time, since 1900 (to keep it modern). Only rule is you have to include at least one President from both political parties to make it interesting.
1. Democrat
2. Democrat
3. Democrat
4. Democrat
5. Longest-time-ago Republican
Edited for brevity/clarity.
It is true. Yall had to prop up reagan because you literally had no one else.
these discussions come down to Reagan, Teddy, Ike, JFK, LBJ, Clinton, Truman, & FDR as the most commonly cited choices. a very strong dem lean. haven't most posters also had a majority dem or at the very least a heavy dem presence on theirs?
JFK probably would have made it if he had more time. Space program and Missile Crisis were about all he had time for, but just those make a case for him.
Clinton just went with "everybody party" but the hangover has been massive.
LBJ was a neanderthal. The only things he did right were Civil Rights and who the hell knows why he decided to do it...and quitting. His War on Poverty and War on Vietnam were disastrous.
FDR is in the icon class. Not many of those. Truman brought one war to the most rapid conclusion possible and set the stage for the winning of the next one.
(11-03-2016 09:58 PM)john01992 Wrote: [ -> ] (11-03-2016 09:03 PM)WalkThePlank Wrote: [ -> ]Identify your top five Presidents of all time, since 1900 (to keep it modern). Only rule is you have to include at least one President from both political parties to make it interesting.
1. Reagan. 80's had the best economic expansion in recent memory. Created amazing amounts of wealth and American renewal. Bankrupted USSR and defeated Communism.
2. FDR. Brought us back from the Great Depression and was fantastic during WWII. One of the greatest leaders in the history of politics.
3. Eisenhower. Generally a conservative and well liked amongst his peers. 50's had a prosperous expansion and his steady hand played a role in that.
4. Clinton. I grew up in this decade, and it was a great time to grow up in. Followed the Reagan expansion, balanced the budget, governed from the center. Great domestic policy President.
5. Truman. Ended WWII, albeit controversially. Although he was unpopular, I think history points to his Presidency as successful. Came into a tough spot and did pretty well.
Honorable mention: LBJ (civil rights), Nixon (ended Vietnam War), Teddy
1. disagree. a POTUS legacy changes rapidly over the following 10, 20, 50, and 100 years. History will judge reagan harshally IMO.
5. Are you talking about the a-bomb?
I would rank them:
1. FDR
2. Truman
3. LBJ
4. JFK
5. Teddy
JFK?
Um, no.
Space program, Cuban Missle Crisis, peace corps, one of our best speech givers and inspired an entire generation. Not to mention his tenure had decent economic results and his role in civil rights
(11-03-2016 11:06 PM)BcatMatt13 Wrote: [ -> ] (11-03-2016 09:58 PM)john01992 Wrote: [ -> ]
1. FDR
2. Truman
3. LBJ
4. JFK
5. Teddy
JFK?
Um, no.
Kennedy's historical reputation is still closely intertwined with the shock/horror of his assassination, and the natural human sympathy that followed after that. Even into the 1980s I remember many people -- and not necessarily just liberals or Kennedy-type supporters -- would speak of him in rapturous tones. Criticism had to be phrased
very carefully lest you be suspected of being a "hater" or some other sort of bad person.
That kind of hero-worship has obviously faded over the past 25-30 years as (1.) more detailed information about Kennedy has slowly emerged, and (2.) the generation that absorbed the trauma of his death has died off, replaced by people who mainly know him as a guy who did MM and lots of others. But the old view hasn't disappeared completely.