(12-16-2019 07:43 PM)mrbig Wrote:  tanq - my flat earther comparison was for politicians taking all guns, not just “assault weapons”. I agree that many more politicians support some form of “assault weapon” ban.

OO - I am not talking about random rankings of Presidents compiled by John Smith and Jane Jones. I am talking about rankings created through a consensus of multiple historians. That doesn’t mean they are correct, but they are more knowledgeable than most and I trust their rankings better than my own or most people’s, unless there is a strong countervailing argument made. More specific to your point, the individuals weighing in on such rankings most certainly consider more than “freeing the slaves” and “saving the union” because they know a lot more about Lincoln (and all other Presidents) than such a 30,000-foot view.

So, what do they consider beyond those two items that qualify him as great? Truly curious.

All rankings I have seen are composed by people with with biases - the biases are reflected in the rankings. I have heard historians say that but for Watergate, Nixon would be considered one of our best. But few ranking would reflect that view, because after he was a crook, and one who got caught. Who cares about china, who cares he got us out of Viet Nam, he is remembered for other things. LBJ is remembered for the Civil Rights Act, not for getting us into Viet Nam.

Might as well rank the greatest NFL coaches, or the greatest singers or the greatest...whatever. A subjective ranking by people who may weight this or that more than that or this.

But back to Trump. Call me in 20 years and we can start to decide how great he was. In any event, we need to see how his second term goes.

I do not think he is greater than anybody yet. Too soon to decide.

Thank you. I have enjoyed the discussion.