Your Favorite President

[Winston]

Originally posted by Odin
Nixon was the one that kept the war going on.

Nixon was the one who ended Vietnam. And opened up relations with China.

[Dom Pedro II]

Bah! No FDR man am I....

Britain had a conservative government and was the first one out of the depression before the USA, Germany, or any other country. The USSR not counting because it had opted for the slow demise of Communism...

Hoover had the right idea.... let it take its course... unfortunately, he was stupid enough to allow tariffs to go up which mucked up any chance of solving that problem... but he and everybody else in the day thought tariffs were hot stuff.

My feeling about the government and the economy is that it may SEEM like a good idea to have the government get involved... give people a helping hand... but the economy is a wild beast. She be tamed by no man! It is a force of nature and we have never yet seemed to get channeling nature quite right... invariably, we screw up something else farther down the line.

Interesting stuff about Tom Jefferson... he actually wanted to create political internment camps for political undesirables during the American Revolution. Mr. People's Rights and Anti-Alien&Sedition Acts himself!

[Sprayber]

Originally posted by Odin
Lyndon Johnson: The Great Society, Civil Rights, socialist. I do not know why people get after him for Vietnam, most people, including him, believed in the Domino Effect, which got us mired. Nixon was the one that kept the war going on.

Best overall: FDR

Your very selective about who you will let pass on such things. You dimiss Bush as warmonger and say Johnson was just acting on his concience?

We are not about to send American boys nine or ten thousand miles away from home to do what Asian boys ought to be doing for themselves.
-Lyndon Johnson, Oct. 1964

[Dom Pedro II]

Nixon was the one who ended Vietnam.

Nixon ended it because it had to be ended. Anybody else would've done the same.

But I will give him props for China... his policy towards the Communists, IMHO, was the best.

[PLATO]

Originally posted by Dissident
now you guys are just picking silly presidents.

Garfield?

Reagan? Okay I liked reagan. But he wasn't that great.

Okay, I'll admit Garfield was a joke.

Teddy was the obvious class of that era. When thinking over the Presidents of that time it really was a disappointing list.

Polk, OTOH, was a legitimate pick. His Presidency oversaw the largest land area expansion in US history.

Reagan, of course, did so many great things(IMO) that he is the no-brainer for the modern era.

[mrmitchell]

Polk, OTOH, was a legitimate pick. His Presidency oversaw the largest land area expansion in US history.

What about the guy who bought the Louisiana Purchase?

[PLATO]

Originally posted by mrmitchell

What about the guy who bought the Louisiana Purchase?

I not 100% sure but I believe that Polk's was bigger. Texas, Arizona, New Mexico, California, Washington, and Oregon if I am remebering correctly. Anybody know for sure? (This is another of my distant memories from high school!)

[Dom Pedro II]

Polk, OTOH, was a legitimate pick. His Presidency oversaw the largest land area expansion in US history.

So he starts a war with Mexico, steals a bunch of land, and we applaud his efforts....

I'm thrilled such belligerent men are held in such high esteem...

[Sprayber]

Originally posted by PLATO1003


I not 100% sure but I believe that Polk's was bigger. Texas, Arizona, New Mexico, California, Washington, and Oregon if I am remebering correctly. Anybody know for sure? (This is another of my distant memories from high school!)

The Louisiana Purchase added 828,000 square miles of land west of the Mississippi River to the United States. For roughly 4 cents an acre, the United States had purchased a territory whose natural resources amounted to a richness beyond anyone's wildest calculations.

[PLATO]

Dom Pedro:

"Texas had been annexed to the United States, but Mexico had not recognized the annexation. Mexico insisted that the Nueces River was the legal boundary between Mexico and Texas. The Texans, supported by Polk, insisted that Texas extended to the Rio Grande.

In May, 1846, after a clash between Mexican and American troops, Congress recognized the existence of a state of war "by act of the Republic of Mexico". The war with Mexico (1846 - 1848) ended after more than a year of fighting and Mexico ceded Texas to the United States."

Sprayber:

"During the Polk administration over 800,000 square miles of territory were acquired by the United States. Three new states were admitted to the Union; Texas in 1845, Iowa in 1846, and Wisconsin in 1848. Oregon was organized as a territory in 1848. In 1849 California, although no yet admitted to the Union, organized its own government. During these years the Mormon state of Utah was established and settled."

Couldn't find an exact number but it at least looks close to the LP if not greater.

Source:

http://www.pinevillenc.net/polk.html

[mrmitchell]

Dom Pedro: Nations will be nations. If they want to declare war, do so--at least they didn't try to cover it up like the ****ers do today with **** like "womd" when they should just be saying "**** you"

EDIT: I'd rather disagree with honest politicians than agree with ones that try to politicise and all that bullshit

[Sava]

1790 - 1877
Abe Lincoln... Emancipation Proclamation... he freed the slaves, despite motives... and preserved the Union. I don't think America truly became a nation until after the Civil War... which I refer to as the "Real American Revolution". The Federal system faced it's greatest challenge, and Lincoln stepped up to the plate.

1878 - 1945
the Roosevelts... sorry I couldn't decide between the two. Teddy set the groundwork for what America would eventually become. FDR led this nation out of the Depression and to victory in WW2.

1946 - 2003
Eisenhower... contributed to ending the US aggression in Korea... stood up to that racist Southern governor and paved the way for integration... responsible for the Interstate Highways... used his war leadership and experience to lead America through some tough times.

I can't name a best... there are too many that contributed to this country. But I'll name a worse... Ronald Reagan. Given too much credit for the Soviet Union's collapse... created a lot of the problems we are dealing with today (Saddam, funding Afghan terrorists, bringing the arms race to new heights)... his deplorable tax policies shunned the poor and middle classes while allowing corporations to become the most powerful entities on the planet. Shame on Reagan, and may he burn in hell.

I have a feeling the "best" president is yet to come. One who will solidify equality, bring justice to corporate America, and return the power to the people.

[monkspider]

Jefferson
FDR
Carter

Overall: Carter

[Sava]

Carter? detailed explanation please...

[Dis]

great picks Sava, but I disagree the best is yet to come. I just don't think the politicians of today have what it takes to be great leaders.

Just take a look at the leadership of the democratic party. The republican party is just as bad, but they just so happend to have someone in the white house.

I honestly believe that the quality of americans has gone down since years past. Esp. with regards to integrity and leadership skills.

[mrmitchell]

Just as long as you don't start "reminiscing for the good old days", Diss.

[Dis]

the good ole' days were great! except for the racism and sexism

[Sava]

Originally posted by Dissident
great picks Sava, but I disagree the best is yet to come. I just don't think the politicians of today have what it takes to be great leaders.

Just take a look at the leadership of the democratic party. The republican party is just as bad, but they just so happend to have someone in the white house.

I honestly believe that the quality of americans has gone down since years past. Esp. with regards to integrity and leadership skills.

By future, I mean like 20 years from now... both parties are beyond corrupt. The next generation will step up.

[Soul Survivor]

1. Jefferson
2. T. Roosevelt
3. Eisenhower, it would probably be Nixon if not for one mishap

[David Floyd]

I can't name a single President who I can call "good", with a clear conscience. I would say I prefer Calvin Coolidge over most, though.

[Deity Dude]

Before I answer, I just wonder why the years were broken up they way they were. 1790-2003 is 213 years. Divide that by 3 and you get 3, 71 year periods. So why not 1790-1861 1861-1932 1932-2003. Having said that, I'll answer the question as asked.

1) Washington (put just about any of his contemporaries in his position and we'd be a monarchy today)

2) T. Roosevelt

3) Reagan

Now how about the worst for each of those periods.

[Jaguar]

Overall: FDR

Lincoln
FDR
Eisenhower

[orange]

Best
1790-1877 Washington
1878-1945 Wilson
1946-2003 LBJ

Worst
1790-1877 Adams
1878-1945 Harding
1946-2003 Reagan

So he starts a war with Mexico, steals a bunch of land, and we applaud his efforts....

I'm thrilled such belligerent men are held in such high esteem...

The thing about Polk is, he was honest. These are the things he ran on...aquisition of Texas and the Oregon territory being the big ones...and then he didn't run for another term even though he could have with ease after promising he wouldn't before being elected in the first place. As far as honesty goes, I think that's pretty damn good.

[Sikander]

Originally posted by Dom Pedro II


So he starts a war with Mexico, steals a bunch of land, and we applaud his efforts....

I'm thrilled such belligerent men are held in such high esteem...

It was good land.

[Sikander]

Originally posted by Soul Survivor
1. Jefferson
2. T. Roosevelt
3. Eisenhower, it would probably be Nixon if not for one mishap

My choices exactly, and for the same reasons.

[Sikander]

Oh, and Kennedy has to rate as one of the worst presidents of the modern era, making the pathetic hero worship of him (especially when I was a kid) all the more ironic / moronic.

[Sikander]

And those of you who think Franklin d'Elanor Roosevelt got us out of the depression are wrong. He made a whole series of mistakes both early and late that actually prolonged it. World War Two ended the depression in the United States, ten years after Roosevelt was elected. Bush Sr. was tossed out of office because of a 1 quarter long recession (well that and a monkey eared Texan siphoning off votes and I don't mean George Jr.) to put Roosevelt's economic performance in perspective.

[mrmitchell]

Before I answer, I just wonder why the years were broken up they way they were. 1790-2003 is 213 years. Divide that by 3 and you get 3, 71 year periods. So why not 1790-1861 1861-1932 1932-2003. Having said that, I'll answer the question as asked.

1790 - 1876 is America all the way up to Reconstruction. 1877 - 1945 is that weird time in between then and the major part of the Cold War. 1946 - 2003 is "Post World War II", a common era breakage used to study, say, economic trends. Of course, there could be more divisions, but there is a need to keep it simple, or else we'll have all the phDs running out and crushing us all.

Worst
1790 - 1876...probably John Adams (either one of them.) I seem to think of them as real politicised bastards.
1877 - 1945...odd. None of the Presidents of this period tend to stand out as asses.
1946 - 2003...Reagan. He gets way too much credit for really not doing much more than being an old fart with occasional blurts about the USSR. Also, without him, we wouldn't be able to call it "Reaganomics".

(Nixon might be as bad, but a lot of good jokes are at him. Bush also ain't all that great, but while it's possible, I'd like this thread to stay simple. Bushbashing always takes a lot of hard thinking )

And those of you who think Franklin d'Elanor Roosevelt got us out of the depression are wrong. He made a whole series of mistakes both early and late that actually prolonged it. World War Two ended the depression in the United States, ten years after Roosevelt was elected.

Roosevelt championed a lot of economic reforms that had not been seriously thought of before. Without them, we'd have had another Great Depression by now, or a lot of honest decent hardworking people would be screwed over in some way or other.

Oh, and Kennedy has to rate as one of the worst presidents of the modern era, making the pathetic hero worship of him (especially when I was a kid) all the more ironic / moronic.

You're kidding, aren't you?

[orange]

stood up to that racist Southern governor and paved the way for integration

Reluctantly...

As for the Kennedy comments from Sikander, I wholeheartedly agree

[Sava]

I think Kennedy showed great leadership and had a distinct progressive vision. I would rate him as the second best 1946-2003 president.