# The President Elimination Game **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [September 24, 2009, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-president-elimination-game/511317 "2009-09-24T01:36:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 11
**Author:** ![amarone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e0b2c6/32.png) [@amarone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amarone)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2009, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-president-elimination-game/511317/201 "2009-10-13T22:53:40Z")
> [@Tom\_Scud](#): > > St. Ronald Reagan, the greatest leader in the history of Western Civilization, has been ousted by a Communist plot. I’m no Republican, but it looks like the board’s left-leaning bias has seen off Reagan. No way was he the worst remaining - just look at Carter, for example. I’ll toss in another vote for Jackson and see if sanity is restored this round. ---
**Author:** ![as\_u\_wish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/6f9a4e/32.png) [@as\_u\_wish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/as_u_wish)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2009, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-president-elimination-game/511317/202 "2009-10-13T23:05:09Z")
Jackson, a scum bag if there ever was one. ---
**Author:** ![Makeitstop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/bb73d2/32.png) [@Makeitstop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Makeitstop)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2009, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-president-elimination-game/511317/203 "2009-10-13T23:10:11Z")
Jimmy Carter. Get that olympics skipping president out! ---
**Author:** ![Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/f04885/32.png) [@Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qin_Shi_Huangdi)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2009, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-president-elimination-game/511317/204 "2009-10-14T01:51:21Z")
> [@Tom\_Scud](#): > > Heck with it. _I_ find the exercise interesting. > > St. Ronald Reagan, the greatest leader in the history of Western Civilization, has been ousted by a Communist plot. > > George Washington (None, 1789-1797) > John Adams (Federalist, 1797-1801) > Thomas Jefferson (Democratic-Republican, 1801-1809) > James Madison (Democratic-Republican, 1809-1817) > James Monroe (Democratic-Republican, 1817-1825) > John Quincy Adams (Democratic-Republican, 1825-1829) > Andrew Jackson (Democrat, 1829-1837) > Martin Van Buren (Democrat, 1837-1841) > John Tyler (Whig, 1841-1845) > James Polk (Democrat, 1845-1849) > Zachary Taylor (Whig, 1849-1850) > Abraham Lincoln (Republican, 1861-1865) > Ulysses Grant (Republican, 1869-1877) > Rutherford Hayes (Republican, 1877-1881) > Chester Arthur (Republican, 1881-1885) > Grover Cleveland (Democrat, 1885-1889, 1893-1897) > Benjamin Harrison (Republican, 1889-1893) > William McKinley (Republican, 1897-1901) > Theodore Roosevelt (Republican, 1901-1909) > William Howard Taft (Republican, 1909-1913) > Woodrow Wilson (Democrat, 1913-1921) > Calvin Coolidge (Republican, 1923-1929) > Franklin Delano Roosevelt (Democrat, 1933-1945) > Henry Truman (Democrat, 1945-1953) > Dwight Eisenhower (Republican, 1953-1961) > John Fitzgerald Kennedy (Democrat, 1961-1963) > Lyndon Baines Johnson (Democrat, 1963-1969) > Gerald Ford (Republican, 1974-1977) > James Earl Carter (Democrat, 1977-1981) > George Herbert Walker Bush (Republican, 1989-1993) > William Jefferson Clinton (Democrat, 1993-2001) > > Eliminated Presidents: > > 1. James Buchanan (Democrat, 1857-1861) > 2. Franklin Pierce (Democrat, 1853-1857) > 3. Andrew Johnson (National Union, 1865-1869) > 4. Warren Harding (Republican, 1921-1923) > 5. Milliard Filmore (Whig, 1850-1853) > 6. Richard Milhous Nixon (Republican, 1969-1974) > 7. Herbert Hoover (Republican, 1929-1933) > 8. Ronald Reagan (Republican, 1981-1989) > > Back to Madison. > > International relations 101: find out who the most powerful country in the world is. Then don’t get into a war with them. I approve of this (but still :mad:) and I cast a vote for Madison. ---
**Author:** ![CyclopticXander](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/59ef9b/32.png) [@CyclopticXander](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CyclopticXander)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2009, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-president-elimination-game/511317/205 "2009-10-14T02:00:00Z")
Put me on the Andrew Jackson train! ---
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2009, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-president-elimination-game/511317/206 "2009-10-14T02:30:43Z")
If you need blame the Great Depression on a President, your choice should not be Hoover (who tried to combat it, too little and too late, largely by trying to strengthen business), but Silent Cal Coolidge, whose laissez-faire stance allowed it to happen in the first place. However, my vote goes for Benjamin Harrison, the greatest surviving nonentity on the list. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2009, 10:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-president-elimination-game/511317/207 "2009-10-14T10:34:45Z")
I disagree with Reagan’s ouster at this juncture but what the hey. Can we pleeeeeeeeease boot Grant now? ---
**Author:** ![Nametag](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nametag/32/406_2.png) [@Nametag](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nametag)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2009, 11:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-president-elimination-game/511317/208 "2009-10-14T11:01:11Z")
Jackson, again. ---
**Author:** ![Boozahol\_Squid\_P.I](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/d9b06d/32.png) [@Boozahol\_Squid\_P.I](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boozahol_Squid_P.I)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2009, 11:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-president-elimination-game/511317/209 "2009-10-14T11:59:00Z")
Carter. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2009, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-president-elimination-game/511317/210 "2009-10-14T13:14:13Z")
Jackson’s Indian policy is indefensible today, but was a logical extension of decades of Federal policy at the time. On the plus side, Jackson broke the Second Bank of the U.S.'s stranglehold on fiscal policy, stared down the South Carolina nullificationists and thus deferred a civil war for decades, established his supremacy over the Cabinet and encouraged popular democracy. He was far and away the strongest President between Washington and Lincoln. Indeed, when Lincoln was assassinated, he had in his wallet a newspaper clipping comparing his strong leadership to Jackson - apparently he appreciated the comparison. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2009, 1:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-president-elimination-game/511317/211 "2009-10-14T13:34:01Z")
Jackson. Get his mug off the twenty, too. ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Scud](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f08c70/32.png) [@Tom\_Scud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Scud)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2009, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-president-elimination-game/511317/212 "2009-10-14T14:10:05Z")
> [@amarone](#): > > I’m no Republican, but it looks like the board’s left-leaning bias has seen off Reagan. No way was he the worst remaining - just look at Carter, for example. > > I’ll toss in another vote for Jackson and see if sanity is restored this round. I’d say in general the set-up of the exercise is likely to kick off strong but controversial leaders faster than mediocrities; I metagamed a bit in joining the Reagan wagon, but I think his undeniably strong impact has been predominantly for the worse. Today’s Andrew Jackson bandwagon is another example. I myself have Woodrow Wilson in my sights once we get Madison out of here, though I also need to take a good look at Hayes. (Which is not to deny the bias, of course.) ---
**Author:** ![Reloy3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c68b51/32.png) [@Reloy3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reloy3)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2009, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-president-elimination-game/511317/213 "2009-10-14T17:23:43Z")
Polk ---
**Author:** ![YogSothoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/8edcca/32.png) [@YogSothoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YogSothoth)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2009, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-president-elimination-game/511317/214 "2009-10-15T15:55:10Z")
> [@Tom\_Scud](#): > > I’d say in general the set-up of the exercise is likely to kick off strong but controversial leaders faster than mediocrities; I metagamed a bit in joining the Reagan wagon, but I think his undeniably strong impact has been predominantly for the worse. Today’s Andrew Jackson bandwagon is another example. I myself have Woodrow Wilson in my sights once we get Madison out of here, though I also need to take a good look at Hayes. > > (Which is not to deny the bias, of course.) My personal opinion is that the controversial leaders have done more negative than the milquetoast (I’ve always wanted to use that word! :D) ones who have little to their credit by the fact of being nearly invisible through their presidency. Its the reason why I’ve voted off Hoover and Reagan and now Jackson rather than William Henry Harrison (had he been available), who was in office all of 30 days. Harrison might have accomplished nothing, but that also means he had’t done anything bad either. ---
**Author:** ![CyclopticXander](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/59ef9b/32.png) [@CyclopticXander](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CyclopticXander)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2009, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-president-elimination-game/511317/215 "2009-10-15T17:17:24Z")
Yeah as liberal as I am, i still Reagan really should have stayed around way longer.I’ve just completely changed my approach to the game now that I see how it’s going. I’m a complete presidential history nerd who could talk anyone’s ear off about any president, so I’m prone to taking these sorts of things a little too seriously. At first I was trying to judge based on every factor that contributes to a president’s performance, but now I’m just saying screw it, I’ll just vote for the ones I just lust like least (that’s going to be heavily slanted against conservatives). I’ll vote the best way to preserve my favorites, even if it means jumping on the bandwagon of a president who’s number I really don’t feel should be up. ---
**Author:** ![Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/f04885/32.png) [@Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qin_Shi_Huangdi)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2009, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-president-elimination-game/511317/216 "2009-10-16T01:28:49Z")
> [@Reloy3](#): > > Polk You mean one of our **Greatest** presidents? James K Polk was the President who made America the superpower it is to-day, a man of iron will and incorruptability, a man who would not yield to anyone, indeed after Abraham Lincoln he was the closest to the ideal of the Randian Man (minus the selfish part and rational self interest which no President should have as a trait or belief). ---
**Author:** ![MsWhatsit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/eb8c5e/32.png) [@MsWhatsit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsWhatsit)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2009, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-president-elimination-game/511317/217 "2009-10-16T01:42:34Z")
_In four short years he met his every goal! He seized the whole Southwest from Mexico! Made sure the tariffs fell; And made the English sell the Oregon territory. He built an independent treasury. Having done all this, he sought no second term– But precious few have mourned the passing of Mister James K. Polk, our eleventh president Young Hickory, Napoleon of the Stump!_ ---
**Author:** ![Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulf_the_Unwashed)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2009, 4:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-president-elimination-game/511317/218 "2009-10-16T04:36:33Z")
John Adams. Overrated. ---
**Author:** ![StusBlues](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dc4da7/32.png) [@StusBlues](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StusBlues)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2009, 12:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-president-elimination-game/511317/219 "2009-10-16T12:38:39Z")
“He was the closest to the ideal of the Randian Man (minus the selfish part and rational self interest)” Is this not contradictory? Curtis, the major reason that Polk is picking up votes early on is that some people feel that the US should not go about conquering territory. If you would hold up Napoleon or Caesar as great leaders, then Polk is probably your guy. If your idea of a great leader is someone more like Gandhi or Kenyatta, then Polk is probably closer to the bottom of the list. ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Scud](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f08c70/32.png) [@Tom\_Scud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Scud)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2009, 12:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-president-elimination-game/511317/220 "2009-10-16T12:45:05Z")
Farewell to Andrew Jackson, another President who, for good or ill, forever changed American politics. George Washington (None, 1789-1797) John Adams (Federalist, 1797-1801) Thomas Jefferson (Democratic-Republican, 1801-1809) James Madison (Democratic-Republican, 1809-1817) James Monroe (Democratic-Republican, 1817-1825) John Quincy Adams (Democratic-Republican, 1825-1829) Martin Van Buren (Democrat, 1837-1841) John Tyler (Whig, 1841-1845) James Polk (Democrat, 1845-1849) Zachary Taylor (Whig, 1849-1850) Abraham Lincoln (Republican, 1861-1865) Ulysses Grant (Republican, 1869-1877) Rutherford Hayes (Republican, 1877-1881) Chester Arthur (Republican, 1881-1885) Grover Cleveland (Democrat, 1885-1889, 1893-1897) Benjamin Harrison (Republican, 1889-1893) William McKinley (Republican, 1897-1901) Theodore Roosevelt (Republican, 1901-1909) William Howard Taft (Republican, 1909-1913) Woodrow Wilson (Democrat, 1913-1921) Calvin Coolidge (Republican, 1923-1929) Franklin Delano Roosevelt (Democrat, 1933-1945) Henry Truman (Democrat, 1945-1953) Dwight Eisenhower (Republican, 1953-1961) John Fitzgerald Kennedy (Democrat, 1961-1963) Lyndon Baines Johnson (Democrat, 1963-1969) Gerald Ford (Republican, 1974-1977) James Earl Carter (Democrat, 1977-1981) George Herbert Walker Bush (Republican, 1989-1993) William Jefferson Clinton (Democrat, 1993-2001) Eliminated Presidents: 1. James Buchanan (Democrat, 1857-1861) 2. Franklin Pierce (Democrat, 1853-1857) 3. Andrew Johnson (National Union, 1865-1869) 4. Warren Harding (Republican, 1921-1923) 5. Milliard Filmore (Whig, 1850-1853) 6. Richard Milhous Nixon (Republican, 1969-1974) 7. Herbert Hoover (Republican, 1929-1933) 8. Ronald Reagan (Republican, 1981-1989) 9. Andrew Jackson (Democrat, 1829-1837) Madison. Slight modification to the ground rules: voting remains open for 3 days (more or less); once 3 days have passed, then as soon as 20 votes are reached, (and as soon as I or the General or anyone else feels like doing another post) or after 5 days if 20 votes aren’t reached, we move on to the next round. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-president-elimination-game/511317.md?page=10) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-president-elimination-game/511317.md?page=12)