# 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:** 18
**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 30, 2009, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-president-elimination-game/511317/341 "2009-10-30T01:48:43Z")
> [@Skammer](#): > > Yep, Lyon Tyler is the guy I know. He’s a fascinating guy. To think there’s is only a three generation gap between now and 1790! BTW, how do meet Mr. Tyler? Also casting a vote for Madison ---
**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 30, 2009, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-president-elimination-game/511317/342 "2009-10-30T19:01:02Z")
With 18 votes in, James Earl Carter, who was not quite equal to the troubles he faced in his presidency, has an insurmountable 3-vote lead over Madison, so out he goes. We are now 1/3 of the way through the process, 13 down and 26 to go. 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) James Polk (Democrat, 1845-1849) Zachary Taylor (Whig, 1849-1850) Abraham Lincoln (Republican, 1861-1865) 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) 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. Millard 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) 10. Rutherford Hayes (Republican, 1877-1881) 11. Ulysses Grant (Republican, 1869-1877) 12. John Tyler (Whig, 1841-1845) 13. James Earl Carter (Democrat, 1977-1981) I’m sympathetic to the case against Wilson, but will keep voting Madison until he’s out of there. Voting will remain open until 2:00 Central Time on Monday; if there are not 20 votes by that time, it will remain open for a further 2 days or until 20 votes are recorded. Also corrected: the spelling of Millard Fillmore’s first name. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2009, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-president-elimination-game/511317/343 "2009-10-30T19:21:06Z")
If you people don’t help me get rid of Martin Van Buren right now I’m not playing anymore. :mad: ---
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2009, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-president-elimination-game/511317/344 "2009-10-30T20:16:36Z")
Make your case against him then-almost all of the most obvious ones are gone now, and my putative choice, Coolidge, I am barely attached to. ---
**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 30, 2009, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-president-elimination-game/511317/345 "2009-10-30T20:17:24Z")
Sorry. Madison was still worse, and has my vote yet again. ---
**Author:** ![Sternvogel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bc79bd/32.png) [@Sternvogel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sternvogel)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2009, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-president-elimination-game/511317/346 "2009-10-30T21:43:40Z")
> [@Tom\_Scud](#): > > Eliminated Presidents: > 5. Millard **Filmore** (Whig, 1850-1853) > > \ > Also corrected: the spelling of Millard Fillmore’s first name. Now all you have to do is correct his last name on the list, as you have it spelled accurately in the last line I quoted. 🆒 I’ll vote for Van Buren next time if the old Stalwart finally bites the dust this round. CHESTER ALAN ARTHUR ---
**Author:** ![Reloy3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c68b51/32.png) [@Reloy3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reloy3)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2009, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-president-elimination-game/511317/347 "2009-10-30T21:51:01Z")
Wilson ---
**Author:** ![amarone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e0b2c6/32.png) [@amarone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amarone)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2009, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-president-elimination-game/511317/348 "2009-10-30T22:14:15Z")
Madison. ---
**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 30, 2009, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-president-elimination-game/511317/349 "2009-10-30T22:19:14Z")
Carter was robbed! Sticking with Silent Cal Coolidge ---
**Author:** ![SandyHook](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dec6dc/32.png) [@SandyHook](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SandyHook)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2009, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-president-elimination-game/511317/350 "2009-10-30T22:58:56Z")
Lyndon Johnson. Probably the most reviled president ever. ---
**Author:** ![ToeJam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/dfb087/32.png) [@ToeJam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ToeJam)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2009, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-president-elimination-game/511317/351 "2009-10-31T00:51:35Z")
While I agree with the Johnson vote (where were you like 4 rounds ago?) I’m gonna hold my vote for Madison. Though I could get behind an Arthur lynch. ---
**Author:** ![StusBlues](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dc4da7/32.png) [@StusBlues](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StusBlues)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2009, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-president-elimination-game/511317/352 "2009-10-31T02:54:37Z")
There is no higher value in the American spirit than freedom of speech. Through the cold war and the war on terror, we have always held dear that, while those who reviled our government were allowed to do so unmolested, the dissidents in the nations aligned against us were thrown in prison for speaking out against injustice. To jail an American for dissent is the closest thing to blasphemy one can imagine in American civil society. [John Adams](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alien_and_Sedition_Acts). Get him out of here. ---
**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 31, 2009, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-president-elimination-game/511317/353 "2009-10-31T03:23:27Z")
Finally Madison shall be no more. ---
**Author:** ![ToeJam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/dfb087/32.png) [@ToeJam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ToeJam)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2009, 4:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-president-elimination-game/511317/354 "2009-10-31T04:56:42Z")
Change my Madison to Adams. ---
**Author:** ![CyclopticXander](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/59ef9b/32.png) [@CyclopticXander](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CyclopticXander)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2009, 7:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-president-elimination-game/511317/355 "2009-10-31T07:26:09Z")
> [@stuthehistoryguy](#): > > There is no higher value in the American spirit than freedom of speech. Through the cold war and the war on terror, we have always held dear that, while those who reviled our government were allowed to do so unmolested, the dissidents in the nations aligned against us were thrown in prison for speaking out against injustice. To jail an American for dissent is the closest thing to blasphemy one can imagine in American civil society. > > [John Adams](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alien_and_Sedition_Acts). Get him out of here. Yea, it does pain me to admit my favorite founder was actually a pretty bad president…But cmon the XYZ business ( a lesser Federalist would have beat the war drum) has got to redeem him enough to put him ahead of a few more still on the list. Like say, Van Freaking Buren? ---
**Author:** ![StusBlues](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dc4da7/32.png) [@StusBlues](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StusBlues)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2009, 10:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-president-elimination-game/511317/356 "2009-10-31T10:51:29Z")
Can someone please lay out their case against Old Kinderhook? ---
**Author:** ![Makeitstop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/bb73d2/32.png) [@Makeitstop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Makeitstop)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2009, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-president-elimination-game/511317/357 "2009-10-31T16:18:20Z")
OK, I have to wonder why Zachary Taylor, who was in office for little more than a year, is still on this list. I have nothing agaisnt the guy, but there is also nothing to say for him. I put him on the same level as William Henry Harrison. He just wasn’t around long enough for anything to happen. Zachary Taylor, just to mix things up. ---
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2009, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-president-elimination-game/511317/358 "2009-10-31T18:13:08Z")
> [@Makeitstop](#): > > OK, I have to wonder why Zachary Taylor, who was in office for little more than a year, is still on this list. I have nothing agaisnt the guy, but there is also nothing to say for him. I put him on the same level as William Henry Harrison. He just wasn’t around long enough for anything to happen. > > Zachary Taylor, just to mix things up. That gives him (Taylor) something in common with Coolidge. He had four years to fix the ticking time bomb that would go off in '29, and did nothing; yes hindsight is 20-20, but the Crash and the Depression can in large part be laid at his feet (c.f. Bush II and our current recession). Sticking with Silent Cal, unless I get a good argument otherwise (the scoop above on Adams I means he doesn’t make my personal top 10, perhaps 15, but I won’t vote to drop him-yet). ---
**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 31, 2009, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-president-elimination-game/511317/359 "2009-10-31T19:57:05Z")
Well, I’m not a big fan, but I guess I’ll rise to Coolidge’s defense. He was scrupulous in not interfering in investigations, letting the chips fall where they may with Harding-era scandals (Teapot Dome, Veterans Affairs, Harry Daugherty, etc.). He restored public confidence in the Federal government. He cut taxes and yet was also able to reduce the national debt. A farmer himself, he vetoed wasteful agricultural subsidies. He spoke out against lynching and the Klan, which was politically risky at the time. He supported the Kellogg-Briand Pact, which although it didn’t “outlaw war,” laid the groundwork for later international law. He held unprecedentedly regular press conferences. He was personally honest. And he had a hot wife ([whitehousemuseum.org domain name is for sale. Inquire now.](http://www.whitehousemuseum.org/furnishings/Grace%20Coolidge.jpg)). ---
**Author:** ![StusBlues](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dc4da7/32.png) [@StusBlues](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StusBlues)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2009, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-president-elimination-game/511317/360 "2009-10-31T20:19:42Z")
And I’m going to step in to defend Taylor. There’s an old saying about the NY political bosses and Teddy Roosevelt: “We bought the SOB and he didn’t stay bought.” A similar trope applies to Taylor. He was brought in as an apolitical slaveowner palatable to enough people for his war record to slide in past the Democrats. As president, however, he developed an utterly political plan to circumvent the territorial process, bring California and New Mexico in as free states, and finally tip the Senate balance in a Free-Soil direction, effectively laying the groundwork to strangle slavery. Of course, Southern leaders threatened to secede. In private (I’ve never found the direct quote), Taylor promised that he would hunt down and hang secessionists as traitors with more relish than he showed in prosecuting deserters in the Mexican War. With Taylor’s military credibility, I do believe he could have pulled it off. Then he died, and we got Fillmore and the Compromise of 1850. We went from untrammelled cojones to milquetoast with one case of cholera. Taylor won’t make the last ten, but I implore you to take his record, such as it is, into account before voting for his dismissal. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-president-elimination-game/511317.md?page=17) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-president-elimination-game/511317.md?page=19)