# 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:** 38
**Author:** ![Trepa\_Mayfield](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/edb3f5/32.png) [@Trepa\_Mayfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trepa_Mayfield)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2009, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-president-elimination-game/511317/741 "2009-12-14T02:53:37Z")
Cleavland! ---
**Author:** ![Baffle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/dec6dc/32.png) [@Baffle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baffle)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2009, 3:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-president-elimination-game/511317/742 "2009-12-14T03:40:29Z")
Polk has got to go. Along with the other imperialists, but him first. ---
**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:** [December 14, 2009, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-president-elimination-game/511317/743 "2009-12-14T04:03:53Z")
> [@Captain\_Socks](#): > > I’m not sure if my vote will count, I’ve been voting on and off, but if this counts, then my vote will be the first for, in my opinion, a rather mediocre President. Well, actually, I don’t know about mediocre, but… average. His presidency was rather uneventful. He did handle the Cold War well, but… still… **Eisenhower**. Interstate freeways and a brilliant balance in the Cold War. ---
**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:** [December 14, 2009, 10:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-president-elimination-game/511317/744 "2009-12-14T10:26:55Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > James Monroe. When you get down to it, what right did the US have to establish the Monroe Doctrine? I’ll take “Protecting the Western Hemisphere from European colonialism that still hampers Africa and South Asia to this day” for $100, Alex JFK ---
**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:** [December 14, 2009, 11:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-president-elimination-game/511317/745 "2009-12-14T11:18:01Z")
> [@Boozahol\_Squid\_P.I](#): > > I’ll take “Protecting the Western Hemisphere from European colonialism that still hampers Africa and South Asia to this day” for $100, Alex > > JFK Sorry but you lose $100. No matter how noble the motivation, on what great principle was the Monroe Doctrine based? South America is closer to the US than it is to Europe, so Europeans, stay out? Physical proximity = foreign policy rights? Sounds more like the Palin Doctrine. ---
**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:** [December 14, 2009, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-president-elimination-game/511317/746 "2009-12-14T17:26:47Z")
By my count it’s: JFK 8 McKinley 5 Taft 3 Monroe 2 LBJ 2 Eisenhower 1 Cleveland 1 Polk 1 ---
**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:** [December 14, 2009, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-president-elimination-game/511317/747 "2009-12-14T17:31:56Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > By my count it’s: > > JFK 8 > McKinley 5 > Taft 3 > Monroe 2 > LBJ 2 > Eisenhower 1 > Cleveland 1 > Polk 1 Thanks. I meant to do a morning vote count but forgot. My count has McKinley at 6, however. ETA: and Kennedy at 9. ---
**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:** [December 14, 2009, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-president-elimination-game/511317/748 "2009-12-14T17:41:17Z")
And, reminder, voting closes in approximately 2 hours and 20 minutes. ---
**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:** [December 14, 2009, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-president-elimination-game/511317/749 "2009-12-14T18:15:33Z")
I’ll change my vote to McKinley. Between the two, JFK was much the better President and did more good. Handling the Cuban Missile Crisis alone - c’mon, the guy saved humanity from WW3! Still a model for crisis management and diplomacy. ---
**Author:** ![ToeJam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/dfb087/32.png) [@ToeJam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ToeJam)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2009, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-president-elimination-game/511317/750 "2009-12-14T19:14:45Z")
I’ll change from Taft to Mckinley ---
**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:** [December 14, 2009, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-president-elimination-game/511317/751 "2009-12-14T19:18:22Z")
I would like to change from Monroe to McKinley in order to save JFK. ---
**Author:** ![Skammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skammer/32/143_2.png) [@Skammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skammer)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2009, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-president-elimination-game/511317/752 "2009-12-14T19:33:01Z")
Once again Kennedy benefits from shady voting! ---
**Author:** ![ToeJam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/dfb087/32.png) [@ToeJam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ToeJam)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2009, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-president-elimination-game/511317/753 "2009-12-14T19:52:01Z")
Looks like we dodged a bullet there, guys… \*\*d&r \*\* Smething Johnny didn’t get a chance to do. ---
**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:** [December 14, 2009, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-president-elimination-game/511317/754 "2009-12-14T20:00:56Z")
So we have another tie: JFK 9 McKinley 9 Taft 2 LBJ 2 Eisenhower, Cleveland, Polk 1 The next new or switched vote for either of the leading candidates will eliminate them. ---
**Author:** ![StusBlues](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dc4da7/32.png) [@StusBlues](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StusBlues)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2009, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-president-elimination-game/511317/755 "2009-12-14T20:21:56Z")
Damn, this is getting exciting. I thought JFK was a goner! Maybe he still is… ---
**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:** [December 14, 2009, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-president-elimination-game/511317/756 "2009-12-14T20:23:54Z")
> [@ToeJam](#): > > Looks like we dodged a bullet there, guys… > > \*\*d&r \*\* > Smething Johnny didn’t get a chance to do. Nor did McKinley, for that matter. ---
**Author:** ![ToeJam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/dfb087/32.png) [@ToeJam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ToeJam)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2009, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-president-elimination-game/511317/757 "2009-12-14T20:24:09Z")
I’ll vote for either LBJ or Taft next round if someone switch over to take out McKinley… What’s a little Voter Trading between friends? ---
**Author:** ![septimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/septimus/32/410_2.png) [@septimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/septimus)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2009, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-president-elimination-game/511317/758 "2009-12-14T21:08:31Z")
> [@ToeJam](#): > > I’ll vote for either LBJ or Taft next round if someone switch over to take out McKinley… > What’s a little Voter Trading between friends? Assuming it’s considered ethical, I’ll do a trade. You’re McK I’m JFK, right? Why not you and me both switch to Taft for the duration. (I’ve already voted out Arthur: was Taft so much better?) I do _not_ want to vote out McKinley for a while. Sure, his policies could be cast as hyprocritic and immoral, but so could the Vietnam War. But I will vote anti-JFK next round (or not). > [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > I’ll change my vote to McKinley. Between the two, JFK was much the better President and did more good. Handling the Cuban Missile Crisis alone - c’mon, the guy saved humanity from WW3! Still a model for crisis management and diplomacy. Is there a thread bunking or debunking the allegations in S. Hersch’s _Camelot_? Even discounting those allegations, it is a fact that throughout the entire Cold War, White House kept the eye on the ball rather well for 55 years except for a brief period of major blunders: Bay of Pigs fiasco (with U.S. ultimately sacrificing its paid rebels on grounds that witnesses are better dead than alive), the Missile scare itself, assassination plot rumors, miscalculations in Vietnam. Yes, history fans. During the 55-year period from Truman through Clinton, there were perhaps 5 to 10 major national security blunders. About half of those occurred during one 3-year period! Avoiding such blunders is a _ **very** _ important part of Presidential success. Whatever his ratings along other criterial dimensions (and of course, there are other Hyde-like aspects to JFK), his dangerous foreign policy decision-making is a big minus. Some people say it was due in part to his go-it-alone approach to major tactical decisions (with Harvard professors just for show). I’m not sure we know exactly who was in his inner circle besides RFK and their father’s friends. Is I said before. It’s time to separate the Jekylls and Hydes. Mr. Kennedy, you know which exit to take. But for this round, Taft, if ToeJam switches also. ---
**Author:** ![Discipline](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/82dd89/32.png) [@Discipline](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Discipline)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2009, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-president-elimination-game/511317/759 "2009-12-14T21:17:51Z")
JFK ---
**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:** [December 14, 2009, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-president-elimination-game/511317/760 "2009-12-14T21:25:32Z")
> [@Discipline](#): > > JFK And with the first new vote, the tie is broken. Next round starts momentarily. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-president-elimination-game/511317.md?page=37) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-president-elimination-game/511317.md?page=39)