Chose modern area because I think we can all agree Washington was the best. If you disagree, GET OUTTA MY COUNTRY!
So who was the best starting with 1901 to current; who was the worst in your opinion.
This ought to be fun. /takes off partisan hat
Best
JFK (by a hair) - Bay of Pigs, Apollo Missions, Civil Rights, Marilyn!
Reagan - lost by the width of an SDI laser, Hardline against Evil Empire, took economy off the skids, tearing down the walls, advocate of the shuttle program
Eisenhower - US interstate, expanded Social Security and as one of the greatest generals ever still had a great moderate temperate of peace first (his entire cabinet wanted to attack China), was anti McCarthy.
Worst
Bush (photo finish with Carter) :smack:
Carter - good guy, great ambassador for peace now but a horrible President. Weak, indecisive, bad foreign policy, stagnate economy, failed tax reform despite promises. Walter Mondale… :rolleyes:
He must have meant Cuban missile crisis instead of bay of pigs.
For post WW2, I dunno. Not a lot of great lights
Worst: GWB
Best: I dunno, Clinton? I give Johnson credit for the courage to sign the civil rights act, but then he did pick that dog up by its ears, which wasn’t good. Also Vietnam, that wasn’t good either.
overrated: Kennedy, Reagan (Give Reagan his due, he allowed Volker to continue the painful process of bringing inflation under control.)
underrated: Eisenhower
I still don’t understand what JFK is considered a great or even good president. His greatest achievement was getting shot, which created a ton of political capital for Lyndon Johnson.
That said:
Best - Clinton, FDR, LBJ, Bush I
Worst - Nixon, Carter, Bush II
Best – FDR, hands down. Steered the country through both the Great Depression and WWII, and in the process presided over the transformation of the United States into a superpower. FDR is one of the top three presidents of all time.
Worst – Harding. Corrupt AND ineffective. Like taking the worst bits of Nixon and Carter and sticking them together with superglue.
Best in the MODERN ear is a loaded question but I’ll take Eisenhower.
Worst is hard to pick. I think in time Bush 2.0 will be viewed as the worst, but for now I’ll take Carter, who was ineffective.
LBJ was a terrible President, really. But it’s hard to vote “worst” for the guy who pushed through the Civil Rights Act. A real mix of the great and the awful in LBJ.
I’m going to arbitrarily decide that “modern” begins with Teddy, so my votes are:
Best: Teddy, FDR, Bush I
Worst: Bush II, Carter, Hoover.
In retrospect his handling of the First Gulf War was masterful. He was also willing to compromise to do what (he thought) was best for the country when he raised taxes, even though it arguably cost him reelection. His worst legacy was leaving the US in Somalia.
Likewise, I don’t see how anybody could put Obama in the top three at this point. His only major accomplishment is Obamacare, which may some day make him a great president but it’s way too early to decide.
On Obama, he gets some credit for avoiding catastrophe during a severe financial crises (saving Auto industry, etc). It’s not too early to give him credit for some genuine reforms of the ACA. He ended DADT, he supported gay marriage. I don’t have to repeat all the claims made in the recent election, I think they’re still fresh in peoples’ minds. If you consider those accomplishments, he stacks up better than most. Clinton (blessed with a healthy encomony) didn’t do as much, yet he’s in most people’s top three.
Keep in mind that Carter appointed Volker as chairman of the Fed, which was virtually guaranteed to ruin his re-election (because Volker would tighten monetary policy, helping the economy in the long run but hurting it in the short run). A lot of the economic recovery of the Reagan years was due to this (and Reagan kept Volker, bless him). A lot of the recovery was also due to the OPEC embargo collapsing. Carter also never gets credit for ending the hostage crisis, simply because while the deal WAS done, various parties delayed it being official until after the election.
I really liked GHWB, but wish he’d actually mounted a campaign for his re-election, rather than just allowing himself to sink under the “read my lips” issue. However, Clinton who replaced him, did a great job (with the exception of signing the Glass-Steagal act, though we can hardly blame him for that.) Too bad Clinton ended things the way he did, but Starr was way out of line in the first place. None of that would ever have happened if Clinton had not allowed the special prosecutor to be appointed. Unfortunate proof that in politics, never give the enemy a weapon, even if you think it’s not loaded.
Worst: GWB.
It pains me to defend Democrats and criticize Republicans, since I’m a fiscal conservative. But GWB was not a fiscal conservative! He also didn’t have any respect for science. Sure, scientists can foul up (just look at most social science in the mid 1900’s, and “tabula rasa” BS.) Still, the scientific concensus is the best we have and shouldn’t be not mererly ignored, but positively gagged as it was by GWB. Stalin would be proud.
Nixon utterly failed with his experiment with … not sure whether to call it socialism or fascism, but government price setting. I do remember the gas lines. Only later did I learn what really caused them.
FDR really fouled up recovery from the Depression with his attempts to fiddle with the currency. He had no plan, just tried arbitary things, leading to chaos and no way for private enterprise to make predictions, thwarting investment. 90% tax rates didn’t help much either. Great war leader, though.
