# Your Opinion of the BEST and WORST POTUS in the Modern Era? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [November 16, 2012, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-opinion-of-the-best-and-worst-potus-in-the-modern-era/641197 "2012-11-16T15:39:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Locrian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/locrian/32/14146_2.png) [@Locrian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Locrian)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2012, 8:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-opinion-of-the-best-and-worst-potus-in-the-modern-era/641197/81 "2012-11-25T08:59:44Z")
Worst times 3=Reagan Best?? Hmm… I’d go with FDR. ---
**Author:** ![Swords\_to\_Plowshares](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b38774/32.png) [@Swords\_to\_Plowshares](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Swords_to_Plowshares)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2012, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-opinion-of-the-best-and-worst-potus-in-the-modern-era/641197/82 "2012-11-25T17:54:32Z")
Not a big fan of the “since 1901” clause, but I’ll play… Best 1. FDR 2. Eisenhower 3. TR Worst 1. Harding 2. Hoover 3. George W. Bush ---
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2012, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-opinion-of-the-best-and-worst-potus-in-the-modern-era/641197/83 "2012-11-25T18:06:57Z")
> [@WarmNPrickly](#): > > It is very disappointing to me when large swaths of the population blame the great depression on Hoover, when clearly that trap was set by the government under Coolidge. Hoover was in about six months when the market crashed. I know of no policy changes that he made that would have changed the economic trajectory we were on. WEll, sorry to rain on your parade, but the reason that the “Great Depression” wound on for 11 long years was because of FDR! Had he not interfered with his “New Deal”, “WPA”, “NRA” and all that other nonsense, the Great Depression wold have lasted a few years, and the economy would have recovered on its own. FDR’s meddling prolonged it, and the "cure"was worse than the disease. ---
**Author:** ![Lobohan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobohan/32/79_2.png) [@Lobohan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobohan)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2012, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-opinion-of-the-best-and-worst-potus-in-the-modern-era/641197/84 "2012-11-25T18:08:28Z")
Best: FDR, Clinton, Eisenhower Worst: Bush II, Reagan, Nixon I’d say that FDR is a given, Clinton had his missteps, but cha-ching, and I like me some highways. Bush II is also a given, he trashed the economy, got us into a needless war, and generally acted like a chuckling retard. Reagan brought a generation of math-challenged idiots into power. Nixon would otherwise have been a great president, but actually ordering break-ins is just shitty. ---
**Author:** ![Lobohan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobohan/32/79_2.png) [@Lobohan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobohan)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2012, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-opinion-of-the-best-and-worst-potus-in-the-modern-era/641197/85 "2012-11-25T18:25:20Z")
> [@ralph124c](#): > > WEll, sorry to rain on your parade, but the reason that the “Great Depression” wound on for 11 long years was because of FDR! Yeah, that’s not true. [Here is the previous thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=501403) if you want to re-agrue it. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2012, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-opinion-of-the-best-and-worst-potus-in-the-modern-era/641197/86 "2012-11-25T19:23:07Z")
I’ll separate “worst person to become President” from “worst performance as President”. One has lasting import, one doesn’t. Nixon and Harding belong in the first category, but not necessarily the second. I also have to separate international from domestic accomplishments, because several fall into both Best and Worst depending on that. So, in terms of what they accomplished to move the nation and the world ahead: Domestic Best: FDR, Johnson, TR, honorable mention to Nixon Worst: Bush 2, Harding, Reagan International: Best: FDR, Ike, Kennedy Worst: Bush 2, Johnson, Nixon, dishonorable mention to TR ---
**Author:** ![Yookeroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yookeroo/32/323_2.png) [@Yookeroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yookeroo)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2012, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-opinion-of-the-best-and-worst-potus-in-the-modern-era/641197/87 "2012-11-25T23:45:24Z")
> [@Yookeroo](#): > > Whatever happened to the series of threads discussing each president in order? > [@dropzone](#): > > You haven’t raised them from the dead yet? 😉 I would, but I’m not qualified. I don’t have the history chops to start an intelligent thread on the well known presidents, let alone the obscure ones. I was enjoying them though. ---
**Author:** ![Freakenstein](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b782af/32.png) [@Freakenstein](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freakenstein)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2012, 12:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-opinion-of-the-best-and-worst-potus-in-the-modern-era/641197/88 "2012-11-26T12:21:41Z")
> [@WillFarnaby](#): > > Best: …JFK, Reagan, Eisenhower > > Worst: FDR, Bush 2, Johnson, Truman, Nixon, etc Interesting, the only post ( I saw ) to name FDR on the worst list. Now I’m no expert ( or American ), but wouldn’t [CCC](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civilian_Conservation_Corps) alone make FDR one of the best, since he prevented The US turning into a similar wasteland as Middle East ( and You guys hate how it is there now ). Also CCC made easier to form an effective army in a short notice when the need came. ---
**Author:** ![Vaevictis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/f04885/32.png) [@Vaevictis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Vaevictis)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2012, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-opinion-of-the-best-and-worst-potus-in-the-modern-era/641197/89 "2012-11-27T17:12:06Z")
Any discussion of Reagan should address how corrupt his administration was. The number of scandals and indictments was incredible. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-opinion-of-the-best-and-worst-potus-in-the-modern-era/641197.md?page=4)