Best and Worst U.S. Presidents?

[ghemminger]

Semi - related - Does anyone know what the mob reaction was to the govt during the great depression? Did it elevate FDR or take him out?

 

[familydog]

I don't suppose you support Twain's religious or political ideology?

Why do you make everything about religion? This thread has nothing to do with it.

 

[acptulsa]

Semi - related - Does anyone know what the mob reaction was to the govt during the great depression? Did it elevate FDR or take him out?

Death took him out.

 

[Kade]

I know why many of you consider Lincoln one of the worse Presidents, but consider that the CSA was in no way going to negotiate a return to the Union... none.

Lincoln, acting as the head of a separate SOVEREIGN nation of its own, invaded another so called Sovereign Nation. Let this be your reason for placing him so low on the totem pole, that he won this invasion and kept intact this country should be no consideration to you, apparently, in his status as one of the greatest Presidents we have ever had....

If you consider the timeline of events... remember that the rebellion was not one sided... Up in the North MASS protests were held in every state, DEMANDING that Lincoln invade the south and end the rebellion...

I want you to imagine this same circumstance today... mass protests demanding something of the Government, I dunno, maybe the Iraq War... and the President obeying the people of HIS own sovereign nation.

When the South seceded, it had no more rights to govern or protest in the Union.

From this logic, the North, under the banner of the people, invaded the sovereign Confederate States, and won.

Surely you can come up with a better reason for placing Lincoln so low, I would like some of you to give me those reasons...

Speaking of reason, why are there so few here with it?

 

[Kade]

Why do you make everything about religion? This thread has nothing to do with it.

Religion and politics is what EVERY thread is about...

"Twain was a socialist" was going to be my climatic finish, you ruined it. =P

 

[ghemminger]

Death took him out.

thanks - I'm just wondering how the general public will react when this economic depression hits them hard - wondering how they reacted in the past?

 

[acptulsa]

thanks - I'm just wondering how the general public will react when this economic depression hits them hard - wondering how they reacted in the past?

They sure didn't re-elect Hoover. Funny, you look old enough to remember Dubya's daddy. Does, "It's the economy, stupid" ring any bells?

 

[Kade]

thanks - I'm just wondering how the general public will react when this economic depression hits them hard - wondering how they reacted in the past?

FDR was well loved by the people... which is why he was elected four times by landslides.

 

[Kade]

I would like to point out that one of my own personal heroes once wrote about Roosevelt:

H. L. Mencken predicted in his diary that Roosevelt would be remembered as a great president, "maybe even alongside Washington and Lincoln," opining that Roosevelt "had every quality that morons esteem in their heroes."

 

[familydog]

Religion and politics is what EVERY thread is about...

"Twain was a socialist" was going to be my climatic finish, you ruined it. =P

Um, not really. Religion wasn't mentioned in this thread until you put it here.

And so what if Twain is a socialist? That means I, who is not one, can't read and enjoy his works? I read and enjoy the works of historian Niall Ferguson, but yet I'm not an imperialist like he is. What's your point?

 

[ChristopherJ]

I know why many of you consider Lincoln one of the worse Presidents, but consider that the CSA was in no way going to negotiate a return to the Union... none.

Lincoln, acting as the head of a separate SOVEREIGN nation of its own, invaded another so called Sovereign Nation. Let this be your reason for placing him so low on the totem pole, that he won this invasion and kept intact this country should be no consideration to you, apparently, in his status as one of the greatest Presidents we have ever had....

If you consider the timeline of events... remember that the rebellion was not one sided... Up in the North MASS protests were held in every state, DEMANDING that Lincoln invade the south and end the rebellion...

I want you to imagine this same circumstance today... mass protests demanding something of the Government, I dunno, maybe the Iraq War... and the President obeying the people of HIS own sovereign nation.

When the South seceded, it had no more rights to govern or protest in the Union.

From this logic, the North, under the banner of the people, invaded the sovereign Confederate States, and won.

Surely you can come up with a better reason for placing Lincoln so low, I would like some of you to give me those reasons...

Speaking of reason, why are there so few here with it?

Ummm Lincoln was a big government statist. He favored a central bank and corporate welfare.

He was also one of the worst offenders of constitutional rights in the history of this country. He threw several thousand people in jail without the benefit of trials for simply voicing opposition to the war. He also shut down many newspapers and imprisoned editors for voicing opposition. These were northerners not southerners.

Is it really such a suprise people on this forum don't like him?

 

[Kade]

Ummm Lincoln was a big government statist. He favored a central bank and corporate welfare.

He was also one of the worst offenders of constitutional rights in the history of this country. He threw several thousand people in jail without the benefit of trials for simply voicing opposition to the war. He also shut down many newspapers and imprisoned editors for voicing opposition. These were northerners not southerners.

Is it really such a suprise people on this forum don't like him?

Sources?

 

[Kade]

Um, not really. Religion wasn't mentioned in this thread until you put it here.

And so what if Twain is a socialist? That means I, who is not one, can't read and enjoy his works? I read and enjoy the works of historian Niall Ferguson, but yet I'm not an imperialist like he is. What's your point?

I don't remember asking you specifically... but valid point nonetheless.

 

[hairball]

I love Twain and have over ten books with his writings, but I've never seen this. Do you know or can you link me to somewhere I can read it?

I think the book was Pen Dipped in Hell(?) It talked a lot about the Phillipine Insurrection. And who the hell cares if one of the best American writers had some different leanings? He was one of the Great writers of the American continent. He wasn't always right, but he was passionate and unafraid.

And yes, in spite of some troubles, there has been no other president that showed such superb leadership skills as TR. He was a far more complex man than most realize. But then most folks like to only take in the veneer of a man before they make their 'conclusion'.

 

[Fox McCloud]

worst Presidents?

-George W. Bush; Patriot Act, Military Commissions Act, Presidential Directive 51, possibly had knowledge of 9/11, but allowed it to happen, has signed other questionable pieces of legislation, and has actively promoted world government.
-Bill Clinton; greatly damaged our military by cutting back; had an interventionist policy that was a prequel to the war in Iraq--greatly responsible in catalyzing Osama Bin Laden, signed NAFTA, is a proverbial liar (plus, I have a personal vendetta against him).
-FDR: this is a given, for any conservative.....was part of the "New Deal", and GREATLY furthered socialism in the US, knew Pearl Harbor was going to happen, then pulled back and let it get slaughtered to end the US's "isolationism", was an interventionist, not to mention an ignorant fool (he stated that he saw the New World Order, and that it wasn't new...and it wasn't order.....little did he know he was directly part of it).
-Woodrow Wilson: started the US's interventionist ideals and signed the Federal Reserve Act....the only thing good I can say about him is that he woke up to his foolish actions...sadlly, it was too late for him to do anything (I guess the bankers took on the idea of "use 'em and abuse 'em").
-Abraham Lincoln: Destroyed Constitutionalism by wanting to force the South to rejoin the Union, didn't give a crap about States rights, also, was the one that started us into a fiat based currency, also, it was during his era that Federal taxes were forever ingrained in the American people's minds. Also, there's an amount of evidence to suggest many of the people he had connections with were Communist...and he, himself, may have been one...the only good thing I can say about him, is that later in life, he became saved (shortly before his death), and eventually saw the folly of what he had done.

 

[sophocles07]

Best Presidents: Jefferson, Adamses, Jackson (with Benton in the congress; mostly a good anti-bank president), Washington, Van Buren

Worst Presidents: GW Bush, Lyndon Johnson, Nixon, Grant, Lincoln, McKinley, Wilson, Harding, Truman, Eisenhower, Reagan, Clinton, GHW Bush, F. Roosevelt.

There are a lot more bad presidents than good—I would order the best 1) Jefferson, 2) Washington, 3) J. Adams, 4) JQ Adams, 5) Jackson, 6) Van Buren.

 

[ChristopherJ]

Sources?

You can find many articles using google.

Here's one I found on Lew Rockwell "Was Lincoln a Tyrant?"

Add to this Lincoln’s extraordinary disregard for the Constitution during his entire administration, and it seems absurd for Quackenbush or anyone else to portray him as a champion of the Constitution who was pestered by “political zealots.” Among Lincoln’s unconstitutional acts were launching an invasion without the consent of Congress, blockading Southern ports before formally declaring war, unilaterally suspending the writ of habeas corpus and arresting and imprisoning thousands of Northern citizens without a warrant, censoring telegraph communications, confiscating private property, including firearms, and effectively gutting the Ninth and Tenth Amendments.

The book I linked earlier in this thread also has a whole chapter on Lincoln that doesn't paint a very flattering picture of the man.

 

[Mesogen]

Best Presidents: Jefferson, Adamses, Jackson (with Benton in the congress; mostly a good anti-bank president), Washington, Van Buren

Worst Presidents: GW Bush, Lyndon Johnson, Nixon, Grant, Lincoln, McKinley, Wilson, Harding, Truman, Eisenhower, Reagan, Clinton, GHW Bush, F. Roosevelt.

There are a lot more bad presidents than good—I would order the best 1) Jefferson, 2) Washington, 3) J. Adams, 4) JQ Adams, 5) Jackson, 6) Van Buren.

John Adams? Alien and Sedition Acts? Huh?

Best = John Hanson (because he didn't do much and didn't stay in office long and didn't have any executive authority)

and anyone who got shot. If they got shot, then they were great. Yup Lincoln too.

Worst = Wilson followed closely by Dubya.


( I take back the being shot thing with Wm McKinley. I don't like what I hear about his tarriff and about his restriction of silver as money. )

 

[klamath]

All the Lincoln bashing. You know what, who the hell gives a damn about about all their great constitutional RIGHTS. Ask the black people in the south how they liked their rights? I prefer individual rights to states rights any day. How many of the admendments of the constitution are violated by slavery? Huh. Every single thing about slavery violated the whole concept of the declaration of indepenence and the bill of rights. Why didn't you ask the five million slaves whether they were enjoying "we hold these truths to be self evident, that ALL men are created equal."
A lot of you are all for YOUR constitutional rights as long as you are white. This is why the grass roots destroyed the RP campaign. Constitutional racist hypocrites.
For the record I am no big admirer of Lincoln and think the civil war did great harm to our country and could have been solved peacefully and I greatly admire Robert E Lee because he freed his slaves before Grant and was a great leader.

 

[brianewart]

I'll give it a go:

Best Presidents:
Jefferson
Madison
Cleveland

Worst Presidents:
Wilson
FDR
Lincoln (because his trampling of the constitution set up the other two for theirs)