Who Is Your Favorite President?

[3kgt]

Yup my favorite is James Madison as well. Then of course Jefferson because well, who couldn't admire him.

Although George Bush takes the cake for being the president to make me laugh most. I mean come on. You can't be mad at him, he just makes me giggle.

 

[je10]

Harrison would have been awful, but he died in thirty days and never did anything, hence he was a good president. John Tyler, his Vice President, ended up being one of the best presidents ever.

 

[Shane Harris]

BEST: Martin Van Buren, Grover Cleveland, James Madison, Thomas Jefferson
WORST: Lincoln, Wilson, FDR, LBJ,

 

[No Free Beer]

Calvin Coolidge.

 

[Tyrion Lannister]

Would there happen to be a site that gives an accurate account of what each president did while in office?

 

[WilliamShrugged]

1) Martin Van Buren

2) Grover Cleveland

3) Harding/Coolidge

 

[DavidK]

WORST:

1. Franklin D. Roosevelt - "New Deal" was a complete failure.
2. Lyndon B. Johnson - "Great Society" was a complete failure, promoted the Vietnam war.
3. Woodrow Wilson - Federal Reserve act, sold the United States to the bankers.

BEST:

The founding fathers.

 

[MaxPower]

My "favorite" president in the personal sense is Thomas Jefferson, though I think Grover Cleveland's presidency was more exemplary; President Jefferson ultimately bent his principles on a couple occasions, while President Cleveland's spine was veritably made of steel.

Here is a slightly-modified version of the presidential ranking list I posted on these forums about a year ago (best to worst):

1. Grover Cleveland
2. Thomas Jefferson
3. James Monroe
4. George Washington
5. Warren G. Harding
6. Calvin Coolidge
7. James A. Garfield
8. Ulysses S. Grant
9. James Madison
10. John Tyler
11. Benjamin Harrison
12. Rutherford B. Hayes
13. John Q. Adams
14. Martin Van Buren
15. Zachary Taylor
16. Chester A. Arthur
17. John Adams
18. William H. Taft
19. Andrew Jackson
20. William Henry Harrison
21. Jimmy Carter
22. Gerald Ford
23. Herbert Hoover
24. Dwight Eisenhower
25. Andrew Johnson
26. Ronald Reagan
27. John F. Kennedy
28. Franklin Pierce
29. Millard Fillmore
30. William McKinley
31. Abraham Lincoln
32. Theodore Roosevelt
33. George H.W. Bush
34. James K. Polk
35. James Buchanan
36. Bill Clinton
37. Richard Nixon
38. Lyndon B. Johnson
39. George W. Bush
40. Harry Truman
41. Woodrow Wilson
42. Franklin Roosevelt

 

[MaxPower]

By the way, I think Obama is cruising for a spot in the bottom 10, and possibly the bottom five, but will not include him on the list until his tenure is complete.

 

[RecoveringNeoCon]

Silent Cal!

 

[Voluntary Man]

My "favorite" president in the personal sense is Thomas Jefferson, though I think Grover Cleveland's presidency was more exemplary; President Jefferson ultimately bent his principles on a couple occasions, while President Cleveland's spine was veritably made of steel.

Here is a slightly-modified version of the presidential ranking list I posted on these forums about a year ago (best to worst):

1. Grover Cleveland
2. Thomas Jefferson
3. James Monroe
4. George Washington
5. Warren G. Harding
6. Calvin Coolidge
7. James A. Garfield
8. Ulysses S. Grant
9. James Madison
10. John Tyler
11. Benjamin Harrison
12. Rutherford B. Hayes
13. John Q. Adams
14. Martin Van Buren
15. Zachary Taylor
16. Chester A. Arthur
17. John Adams
18. William H. Taft
19. Andrew Jackson
20. William Henry Harrison
21. Jimmy Carter
22. Gerald Ford
23. Herbert Hoover
24. Dwight Eisenhower
25. Andrew Johnson
26. Ronald Reagan
27. John F. Kennedy
28. Franklin Pierce
29. Millard Fillmore
30. William McKinley
31. Abraham Lincoln
32. Theodore Roosevelt
33. George H.W. Bush
34. James K. Polk
35. James Buchanan
36. Bill Clinton
37. Richard Nixon
38. Lyndon B. Johnson
39. George W. Bush
40. Harry Truman
41. Woodrow Wilson
42. Franklin Roosevelt

That's messed up, Max. Grant, Lincoln, TR, and Carter are better than Buchanan? You wanna explain that?

 

[dillo]

Andrew Jackson
Warren Harding
John Kennedy
George Washington
Thomas Jefferson
Calvin Coolidge

 

[MaxPower]

That's messed up, Max. Grant, Lincoln, TR, and Carter are better than Buchanan? You wanna explain that?

Sure.

The Grant administration cut taxes and spending, substantially reduced the national debt, reinstituted hard currency, gave blacks the vote, and took a relatively benign approach toward the Indians, against whom Grant denounced the "wars of extermination" that had gone before. Most of the bad policies in place at the time were the result of the presidents immediately preceding Grant, and not Grant himself. There are some legitimate bones to be picked with it, but the Grant administration was surely one of the better ones we've had from a libertarian perspective.

Lincoln obviously partook of all kinds of usurpation and brutality, veritably trampling on the Bill of Rights as few presidents have ever done, but-- and this is a big exception which I do think many libertarians have a tendency to skirt around in order to preserve a purely negative view of the man-- he was instrumental in bringing an end to slavery in the United States, which was, I think, the worst human rights abuse ever in our country, going by the severity of the oppression in conjunction with the number of people it affected. This doesn't whitewash Lincoln's crimes (hence his placement at 31), but it is a sizable redeeming attribute-- large enough to rescue him from my very bottom tier.

I can't think of any particular redeeming attributes for Theodore Roosevelt's administration at the moment; he may have gotten a bit of unfair credit from me simply for being (in spite of his repugnant political philosophy) such a colorful and interesting personality. That, and the fact that most of the guys below him did more egregiously bad things during their presidencies. Perhaps I will knock him down a couple spots in the next edition.

Carter was one of the few presidents in recent decades not to launch or prosecute any long-term offensive military occupations, oversaw substantial deregulation in things like transportation and oil, didn't commit any particularly egregious civil rights abuses against his citizens that I'm aware of, and was relatively unambitious in terms of his statist agenda, his biggest usurpations consisting in things like the creation of the Department of Education.

As for Buchanan, I will first point out that his administration persecuted Mormons, raised tariffs, and increased the national debt. Moreover, he was actively pro-slavery to a degree few presidents were, loudly supporting the Dred Scott ruling and pushing-- to the point of engaging in illegal bribery and patronage-- for the adoption of the pro-slavery Lecompton Constitution in Kansas. That said, I do now think my placement of Buchanan looks a little harsh; after all, he was relatively unwarlike, didn't illegally invade any foreign countries or engage in any comprehensive assaults on the Bill of Rights, and only mildly enhanced the power and intrusiveness of the federal government. I may bump him up, say, four or five places in my next draft.

 

[Nastynate]

Martin Van Buren

Whenever anyone mentions Van Buren I think of this.

 

[Voluntary Man]

...That said, I do now think my placement of Buchanan looks a little harsh; after all, he was relatively unwarlike, didn't illegally invade any foreign countries or engage in any comprehensive assaults on the Bill of Rights, and only mildly enhanced the power and intrusiveness of the federal government. I may bump him up, say, four or five places in my next draft.

At least 5, I would recommend, especially considering the presidents who now occupy those spots. It's progess.

 

[JohnM]

Here is a slightly-modified version of the presidential ranking list I posted on these forums about a year ago (best to worst):

1. Grover Cleveland . . .

21. Jimmy Carter
22. Gerald Ford
23. Herbert Hoover
24. Dwight Eisenhower
25. Andrew Johnson
26. Ronald Reagan
27. John F. Kennedy
28. Franklin Pierce
29. Millard Fillmore
30. William McKinley
31. Abraham Lincoln
32. Theodore Roosevelt
33. George H.W. Bush
34. James K. Polk
35. James Buchanan
36. Bill Clinton
37. Richard Nixon
38. Lyndon B. Johnson
39. George W. Bush
40. Harry Truman
41. Woodrow Wilson
42. Franklin Roosevelt

Thanks for giving us your complete list. I notice that you reckon that Carter is the best president in the last 50 years - in fact, in the last 75 years.

Strangely enough, the only occasion in my life when I supported the Democratic Party's nominee for president was 1980. (For the record, the first election that I took an interest in was 1972.)

 

[JohnM]

I realize that this question is off-topic, but has anyone here read Ivan Eland's Recarving Rushmore: Ranking the Presidents on Peace, Prosperity and Liberty?

If so, what did you think of it?

 

[MaxPower]

I realize that this question is off-topic, but has anyone here read Ivan Eland's Recarving Rushmore: Ranking the Presidents on Peace, Prosperity and Liberty?

If so, what did you think of it?

I haven't read the book, but I've seen the list. I agree with most of the guys he has at the top and most of the ones at the bottom, but there are some choices I strongly disagree with; in particular, Thomas Jefferson clear down at #26 (I firmly maintain that the Jefferson presidency was one of the best ever from a libertarian perspective- there are some strong criticisms to be made of it, for sure, but Eland seems to be emphasizing the exceptions over the rule, here), Bill Clinton at #11 (!), Teddy Roosevelt at #21, and Monroe and Madison at 25th and 28th jump out at me. Jefferson, who (in conjunction with the Democratic-Republican Congress) abolished internal taxation, cut the military and federal workforce, repealed the Alien and Sedition Acts, banned the trans-Atlantic slave trade, and cut the national debt by a third, behind imperialistic big-government shills like these guys? I think Eland may have been too eager to be controversial in places, here.

 

[Voluntary Man]

Gotta like the cover, though.

I haven't read the book, but I've seen the list. I agree with most of the guys he has at the top and most of the ones at the bottom, but there are some choices I strongly disagree with; in particular, Thomas Jefferson clear down at #26 (I firmly maintain that the Jefferson presidency was one of the best ever from a libertarian perspective- there are some strong criticisms to be made of it, for sure, but Eland seems to be emphasizing the exceptions over the rule, here), Bill Clinton at #11 (!), Teddy Roosevelt at #21, and Monroe and Madison at 25th and 28th jump out at me. Jefferson, who (in conjunction with the Democratic-Republican Congress) abolished internal taxation, cut the military and federal workforce, repealed the Alien and Sedition Acts, banned the trans-Atlantic slave trade, and cut the national debt by a third, behind imperialistic big-government shills like these guys? I think Eland may have been too eager to be controversial in places, here.

 

[cjm]

I realize that this question is off-topic, but has anyone here read Ivan Eland's Recarving Rushmore: Ranking the Presidents on Peace, Prosperity and Liberty?

If so, what did you think of it?

I have it and it's not bad. More broad than deep, but the analysis is interesting and a brief explanation is given on each president's ranking. The way it's laid out, I ended up hopping around from president to president instead of reading it cover to cover. It's useful as a quick reference on presidents from a liberty perspective.