Who's the best President of the last 32 years?

I'll go with Clinton because he actually made the economy work for all classes and made balanced budgets with surplus. That being said compared to other presidents before his time he's just so so.

Justice For All said:

I'll go with Clinton because he actually made the economy work for all classes and made balanced budgets with surplus. That being said compared to other presidents before his time he's just so so.

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Clinton's legacy is still being written. For the time being I will have to agree. Moderate Democrats like him are dying breed. The next few decades are going to be dominated by partisan politics.

From a historical standpoint, Clinton's historical legacy is still in its infancy, and George W. Bush's historical legacy is still in pregnancy.

Probably Clinton.

I'm pretty sure that we could make some good jokes about his not "sucking", but even given the lying under oath thing, he did what was right for the country most of the time.

Bush I did a pretty good job, too, despite continuing the "trickle down" and us not being able to read his lips.

Reagan was a strong, charismatic leader and a super salesman for the country. He does not by any means deserve the idolization he has received from some segments of the population, not after Iran Contra, the S and L mess, deficit spending, and amnesty.

Barack Obama might have been a good president had he first gotten his feet wet as a governor, or at least spent a little more time in the Senate. The presidency is no place for on the job training.

Bush II should have stayed in Texas and run his cattle ranch. We'd have been better off.

The best, most important president of the 20th. century was beyond a doubt the man who led us out of the great depression and to victory in WWII, no question about that, but his administration goes back more than 32 years.

While all the data isn't in on Clinton and GWB, Clinton appears to be the best of the lot listed.

Clinton was a whore monger. Reagan was the best, hands down.

Sunbelt said:

Clinton was a whore monger. Reagan was the best, hands down.

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Now, that's funny. I don't think Slick Willy Clintoon paid Monica, so that's an obvious fabrication. Of course, if the first sentence is an outright lie, then it goes without saying that the second sentence is also. Unadulterated balderash.. I didn't even think you had a sense of humor.

DaveFagan said:

I don't think Slick Willy Clintoon paid Monica,

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You don't think? Now THAT'S funny. I think slick Willy bathed the little hussy in all kinds of perks, favors and yes, probably money in some form, be it directly or indirect.

DaveFagan said:

so that's an obvious fabrication.

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It is? You don't just "think" it's a fabrication like you "thought" Bill Clinton did not pay Lewinsky for sexual favors? I don't know, Dave, you don't sound very convincing.

DaveFagan said:

Of course, if the first sentence is an outright lie,

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of course, IF is the operative word here, but it's not likely.

DaveFagan said:

Blah, blah, blah, I'm listed as a Conservative, but I'm really left of center, probably far left of center, blah, blah, blah...

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I would have to admit Clinton did do an awesome job. Reagan was good, especially with the USSR and fixing a recession. However, he also started the horrible practice of tapping into the Social Security as a "slush fund". Iran Contra also happened on his watch. Clinton's biggest flubs were personal, not policy. He was extremely moderate for a Dem, which is good for a conservative. My only beef with Clinton, and what I think puts him below Reagan, is his dealings in foreign policy and the military. I had just come in the Marine Corps and saw the shambles he had left behind of our military. I literally had to duct tape my flak jacket closed. We could only train every 3 months. We had 3x more vehicles not working as working. Many do not realize how poorly equipped and underfunded we still were when we went into Iraq in 2003. In addition, I sincerely believe that his soft dealings and failure to acknowledge Islamic terrorism led to what we're going through now. I'm not going to go as far as to say 9/11 was his fault. That may have happened regardless of what he did or didn't do. However, I do believe the strength and boldness of Islamic terrorists is a direct result of his failure to give the go ahead to take people out when we had the chance and his over-reliance on Cruise missiles (sounds oddly familiar to over-reliance on UAV's huh?). We knew where OBL was in the 90's, had case officers assigned to him, but failed to do anything because the administrations policy was observe but don't intervene. Reagan and Bush I demostrated, on numerous occasions, that they would not tolerate Islamic terrorism. Clinton then took over and it flourished. Bush II, I believe, will be viewed in a better light many years down the road. His economic policies were bad, to be sure. However, I believe the way he handled 9/11 will overshadow that. Remember, the economy is so fluid people forget how bad it used to be when they are in a good one. Regardless of your opinion of Iraq, his decisions about Afghanistan were revolutionary and spot on.

The one thing Clinton did well is compromise. He let the balance budget finally pass after vetoing it a few times. I think Clinton is given way too much credit but that's a common theme amongst presidents. Clinton wasn't the worst president but I don't want to even call him a good one. He shouldn't need to have his arm twisted to get such an advantageous piece of legislation passed.

I vote for "they all suck" but one the really stood out in one aspect was Reagan in giving speeches. The guy was a master of the art of rhetoric.

I was gonna vote "They All Suck" but clicked on Clinton instead. But the cigar thing was a bit much.

I went with Clinton. The tipping point for me was putting "Monicagate" up against Iran Contra. "Monicagate" was a personal indiscretion. Iran Contra involved arming a sworn enemy of our country, which walks right up to the line of being treasonous if it doesn't actually cross it.

when it comes to Supreme COurt appointments-the most lasting legacy of a president- W was obviously the best. Reagan Had Scalia-very good but arrogant. O'Connor who was a politician not a legal intellect, Kennedy-an average Justice at Best. Bush One was handcuffed by the Dems in senate picked Stealth Candidate Souter-a brilliant Judge but whose apparent homosexuality caused him to start a jihad against the "Christian Right" and Clarence Thomas who Mitchell essentially demanded Bush to pick to fill "The black seat" of Thurgood Marshall.
Clinton's picks were people with decent credentials and reliably statist left wing votes. RBG was actually more qualified to be the "first lady" justice than O'Connor. Justice Alito and CJ Roberts were major league heavyweight jurists. Roberts was arguably the best legal mind available and Alito had a resume that was second to none when it came to experience and academic credentials. Sotomayor was a quota pick though her credentials were fairly strong but no one saw her as one of the Appellate stars like Scalia,Roberts and Alito had been. If she was a white male she never would have been picked. Kagan was pretty much a joke-no real relevant experience and was not seen as a leading constitutional superstar. If Obama really wanted a Jewish Lesbian leftist he should have picked the brilliant Pamela Karlan but she is out of the closet and that might have caused problems. If he wanted the best available legal mind on the left, he should have picked Yale Sterling Professor of Constitutional Law Akhil Reed Amar

TurtleDude said:

when it comes to Supreme COurt appointments-the most lasting legacy of a president- W was obviously the best. Reagan Had Scalia-very good but arrogant. O'Connor who was a politician not a legal intellect, Kennedy-an average Justice at Best. Bush One was handcuffed by the Dems in senate picked Stealth Candidate Souter-a brilliant Judge but whose apparent homosexuality caused him to start a jihad against the "Christian Right" and Clarence Thomas who Mitchell essentially demanded Bush to pick to fill "The black seat" of Thurgood Marshall.
Clinton's picks were people with decent credentials and reliably statist left wing votes. RBG was actually more qualified to be the "first lady" justice than O'Connor. Justice Alito and CJ Roberts were major league heavyweight jurists. Roberts was arguably the best legal mind available and Alito had a resume that was second to none when it came to experience and academic credentials. Sotomayor was a quota pick though her credentials were fairly strong but no one saw her as one of the Appellate stars like Scalia,Roberts and Alito had been. If she was a white male she never would have been picked. Kagan was pretty much a joke-no real relevant experience and was not seen as a leading constitutional superstar. If Obama really wanted a Jewish Lesbian leftist he should have picked the brilliant Pamela Karlan but she is out of the closet and that might have caused problems. If he wanted the best available legal mind on the left, he should have picked Yale Sterling Professor of Constitutional Law Akhil Reed Amar

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Obama should have appointed Gloria Allred. Sorry, couldn't help it lol.

MarineTpartier said:

Obama should have appointed Gloria Allred. Sorry, couldn't help it lol.

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she probably wasn't left wing enough

The question is. When are we going to stop putting so much importance on one man (or woman) being elected to one position in a three headed gov't? That's our issue. Many people have no idea who their Representative is in their own district! They don't know who their Senators are! Those are the people that hold the power. Those are the people we should be paying attention to so the Al Frankens of the world don't get elected.

I do not think that any of them were any great shakes. Clinton would be the best of the lot but he has some serious baggage and signed some really bad legislation that still bites us in the ass today. The rest are just a really sorry lot.

haymarket said:

I do not think that any of them were any great shakes. Clinton would be the best of the lot but he has some serious baggage and signed some really bad legislation that still bites us in the ass today. The rest are just a really sorry lot.

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that being "welfare reform"?

As I have previously stated, President Obama is a man before his time..IMO, as good as he is;the conservatives ignorance and fear have hurt him and our nation.
So this leaves Mr Clinton.
Of course, Mr Obama has another term coming up, the American people are smarter than I think they are.
Looking back, ten years from now, the historians will be piling accolades on President Obama.

earthworm said:

As I have previously stated, President Obama is a man before his time..IMO, as good as he is;the conservatives ignorance and fear have hurt him and our nation.
So this leaves Mr Clinton.
Of course, Mr Obama has another term coming up, the American people are smarter than I think they are.
Looking back, ten years from now, the historians will be piling accolades on President Obama.

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I hate to reign on your parade but there was, is, and never will be a "time" for Mr. Obama. The guy just doesn't know how to control spending and doesn't know how to focus on big issues with direct solutions. Case in point, his attempt at solving our dependence upon crude oil. I don't agree with the gov't subsidizing any business. But it seems to me that if I was a liberal who believed in that, I would have independent scientists do research on which green energy solution is the most likely to succeed, pinpoint competitive companies that can deliver that form of energy, and subsidize them. Instead, the guy throws money all over the place to Tesla, Solyndra, etc. A little money everywhere doesn't do anything but plug the dam until it is spent. Like I said, that's all if I was a liberal. If he was a sensible moderate, like Clinton was, he would have drawn up a bill that supported green energy solutions that crafted tax exemptions/rewards, advertising assistance (similar to what the gov't had done with agriculture), and gov't grants to get the fledgling companies off the ground. A true conservative, such as myself, would provide tax exemptions to encourage business's to start these companies. However, I would not dictate the market. I would allow the market to dictate when this happens. I would allow more offshore drilling and the Keystone Pipeline with the understanding that the individual companies that decide to undertake these operations are responsible for 25% of the the equipment and cleanup personnel in case of an incident, the immediate response team to the incident, and 100% of the cost of that same incident. If the 25% threshold isn't met or their reaction is too slow, they pay a fine for that as well.
Obama is using economic policies that do not work. The model he is using has never brought us out of a recession or depression. And yes, that includes FDR and the New Deal. It can be argued either way with that but I am of the belief that WWII saved us from The Great Depression, not the New Deal. Anyway, the only thing the guy has done well in his tenure is the rounding up of a lot of Al Qaeda heavy hitters. Do you honestly believe that John McCain wouldn't have done the same? Sure he would have. So, what has Obama done that would have been any different than John McCain, who was one of the weakest candidates from the GOP in a loooooong time? I sincerely believe we would have been better off with Hillary Clinton than Obama and I don't like her in the least. But, at least she would lead and have an in house advisor who didn't do a horrible job when he was POTUS. We wouldn't have the class warfare and devisiveness we have right now in the legislature.

"
Blah, blah, blah, I'm listed as a Conservative, but I'm really left of center, probably far left of center, blah, blah, blah."


I'm a conservative but not a Republican. You don't know the difference.

DaveFagan said:

"
Blah, blah, blah, I'm listed as a Conservative, but I'm really left of center, probably far left of center, blah, blah, blah."


I'm a conservative but not a Republican. You don't know the difference.

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Wow, what a relevant post. Thank you.

DaveFagan said:

"
Blah, blah, blah, I'm listed as a Conservative, but I'm really left of center, probably far left of center, blah, blah, blah."


I'm a conservative but not a Republican. You don't know the difference.

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Most of your posts appear to be luddite-populist rantings which are hardly conservative