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The best President of the last 50 years

Who was the best President of the last 50 years?

  • John F. Kennedy

    Votes: 13 22.8%
  • Lyndon B. Johnson

    Votes: 9 15.8%
  • Richard Nixon

    Votes: 3 5.3%
  • Gerald Ford

    Votes: 3 5.3%
  • Jimmy Carter

    Votes: 4 7.0%
  • Ronald Reagan

    Votes: 26 45.6%
  • George H. W. Bush

    Votes: 6 10.5%
  • Bill Clinton

    Votes: 23 40.4%
  • George W. Bush

    Votes: 2 3.5%
  • Barack Obama

    Votes: 9 15.8%

  • Total voters
    57
Please give 5 votes

I would if you put up a poll.

This time, don't make it anonymous.

In the meantime, in order of preference (best first):

Clinton
Johnson
Obama
Carter
Bush I
Reagan
Ford
Nixon
Bush II

Edit: There you go. You made it anonymous again. Why'd you keep doing that? You want everyone to dismiss it straight away?
 
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So that would be among

Johnson
Nixon
Ford
Carter
Reagan
Bush 41
Clinton
Bush 43
Obama

We're supposed to pick the 5 best out of those 8? Rank them? What are you looking for?
 
So that would be among

Johnson
Nixon
Ford
Carter
Reagan
Bush 41
Clinton
Bush 43
Obama

We're supposed to pick the 5 best out of those 8? Rank them? What are you looking for?


In the next poll will be the 9 Presidents with the most votes.
 
George H. W. Bush was a very good President, but I did not think that he is so popular.
 
Fine, I'll say it. Not a one of them gets the prize as "best president."

Each and every single one of them did one or more of the following. Diminished the concept of the individual and liberty, increased the scope and/or size of government to questionable results, added to or further harmed our confusing and hypocritical foreign policy causing down the road complications and cost, engaged in at least questionable but likely unethical behavior while in office, and/or increased this nation's Total Debt that someone else will eventually have to resolve.

Sorry ladies in gents, I do not think a one of them should rank even in the top 10 Presidents over this entire nation's history with the only exception being JFK. And he barely makes it, and only because of the company.

(For the purpose of this thread, JFK is the only vote I entered. And I am questioning if I should have even done that much.)
 
Fine, I'll say it. Not a one of them gets the prize as "best president."

Each and every single one of them did one or more of the following. Diminished the concept of the individual and liberty, increased the scope and/or size of government to questionable results, added to or further harmed our confusing and hypocritical foreign policy causing down the road complications and cost, engaged in at least questionable but likely unethical behavior while in office, and/or increased this nation's Total Debt that someone else will eventually have to resolve.

Sorry ladies in gents, I do not think a one of them should rank even in the top 10 Presidents over this entire nation's history with the only exception being JFK. And he barely makes it, and only because of the company.

(For the purpose of this thread, JFK is the only vote I entered. And I am questioning if I should have even done that much.)

In the same boat, here. I'm simply not going to support the actions of these men, as that denotes acceptance, which would simply insure that we receive more of the same. If we went back another 20 years, perhaps....
 
here's my wall of text analysis. if you're going to go fiery hyperpartisan on me, i'll probably just ignore your post. i like intellectual exercises like this, and i love history. that is my motivation for responding to this thread. i hope that the result will be objective and less political than analytical. here we go.

JFK : JFK cut the stupidly high top marginal rate, which was at the point in the Laffer curve where cutting taxes actually helps. i like to think that he would have been less hawkish about Vietnam than Johnson, but i'm probably completely wrong. he handled the Cuban missile crisis, as well. i mean, that was like a for real, doomsday crisis. of course, he was also murdered by an insane asshole, which makes all of us look at him differently because it is just so ****ing sad.

Clinton : he managed not to **** up the 1990s too much. that was the last decade of the era when someone could theoretically graduate high school and be pretty sure that he or she could get a good job somewhere and succeed with dedication and hard work. he ****ed around in Iraq and in Serbia, but he didn't commit the US to a multi-decade war with no end in sight. DOMA was a big failure in hindsight, but it's a different society now. he also found the correct marginal rates, IMO.

Ronald Reagan : yeah, he engaged in trickle down bull****, but he really believed in it, and the top rate was at 70 percent. that's too high. other plusses : he didn't get us into a multi-decade war with no end in sight. he would also work with the other side of the aisle, and had a great personality. downside : borrow and spend. that set a bad precedent.

Johnson: civil rights and Great Society. the Vietnam war was just awful, though, and it clouds his legacy.


now, not on my list, but a president who i'm obviously referring to : George W. Bush. he engaged in trickle down bull**** at a point in the Laffer curve where it wouldn't work. worst of all, he signed us up for all of this war, and set a precedent that the US would be more heavily involved than anyone else every time the Middle East has a conflict, which is 24/7/365. he made a lot of very costly mistakes. even though i consider him to be close to the bottom of the list, a few accomplishments : i will give him credit for Medicare part D, which i support. he also had to lead the country after the horror of 9/11, and that must have been terribly difficult. he was also different than many other Republican politicians on immigration, and his plan was close to what i support. i also don't believe that he ever had nefarious intent. i do believe that he thought what he was doing was the right thing. however, as he said when he was running pre-9/11, we should not be in the business of nation building. since then, we have learned that this does not work in the Middle East. he should have corrected course, but hindsight is 20/20. Obama should have done a much better job explaining this to the American people. full disclosure : i voted for Bush in 2000. i stopped supporting him after the patriot act.

anyway, that's my take on it.
 
They are get an 'f' as far as I am concerned.
 
Why is Bill Clinton on the first place?
 
Bush 1
Nixon. up until Watergate
Clinton. He had his problems but the 90's were like the roaring 20's, a lot of fun and the economy was rolling.
JFK. His handling of the Cuban Missile crisis was spot on.
Reagan. He was a great leader, but his policies sucked big time. But I got to give him points for his leadership.
 
RWR was the second greatest POTUS of the 20th century, trailing only FDR, so it's an easy call that he tops this list. Cold War victory and the foundation for a generation of prosperity. Nice work, Ronnie.
 
Why is Bill Clinton on the first place?

I think Clinton did a nice job of riding the good times set up by Reagan and Bush. Plus he had the good looks and was a great master bull$hitter. Clinton only continued the policies of Bush. He raised taxes, pushed through NAFTA, and continued the policies that allowed the growth of the housing bubble that eventually brought this country economically to it's knees.

I am not letting Cowboy Bush Jr. off with the unending war in the Middle East. We will never have economic prosperity as long as the Devils playground continues to bankrupt this country. Obama has been unable to restore our economy for the same reason. The Middle East is a black hole sucking money with no return on investment.
 
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RWR was the second greatest POTUS of the 20th century, trailing only FDR, so it's an easy call that he tops this list. Cold War victory and the foundation for a generation of prosperity. Nice work, Ronnie.

Greetings, Jack. :2wave:

'Government's first duty is to protect the people, not run their lives. We must reject the idea that every time a law's broken, society is guilty rather than the lawbreaker. It is time to restore the American precept that each individual is accountable for his actions." > Ronald Reagan
 
Greetings, Jack. :2wave:

'Government's first duty is to protect the people, not run their lives. We must reject the idea that every time a law's broken, society is guilty rather than the lawbreaker. It is time to restore the American precept that each individual is accountable for his actions." > Ronald Reagan

Happy Saturday, Polgara.:2wave:

Excellent quote from a great man.:thumbs:
 
Ronald Reagan, Bush Sr, Bush Jr....
 
JFK wasn't POTUS in the last 50 years, he died in 63'.

Yes, I will be THAT guy.

Sorry ladies in gents, I do not think a one of them should rank even in the top 10 Presidents over this entire nation's history with the only exception being JFK. And he barely makes it, and only because of the company.
I was thinking the same, there hasn't been a truly great president in a long, long time.

In this new century, one would hope he or she doesn't take their sweet time in showing up.
 
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Reagan was the most successful at getting his agenda in place
Ford is the most underrated. He also was a true public servant who put the interests of the country ahead of his own re-election
GHWB was the most underrated and the most qualified man in at least 100 years to be president
Obama is the least qualified.
 
Reagan was the most successful at getting his agenda in place
Ford is the most underrated. He also was a true public servant who put the interests of the country ahead of his own re-election
GHWB was the most underrated and the most qualified man in at least 100 years to be president
Obama is the least qualified.

I do not understand why George W. Bush has only one vote.
 
John F. Kennedy was killed on November 22, 1963, he wasn't President of the USA in the last 50 years.
 
Jack Hays;1064693898[B said:
]RWR was the second greatest POTUS of the 20th century,
[/B] trailing only FDR, so it's an easy call that he tops this list. Cold War victory and the foundation for a generation of prosperity. Nice work, Ronnie.



Except for the fact that he should have been impeached for some of the things that he did.

I did like him in "Bedtime for Bonzo".
 
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