Quote:It's sort of a power ranking for Presidents...
- Abraham Lincoln
- George Washington
- Thomas Jefferson
- Franklin D Roosevelt
- Theodore Roosevelt
- Dwight D Eisenhower
- Ronald Reagan
- James Madison
- Donald Trump*
- Lyndon B. Johnson
- John F. Kennedy
- Andrew Jackson
- Harry S Truman
- John Adams
- William McKinley
- James K Polk
- James Monroe
- George H.W. Bush
- Woodrow Wilson
- William Howard Taft
- Calvin Coolidge
- Grover Cleveland
- John Quincy Adams
- Rutherford B. Hayes
- Bill Clinton
- Gerald Ford
- Barack Obama
- Chester A. Arthur
- Ulysses S. Grant
- Benjamin Harrison
- Herbert Hoover
- George W Bush
- Richard Nixon
- Zachary Taylor
- Jimmy Carter
- Martin Van Buren
- John Tyler
- Millard Fillmore
- William Henry Harrison
- James A. Garfield
- Warren G. Harding
- Andrew Johnson
- Franklin Pierce
- James Buchanon
*assume Trump follows through on promises
At first glance, I would have Jackson rated much lower, and Truman higher. Kennedy is ranked too high also.
Ranking recent presidents is tough, I think it takes quite a while before all the partisanship can dissipate and they can be viewed objectively.
In the case of Trump, I would rank him at the bottom if he follows through on his promises.
It's hard to rank Washington below anyone, because he basically invented the Presidency. I'm pretty partial to Washington, because when you add in the Revolutionary war and the Presidency, I think he's the greatest person to ever live in the Western Hemisphere.
Quote:At first glance, I would have Jackson rated much lower, and Truman higher. Kennedy is ranked too high also.
Ranking recent presidents is tough, I think it takes quite a while before all the partisanship can dissipate and they can be viewed objectively.
In the case of Trump, I would rank him at the bottom if he follows through on his promises.
It's hard to rank Washington below anyone, because he basically invented the Presidency. I'm pretty partial to Washington, because when you add in the Revolutionary war and the Presidency, I think he's the greatest person to ever live in the Western Hemisphere.
I'm not understanding your Trump comment at all. If he follows through and his projections are correct, which is part of it, then we're going to be in awesome shape as a nation.
As for Harry S ranking over Jackson... well, it came down to one thing as they were both strong democratic POTUS's... in Jackson's case, he was the first democrat although he talked of the necessity for a smaller federal government with more power to the states, and that flies in the face of modern liberalism. I put Jackson over Truman because his great bully tactic was not quite as treacherous. That is, he made the Indians get out by walking the trail of tears, and that always makes me sad. But Truman nuked Japan, and while I understand the accolades associated with the decision, it was still a horrendous decision in my book given the direct consequences of so many civilian deaths. Their skin literally melted off their bodies. I almost want to rank these two near the bottom, but doing so would be to ignore their overall greatness as Presidents.
Quote:I don't think you know who LBJ was? He's pretty much the grandfather of your modern day welfare state.
I realize he was hard core liberal, but he was among the few that really made things work. For starter, even as a strong conservative I realize how welfare does help the poorest and is needed. What gets my goat is the current abuse of the system, and I'm hoping Ben Carson takes steps to improve this. LBJ helped to heal the nation from its war wounds with policies that allowed the economy to flourish at the time. Under his administration, unemployment went way down, the debt was held in check, and the nation as a whole gave him the highest approval ratings by far of any modern era President.
Quote:Forget political parties man he held the country together in the darkest of days. After lincolns assassination it would have been so easy to see society dissolve into civil war again. Johnson upheld pardons for the condfederate sates and probably more than anyone is the reason we stil have a union.
Interesting view. I've been reading more about how Republicans in Congress had to step in to keep Andrew from destroying the nation.
Quote:Interesting view. I've been reading more about how Republicans in Congress had to step in to keep Andrew from destroying the nation.
Radical republicans wanted to punish and oppress southern states for defecting
Quote:We should do a weekly power ranking.
Calvin Coolidge jumped up two spots this weekend, at this expense of John Quincy Adams and Martin Van Buren. Van Buren's stock has been in a slide for a couple of weeks now. It'll be interesting to see how he pulls himself out of this slump.
Quote:Forget political parties man he held the country together in the darkest of days. After lincolns assassination it would have been so easy to see society dissolve into civil war again. Johnson upheld pardons for the condfederate sates and probably more than anyone is the reason we stil have a union.
He effectively returned freed slaves to a life of servitude and institutionalized oppression. Johnson may have held true to your view of the Constitution, but he sought to exploit its inherent weaknesses to subjugate human beings. He was a horrible president and person.
Quote:He effectively returned freed slaves to a life of servitude and institutionalized oppression. Johnson may have held true to your view of the Constitution, but he sought to exploit its inherent weaknesses to subjugate human beings. He was a horrible president and person.
Because he opposed reconstruction at the federal level? He rightfully argued it was once again a centralization of federal power that has no basis in the Constitution. We had just ended a war over it all men where free but radical republicans wanted to centralized power and destroy state sovereignty because he fought that he was a champion of state rights. Centralized power makes no man free but enslaves all men to foreign oppression.
He stood against slavery through out the war remained a southern unionist but after the war protected the rights of states to self govern. How that makes him a horrible person baffles me.
Fun fact. I'm a direct descendant of George Washington. Through Martha.
Quote:Fun fact. I'm a direct descendant of George Washington. Through Martha.
![[Image: tumblr_inline_n7hecf71gR1qe6b6g.png]](https://67.media.tumblr.com/5d62bb6fd845d497668541acc24a961f/tumblr_inline_n7hecf71gR1qe6b6g.png)
Quote:Because he opposed reconstruction at the federal level? He rightfully argued it was once again a centralization of federal power that has no basis in the Constitution. We had just ended a war over it all men where free but radical republicans wanted to centralized power and destroy state sovereignty because he fought that he was a champion of state rights. Centralized power makes no man free but enslaves all men to foreign oppression.
He stood against slavery through out the war remained a southern unionist but after the war protected the rights of states to self govern. How that makes him a horrible person baffles me.
The power of the states enabled enslavement of human beings for decades, and Johnson worked towards enabling that to continue. It's all about perspective, Eric. The enslaved willingly embraced centralized power because states rights meant horror for them. If the Constitution allows that, the framers got it wrong. As great as it is, it is not an infallible document.
The OP needs to seriously revisit Lincoln. He would be at or near the bottom of my list. He imprisoned reporters. He "freed" slaves in the CSA, over which he had no authority, while allowing slavery to continue in the North. Wanted to ship the negros (his word) back to Africa after the War. Said they could not share a society with civilized Whites. And Jag02 puts him at the top of his list!
The ones who didn't do a whole lot would be much higher in my list - they largely reined during peacetime and didn't screw up. Why do the warmongers get such high rankings? (besides Washington, of course - his war was just). Old Hickory would be Top 5 in my list because he killed the central bank.
Jefferson and Washington, Top 5. Kennedy, Top 10. Jimmy Carter maybe top 20. FDR, LBJ and BHO, bottom 5. Woodrow Wilson and Teddy Roosevelt, bottom 10.
I have a letter from the Eisenhower White House regarding my reluctance to leave the womb and the effect it may have on Ike's reelection. So he's Top 10 even though he sold us out to the alien overlords.
Quote:The OP needs to seriously revisit Lincoln. He would be at or near the bottom of my list. He imprisoned reporters. He "freed" slaves in the CSA, over which he had no authority, while allowing slavery to continue in the North. Wanted to ship the negros (his word) back to Africa after the War. Said they could not share a society with civilized Whites. And Jag02 puts him at the top of his list!
The ones who didn't do a whole lot would be much higher in my list - they largely reined during peacetime and didn't screw up. Why do the warmongers get such high rankings? (besides Washington, of course - his war was just). Old Hickory would be Top 5 in my list because he killed the central bank.
Jefferson and Washington, Top 5. Kennedy, Top 10. Jimmy Carter maybe top 20. FDR, LBJ and BHO, bottom 5. Woodrow Wilson and Teddy Roosevelt, bottom 10.
I have a letter from the Eisenhower White House regarding my reluctance to leave the womb and the effect it may have on Ike's reelection. So he's Top 10 even though he sold us out to the alien overlords.
Don't ever change.
Bobby Kennedy is certainly Top 10. His reign from '68 to '99 was pretty good. But John-John has screwed America up since he took over in 1999. Most people don't know that all 3 Kennedy deaths were faked and they rule us even today from the Kennedy Compound. Poor JFK died in '68 of his health issues and vices, so Bobby had to "die" and take over.
I can't believe no one has mentioned that towering statesman and prominent leader of American destiny, Millard Fillmore.
Give me an hour to polish off this box of wine and I'll recount a tale regarding the depths of Whig depravity during the satanic 1848 origins of Pizzagate.
Quote:Fun fact. I'm a direct descendant of George Washington. Through Martha.
This is interesting. I was told that I'm somehow related to George Washington through one his sisters. We might be distant cousins.
Quote:The OP needs to seriously revisit Lincoln. He would be at or near the bottom of my list. He imprisoned reporters. He "freed" slaves in the CSA, over which he had no authority, while allowing slavery to continue in the North. Wanted to ship the negros (his word) back to Africa after the War. Said they could not share a society with civilized Whites. And Jag02 puts him at the top of his list!
The ones who didn't do a whole lot would be much higher in my list - they largely reined during peacetime and didn't screw up. Why do the warmongers get such high rankings? (besides Washington, of course - his war was just). Old Hickory would be Top 5 in my list because he killed the central bank.
Jefferson and Washington, Top 5. Kennedy, Top 10. Jimmy Carter maybe top 20. FDR, LBJ and BHO, bottom 5. Woodrow Wilson and Teddy Roosevelt, bottom 10.
I have a letter from the Eisenhower White House regarding my reluctance to leave the womb and the effect it may have on Ike's reelection. So he's Top 10 even though he sold us out to the alien overlords.
One of the resources I used to get started is similar polls by leading historians. Most all agree that Lincoln is #1 with just a few instead listing Washington or FDR. Most also have Wilson and Roosevelt in the top 10 whereas I have Wilson, and Andrew Jackson along with Harry S Truman, lower than most all of them. Andrew Johnson is in the bottom five by virtually all of them.
Teddy is easily among the best... why would you have him bottom ten?
Quote:The power of the states enabled enslavement of human beings for decades, and Johnson worked towards enabling that to continue. It's all about perspective, Eric. The enslaved willingly embraced centralized power because states rights meant horror for them. If the Constitution allows that, the framers got it wrong. As great as it is, it is not an infallible document.
And I sympathize with that, slavery was absolutely a stain on our history. But the fight against centralized power wasn't and isn't a single issue. Johnson more than anyone in his time fought both against slavery and centralizing power. He saw the danger in using one to correct the other.
Quote:One of the resources I used to get started is similar polls by leading historians. Most all agree that Lincoln is #1 with just a few instead listing Washington or FDR. Most also have Wilson and Roosevelt in the top 10 whereas I have Wilson, and Andrew Jackson along with Harry S Truman, lower than most all of them. Andrew Johnson is in the bottom five by virtually all of them.
Teddy is easily among the best... why would you have him bottom ten?
Not a big fan of the Progressive Era or Teddy's adventurism abroad. Prohibition was a failure and look where women's suffrage has got us. National Parks idea was okay except for the parking fees.