Guest LooseCannon Posted February 7, 2003 Report Posted February 7, 2003 The way I see it, the only legitimate choices for truly greatest president ever are George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, and Franklin D. Roosevelt. I'm not saying there weren't other great presidents, and I don't want to minimize their accomplishments. But in my mind they're the only three you can make a strong case for being the best ever.
Guest Vern Gagne Posted February 7, 2003 Report Posted February 7, 2003 And I won't be losing any sleep over the Reagan thing. Just had to throw that last comment in.
Guest bob_barron Posted February 7, 2003 Report Posted February 7, 2003 No- he's still alive in theory but has a severe case of Alzheimers
Guest Choken One Posted February 7, 2003 Report Posted February 7, 2003 Everyday I half expect to Hear Today, Former President Ronald Reagan died at 92 years of age. In tonight's headline news, The Mooresville Beavers will be debuting their newest Beaver Mascot.
Guest Vern Gagne Posted February 7, 2003 Report Posted February 7, 2003 Everyday I half expect to Hear Today, Former President Ronald Reagan died at 92 years of age. In tonight's headline news, The Mooresville Beavers will be debuting their newest Beaver Mascot. Let the waterworks begin when that happens.
Guest TheZsaszHorsemen Posted February 8, 2003 Report Posted February 8, 2003 Roosevelt is the greatest ever. he giuded this country through it's most trying period ever. The conservatives had failed and only big goverment liberalism could save us. It's generally excepted that if Roosevelt hadn't implemented the New Deal, there would have been a facist overthrow. And while that would have been great for RobJohnstone, I like democracy.
Guest BorneAgain Posted February 8, 2003 Report Posted February 8, 2003 Ronald Reagan? Ronald Reagan?! I personally will have to go with Lincoln. Helped us survive the bloodiest wat in U.S. history, helped ease tensions in the North, struggled with his own racism, helped bring liberty to African-Americans and sadly that final act cost him his life. btw my other top presidents are FDR, Teddy Roosevelt, and Wasington.
Guest Choken One Posted February 8, 2003 Report Posted February 8, 2003 My Quickie Top 5... 1. Lincoln 2. FDR 3. Washington 4. Jefferson 5. Clinton
Guest JMA Posted February 8, 2003 Report Posted February 8, 2003 The cool thing about Lincoln was that he didn't critisise people even when they were at fault.
Guest TheBostonStrangler Posted February 8, 2003 Report Posted February 8, 2003 1. Washington 2. FDR 3. Lincoln 4. Clinton 5. Kennedy
Guest Olympic Slam Posted February 8, 2003 Report Posted February 8, 2003 What, no Harry Truman? He was da' bomb
Guest Tyler McClelland Posted February 8, 2003 Report Posted February 8, 2003 FDR... Even though he had some down points (trying to stack the Courts), he still came in with a plan and was incredibly effective in implimenting it.
Guest Tim Posted February 8, 2003 Report Posted February 8, 2003 One name I would have liked to have heard was Dwight D. Eisenhower. He defined the West's Cold War doctrine, managed a stable economy, and advanced the Civil Rights movement. Sometimes less is more.
Guest Harry Hood Posted February 8, 2003 Report Posted February 8, 2003 wasn't the iran hostage crisis under carter? Definintly hit other for polk or jackson, they just did so much underrated stuff that helped mold america into what it is. Man-i-fest Dest-i-ny
Guest bob_barron Posted February 8, 2003 Report Posted February 8, 2003 Yes- the Iran hostage crisis was under Jimmy Carter.
Guest Flyboy Posted February 8, 2003 Report Posted February 8, 2003 Lincoln... .... Just because I share my birthday with him.
Guest Vern Gagne Posted February 8, 2003 Report Posted February 8, 2003 What the hell is so great about FDR. The 2nd World War is what got us out of the depression not the New Deal. He betrayed Eastern Europe at Yalta, he tried stacking the supreme court, he had members of his cabinet that were sympethetic to the Soviet Union, he interned Japanese-Americans during WWII.Read the Venona Documents which is a book about intercepted conversions between Moscow and high-ranking U.S officials.
Guest Tyler McClelland Posted February 9, 2003 Report Posted February 9, 2003 What the hell is so great about FDR. The 2nd World War is what got us out of the depression not the New Deal. I hope you're willing to provide a source which supports your asinine theory.
Guest Vern Gagne Posted February 9, 2003 Report Posted February 9, 2003 What the hell is so great about FDR. The 2nd World War is what got us out of the depression not the New Deal. I hope you're willing to provide a source which supports your asinine theory. From the FDR Library and Museum A. New Deal programs created during the First Hundred Days and afterwards moved the economy towards recovery and helped to lessen the Depression's impact on citizens, but the effects of the Great Depression stubbornly held on into the early 1940's. When the United States became involved in World War II, the drafting of young men into the armed services and the creation of millions of new civilian jobs in the defense and war industries finally brought the Great Depression to an end. Many agencies left over from the New Deal were re-tooled to assist in war mobilization then were abandoned at the end of the war. However, those New Deal programs and agencies of lasting importance, such as the Social Security Administration, the National Labor Relations Board, and the Securities and Exchange Commission, are with us still today as monuments to the innovation of FDR's New Deal. Why is it asine thinking WWII officially got us out of the Great Depression? That's a wide believe among many historians.
Guest Tyler McClelland Posted February 9, 2003 Report Posted February 9, 2003 By stating that he had no influence over taking us out of the depression is plain stupidity. Of course the war helped... but completely discrediting all of what FDR did is just... stupid, asinine, whatever you'd like to say. His New Deal plans had lasting effects on our country. It HELPED us get out of the depression (not singlehandedly, but giving people jobs sure as hell helps). He had some downsides (example, of course, being the stacking the court), but he's sure as hell better than most presidents.
Guest Vern Gagne Posted February 9, 2003 Report Posted February 9, 2003 Tyler I never made any comments about what FDR's new deal plan did or did no do. I just think the war was what finally ended the depression.
Guest JangoFett4Hire Posted February 10, 2003 Report Posted February 10, 2003 What, no Harry Truman? He was da' bomb LOL Yes, and I think that Nagsaki and Hiroshima would agree...
Guest The Notorious CRD Posted February 10, 2003 Report Posted February 10, 2003 I voted other in favor of Bill Clinton as well. And I'm not kidding either.
Guest Some Guy Posted February 11, 2003 Report Posted February 11, 2003 I know this has been touched on but how th hell cna you have JFK and Carter on that list? JFK was killed before he finished a full term, he served less than 3 years. At least he cut taxes though, the last Dem to do so. Carter was the most ineffectual Pres of the 20th century. He couldn't get anything done and wht he did do was wrong. I think this is evidenced by the fact that his approval ratings dropped lower than Nixon's did. Ronald Reagan should have been on there and I think you listed the wrong Roosevelt but I think there is little question that Lincoln was/is the greatest President in American history. He slid in the back door and became the first Republican Pres ever and proceded to fight and win the Civil War and end slavery. As contirubutions to the country while being Pres, I think it's very hard to argue against reuniting the fucking country as the biggest ever and ending slavery would come in second. Lincoln's "racism" was that he felt that blacks were not equal to whites but felt that they should not be enlaved, that was a pretty radical theory for a main stream politician to take at the time. His belief that blacks were inferior to whites could be defended given the time frame because of their lack of access to education, however I think Lincoln's belief went beyond that. Much of FDR's New Deal was struck down by the Supreme Court because it was unconstitutional. His social programs caused the start of the massive debt that we have now and his spend now and worry about the future effects later approach is very undesirable in a Pres, it is also the foundation of Clinton's and many other Democrats political philosophy. He did however help fund the allies and secretly sent troops to fight the Germans in WWII for about 1 1/2 years before Peal Harbor. So I give him credit for doing the right thing on that, despite poll results.
Guest Powerplay Posted February 11, 2003 Report Posted February 11, 2003 SG, I think that Gerald Ford was worse than Carter in the doing nothing department. Not that either were that great, but that's just my opinion. The 70's were a sad time, eh :-(?
Guest BobbyWhioux Posted February 12, 2003 Report Posted February 12, 2003 What the hell is so great about FDR. What the hell is so great about FDR? His election, and the hope/faith he restored to the American people of the early 1930's in the American system, saved American Democracy (such as it is) and American capitalism from falling prey to the trend of extremist revolutions and subsequent totalitarian regimes that was sweeping the world at the time (because they WORKED; they got trains running on time and got hungry people fed. When you're starving, getting food is a pretty big deal; abstract concepts like civil liberties aren't). His popularity and charisma bought the American system time. WW2 would've been about 5 or 6 years too late to "end the depression" or "save the economy" had FDR not inspired hope to the degree he did. FDR's emotional/psychological impact on America while president dwarves all other presidents. With the POSSIBLE exception of Lincoln (Washington's immense psychological impact, I would argue, was made before and outside of his role as president, i.e. the leader of a successful revolutionary army). For that alone (never mind what he actually did in terms of policy), FDR is a great president. And a legitimate candidate for the mantle of "greatest." His New Deal in particular showed the people that he was really and seriously trying to help them; so they kept giving him 4 year terms to do it. Herbert Hoover actually tried implementing similar ideas, but on a smaller scale and to a more moderate degree (and lacked the personal charisma that Roosevelt had) and so it didn't look so much like he was really trying to help the people, and so the people turned on him quickly.
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