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Best and Worst Presidents?

c0da

Active Member
Who, in your opinion has been the best American President ever?

Who has been the worst American President ever?

Why?


In my opinion, I would say the best is either Teddy, simply for being a hard man or FDR for helping get America out of the s*** in the 30s.

The worst, I think would either be Jimmy Carter, for ballsing up military operations or Dubya for inflating the government and making a mess of Iraq, theres probably other things.

Although I'm not American, so my opinion on this might not bear as much weight as somebody who has lived in the US.
 

CaptainXeroid

Following Christ
Best - Abraham Lincoln When the Southern States seceded, many in the north would have been happy to wish them good riddance. Lincoln felt he had an obligation to uphold the Constitution by acting to restore the Union.

Worst - Andrew Jackson He was the primary architect of the Trail of Tears, the removal of the American Natives by refusing to enforce a Supreme Court decision protecting Native rights as well as crafting the Indian Removal Act.

There are plenty of (dis)honorable mentions, but I'll stick with these 2.
 

Comet

Harvey Wallbanger
c0da2006 said:
Who, in your opinion has been the best American President ever?

I'd really have to think about that. I'd probably go with Thomas Jefferson, but most of the reasons have nothing to due with his actual term in office.

Who has been the worst American President ever?

By default I select William Henry Harrison


30 day term, didn't get much accomplished ;)
 

c0da

Active Member
Thanks for the replies guys.

30 day term, didn't get much accomplished

Good point, although, in the guy's defense, he didn't actually screw up in office, but then again, he didn't really have the time.
 

Comet

Harvey Wallbanger
c0da2006 said:
Thanks for the replies guys.
Good point, although, in the guy's defense, he didn't actually screw up in office, but then again, he didn't really have the time.

True, I guess I pick him for the best and worse then :)

Best- William Henry Harrison because he didn't screw anything up badly

Worst- William Henry Harrison because he didn't do anything in office

:thud:
 

c0da

Active Member
True, I guess I pick him for the best and worse then :)

Best- William Henry Harrison because he didn't screw anything up badly

Worst- William Henry Harrison because he didn't do anything in office

Yeah, I think I'll change my choices now too! Harrison gets extra points too for being a hard man. He wasn't scared of a bit of wind and frost!
 

standing_on_one_foot

Well-Known Member
Best? Probably Lincoln, although we've had several good ones. But I've been reading up on him lately, and the guy was pretty incredible. And he had a sense of humor. And he saved the Union and all that good stuff. And he really cared about the Constitution. And he was eloquent. I appreciate these things in a president.

Worst? Hmm. We've had several bad ones, but I might have to go with Grant. He was pretty terrible at everything except being a general (and he made up for other deficiencies there). Poor guy. Completely gullible. He might not be the worst, though, he's just a bad president I happen to know a lot about. I'd have to look into things more before I could tell you the very worst with real certainty.
 

Mathematician

Reason, and reason again
I've always been fond of Washington for actually making it known he wasn't king, and Jefferson shares(d) a lot of views with me. FDR comes in third.

Worst? I would say Jackson.
 

Smoke

Done here.
It's not easy to admire any of them wholeheartedly.

In terms of historical importance, Washington, Lincoln, and FD Roosevelt are in a league of their own, but the greatest in my book is probablyThomas Jefferson. I also think Chester Arthur is much underrated.

Jimmy Carter has probably done more good than any of them, most of it, unfortunately, since he left office.

There used to be some doubt about the worst, but Harding and Nixon were very strong contenders. The worst president by far, however, is without any doubt the pseudo-cowboy from Midland. None of the others even come close to him; compared to him, even Harding and Nixon seem noble and virtuous.
 

Scuba Pete

Le plongeur avec attitude...
Worst: Dubya
Johnson
Jackson
Nixon
Cheney (he pulls the strings)

Best: Ford
Reagan
FDR
Washington
Carter

Who I would like to see in the next election?

McCain
Jeb (really)
 

kai

ragamuffin
well i am not american so bear with me
JFK for his charisma
Nixon for his dishonesty
 

Scuba Pete

Le plongeur avec attitude...
It was a toss up between JFK and Carter. But I figured that Carter best emulates JFK's "ask not" principle. :D
 

CaptainXeroid

Following Christ
I have a question for Lintu and NetDoc. I'm curious why you guys mentioned Andrew Johnson as one of the worst. I'm not going to argue he was great or even mediocre:D, but Lincoln picked him as his running mate in an attempt to appeal to Southern voters and hold the Union together.

After Lincoln was assassinated, Johnson became President and had to deal with a hostile Congress. He was impeached for violating a law the Supreme Court eventually struck down as unconstitutional. Johnson was a Southerner from Tennessee, and the Northern conrolled Congress mainly disregarded him.

I would put Johnson in the same category as William Henry Harrison...star-crossed and ineffective, not necessary the worst.

As for George W. Bush, I think it's a bit early to fairly evaluate his Presidency in a historical context, but of course, the early returns are not looking very good.

standing_on_one_foot - Grant..interresting choice for worst. He was certainly a reluctant candidate and turned out to be a gullible President. If he is guilty of two things above all others, it was not surrounding himself with honest people and exercising virtually no oversight. Not a subscriber to "The buck stops here."

Carter would get my nomination for best ex-President for his humanitarian work.:)
 

Scuba Pete

Le plongeur avec attitude...
Wrong Johnson for me. Try Lyndon. Think: Vietnam War.

BTW, were both Johnsons VPs that ascended to the office??? How weird.
 

Smoke

Done here.
NetDoc said:
Wrong Johnson for me. Try Lyndon. Think: Vietnam War.
Paraphrasing, but Molly Ivins said something like, "Johnson would've been a great president if it hadn't been for Vietnam. I realize that's like saying it was a great century except for the Hundred Years' War." ;)
 

c0da

Active Member
Paraphrasing, but Molly Ivins said something like, "Johnson would've been a great president if it hadn't been for Vietnam. I realize that's like saying it was a great century except for the Hundred Years' War." ;)

Ha, good quote, but in all fairness to Johnson, if it wasn't for Nam, he would have had the money he needed to fund his 'great society' programmes which, if succesful, would have put him a bit higher up in most peoples views, I think.

I reckon I'm going to change my worst president nomination from Carter to someone else, you guys have changed my mind! I'll have a rethink about my worst pres' nomination.
 

CaptainXeroid

Following Christ
NetDoc said:
Wrong Johnson for me. Try Lyndon. Think: Vietnam War.

BTW, were both Johnsons VPs that ascended to the office??? How weird.
Thank you for the clarification. I didn't even think of LBJ.:eek: Kinda reminds me of the similarities between Lincoln and JFK.

c0da2006 said:
Ha, good quote, but in all fairness to Johnson, if it wasn't for Nam, he would have had the money he needed to fund his 'great society' programmes which, if succesful, would have put him a bit higher up in most peoples views, I think.
Good point.

As for Carter, he was one of the most honest men to be President. After Watergate, I think any Democrat would have beaten Ford, and Carter was an 'outsider' to boot. He inherited a mess, and other than nuclear regulatory and peace talk matters, he didn't do much right as President. He was one of the most honest and well intentioned Presidents in our history.
 

standing_on_one_foot

Well-Known Member
CaptainXeroid said:
standing_on_one_foot - Grant..interresting choice for worst. He was certainly a reluctant candidate and turned out to be a gullible President. If he is guilty of two things above all others, it was not surrounding himself with honest people and exercising virtually no oversight. Not a subscriber to "The buck stops here."
Right. That's the reasons I put his name up. He wasn't a bad man or a dishonest one, but he really was terrible at leading the country. There are presidents who've been worse people or done more harm, I suppose, but I just find Grant such an interesting failure.
 

c0da

Active Member
I've decided to change my 'worst' nomination from Carter to Taft, just for that moustache!
 
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