Presidents' Day Poll

Alex · 02-16-2007, 09:00 AM

Probably. Name an accomplishment of a president between Lincoln and McKinley. Or between Madison and Lincoln.

When trying to think about which of our recent presidents will be well remembered in another 100 years I think Reagan is most likely to be so for any particularly positive reason. In terms of historical significance I think the welfare reform of Clinton is way up there with the civil service reform of Chester A. Arthur and look at how well he's remembered by a grateful nation.

I have no doubt that Carter is the best human being in the bunch but in 50 years he's going to be the one that kids in 5th grade have trouble remembering on their history tests (to go along with Benjamin Harrison, Zachary Tyler, Warren G. Harding, and Franklin Pierce).

My problem with Carter isn't his politics but his political ineptitude. He had the right beliefs but neither the backbone nor ability to see them through (for example, he is the only president to significantly resist the corrupt water policies of the Western United States but couldn't even control his own executive branch agencies from undercutting him with congress).

I'm not a proponent of a powerful executive so I am mostly fine with the fact that our presidents are quickly forgotten after their term. The best remembered presidents are, for the most part, the ones who fostered a certain national mood (regardless of whether anything in particular came out of it) and that is why I think Kennedy (somewhat unjustly since he gets the glory of never seeing the downslope; I suspect he'd have ended his term in office nearly as unpopular as LBJ ended up being) and Reagan are the only two real candidates on the list.

But then, my personal favorite president (Polk) provoked the most openly expansionist war in our history and was generally considered quite the asshole.

View Poll Results: Who's Your Favorite President?
John F. Kennedy	4	13.33%
Lyndon B. Johnson	0	0%
Richard M. Nixon	0	0%
Gerald Ford	1	3.33%
Jimmy Carter	3	10.00%
Ronald Reagan	10	33.33%
George H.W. Bush	0	0%
Bill Clinton	12	40.00%
George W. Bush	0	0%
Voters: 30. You may not vote on this poll

02-16-2007, 09:00 AM	#11
Alex . Join Date: Feb 2005 Posts: 13,354	Probably. Name an accomplishment of a president between Lincoln and McKinley. Or between Madison and Lincoln. When trying to think about which of our recent presidents will be well remembered in another 100 years I think Reagan is most likely to be so for any particularly positive reason. In terms of historical significance I think the welfare reform of Clinton is way up there with the civil service reform of Chester A. Arthur and look at how well he's remembered by a grateful nation. I have no doubt that Carter is the best human being in the bunch but in 50 years he's going to be the one that kids in 5th grade have trouble remembering on their history tests (to go along with Benjamin Harrison, Zachary Tyler, Warren G. Harding, and Franklin Pierce). My problem with Carter isn't his politics but his political ineptitude. He had the right beliefs but neither the backbone nor ability to see them through (for example, he is the only president to significantly resist the corrupt water policies of the Western United States but couldn't even control his own executive branch agencies from undercutting him with congress). I'm not a proponent of a powerful executive so I am mostly fine with the fact that our presidents are quickly forgotten after their term. The best remembered presidents are, for the most part, the ones who fostered a certain national mood (regardless of whether anything in particular came out of it) and that is why I think Kennedy (somewhat unjustly since he gets the glory of never seeing the downslope; I suspect he'd have ended his term in office nearly as unpopular as LBJ ended up being) and Reagan are the only two real candidates on the list. But then, my personal favorite president (Polk) provoked the most openly expansionist war in our history and was generally considered quite the asshole.
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