Best President

[CAforensics]

Who was the best president ever?......Im still undecided on this one

[Its Alive]

I can't name one, but I could give you a top 5, and a reason why.


HONORABLE MENTION) Bill Clinton -- Survived the most misunderstood
presidency ever, created one of the largest budget surpluses in history
5) Harry Truman -- Took over for FDR on-the-fly and didn't mess up a blinking bit of it
4) John Kennedy -- Kept a poker face during the Cold War, made America the only world superpower
3) George Washington -- Turned down KINGSHIP and absolute power when it was offered to him by colonial lawmakers, set the standard
2)Franklin Roosevelt -- Saved the economy and eventually the free world
1) Abraham Lincoln -- Saved America by preserving the union

[DCdisco]

My vote's for Reagan :D Just because a lot of people liked him. Good guy.

[mbareddog]

I can't name one, but I could give you a top 5, and a reason why.


HONORABLE MENTION) Bill Clinton -- Survived the most misunderstood
presidency ever, created one of the largest budget surpluses in history
5) Harry Truman -- Took over for FDR on-the-fly and didn't mess up a blinking bit of it
4) John Kennedy -- Kept a poker face during the Cold War, made America the only world superpower
3) George Washington -- Turned down KINGSHIP and absolute power when it was offered to him by colonial lawmakers, set the standard
2)Franklin Roosevelt -- Saved the economy and eventually the free world
1) Abraham Lincoln -- Saved America by preserving the union

I agree with DC on Reagan. What a pres. Now I will dispute IA's top five very easily:

Misunderstood? Only thing misunderstood about him is HOW BAD this guy really was. And it would be **** hard to NOT run a surplus in that economy, which by the way Clinton had nothing to do with.

Truman messed up QUITE a bit of it, how about the fact that he knew about Communist Spies all around him, yet chose to PROMOTE them??

Kennedy gets too much credit, especially for the Cuban Missile Crisis, which granted he got us out of, but in all of his brilliance also put us right into it. By the way, how come whenever Kennedy had a great speech from a speechwriter (not an uncommon practice, in fact I doubt any pres. has ever written his own speech) it was beautiful and eloquent, yet when Wolfowitz writes one for Bush, Bush is just a puppet?

Again, too much credit to ol' George. I'm sure he was cool, but third best pres. ever? I think not.

Ah, FDR....Stalin's best friend...'nuff said.....

And Lincoln, while I wouldn't put him in the top spot, I'd have to agree that he's in the top five.

EDIT: Just a minor spelling correction...

[Marxist]

FDR is #1!! Not only did he bring the US out of the great depression he did most of the work in winning WWII while fighting a debilitating disease. As far as his being a friend with Stalin goes, the enemy of my enemy is my friend. Besides, if you want to get into stuff like that, lets just note how Reagan was the one who supplied Osama for years with US weapons.

[CA800]

Similarly, don't promote Reagan when he was engrossed in that whole Iran-Contras scandal if you're going to bash FDR for appeasing Stalin in Yalta. Granted, that wasn't our finest hour of diplomacy, but when faced with the possibility of losing a world war, one must do what is necessary.

I think Reagan and JFK get way too much press. No one really knows if Reagan's economic plan resulted in the surplus Clinton had or whether that was due to the tech-boom. Also, it is disputed how much of the '84 (I think that's the right year) stock markey crash was the responsibility of Reagan. JFK didn't even fill out two terms. He handled the entire communist problem very poorly. RFK and Kennedy's staff was behind a lot of the successes of that administration, including the CMC. Kennedy was doped up all the time (did anyone else see that Discover Channel episode of Unsolved History?) and wasn't very effective towards the end of his presidency. JFK gets all his popularity because 50% of American women had a crush on him and he tried to put a man on the moon.

My top three:

3) Theodore Roosevelt

2) Abraham Lincoln

1) Franklin Delano Roosevelt

[mbareddog]

The enemy of our enemy thing is irrelevant. Stalin was our enemy!!!

[Josiahzacks]

I can't name one, but I could give you a top 5, and a reason why.


HONORABLE MENTION) Bill Clinton -- Survived the most misunderstood
presidency ever, created one of the largest budget surpluses in history
5) Harry Truman -- Took over for FDR on-the-fly and didn't mess up a blinking bit of it
4) John Kennedy -- Kept a poker face during the Cold War, made America the only world superpower
3) George Washington -- Turned down KINGSHIP and absolute power when it was offered to him by colonial lawmakers, set the standard
2)Franklin Roosevelt -- Saved the economy and eventually the free world
1) Abraham Lincoln -- Saved America by preserving the union

I agree with DC on Reagan. What a pres. Now I will dispute IA's top five very easily:

Misunderstood? Only think misunderstood about him is HOW BAD this guy really was. And it would be **** hard to NOT run a surplus in that economy, which by the way Clinton had nothing to do with.

Truman messed up QUITE a bit of it, how about the fact that he knew about Communist Spies all around him, yet chose to PROMOTE them??

Kennedy gets too much credit, especially for the Cuban Missile Crisis, which granted he got us out of, but in all of his brilliance also put us right into it. By the way, how come whenever Kennedy had a great speech from a speechwriter (not an uncommon practice, in fact I doubt any pres. has ever written his own speech) it was beautiful and eloquent, yet when Wolfowitz writes one for Bush, Bush is just a puppet?

Again, too much credit to ol' George. I'm sure he was cool, but third best pres. ever? I think not.

Ah, FDR....Stalin's best friend...'nuff said.....

And Lincoln, while I wouldn't put him in the top spot, I'd have to agree that he's in the top five.

EDIT: Just a minor spelling correction...

Sounds like someone's been reading a bit too much Ann Coulter.

[CA800]

AHHHHHHHHHHHH, I hater her and her stupid books. :x :evil:

[CAforensics]

id say that kennedy was definetly a great pres

[MovieStar1084]

i like Taft because he had to have a bathtub installed that could fit 3 people in it since he couldn't fit in the normal one...

yeah, i remember stuff like that....

George Washington... he's my great great great great great great.... lots more greats... uncle or something of that nature. kinda cool. if we were in England, i could inherit the presidency! sweet

[CAforensics]

lol.......too bad george got rid of the whole king and queen thing

[MovieStar1084]

i know!!! you'd think he would keep family interests in mind, but noooooo

[CAforensics]

thats wut he gets for NOT screwin up

[Chewie]

Clinton: Well, you have to admit...he was fun...and gave us all some great material to work with. Thanks, Willy.

[the durango kid]

all right now, for all you FDR haters out there, listen up:

You see, the reason that FDR was chumming it up with Stalin at Yalta, was not because he was blind to his horrible regime, it was because of a friendly neighbor of their's named ADOLPH HITLER!!! Would you rather have had the United States take on both major centers of oppisiton at once at get our butts thourghly trounced, or turn one against the other to defeat the larger threat, and then leave the rest up to time? FDR not only is quite possibly the ONLY reason that we are still a free democracy, he is also greatly responsible for the end of the Nazi regime. Serving 3.5 terms as the nations highest command in a time that are considered the most trying in history. For a man to face such advirsity and evil with such courage, ignited this nation into what it is today. Ever since FDR raised himself from his wheelchair, to raise this country from its knees, this nation has had that kind of conficence. AND it would BE WRONG to forget that.

1. FDR
2. Bill Clinton
3. Thomas Jefferson
4. Lincon
5. Geroge Washington
6. Kennedy (not because of what he did, but because of what he stoof for)
7. Teddy Rosevelt
8. Calvin Coolidege
9. John Adams
10. Eisenhower

[nirorivers6]

I'll tell you who one of the most underrated presidents is. Richard Nixon.

[Chewie]

Yeah, your rating can't go much further under than his.

[nirorivers6]

ZING! that was really good. i still think he's one of the greatest. not the best but one of.

[insightful]

Franklin D. Roosevelt- After Herbert Hoover practically did nothing during the Great Depression; he did a perfect job reforming the nation.

[Humor's Hand]

I'm going to have to go with FDR. I'd have to say the most under-rated president was Bill Clinton.

[redrover]

1. FDR- The guy was so sick. He added socialist tendancies but in proper doses to save our economy from the Great Depression. Then there was that whole "World War II" thing. (also, sorry that I am basically just agreeing with everyone)

2. George Washington- He is the reason we don't have a monarchy. He turned down the foudning fathers' offer to be king. That takes cajoles.

3. Bill Clinton- Question: Who oversaw one of the greatest economic booms in American history coming off of the disaster that was Reganomics? Answer: Bill Clinton. Also, he beat Obama to the punch on being the first black president.

4. John F. Kennedy- Shut it Reganites, this guy was the most influential Cold War president.

5. James Monroe- This is a bit of a surprise, its more bsaed off of the impacts he had in international affairs for the next few centuries that made the difference. The Monroe Doctrine changed the face of foreign policy. I didn't want to list off the exact same guys as everyone else, also,

Overrated Presidents include:

Abraham Lincoln- The abolition of slavery is a bit glorified. He onl freed southern slaves in the Emancipation Proclamation, which is problematic because the Confederacy was not about to listen to him. His motives were iffy also... he jsut wanted more soldiers for the civil war.

Ronald Regan- Just because you were President at the very end of the Cold War does nto make you the reason it ended. His economic plan was horrible. Iverhyped by Republicans, surely.

[Humor's Hand]

Amen. I was going to say how over-rated Lincoln was as well. I didn't because I figured I don't know much about him truly except that eh was shot, is on my moniez, and freed the slaves. All of which are semi-praiseworthy, but still exaggerated.

[worsethansex]

I'm sorry, I've kept out of this debate for a while, but what on earth is wrong with you people for all of the Lincoln-hatred? He ranks in first place by a landslide from nearly every poll of historians over the last hundred years for a reason- these historians aren't just hype-driven losers who judge based on their fuzzy memories rather than analysis of history. Proof: Murray-Blessing, C-SPAN, ABC, Washington College, Gallup, Quinnipiac, Schlesinger, Chicago Tribune, and Ridings-McIver all had him in first place, and every other major poll has had him in the top three (source (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Historical_rankings_of_United_States_Presidents)).

Lincoln united the country in what was by far its most difficult trial, and exhibited resolve and leadership no president before or since has matched. He did more than "free the slaves," he stopped the country from dissolving into complete chaos while- get this- not compromising on the most controversial issue in the first hundred years of American history. Lincoln was the only abolitionist Presidential candidate, the only person capable of battling a divided Congress, the only person capable of keeping popular support for a war even as brother fought brother and incompetent generals took hold, and, most importantly, the only person capable of undoing the misdeeds and deadly faux-compromises of leadership past. No President has taken on as great a challenge in his presidency, and none have dealt with it as admirably.

And furthermore,

His motives were iffy also... he jsut wanted more soldiers for the civil war.

What? Where did you hear this? It's complete nonsense. The 13th Amendment was signed in order to give a rallying point for the North.