Posted by Old John on Mon, Feb 15, 2010, at 4:09 PM:
I think it would be interesting to hear what president folks would consider the greatest. It may need to broken into two choices. The greatest president that lived before your time and the best president in your time. I would have a hard time choosing in the first category considering Lincoln, Washington, Jefferson, and many early presidents were great men. As far as ones I remember, I always liked Reagan, and he did have some faults. I would't want to include President Obama since his term is in progress. So what do you say?
Replies (15)
James, I suppose there is a lot to consider. Some Presidents presided in more difficult times. And it may depend on what duty one thinks more important of a president. Some of them can be aplauded for not doing. Some can be respected for doing. But I would never consider giving praise to president or ordinary man. That I will direct elsewhere. Lincoln I think, given the situation of the times, is fascinating and maybe that sways my historical understanding. May I ask why you think Lincoln was worst?
-- Posted by Old John on Mon, Feb 15, 2010, at 7:32 PM
GW Bush - worst in my lifetime (the jury is still out on Bush-bomb-a)
Abe Lincoln - worst of all time
Gotta agree with Lew Rockwell - William Henry Harrison was the greatest POTUS of all time.
-- Posted by Lumpy on Mon, Feb 15, 2010, at 8:55 PM
OJ,
This quiz may help you understand why James and I are not so fond of Honest Abe...
What American President launched a massive invasion of another country that posed no threat, and without a declaration of war?
What President raised a huge army at his own will without the approval of Congress?
What President started a war of choice in violation of every principle of Christian just war teaching?
What President said that he had to violate the Constitution in order to save it?
What President declared the elected legislatures of thirteen States to be "combinations" of criminals that he had to suppress?
What President said he was indifferent to slavery but would use any force necessary to collect taxes?
What President sent combat troops from the battlefield to bombard and occupy New York City?
What President sent the Army to arrest in the middle of the night thousands of private citizens for expressing their opinions? And held them incommunicado in military prisons with total denial of due process of law? And had his soldiers destroy newspaper plants?
What President was the first ruler in the civilized world to make medicine a contraband of war?
What President signed for his cronies special licenses to purchase valuable cotton from an enemy country even though he had forbidden such trade and punished other people for the same practice?
What President refused medical care and food to his own soldiers held by the enemy country?
What President presided over the bombardment and house-by-house destruction of cities and towns that were undefended and not military targets?
What President's forces deliberately targeted women and children and destroyed their housing, food supply, and private belongings?
What President's occupying forces engaged in imprisonment, torture, and execution of civilians and seizing them as hostages?
Under what President did the Army have the largest number of criminals, mercenaries, and foreigners?
Who was the first American President to plot the assassination of an opposing head of state?
Who had the least affiliation with Christianity of any American President and blamed God for starting the war over which he presided?
What President voted for and praised a law which forbade black people from settling in his State?
What President said that all black people should be expelled from the United States because they could never be full-fledged citizens?
What President was the first to force citizens to accept as legal money pieces of paper unbacked by gold or silver?
Who was the first President to institute an income tax?
Who was the first President to pile up a national debt too vast to be paid off in a generation?
Who is considered almost universally as the greatest American President, indeed as the greatest American of all times and as a world hero of democracy?
-- Posted by Lumpy on Mon, Feb 15, 2010, at 8:58 PM
Lumpy, The questions you raise are justification for further study. I have not risen to the status of expert in history of any kind, including presidents. Forgive me if I take a while to respond.
-- Posted by Old John on Mon, Feb 15, 2010, at 9:22 PM
As I remember the story, the newspaper Stars and Stripes, was founded in the offices of a newspaper taken from it's owner by the Union Army, under Lincoln's command in a place near and dear to our hearts, Bloomfield, MO.
-- Posted by Have_Wheels_Will_Travel on Tue, Feb 16, 2010, at 12:00 AM
I knew a lot of those tidbits but there are a few new to me, very interesting.
-- Posted by mynameismud on Tue, Feb 16, 2010, at 1:07 AM
The name of Lincoln was not allowed to be mentioned in my Grandmother's house or presence.
-- Posted by voyager on Tue, Feb 16, 2010, at 10:32 AM
"What American President launched a massive invasion of another country that posed no threat, and without a declaration of war?
What President raised a huge army at his own will without the approval of Congress?
What President started a war of choice in violation of every principle of Christian just war teaching?
What President said that he had to violate the Constitution in order to save it?"
Wow, those first four sound a lot like GW Bush.
-- Posted by SmokeRing on Tue, Feb 16, 2010, at 12:31 PM
SmokeRing, So do you have a favorite president?
-- Posted by Old John on Tue, Feb 16, 2010, at 5:34 PM
Lumpy, Who is your pick for best in your time?
-- Posted by Old John on Tue, Feb 16, 2010, at 5:37 PM
OJ,
I gotta go with Ford also. He simply didn't do a whole lotta damage during his tenure.
-- Posted by Lumpy on Tue, Feb 16, 2010, at 6:08 PM
Derry brownfield once said he had been buyig Dodge trucks for 40 years, not because he liked Dodge trucks, but because he likes the man that sells them. In that spirit, I will stay with Reagan for now. And I am leaning toward some of the lesser known do less Presidents before my time.
-- Posted by Old John on Tue, Feb 16, 2010, at 11:01 PM
H&D, Can you point to one president in your time that was not a toadie or globalist in grooming? Or better yet, what's your favorite president in your time?
-- Posted by Old John on Wed, Feb 17, 2010, at 10:26 PM
Worst president in my lifetime: Lyndon B. Johnson
Best president in my lifetime: Ronald Reagan
Worst president before my birth: Woodrow Wilson
Best president before my birth: Calvin Cooledge
It was necessary to eliminate from consideration all presidents prior to Andrew Jackson from good or worst lists.
-- Posted by voyager on Wed, Feb 17, 2010, at 10:31 PM
H&D, old Prescott Bush, father and grandfather of two presidents, had quite a checkered past which, for some reason, seems to be fogged over in certain quarters. Now don't go accusing me of suggesting a conspiracy, but it is a bit curious, isn't it?
Funny thing,old Joe Kennedy had similar positions, except he was not smart enough to keep quiet and stay way back in the shadows. What tragedy was dumped on that family, also a bit curious.
Maybe truth is stranger than fiction...maybe.
-- Posted by voyager on Thu, Feb 18, 2010, at 9:12 AM
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I think it would be interesting to hear what president folks would consider the greatest. It may need to broken into two choices. The greatest president that lived before your time and the best president in your time. I would have a hard time choosing in the first category considering Lincoln, Washington, Jefferson, and many early presidents were great men. As far as ones I remember, I always liked Reagan, and he did have some faults. I would't want to include President Obama since his term is in progress. So what do you say?
Replies (15)