Posted on 09/28/2011 11:28:27 PM PDT by Steelers6
Who do you regard as the absolute best President in America's history? Abraham Lincoln 36% Thomas Jefferson 14% George Washington 31% Franklin Roosevelt 2% Someone else 17% 11676 total votes
Coolidge
Reagan, Washington, Monroe, Polk, Coolidge.
I would think that the objective answer would have been George Washington. He wasn’t willing to become a king when it was offered him and, if another had been in his position, you might have had a monarchy, instead of the Republic.
Scratch that, I forgot Jefferson ;-P
Reagan greatest ever?
I think the Founding Fathers have him beat, with him following up behind.
You hit the key point there, “Objective”.
These polls are dumb because they don’t take that “stuff” into account.
Like trying to compare sports teams from different eras.
It’s just a discussion starter, but to what end ?
Ugh. Now I hate myself for even responding and adding to the waste.
I owe myself 3 minutes of my life back.
You might be interest in this one. Heard a fascinating interview with the author a while back on the radio... http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1934572500/ref=ox_sc_act_title_4?ie=UTF8&m=ATVPDKIKX0DER
George Washington
I would say George Washington was the greatest overall, as he was a modern-day Cincinnatus: a man who could have easily been King had he so desired, but chose otherwise.
In my lifetime (being born in 1969), I would say Ronald Reagan, and also Richard Nixon, for his foreign policy achievements (as the Vulcan proverb goes, “Only Nixon could go to China”). Sadly, Nixon’s foreign policy achievements (and let’s face it, a Cold Warrior like Nixon sitting down with Mao.....that’s a watershed moment in latter 20th Century history) were forgotten owing to the Watergate scandal, which according to my father, was really not such a big deal on the surface, as political parties pull these shenanigans all the time; it was the cover-up that did him in.
Robert E. Lee was "president"? In what year? I seem to have missed that one in my history books. Last time I checked, he was a military general.
I've never understood why so many are enamored with Lincoln. As for Washington, he was indispensable at the time because of how the public viewed him, and rightly so, for his performance in the war. As president he relied very heavily on the Sage of Monticello, and, unfortunately, Alex Hamilton.
Yup.
You don't think Nixon's foreign policy achievements in regards to China were a form of 'dragon's teeth' in how they sowed the seeds of China's future rise (dare I say possible dominance) against the US? His meetings with Mao Zedong and Premier Zhou Enlai are not the issue ...the issue was the embrace of Sino-American relations, which became stronger once Deng Xiaoping started his (quite clever compared to what was there before) economic policies that started China on its path of economic growth, getting its Most Favored Trading Partner status restarted in 1980, and currently the Chinese economy is the 2nd largest in the World.
Then you also have to consider the statement that there is Only One China, which was a body blow to the Taiwanese (and continues to be the case, as most recently seen by the Obama administration refusing to sell F-16s to them, a continuation of the Bush administrations refusal for 66 F-16 C/Ds to go to them in October 2006 that basically continued to the Obama Administration continuing with the 'no' in August 2011 and instead offering tweaking their A/B Vipers). The One China thing was agreed upon by Nixon.
Anyways, Nixon not only pales terribly next to Reagan (in every single attributable measure, including foreign policy), but the only reason he is not spat upon on FR is because he was a Republican. Make him Democrat and only Carter and Obama would (actually make that 'may') be worse, and he (in terms of consequence of impact, especially the whole China thing) would make him a strong consideration for number 1 (at the very least number 2) on the other end of the scale. Think of everything Nixon did, good and bad, and then imagine if Nixon was a Democrat rather than a Republican. He'd make Carter's malaise look mild in comparison, and probably only Obama would be worse. Imagine Nixon, everything else remaining the same, as a Democrat. A lot of the things we cover for him would be front and center and open to harsh criticism. Kind of like how the current administration (and spit upon Obama ...I am not protecting him just making a point) gets blamed for the cancellation of F-16 sales to Taiwan as well as the cancellation of the F-22 Raptor, yet people forget which administration said no to Taiwan (for those same 66 F-16s) in 2006, and which cut the number of Raptors from almost 800 (750 i.i.r.c.) to 187 (and ironically, the cut of Raptors began in 1996 when Dick Cheney, then the Defense Secretary, set the ball rolling), with the final number of 183 Raptors set in 2006 ...before Obama. Four more Raptors were added in 2008 to bring it to 187, now 186 following a crash a short while ago due to problems with the generated oxygen.
Anyways, I have always wondered if the 'great accomplishments' of Nixon, especially the China issue, would be taken in the same light if Nixon was a Democrat. For some reason I strongly doubt that. In an alternate history I would like to see what opinion would be if Reagan, all things the same, was Democrat; and JFK, all things the same, Republican. I suspect the same Democrats who say silly things like 'Ray-Gun' would see the great worth and force of vision, and the real blessing to America, that Ronald Reagan was.
For me outside of Reagan this is a tough question. Even with the founding presidents. The legacy of Thomas Jefferson founded the Jeffersonian democrats which became the current democrat party. John Adams was with the federalists which were against the then republican-democrat party which ran Jefferson. So I am not sure which party was the most conservative of the two. But Washington was the first and his legacy in creating the country is to be noted, plus he was independent of a party.
But the fact is, prior to the civil war, nearly all of the US presidents were far more conservative than most in the last 150 years. They believed in a government of limited powers. But among the most conservative of our early presidents would probably be Washington, Madison, Monroe, the second Adams, and Polk.
From the perspective of business and economic impact the best conservative president was Calvin Coolidge, who ushered the roaring twenties.
From the perspective of the last 150 years then the answer is Ronald Reagan, who was the most self-consciously conservative President ever. Helped end the Cold War and collapse Communism.
From a broader perspective, the answer might be Grover Cleveland, who mercilessly used his veto power (vetoing 414 bills in 8 years) to cut pork-barrel spending and maintain his conception of limited government.
From the perspective of modern social conservatism, George W. Bush and George H. W. Bush were the most social conservative, although this is largely a function of the fact that modern “social conservative” issues have only been around for the past few decades.
So I’d say based on quick research:
1. George Washington
2. James Madison
3. Ronald Reagan
4. Calvin Coolidge
5. Grover Cleveland
6. John Adams
7. John Quincy Adams
8. James Monroe
9. Warren G. Harding
10. Thomas Jefferson
Washington. Nobody else comes close. He gave up absolute power....twice.
Washington, J. Adams, Coolidge, Reagan, Monroe, Polk, J.Q. Adams, Jefferson, Eisenhower.
Great Presidents of a Republic are great not just for what they do, but for what they restrain themselves from doing. I know many will have issue with my inclusion of the Adams so high on the list, but my esteem for them has grown enormously with the more I have read about the founding and the early years of the Republic.
Nixon going to China was a way of flipping the Soviets the bird and if you read some of the Soviet archives, Nixon's trip and a possible alliance with China scared the Soviets to death.
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