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“My favorite President”

I guess I don’t understand what your problem is with T Roosevelt. You seem to feel that his main problem was his ego. I base my decision of his success by his deeds and his popularity with the voters. He didn’t do anything different from other politicians during his era and in one way, transparency, was better than most.

Harding did a fair job while in office. But even he had his share of questionable problems like the Teapot Dome Incident. Before the Watergate scandal, Teapot Dome was regarded as the “greatest and most sensational scandal in the history of American politics”. It permanently damaged the reputation of the Harding administration, already severely diminished by its handling of the Great Railroad Strike of 1922 and Harding’s 1922 veto of the Bonus Bill. This led to the passing of legislation, which remains in effect today, granting Congress subpoena power over tax records of any U.S. citizen, regardless of position. These laws are also considered to have empowered Congress generally and affords the opportunity to legally delve into the personal records of common citizens also. Harding was also caught in an extramarital affair with Nan Briton while he was in the senate and fathered a daughter, Elizabeth during that affair. So he is not a lot different from most of the presidents we have had in our history. Hardin was an SOP president. Good, but had his problems not a lot different from Clinton, Nixon, Kennedy and Trump of today.

My whole premise on the success of a president is based upon his deeds and his popularity. If I was to rate a president by his ego, we wouldn’t have any. And the most successful president I feel was Trump with the turn round of our economy and the placing of the US back on the pentacle we had reached in earlier days. His ego is massive, but it works for him.

wy69

"I guess I don’t understand what your problem is with T Roosevelt. You seem to feel that his main problem was his ego. I base my decision of his success by his deeds and his popularity with the voters. He didn’t do anything different from other politicians during his era and in one way, transparency, was better than most."

I thought I outlined why. What triggered our debate in this thread was your calling TR a "Conservative." I stated he was the antithesis of that, and also the antithesis of the kind of individual the Founding Fathers wanted to serve as President. An arrogant imperialist, a warmonger. He set the template for left-wing Presidents from then onwards, most egregiously, his distant cousin, FDR. You brought up another point: popularity with the voters. Doing the right thing, the Constitutional thing and doing what may be popular are often completely different things. FDR was massively popular, but he did almost everything wrong from a Constitutional standpoint, and inflicted maximum damage to the nation as a result, damage for which we have not recovered.

"Harding did a fair job while in office. But even he had his share of questionable problems like the Teapot Dome Incident. Before the Watergate scandal, Teapot Dome was regarded as the “greatest and most sensational scandal in the history of American politics”. It permanently damaged the reputation of the Harding administration, already severely diminished by its handling of the Great Railroad Strike of 1922 and Harding’s 1922 veto of the Bonus Bill. This led to the passing of legislation, which remains in effect today, granting Congress subpoena power over tax records of any U.S. citizen, regardless of position. These laws are also considered to have empowered Congress generally and affords the opportunity to legally delve into the personal records of common citizens also."

Harding did more than a fair job, he did an excellent job, and in under a year. Resolving the recession at the end of the Wilson Administration in record time. No massive government expenditures, but cutting the government. No massive taxes, but cuts. Teapot Dome was due to some Cabinet members engaged in nefarious deeds, nothing was due to Harding himself. If anything, when the corruption came to light, it broke his heart, and was responsible for his early death, not even 3 years into his term. Compared to corruption in future administrations, it was nothing. They weren't actively selling out the nation to foreign interests that were seeking to destroy America.

"Harding was also caught in an extramarital affair with Nan Briton while he was in the senate and fathered a daughter, Elizabeth during that affair. So he is not a lot different from most of the presidents we have had in our history. Hardin was an SOP president. Good, but had his problems not a lot different from Clinton, Nixon, Kennedy and Trump of today."

His affair didn't cause any harm to the nation, in contrast to others. It's unfortunate Nixon didn't follow the Harding-Mellon model. As a Keynesian, he believed in an economic model completely in opposition to what would've unleashed unprecedented economic prosperity. JFK's policies (implemented under LBJ) cut the obscene tax rate, but it was still far too high. Sadly, Eisenhower also similarly failed to follow the 1920s model, which was why 1950s prosperity was a mile wide and an inch deep, leading to the disastrous situation by the end of the decades and the Depression-level decimation of the Republican party that took 40 years to recover from.

"My whole premise on the success of a president is based upon his deeds and his popularity. If I was to rate a president by his ego, we wouldn’t have any. And the most successful president I feel was Trump with the turn round of our economy and the placing of the US back on the pentacle we had reached in earlier days. His ego is massive, but it works for him."

My premise is not based on popularity, but on the rightness and soundness (Constitutionally-speaking) of the policies. Did they reign in the size of the government ? Every President from Hoover onwards has mostly failed in that regard. A President's excellence should be based in how they get out of the way of the people to let them be their very best. Harding was almost unmatched in that regard. Reagan tried, although he was unable to fully do so, and his selection of the Bush family horror to carry on his policies was an unheralded disaster. Trump is the only one since who has also tried to follow that model, only to be hit with a level of criminal obstruction no mere mortal individual serving as President could hope to be able to contend with. Virtually the entire weight of a corrupt bipartisan regime that has been growing out of control since the 1920s. Bringing this evil to its knees will be his premier concern starting in January 2025.