Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

The 20th Century's Greatest President
Forbes.com ^ | 06.07.04 | Rich Karlgaard

Posted on 06/08/2004 8:15:12 PM PDT by lasereye

click here to read article


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-4041-47 next last
Good point about the Reagan deficits. I wish conservatives would cut Bush some slack on that.
1 posted on 06/08/2004 8:15:13 PM PDT by lasereye
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | View Replies]

To: lasereye
Franklin Roosevelt is the only contender.

Yea, the guy that interred an entire race of people, while confiscating their property. Wow, what a hero?

2 posted on 06/08/2004 8:18:10 PM PDT by Mister Baredog ((Reagan, a giant who walked amoung midgets in Washington)))
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: lasereye
FDR deserves hero status for helping to save the world in the 1940s

Tell that to the tens of millions of Eastern Euopeans he turned over to Stalin, a tyrant as bad as Hitler.

FDR was not a great president. He led the country in a time of war and we were victorious...but that in itself does not make him great or a hreo. In fact, when you consider his disastorous socialiistic/marxistic policies of the New Deal, his creation of a governance that drifted further and further away from the Constitutional model, his sell-out at the end of World War II...then by my standards, he ranks with one of the worst presidents...and I say this as the son of a World War II combat vet who fought through that war and has now passed on, but who taught me the Real Deal about the New Deal.

Reagan was not only the greatest President of the 20th Century, he ranks right up there next to George Washington in my estimation as the sedonc best President of all time.

3 posted on 06/08/2004 8:22:46 PM PDT by Jeff Head (Pres Reagan...your memory and impact have not dimmed...only aged and grown stronger!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: lasereye

Calvin Coolidge deserves to be 2nd after Reagan. IMO, the most underrated President of all time. He was truly a great President.


4 posted on 06/08/2004 8:25:12 PM PDT by Extremely Extreme Extremist (Extremer than any Extremist!!!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Mister Baredog

roosevelt was the worst

a contender (but not chanmpion) was coolidge
cut taxes, awesome economic growth
no wars
no new stupid government programs

How much better can it be than that?


5 posted on 06/08/2004 8:29:43 PM PDT by genghis
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: Extremely Extreme Extremist
Here's my rank:

1. George Washington.
2-3. Ronald Reagan or Abraham Lincoln or vice versa.
4. Thomas Jefferson.
5. Theodore Roosevelt.
6. Calvin Coolidge.

The worst?

1. Franklin Roosevelt.
2. Bill Clinton.
3. Lyndon Johnson.
4. Jimmy Carter.

6 posted on 06/08/2004 8:29:47 PM PDT by Jeff Head (Pres Reagan...your memory and impact have not dimmed...only aged and grown stronger!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 4 | View Replies]

To: Jeff Head

Carter??

2 great things
appointed volker to the fed
got the airline and truckers deregulation bill passed.
Ok- he only did 2 million stupid things.
Helped Reagan enormously.


7 posted on 06/08/2004 8:33:41 PM PDT by genghis
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 6 | View Replies]

To: genghis

no thank you to FDR for the bomb?


8 posted on 06/08/2004 8:34:41 PM PDT by Destro (Know your enemy! Help fight Islamic terrorism by visiting www.johnathangaltfilms.com)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 5 | View Replies]

To: Extremely Extreme Extremist

My sentiments exactly, re Coolidge.


9 posted on 06/08/2004 8:38:02 PM PDT by Mr. Blond
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 4 | View Replies]

To: genghis
He did help Reagan enormously...but by being so bad.

Having gotten married and bought my first house under Carter, living through the misery index he was responsible for...I personally keep him in that spot on the bad list.

10 posted on 06/08/2004 8:38:20 PM PDT by Jeff Head (Pres Reagan...your memory and impact have not dimmed...only aged and grown stronger!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 7 | View Replies]

To: lasereye
Bush did right by funding a stripped military.

The farm bill and free drugs to seniors is over the top and disgusting.

I'll still campaign for him in the fall but I still think he advanced socialism in the U.S.

In the end, he hasn't stood up against big government. That's a disappointment.

11 posted on 06/08/2004 8:44:52 PM PDT by lizma
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: lasereye
Bush did right by funding a stripped military.

The farm bill and free drugs to seniors is over the top and disgusting.

I'll still campaign for him in the fall but I still think he advanced socialism in the U.S.

In the end, he hasn't stood up against big government. That's a disappointment.

12 posted on 06/08/2004 8:45:22 PM PDT by lizma
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Extremely Extreme Extremist

Another vote for Silent Cal here. A visit to his home in Plymouth Notch should be on the itinerary of every American interested in history. Grover Cleveland was another outstanding President who is largely under-rated. McKinley and Rutherford B. Hayes had their moments, too. A lot of those quiet, late 19th Century Presidents were excellent stewards of the government.


13 posted on 06/08/2004 8:45:47 PM PDT by speedy
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 4 | View Replies]

To: Mister Baredog

don't forget trying to pack the Supreme Court because they wouldn't die fast enough. Can you imagine how they would have written the history book if a Republican tried that?


14 posted on 06/08/2004 9:05:21 PM PDT by Keith (The American Press is in violation of Article III, Section 3. Time to prosecute.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: Jeff Head

FDR is absolutely near the bottom of the list.

People apparently looked to him to save them (which populations are apt to do, unfortunately) and he only made things worse. His economic intrusions and interventions allowed the 'depression' to stick around for a while like a bad houseguest. He probably indirectly caused the deaths of hundreds of thousands through his socialistic agenda.

FDR, LBJ, Wilson, and Nixon (flame on!) are the worst four presidents of the 20th century and all are on the list for top 10 worst ever. What those four did paved the way for the government monstrosity we have today. It is only through the actions of Reagan (greatest President of the last 150 years) and a select few others that we've been 'allowed' to retain the freedoms that we have.

Clinton, objectively, really wasn't all that bad in his policies. He's scum personally and his wife is a demon of the lowest order; however, Slick Willy wasn't able to enact a lot of the agenda he wanted to because of a (at the time) strong Republican Congress. Therefore, his Presidency really wasn't all that traumatic for the nation. But I think that it's the villainification of the most recently hated Presidents which vaults him to the top of many peoples' lists.

Kerry has definitely got what it takes to set the precedent for the worst Presidents of the 21st century. The waffling ability, the Marxist policies, and the willingness to be guided by such a corrupt and depraved organization as the UN will hypothetically set him in a league of his own where he may very well pass FDR and LBJ as one of the greatest villains of American history.


15 posted on 06/08/2004 9:31:19 PM PDT by Captain Rabbit (Kuck Ferry!!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 3 | View Replies]

To: lasereye
My ranking:
    Best
  1. Lincoln
  2. Washington
  3. Theodore Roosevelt
  4. Ronald Reagan
  5. Thomas Jefferson
    Worst
  1. James Buchanan
  2. Jimmy Carter
  3. Franklin Pierce
  4. Millard Fillmore
  5. William Clinton

16 posted on 06/08/2004 9:32:41 PM PDT by PMCarey
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Captain Rabbit
The jury os still out on Clinton...he did sell us out in a major way to the Red Chinese (which time alone will tell the full ramifications) and he did allow Bin Laden to remain at large.

...and he was impeached.

17 posted on 06/08/2004 9:45:38 PM PDT by Jeff Head (Pres Reagan...your memory and impact have not dimmed...only aged and grown stronger!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 15 | View Replies]

To: nutmeg

read later bump


18 posted on 06/08/2004 9:46:34 PM PDT by nutmeg (God bless President Ronald Reagan)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Destro

a couple of smart moves doesn't negate a disasterous 12 years.


19 posted on 06/08/2004 9:46:47 PM PDT by genghis
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 8 | View Replies]

To: Jeff Head

he helped Reagan enormously by being so bad.

No, Volker helped and the era of deregulation helped. I am not defended Carter- but he deserves credit on those 2 counts.


20 posted on 06/08/2004 9:48:44 PM PDT by genghis
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 10 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-4041-47 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson