Favorite President

[Dpm12]

Who is your favorite president? You don't need to explain why (you can if you want to), but who is your favorite president?
I am going to have to go with:
[image][/image]
John Fitzgerald Kennedy

[Cary]

1. Lincoln

My problem with JFK: he came way too close to WWIII.

[Dpm12]

2. Yeah

At least he saved us at the last minute. In fact, the Cuban Missile Crisis is one of the main reasons why he is my favorite president. His leadership during the crisis is, in my opinion, the greatest time of presidential leadership in US history (unlike Bush's pathetic excuse for leadership during 9/11).

[Cary]

9. I didn't say I disliked him, mind you.

It is my understanding that Bobby saved the day by ignoring the subsequent offer from Khrushchev and accepting the one where they took their missiles out of Cuba while we were to take ours out of Turkey.

Actually it might even be more appropriate to say that Khrushchev saved us at the last minute. Fortunately he wasn't as insane as one might have gathered.

The Soviet ships had nuclear torpedoes. It is better to be lucky than smart and Kennedy got lucky here. It is true that what actually happens, or doesn't happen, counts. However as I said I think he took us way too close to this brink. He might have proven to be a better president had he lived.

[Dpm12]

13. I'm Sorry

I wasn't trying to be rude, if that's what you believe

[Cary]

50. Not on this post and clearly I was wrong on the other one, as noted below.

In any event I did not perceive you as rude. I was simply puzzled. You clarified it for me, and I thank you.

[Art_from_Ark]

111. And yet, when Lincoln was president, there was a 4-year civil war

which resulted in 600,000+ deaths, widespread destruction, and hostile feelings that lasted well into the 20th century.

[madokie]

3. Obama

Would have to be my pick

[Dpm12]

4. Re-election

I bet his being re-elected made you ecstatic

[madokie]

8. Yes it did

and I'm proud of it.

[Cary]

11. What an odd comment.

Would you rather have Romney?

[Dpm12]

16. No

No, I prefered Obama to Romney. How was it an odd comment, I was just simply trying to be friendly.

[Cary]

23. Perhaps I misread sarcasm or facetiousness in your post.

Sorry.

[Comrade_McKenzie]

5. FDR. nt

[srican69]

6. FDR

[Glorfindel]

7. Franklin D. Roosevelt

No close runners-up, actually. FDR's in a class by himself.

http://t0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTXTo8WMrUQVr1idTG6pwbO6OxG0JqtATKKaCrSnqECkhGSfSPA5A

[srican69]

10. LBJ too

The force of his personality and doggedness more than made up for his lack of polish and charisma ... he was a born politician - no even the big dawg can match him on that score

[louis c]

37. I just mentioned today

that LBJ would have gone down in history as one of our greatest Presidents.....if he didn't fuck up the Viet Nam war.

If he just ended it when McNamara said to, he'd be up there with FDR and Lincoln.

Instead, he's just mediocre. Very good on domestic issues and a complete fuck-up on foreign policy.

[closeupready]

12. James Madison has always been a real favorite of mine.

More recently, I suppose Teddy Roosevelt and his fifth cousin, Franklin.

Jimmy Carter would be the only surviving president I liked.

[Doc_Technical]

14. William Henry Harrison

n/t

[sad-cafe]

21. all 32 days?

lol

[Historic NY]

101. Bwah..beat me to him.

[snooper2]

15. Rutherford B. Hayes

[Nye Bevan]

55. Certainly had the best beard. (nt)

[union_maid]

17. In my lifetime - Obama

For the whole history of the USA - I guess it would be between him and FDR. I adored Kennedy, but then I was not quite 11 years old when he was elected, so it wasn't really a question of policy. Lincoln, of course, was no slouch either. One thing that all of them have in common is that they were or are going to be very major historical figures, even for presidents. So, I think I'll go with the president of my own lifetime and that would be Obama.

[jwirr]

18. FDR

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

19. John Quincy Adams

[HereSince1628]

20. Old Tippecanoe, Harrison...a presidency very short on vacation time

although perhaps plagued by sick-days.

His presidency didn't do to much damage.

[Dpm12]

22. And let's not forget of course...

George Washington
[image][/image]

[Nika]

27. Bush served President Gore's first term.

The creep was never a president in my book.

[Boomerproud]

24. JFK

both for his principles and personality. Lincoln ended up being one helluva smart strategist and lawyer.

[Dpm12]

25. Yeah

Yeah, JFK was great. That'as why I said he was my favorite president

[RebelOne]

76. Ditto. n/t

[Nika]

26. Thomas Jefferson

He was the smartest, well educated and grounded. And we would never have launched this country as well without his priceless contributions to this country.

[graham4anything]

34. you mean Jefferson's all men are created equal forgetting women and slaves philosophy?

[Nika]

36. We all have trappings of our times to deal with.

Who has ever been a perfect human being, or been able to escape all the evils of their era?

I know I feel LBJ easily could of been involved in the Kennedy murder, wish party hacks had not kept William O. Douglas from being replaced as VP choice by FDR for his forth term by Truman, and have plenty to harp on beyond these examples.

You are engaging in a pissing contest I could give you a run for your money for, so be careful whom you complain about things like this to.

[graham4anything]

39. Jefferson abusing his female slaves was no conspiracy theory.

LBJ did
The Kennedy are loved by all because it's easy to love a dream but JFK did not serve long enough to adequately rank. (and IMHO JFK would have donei n Vietnam what LBJ did.
Especially as Nixon sabatoged it.)
and you are talking conspiracy theory with your view of LBJ.

And LBJ would have won 1968 against Nixon. Too bad we never gotta chance to see it, because LBJ was stronger than nice guy running with LBJ's baggage HHH,but not strong enough politically, who never stood a chance against Nixon (and who, history has shown us, would ahve been the candidate in 1968 regardless of Bobby anyhow.) Might as well have let LBJ have the nomination and Bobby could have run in 1972.

BTW, the Kennedy's did wiretap Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr, and did not stop it.
I don't hold that against them much, but Teddy was the best of all 3.

He didn't whine, he didn't cuttenrun, he just served admirably for 40 years.

Jefferson is like Lance Armstrong. Both are frauds. And more and more people are seeing how big a fraud Jefferson was.
All are equal. Ha ha ha, what a joke it was.


btw, you mean Henry Wallace.

[Nika]

42. No, I do not mean mean Henry Wallace.

I meant who I meant. I was talking of the FORTH time FDR ran for the term he died during. What I said about William O. Douglas originally being FDR's first pick for VPOTUS that time is a historical fact. Truman became POTUS, not Mr. Wallace.

As for your rants on Jefferson, and denigration of JFK, you are not worth my time to argue with you your comments are generally so irrational and pointless. So thanks for sharing, and you need not bother responding to this. I won't waste time on it.

[Bucky]

38. Taking a second to admire the poster with the LBJ avatar piecing out Jefferson's shortcomings.

Show me a president without a flaw rooted in the very same demons that drove him to power. Johnson's reckless warmongering in Southeast Asia came from the same big vision and big heart and big industrial-era, New Deal type approach to solving large problems. The same thing that made him a champion of Civil Rights made him bomb the dickens out of North Vietnam to "save" the South Vietnamese from communism.

Jefferson's pampered life of a slave-owning intellectual dilettante is the same life that awarded his intellect the time and range to apply the principles of the Enlightenment toward expanding the boundaries of liberty to new classes of Americans and push the sphere of religion out of the business of the Commonwealth of Virginia.

[Nika]

43. LBJ was one of the most disgustingly bad presidents in our history.

I have nothing to say to a groupie of his. I know how jealous and vain LBJ was. And it's too bad we can't discuss the topic of his involvement with JFK's murder, in here, but that is the rules of this place and I respect that and won't. I was for LBJ in 1964, but have learned enough to know we would of been better off with Barry Goldwater than that POS.

I have nothing ever to say to the poster with the Johnson avatar in here ever. Nothing constructive can come from any further exchanges with him. I wish him well, and will chose to ignore him.

[dsc]

45. tell that to a black person

or a person who was fed by his programs, or the elderly. Yeah tell us all about how we would be better off with out Medicare, Medicaid, food stamps, the civil rights act, the voting rights act and the rest of the great society.

[Bucky]

52. I think you gotta respect someone who says they won't discuss a topic

That's not an ambiguous statement. Given some of the policies Johnson had, it's not surprising that, 50+ years on, he still engenders such blinding passion both for and against his term of service.

[zappaman]

65. This...

"And it's too bad we can't discuss the topic of his involvement with JFK's murder"
Pretty much negates any opinion you have of LBJ...

[MrSlayer]

28. Lincoln.

But I also like Washington, Jefferson, Jackson and the Roosevelts.

Nixon was also incredibly complex and interesting.

But Lincoln is head and shoulders above the rest.

[VOX]

29. JFK all the way...

Warts and all, the man was totally in tune with the times, to the extent that he was way ahead of most others.

The best this country has ever felt about itself was during JFK's tragically short presidency.

[stultusporcos]

30. FDR and Henry Wallace*

* Henry should have had Truman’s job as FDR's last VP, then America truly would have been a great country.

[BlueCheese]

31. In my lifetime...

Bill Clinton. I didn't always agree with him, thought he was too politically opportunistic at times, and really let us down with his personal issues. But if the main goal of liberalism is to make life better for as wide a swath of the people as possible, then the Clinton years were tremendously successful.

Overall, Abraham Lincoln. He helped save the Union and finally ended the evil scourge of slavery in America.

[PennsylvaniaMatt]

32. For me, it is a toss up between...

This guy


Or this guy-


May be a little bit premature, but based on the fact that he staved off a second depression and got health care reform through indicated that he has been a VERY good President, despite what some people on the far fringes of both political spectrum say.

[Dpm12]

47. Good choices

Clinton and Obama are both good, but I think that Clinton would be either my number 2 president or number 3.

[arely staircase]

82. those are certainly the best two of my lifetime - which goes back to lbj

in fact lbj would be my pick if not for vietnam.

[zipplewrath]

95. Glass Steagle

You're nominating the guy that created DADT, signed DOMA, passed welfare reform, and repealed Glass Steagle. Not to mention was amazingly reckless while in office with his personal behavior. (Really? A 22 year old whack job? What could go wrong here?)

Washington and Jefferson will be hard to beat.

[PennsylvaniaMatt]

97. Great Economy...No Wars...And A People Person to boot

Yes, he enacted DADT, BUT.....Don't Ask Don't Tell was the liberal position at the time after 12 years of Reagan and Bush.

Also, with gay marriage and DOMA, look at how much the country has evolved on the issue even in the past decade, let alone nearly 20 years. Bill Clinton actually came out in support of gay marriage BEFORE President Obama did.

Put things into perspective, he took America, which for 12 years had Conservative, Right Wing Republicans in the office of the Presidency, and a country that overwhelming rejected Democratic candidates in 1980, 1984, and 1988 and won the Presidency twice by a sizable margin. In doing so, he took America from a "center-right" nation to a more "center-center" nation if anything. He also broadened support for Democratic ideas, such as raising taxes and spending, especially in rural areas.

[zipplewrath]

113. No wars?

I think you need to review history. He had two, Bosnia and Croatia. He also bombed an aspirin factory you may recall.

And we can argue if he made America more "center center", but he pulled the Democratic party WAY to the right. Anyone remember the kerfluffle over "the end of big government is over"?

[PennsylvaniaMatt]

114. I should have clarified....

After 8 years of GW Bush, my definition of war is a prolonged period of many years where thousands are involved in ground and air combat. I am aware of the wars in Bosnia and Kosovo. 20 Americans total died in the Kosovo War and 12 died in the Bosnian War. Not to marginalize the deaths of these Americans or the mission, but that is not in the same league as the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

We can argue all we want about how "liberal" Bill Clinton was and is and argue over what he did for the Democratic Party and for the nation, but he is one of the most popular politicians in the nation, and has done more to get Democrats, center-left and "left-left" than most Democrats.

[zipplewrath]

115. Moving goal posts

So here we go again moving goal posts.

As I said originally. It is an odd nomination considering the company with whom to compare. He pulled the party to the right. He is at least partially responsible for the weak performance of Gore in the subsequent race. He passed legislation that the party spent the next 16 years running AGAINST. And he signed the repeal of Glass Steagle that lead to the greatest economic collapse since the great depression.

[PennsylvaniaMatt]

116. I can't believe I am having to defend Bill Clinton on DemocraticUndergroud.com

I highly doubt that Gore's pore performance in the 2000 election was because of President Clinton, considering Clinton left office with a 66% approval rating.

With regards to the Glass Steagall Act, the bill he signed in 1999, The "Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act" repealed only SOME of the provisions of the original 1933 law. And the fact is the "Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act" passed overwhelming in the House (362-57) and overwhelmingly in the Senate (90-8), so even if President Clinton had decided to veto it, the House and Senate could have still voted to override the veto and the bill would have still become the law of the land.

It is your opinion if you criticize some of Bill Clinton's actions and categorize them as ''moving the party to the right." You are more than entitled to that opinion. I was simply pointing out that I have a very high admiration for President Clinton not just in the way he governed the country (knowing full well that even though he was a Democrat, he needed to be President of everybody), but also in the way he built up large scale support for the Democratic Party and mainstream liberal ideas, such as tax increases for the wealthy, Medicare, Medicaid, infrastructure spending, etc, especially in rural areas.

[zipplewrath]

118. It was the RELATIVE assessment

You responded about the relative assessement of a president over history. The point I was making is that on that basis, it's hard to compare his accomplishments against those of other historical presidents, especially considering that includes folks like Washington, Lincoln, Jefferson, FDR, LBJ.....

Really, look at what's left of his administration and much of it is "gone" in some sense or another. The surpluses were wiped out almost immediately. There's virtually nothing left of his work on terrorism. "Pay-go" is functionally gone. At this point DADT is gone. DOMA is on a losing course. All of the "peace dividends" are gone and the military "rebuilt".

The stuff that is left are things that the democrats would STILL like to change or cancel. DOMA, NAFTA, and welfare reform. And this doesn't even bring up "triangulation".

Now compare such a record to an LBJ, FDR, Lincoln, or Washington. Is there really any comparison at all? Heck, WILSON's effects lasted longer, even his negative ones.

[graham4anything]

33. #1 Lincoln #2 FDR #3 LBJ #4 Barack Obama #5 Jimmy Carter

JFK dreamed, however, LBJ did.
JFK really didn't have enough time to ably rank him.

The first 2 to 2 1/2 years of Jimmy Carter's term was perhaps the best time in America, peace prosperity, and happiness, right before AIDS took it all away.
Nobody died on Jimmy Carter's watch.

[nevergiveup]

35. Lincoln runs away with it.

FDR for a distant 2nd.

[dsc]

40. I am going to answer a different question

I think the most under rated President is Grant. Good of foreign policy, great on civil rights (15 Amendment, two bills that combined to destroy the KKK, a wide ranging civil rights bill in 1875). Plus he tried to bring justice to Native Americans. On civil rights he was at worst the third best President (Johnson, Lincoln, and Grant) but a case could be made (Johnson, Grant, and Lincoln). Grant was vastly ahead of his time on those issues.

[BlueCheese]

44. Grant is generally underrated-- not just for his presidency, but his career before that.

[dsc]

46. No kidding

He was also the youngest President when he was first elected.

[NCarolinawoman]

41. Fearless Trust-Buster and saver of wildlife habitat: Teddy Roosevelt

Another Bigger-Than-Life kind of guy

[Arugula Latte]

48. FDR (minus the Japanese-American internment policy)

[Puzzledtraveller]

49. GW

George Washington!!

[FreeJoe]

94. +1

[northoftheborder]

51. Early history fav.: Jefferson; modern history: FD Roosevelt

[MrScorpio]

53. President Obama! nt

[Nye Bevan]

54. John Adams and FDR.

John Adams: a Founding Father who "walked the walk" on "all men created equal" (refused to own slaves).

FDR: saved the world.

[solara]

56. President Obama

Oh yes.

[Nye Bevan]

57. I like President Obama.

And his legacy has not yet been fully written.

But how could anyone claim, at this point, that FDR was inferior to Obama?

[solara]

60. I didn't realize anyone had claimed that FDR was inferior to Obama

I admire FDR very much

But, I also admire Obama and I think he is extremely conscious and courageous and I am very glad that he is my President right now....that's where i'm coming from.

I would certainly never want to imply that FDR was not conscious or courageous or that he was inferior to any one in any way..

[oberliner]

58. Bill Clinton

His election felt like a dark cloud was being lifted over America.

[XRubicon]

62. I typed Clinton then stopped and thought "all"

Clinton was a great President. He has a great mind and is a great communicator.

I chose FDR.

[oberliner]

63. Favorite vs. Best

If we are talking about favorites, I figured I have to go with one from my own lifetime.

[Tommy_Carcetti]

67. I remember his first inauguration day.

It was a cold but brilliantly bright and sunny day, and I just remember feeling like we had finally emerged into the light at the end of the tunnel.

The Cold War was over, the Reagan-Bush years were over, and I just remember having a very optimistic feeling about the future that day. The possibilities felt endless.

And for the most part, his 8 years as President treated us very well, until they were all completely flushed down the toilet by his successor.

[oberliner]

99. Likewise

And it was coming off 12 long years of Republican rule.

[WillyT]

59. In My Life... JFK... In The Modernish Era... FDR... In The Expanse Of History...

George Washington... Abraham Lincoln...





& Rec !!!

[XRubicon]

61. FDR nt

[Tommy_Carcetti]

64. Favorite politician-president: Clinton. Favorite president-president: Carter.

Clinton is just a fascinating person, period. He's certainly not without his flaws and faults and things with which I disagreed with him. But damn it, the man is brilliant, an incredible speaker and a tremendous life story. The man is walking, breathing charisma. He's truly the first rock star president.

On the other end of the spectrum, I've always been impressed at Jimmy Carter's humbleness and blunt honesty. He's truly the most moral and honest person to ever hold the office of President. And he got a bum rap as President, too. I truly believe our country took a turn for the worse in 1980 when they allowed themselves to be glamoured by a empty movie star instead of a good and decent man.

[zappaman]

66. No love for Millard Fillmore?

I'll go with FDR.

[BainsBane]

70. I lived on Fillmore Ave

In a civically minded part of NE Minneapolis where the streets are named for the Presidents, in the order they served.

[Nika]

73. I can't see your response as #43 is not showing on my screen

Which means It is a good thing I avoided the topic of "conspiracy theory," and a flame war when I wrote the post you snip at me about; as well as changes the place in the thread I can give a response to you.

No dear sir, you are wrong; my opinion of LBJ stands. As does the policy I will respect concerning conspiracy theory, but disagree with.

I have an obligation to be a good guest on this website, but my negative opinion of LBJ has merit, and many troubling questions and items of evidence buttress my opinion, thus thanks for sharing, but with all respect you should took for a more receptive target to your flaming. Besides, this comment is dated, and see noting served by you trying to stir the coals here looking to raise flames.

Have a good day.

[zappaman]

74. zzzzzzz

wake me up when you have something to say.

[Nika]

75. All you need to do is ask a reasonable question, make a thought provoking comment

and I would be happy to respond. Instead you do more bait, getting one more post pointing that out.

[zappaman]

80. No, just go right ahead and smear LBJ...

no need to back it up with any facts.
Your word is golden.

[Nika]

83. And so you encourage me to talk about conspiracy aspects of the Kennedy assassination,

something not permitted by rules. After you; you go ahead and do statements about that topic if you wish, but I am not interested when the site does not want this.

I would be happy to go to another site with you and continue that line, or engage in a lively give and take with you in mail; but not on open forum here at DU.

[zappaman]

85. You can discuss it.

Not sure where you got the idea you can't.
But it's easier to just drop the casual slur than to discuss I suppose.

http://mcadams.posc.mu.edu/holland3.htm

ETA: Besides, YOU brought it up...

[Nika]

86. Great link, thanks

I note my post (#43) is invisible to me when I am logged in as are responses tied to it. That creates a chilling effect and causes me to be careful about my responses.

If you can explain the why this is so that shows this is only due to perhaps because I chose to ignore a person responding to it, I might me persuaded not to be as cautious as I am being. But not otherwise.

I like DU and want to remain as an interlocutor here.

[zappaman]

88. You can't see your own post?

I have no idea why that would be...

[Nika]

90. I see it in the post history section, but not on the 'tree' in the thread when logged in.

Thus you and I now agree on something; I have no idea why that is so either.

[zappaman]

91. That's a question for meta.

And if you want to discuss how LBJ killed JFK, you can take it to Creative Speculation.

[Nika]

92. Creative Speculation is a sub-section here at DU?

In any event, I will look for this and take it there. Thanks for the information.

[Recursion]

68. GW

Being offered absolute power and turning it down is pretty cool

[BainsBane]

69. Lincoln and FDR

Don't ask me to choose which. Favorite President in my lifetime is Barack Obama. I don't understand the choice of JFK.

[amandabeech]

71. FDR.

[bigwillq]

72. I really liked a lot of the things Teddy Roosevelt did

So I guess I would say him.

[truebluegreen]

77. FDR.

[Botany]

78. M. V. B. waz da man!

[Tommy_Carcetti]

87. A member of the Van Buren boys, I see.

Where's your eight fingered salute?

[Botany]

89. Rights here!

BTW to all Freepers please don't try to keep up.

[nmbluesky]

100. great.. don't mess with Van B. Boys again

[arely staircase]

79. Lincoln with FDR a close second. however

the one i would like to meet would be jefferson.

[octoberlib]

81. FDR.

[legaleagle_45]

84. My Top 4

1.) Washington because he had more influence on what it means to be president than any other.

2.) Lincoln, because he saved the Union.

3.) FDR because he led us through the Depression and WWII.

3.) Jefferson, because he effectively doubled the size of the US with the La Purchase and he gets bonus points for writing the Declaration of Independence.

4.) Madison, not because of what he did as president, but because he was the primary drafter of the Constitution and had key contributions to writing the Bill of Rights. As President his greatest contribution was probably that his wife Dolly Madison served ice cream at the White House and thereby popularized it in the US. Any person even tangentially involved in the great accomplishments of the Constitution, Bill of Rights and ice cream, has to be on everyones list unless they are diabetic fascists.

[Go Vols]

93. FDR

[1-Old-Man]

96. Lyndon Banes Johnson

[xoom]

98. George Washington.

[DollarBillHines]

102. Marvin Miller or Eugene Debs

They took the workers to another place.

[underthematrix]

103. PBO, FDR, LBJ, JFK

PBO - because he is the most courageous and most inclusive
FDR - because he fought for the common man
LBJ - because he passed the civil and voting rights act
JFK - because he took us to the moon

[BootinUp]

104. I'm a Big Dog fan, and b4 anyone tells me

I'm an idiot, let me just point out that a President is bound by the issues and public support/opinion of the time he serves. Bill did a great job all things considered.

[RKP5637]

105. FDR! I also like JFK! Obama too! n/t

[Science Geek]

106. Obama

I like sanity.

[Nye Bevan]

107. FDR literally saved the world. He deserves more love in this thread (nt)

[gopiscrap]

108. FDR

Followed by Kennedy and then Lincoln

[UrbScotty]

109. FDR. Also a fan of Wilson, Madison, Ike, TR, and Truman.

Oh, and Michelle's husband.

[Pretzel_Warrior]

110. President Camacho

"Shit. I know shit's bad right now, with all that starving bullshit, and the dust storms, and we are running out of french fries and burrito coverings. But I got a solution."

[Dpm12]

112. I also liked

FDR, Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter, Honest Abe, Truman, Jefferson, and Teddy. JFK, Washington, and Clinton are my top 3!

[War Horse]

117. Reagan, as a kid

Being 12 years old in a tiny country bordering the CCCP will do that to you...

But I would have to say: JFK/what JFK could have been. Barring that, FDR.

[Blue_Tires]

119. Obama

he's one of my own, of course...