OK, so we all know what makes a terrible president, but what

[mcctatas]

I want to know is what do you think makes a president truly great? After six years of the total douchebaggery of bushco., I don't even know what criteria I would use to evaluate who was a great president (anything looks good by comparison). I've lived through a Regan, a Clinton and 2 friggin bushes and I would like to know what it was like to live with a truly inspiring or at least competent chief executive (Clinton was the closest to great I remember)....any input or ideas?

thanks,
mcctatas

[Kutjara]

1. My standards have slipped so low...

...that my current criteria pretty much stop at "can speak coherently for at least ten seconds at a stretch and has better than a 4th grader's understanding of history and science."

[MadMaddie]

2. I am with you Clinton was the best of the lot that you mentioned

We need someone who
-Believes that experienced professional government employees are only to be hired.
-Believes that the United States is the beacon for the world to follow, in freedom, freedom of speech, education, science and taking care of it's poor
-Believes that anyone in government that committs a crime will not be shielded by the WH
-Does not single out a group of people (gays, Katrina poor, women,opposing thoughts) and label them unworthy....they are Americans..
-Goes to war only if necessary...and smash the enemy OBL.....no more bullshit...no more games....
-Goes after Saudi Arabia...they are culpable in the 09/11 debacle....

Oh yea...I don't want an average Joe for President...I want an intellect
Jimmy Carter was and is a highly intelligent man even though the Rethugs have painted him a dump peanut farmer..Clinton highly intellegient and flawed like most humans..

You already said it Inspires hope..

[razors edge]

3. How about something simple

like capable of reading and comprehending the Constitution, that little contract thingy they swear to uphold and defend. That would be a good start for me.

[theoldman]

4. Our greatest presidents were uniters not dividers.

They were able to rally the people behind their ideas and gained their support. I guess that leaves Bush out.

[PurityOfEssence]

5. Curiosity, approachability, morality, respect, stamina

Clinton was good on the curiosity issue: he was endlessly curious and stuck his nose into everything. A president should be; it's an incredibly complex world and whoever holds that office has great responsibilities and great opportunities.

A good president should keep the doors open to everyone and try to seek dialogue even if consensus isn't possible. We need to accept that we can't and shouldn't enforce our wills on everyone else, and many different mindsets have the right to exist. Coexistence (within reason) is a necessity to a decent world.

Knowing right from wrong and more importantly, knowing the various shadings of the two is critical, and a president should have a clear concept of what's best for certain groups and for all. Expediency shouldn't be the metric of success, nor should perfectionistic steadfastness that yields no results.

Respect for other points of views, cultures, concepts and the world in general is another good mark of greatness: the president is an overly-powerful person, and should be humbled by that big a proportion of the stewardship of such a fragile and complex world. Listening and engaging are crucial, and you'll generally find that the greats were very attuned to others.

Stamina is absolutely necessary: if done correctly, it's a brutal job. Look at photos of some of our greater presidents before and after and you'll see frightful aging in a short period of time. Being a lazy loafing bum, Junior looks about the same.

These are just off the top of my head, but I don't have any time today, and it's an important question.

Great idea for a thread; it'll be interesting how it sorts out.

[mcctatas]

6. Those are good criteria (although after the last six years, any

mention of morality makes me a little nervous). I guess I have just spent so much of the recent past figuring out what I DON"T want in a leader I have been struggling to figure out what it is that I do. Even with our current Dem candidates, so much attention is paid to why people won't support X (this time around for me, they just have to be able to win). So eventually, after people have recovered from the bush years, I just wanted to start thinking about presidents in a different way...
thanks for your input, it was very helpful:)

[sandnsea]

7. LBJ to present - yep, Clinton was the best

What the hell happened. He was NOT a great President. *sigh*

[mcctatas]

10. So, who in your opinion was great and why?

I can't think of one president who was truly great in all respects and even some of the worst did great things...

[MonkeyFunk]

8. It's not so much

the person, as the circumstances. Without the Civil War, would Lincoln be considered one of the greatest? Without WWII, would FDR be held in the esteem he is today?

[mcctatas]

14. But if your truly great shouldn't the circumstances not matter so

much...If chimpy were truly great, imagine what he could have done after Katrina (let alone 9/11)

[BlueStater]

9. Competence, Courage, Integrity, Dignity

Four qualities that little putz in the White House sadly lacks. And I'm sure there's more.

[maxsolomon]

11. non-monotheism

& the ability to listen.

[Milo_Bloom]

12. Real Political courage.

I am looking for someone who chooses what is RIGHT over what is popular at the risk of their political career.

e.g. Howard Dean signs a civil unions bill at 35% in the polls 6 months before an election.

e.g. Russ Fiengold votes against the "Patriot Act" a few short months after 9/11.

e.g. Lincoln Chafee becomes the single member of his party to not support the IWR.

e.g. Jim Jeffords leaves his party and gives control of the Senate to the democrats to keep a balance of power in DC.

e.g. Al Gore takes on Global warming decades before it is in Vogue to do so. Or Al Gore gives a major speech against the Iraq War warning of the results when it is not popular to do so.

Kucinich is the only one of the candidates I have seen who has shown any REAL political courage, but I fear he would get slaughtered in a general election.

[blm]

17. Or investigating government corruption when your own party won't support you.

If it hadn't been for Kerry's persistence, there would never have been ANY exposure of IranContra - BCCI - CIA drugrunning. Plus his work exposing the illegal wars in Central America.

All of those were AGAINST the entire DC powerstructure who lined up against him - including the media - including his own party.

How far along would the fascist agenda be if those operations hadn't been uncovered?

[valerief]

13. The better a prez is for one class of people, the worse he is for another.

So it's a balancing act. Clinton wasn't perfect, but he probably balanced as well as anyone.

on edit
Of course, it's never 50-50. The ruling class needs to get at least 90% of the spoils.

[illinoisprogressive]

15. Like Lincoln or FDR, a person who just comes across as a leader

someone with intellect, demostrated judgement and judious. Someone who knows the law and our founding and respects it.
someone who can relate to ordinary people and their problems yet, seem as someone you respect and would follow.
Someone with vision and passion. Not afraid to try things and if they don't work, not be afraid to say so and try something else. but, try something. a person who acts and is honest and real.
I don't like phonies or liars. Schemers. I like someone who comes at the job not for power or self serving reasons but, who really wants to change the problems and has a passion for doing what is good for the country.

[illinoisprogressive]

16. Mctatas, Who do I concider great. My favorite is FDR. I also admire

TR and Truman and Lincoln.