I do believe that the sexual misadventures (or misadventures of any kind) of those in office are an issue today because we know about them up front -- we have 24 hour news now and nothing is left unsaid.
We didn't know about Roosevelt and Eisenhour until later (or at least that's my understanding).
Who Was Your Fav. President ...
Discussion in 'History Forum' started by Rippon, Sep 20, 2006.
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Truthfully, Bush has got me really fearful for this Country by the way he has govern. He has made the whole world mad at us with his "cowboy" style and that little laugh of his. If we make people so mad they want to behead us all we are in trouble for sure. Again, Clinton morally didn't do anything the rest didn't do if they got a chance. Laura hangs on to George too close for him to get a chance but still wouldn't be surprised.
You and I won't live probably until the true judgement comes out for Clinton but years from now if time last they will be judging them again like we are doing and Clinton will be on top. -
Ed -
At least, we agree on most. :) :)
As far as making people mad, we invaded Iraq under a pretense. -
As far as making others angry with Americans, it is not so much the deed, but the superior attitude that seems to prevail. I know, I know, it isn't really true and not all express it, but so many do.
For example, even on these forums, one would think that America was the only country losing men in Afghanistan. Canada has lost 5 men to American friendly fire alone. Canada is playing a major role in Afghanistan, but seldom gets any mention in American circles. This is part of that attitude thing.
Take the second great war. England and the Commonwealth troops had been actively engaged with the enemy for three years before the Yanks showed up in England to go on to "win the war". No wonder we said, "the yanks were over paid, over sexed and over here." Johnny come lately is what we thought.
I was generalizing when I said leaders were "all" guilty of the sex thing, but poor Mr. Clinton gets all the flack. I know all about the stories of Prince Charles' mucking about, but I would rather think about all the good he has done in rebuilding London, helping out in Wales during the mad cow crisis, and many other charitable events.
Even Mr. George Bush has gone out of his way lately to be friendly with Canada...he even knows where Ottawa is now. By the way, when he did visit, he said it was nice when Canadians waved to him.........and "they used all their fingers".
Cheers,
Jim -
---spending Marks instead of Pounds
---driving on the right side of the road with steering wheels on the left side of the vehicle
Hitler had drawn a circle around all aeral maps of London-----No bombs dropped within so many meters of Westminister Abbey---his future headquarters!!!!!! -
Sorry, not worth a response.
Cheers,
Jim -
Someone said that the Vietnam War ended under Nixon's administration -- it was under Ford's .
A favorite author of mine is Paul Johnson . One of his books is : " A History of the American People " . Though he is British , his history of America is very well-done .
In his estimation Andrew Jackson was deplorable ( not his word -- but ... ) . I agree with Bitsy . If he doesn't qualify as the worst -- I don't know who does . He wielded massive influence , mostly not for the good . Many of his personal qualities are the opposite of what one should expect in a president .
When JacKson was president Alex de Tocqueville did his tour of America . With that research he wrote his famous book . I don't mean to go off on a C&A tangent , but AJ was the embodiment of the free-will , man is independent mindset .
Between the death of Lincoln and the rise of T.R. -- Johnson thinks that Grover Cleveland was the best of an inferior group of presidents . Johnson also thinks that the big businessmen ( he didn't consider them Robber Barons ) where the ones really running the nation . Men like JP Morgan , Andrew Carnegie , Andrew Mellon and John D. Rockefeller were the significantly more important men during those years .
Between TR and FDR Johnson believes that Calvin ( gotta love that name!) Coolidge was the best . His nickname was Silent Cal . He was a minimalist politician . He really wanted small government -- it wasn't just lip-service . At his first inaugural he have about an eleven sentence speech . At his second he employed only four sentences . His closer was : " Be brief -- above all things , be brief . " -
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The UK was within 3 days of lowering the Union Jack and raising a bright, clean white flag----when Hilter called his Luftwaffe home!!! -
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The senator went up to Coolidge and said, "Did you hear what he said to me?"
Coolidge waited a moment, looked up, and replied, "Well, I've looked through the rule book. You don't have to go." -
Ed -
Best: Theodore Roosevelt, epitomizing what the term "environmentalist" should mean, instead of kissing trees and alligators.
Worst: U.S. Grant, a drunk boob who made appointments based entirely on friendships. -
President Lincoln . . . under severe conditions he continued to soldier on and lead the country through some of our darkest days.
FDR . . . Did a great job getting out of the way of the generals . . .
Under severe criticism he soldiers on and leads the country through some of our darkest days. . . Sounds like President Bush may or may not make that mark . . . I guess that will depend upon the historian.
A couple others have done extremely well as well . . . -
George Washington: He indeed had a herculean task of leading our rag-tag Army against one of the greatest military powers ever; AND then the only man capable of leading this new Nation. He was an amazing man and did all with great dignity; but gave the credit to God.
Ronald Reagan:He restored dignity and pride in America after many years of heartaches and the worst president ever. It was uplifting and comforting to have a president end addresses by asking God to continue to Bless us! It only takes listening to one or any of his speeches to realize how much he was loved, is missed, and needed!
God blessed both with INTEGRITY, FORTITUDE, AND GRACE: :applause: :applause: :applause:
God Bless. -
Since I've only been alive for Ford, Carter, Reagan, Bush Sr., Clinton and Bush Jr., I would vote Reagan as my favorite with Clinton and Carter tied for worst. I can't believe Bush gets slammed the way he does, while the oil wasn't any cheaper under Carter.
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I don't slam Bush for oil prices...I slam him for being the worst and most incompetent man to occupy the oval office. -
We had to write Japan's new constitution and stand over the Germans writing theirs after WW2, and we had to park armies in Japan and Germany (they are still there) to get those nations onto the path of democracy, rule of law, minority rights, etc., and they started out 'way ahead of where the Iraqis are ever going to be.
It took the English nearly a thousand years of trial and error to move democracy to where it was in 1689 with the English Bill of Rights (which reads a lot like our bill of rights, by the way), and our unique version of it developed slowly from 1620-1787 and has continued to evolve since then. It is illogical and futile for anyone to believe that American style democracy can be transplanted and thrive in less than two generations; and if Islam does not have a Reformation, two generations won't do it.
This does not make Bush II a bad president or a bad man--he simply believes the misconceptions that most of the politicians in the US and too many of the people hold.
It was right to invade Iraq and topple Saddam. But we should have kicked in the door, won the war, shot Saddam, and turned the whole thing over to one of his generals. It would have been a dictatorship, but perhaps we could have picked one which was not a paranoid sociopath. However, Bush and his men had been believing their speeches. These very competent men are sadly mistaken about this one basic issue. Far too few Americans have any understanding of Realpolitik, and this is a prime example. The media makes it worse, highlighting each election as if it was a vote for an American-style government--the truth is far more complex, and in all of the Middle East (secularist, Army-dominated Turkey being the exception) we have one of the worst possible environments for any Western-style governance.
Bush may leave office as Truman did, unpopular and unmissed, but like Truman time will treat him well, unlike Clinton and Carter.
Overall, Reagan is #1, but on this issue, it is Bush senior who had the insight from his years of diplomatic experience to know better than to take down the Iraqi regime in 1991--a decision he was widely condemned for over the next few years (full disclosure, I criticized him for that decision in several newspaper columns), but he was right.
The problem with the Democrats is that they are so morally bankrupt that they have no good alternatives to GOP leadership. They are so sold out to Gay organizations, feminists, and every other kind of nut that a national candidate of theirs cannot have positive moral convictions. I do not believe that anyone of prominence in the Democratic Party has any shred of integrity on any issue.
Very sad. -
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