Best Presidents Ever

[knight_of_the_star]

Since we're having a worst presidents poll, I thought it would be appropriate to make a best presidents poll. It would be nice if you also included WHY you voted the way you did. Note that this is based on the names that seem to come up here the most, so here's the poll:

[knight_of_the_star]

1. OK, maybe I SHOULDN'T have put those two on here

I really should have seen that coming by putting FDR and Abe Lincoln on the same poll.

[VermontDem2004]

2. Thanks for putting Truman

on the poll he deserves to be on.

[a_random_joel]

3. You forgot a few

Jefferson? Madison? Wilson?
I gotta go with FDR, but the others deserve to be in the running!

[knight_of_the_star]

5. Read the poll

Washington and Truman are on there. That and I thought about the other two you mentioned, but I personally think there are some who are more deserving of a slot on here.

[a_random_joel]

12. I read too fast

and edited it to reflect this. My bad.
:silly:

[knight_of_the_star]

15. Its all good (nt)

[Taxi Driver]

4. Woodrow Wilson

Why isn't he in the poll? He initiated one of the most sweeping reform agendas in the history of the United States.

[knight_of_the_star]

8. Teddy was the one who got the ball rolling there

Maybe I hsould have put in an other category. I htink I'll do that real quick.

[Yupster]

33. "He Kept Us Out Of War"

and then asked for a declaration of war within a month of taking his second oath.

[Gringo]

6. No Jefferson?

I put FDR, but if Jefferson had been there, I'd have to have thought about it...and still put FDR.

[leyton]

27. Why Jefferson?

(Just curious.)

Having just read David McCullough's bio of John Adams, I think he deserves to be on the list as well (Adams, not McCullough), for averting war with France without the support of either party. And he refused to take part in a nasty campaign, which in some respects makes modern races look tame.

[kerouac]

7. Where's Pappy and Contra-Boy?

Pappy Shrub and Contra-Boy Reagan should be in there... you know, so I can *not* vote for them.

[Brucey]

9. I picked FDR by default,

all the others had serious things wrong with their presidencies.

[diplomats]

13. Just curious

What was wrong with Lincoln's presidency?

[knight_of_the_star]

14. Suspension of habeas corpus comes to mind

Ex Parte Milligan was in result of what Lincoln did during his presidency.

[Padraig18]

21. Which Congress ratified

We need to remember that 1861-1865 was not the era of instant communication and swift travel that today is. Congress was not in session, and Lincoln could (and did) make an excellent case for acting as he did.

[maha]

25. Well, um, there was a civil war going on.

You may have heard about it. 'Twas in the papers.

The Constitution provides for habeas corpus to be lifted under some circumstances -- Article I, section 9, paragraph 2: "The Privilege of the Writ of Habeas Corpus shall not be suspended, unless when in Cases of Rebellion or Invasion the public Safety may require it."

However, since this provision is in Article I (about Congress) and not Article II (about the President), it could be argued that the framers meant for Congress to be able to lift habeas corpus. As I remember, Congress did sign off on it eventually.

[Yupster]

34. I give Lincoln significant share of blame

for the start of the Civil War.

He broke many precedents, including running as a regional candidate, and picking a VP from the same region as him, both big no-no's in mid 1800's American politics.

He campagigned entirely in the north.

During his lame duck three months, he toured the north while the southern and border states debated secession.

He ignored the last best chance for compromise, the Crittenden Committee.

He suspended Habeus Corpus, arrested Maryland State Legislatures, and threw a former Democratic governor of Ohio (The Man Without a Country) out of the country.

I list Lincoln as the more overrated president in our history.

PS - I voted for FDR, though I considered Washington.

[oasis]

10. William Jefferson Clinton: best world leader of all time.

[knight_of_the_star]

11. Ten minutes into the poll

FDR seems to be in the lead by a rather large margin, followed by Cliton and Lincoln.

[Padraig18]

16. Abraham Lincoln

I chose Lincoln because he understood the true nature of this Union, that being an perpetual, indisoluble union between the sovereign People and their government. Furthermore, Lincoln was a practical man, and one not given to pettiness or revenge; even near the war's bloody end, Lincoln spoke of charity, forgiveness and healing.

Sorry I didn't pick a Democrat, but I was certain the rest would cover them sufficiently. :)

[TheDonkey]

18. Lincoln was a true Democrat underneath it all ;-) (nt)

[Padraig18]

20. He certainly would have been one today, I agree! n/t

[David__77]

17. FDR!

He's the model of what we need right now to vanquish the vampires sucking the life-blood out of the working class. No one else struck such fear into the hearts of the oligarchy. I'm always keeping my eyes open for that same quality today.

[Catholic Sensation]

19. FDR would have been my vote...

had he not been such a pussy when it came to the Soviet Union. As the child of parents who had to deal with the horrible Soviet regime, I can never forgive FDR for simply giving countries like Poland to the USSR. Never. I voted for Kennedy, at least he'd stand up to those communist fucks, though the results were often not what they should have been.

Oh, and how 'bout them Cowboys! :)

Damn it's good to be a Cowboys fan again.

[Exultant Democracy]

24. FDR had a few bigger problems to worry about n/t

[Hippo_Tron]

22. The problems that face modern presidents...

Aren't near as bad as those that Lincoln, Washington, and FDR had to deal with. Lincoln gets my vote first because the union actually managed to surive a civil war and Rebuild into a better union in a relatively short time.

[Yupster]

36. Relatively short in the north

It was 1900 before production in the south reached its pre-war levels.

[knight_of_the_star]

23. kick

:kick:

[Sean Reynolds]

26. I think most people know where I stand on this...........

Just check my sig.

[OneTwentyoNine]

28. Again?? The poll has been done a dozen times.....n/t

[rman]

29. other: Andrew Jackson

Andrew Jackson

Because he took a stance against the takeover of control over America's money by the bankers.

And in spite of the fact that he did his fair share of killing natives. Even today fighting (and winning) war increases electability, even if the genocide that war is supposed to prevent continues. Doesn't make it right, but these things are relative. No president is perfect.

Jackson was a big time general, Democrat, and survived the first attempt to assassinate a president.
http://www.americanpresidents.org/presidents/president.asp?PresidentNumber=7

Jackson upon taking office, to representatives of the banking establishment, on what was not their first nor their last attempt to strike a deal to gain control over the money:
"You are a den of vipers and thieves. I intend to rout you out, and by the grace of the eternal God, I will rout you out. If Congress has the right under the Constitution to issue paper money, it was given to be used by themselves, not to be delegated to individuals or corporations."

Makes you wonder who was behind that assassination attempt, doesn't it.

In the words of President Franklin D. Roosevelt:
"The real truth of the matter is, as you and I know, that a financial element in the large centers has owned the government ever since the days of Andrew Jackson. History depicts Andrew Jackson as the last truly honorable and incorruptible American president."

quotes from
http://www.prisonplanet.com/analysis_mark_022803_deception.html
http://www.prisonplanet.com/analysis_mark_030803_deception2.html
http://www.prisonplanet.com/analysis_mark_031503_deception3.html
http://www.prisonplanet.com/analysis_mark_032403_deception4.html

Actually i'm not a fan of any American president in particular, some did some really Good Things, some did some really Bad Things. But if i'd have to pick one it'd be Jackson, since it allows me to push the subject of the bankers. And after all, he did the Right Thing there.

[rasputin1952]

30. Pretty tough...

I went with FDR, but Lincoln, TR, Truman and JFK made it kind of tough.

Johnson, despite VN, did an awful lot for the infrastructure and social issues.

[kiahzero]

31. I liked Carter

Despite his failures in foreign policy, he's probably the only reason human rights are a part of international relations. I feel that's a far longer lasting influence.

[Yupster]

37. FDR spoke of his "Four Freedoms"

some of which were Freedom from Want and Freedom from fear, when Carter was still at Annapolis.

[are_we_united_yet]

32. Hey!!!!! I demand * be put on this poll!!!!

-snicker-

[xJlM]

35. FDR

Growing up where I did, you didn't dare say anything else. The fact that it's true also helps.