NFT: Who do you believe was the Greatest US President?

[vette]

It's slow right now and I wanted to test a NFT that is borderline political to see if something like this can be discussed and shared within the community without it getting out of hand.

There is some talk among the Moderator Staff about starting a "Current Events" Board, which would allow discussion of topics that are too hot for the Front Porch. There would be no Political or Religious discussion permitted.

I'm wondering if these topics could be discussed on this board as one tacked up thread that continues and develops as news unfolds. Would it be good or bad for the forum. Rhetorically speaking.

So, leaving party politics out of the conversation and keeping this void of debate because it's about subjective perspective, who do you believe was the greatest President Of The United States? Then, who was your favorite President? Why?

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[tomeee]

I'm not old enough and don't study enough history to even guess at the greatest president.

My favorite is Ronald Regan. Why because he brought back patriotism.

[jimv]

Greatest?  Lincoln.

Favorite?  Reagan because he was always positive & called things as he saw them.

[files58]

This thread could become very charged. I don't think we have seen the greatest President as yet, taking nothing away from Obama and his predecessors. To me the greatest President will separate him or herself from party politics and propose legislation and ideas that will benefit the majority of people in this country. If some industries or folks have to take it on the chin for the benefit of most Americans than that is a price that needs to be paid. I'll stop here for now.

[The Chief]

If anything belongs onthe Front Porch, this topic is it.

Of course, the moderators don't do a thing about these.

[JimboWHO]

Greatest?  Lincoln.

Favorite?  Reagan because he was always positive & called things as he saw them.

YES!   1 & 1A



JJM

[MightyGiants]

In my life time;

Bill Clinton-  8 years of peace and prosperity along with turning record deficits into record surplus can't be beat

Historically, pick one:

Lincoln-  Successfully guided our nation through a civil war

FDR-   Brought our nation out of the Great Depression and guided the nation through a world war

Washington-  He had a huge impact on the office and our nation.   He did a lot that set precedence that is still followed today.

[jerseyguy]

I don't think we've really seen the best President yet and we won't until we get the lobbyists and political party interests out of the equation. I feel strongly that we won't see the best man in the white house until we can simply vote the best man in there based solely on qualifications and not how much money he can spend on his campaign and how much he owes to big business for favors..

[ozz]

In my life time;

Bill Clinton-  8 years of peace and prosperity along with turning record deficits into record surplus can't be beat

Historically, pick one:

Lincoln-  Successfully guided our nation through a civil war

FDR-   Brought our nation out of the Great Depression and guided the nation through a world war

Washington-  He had a huge impact on the office and our nation.   He did a lot that set precedence that is still followed today.

I generally agree with everything said in this post.

[babywhales]

In my lifetime I would have to go with Clinton, provided the most prosperity, drove the infrastructure that is still driving our ecopnomy all while reducing spending and lowering the deficit. 

Overall
Washington, FDR and Lincoln would certianly sitck out. 

I have often read it argued that just behind Washignton and Lincoln was McKinley.  He was a massively beloved President in his own time. He tackled tuff isues and surrounded himself with so many top notch people his "appoinment tree" shaped American politics for a half a century.  I think his second term was the first election Dasher voted in?

I was always partial to Harrison for sticking up to the robberbarins and crafting and passing the Shermon Trust Act one the most monumental legislations of multiple centuries creating a paradim shift in US capitalistic approach.  He did have many issues though so I would never call him the greatest.


 

[ElioverPeyton]

My favorite is Washington. Without him (and others) we have nothing!

As far as Presidents in my live time......NONE! They are ALL political hacks (and controlled) that don't give a damn about it's citizens!

[JimboWHO]

The historical record says that Bill Clinton presided over very good economy.  Exactly what policies he pursued to help bring that about isn't exactly clear.  Economic activity and the financial markets resembled a cadaver's EKG for his first two years and then the GOP swept into power in the house and Clinton pivoted with his famous remark "the era of big government is over."

From that point Moon Shot - the economy took off and the stock market zoomed. Clinton was forced to adhere to the spending caps put in place by House Republicans and he signed the Republican welfare reform bill.  Clinton also had the good fortune during his presidency to see the development of the Internet - a technological boom unlike anything we've seen before. 

Our president was soiling intern's dresses?  No problem - our 401(k)s were all marching higher and higher.

Unlike our current president who is a true believer, Clinton had the wisdom to see the handwriting on the wall and govern from the center for much of his presidency.  I do give him credit for that.


JJM

[LennG]

 Without a doubt, it has to be Abraham Lincoln.

After him FDR

JFK

Clinton

[madbadger]

You guys realize that Lincoln was, for all intents and purposes, a tyrant. He saved the union and freed the slaves but he also stripped American citizens of their right to Habeus Corpus which allowed him to hold critics of his administration without due process. He also stripped some American citizens of their right to a jury trial and replaced it with military tribunals. Often those tribunals were so stacked in the governments favor that the defendant had no chance of being exonerated. Hundreds of citizens were sent to their deaths at the hands of those tribunals.

Lincoln was a complex man, both good and bad, but there is no way that a man who shredded the bill of rights and repudiated the ideas espoused in the Declaration of Independence should go down as our greatest President. I'd take Jefferson, Washington, Adams, Teddy Rex, Truman and Reagan before I'd even begin to consider where to place Lincoln.

[JimboWHO]

http://www.gallup.com/poll/146183/americans-say-reagan-greatest-president.aspx

Here's one of the most current polls done by Gallup.

1- Reagan
2- Lincoln
3- Clinton


JJM