Who is Your Favorite American President?

I'll probably make a lot of threads about history in general, because history is awesome. American history interests me especially.

My favorite president is Andrew Jackson. Dude was a straight up bad ass. Tons of stories about some of the things he's done.

How about you, folks?

Andrew Jackson is an interesting choice....if miles were here he'd berate you for picking him though. Andrew Jackson treated the Indians very poorly, sent them on 'The Trail of Tears'...some Indians won't use $20 bills to this day on account of what 'Old Hickory' did to their ancestors.


Ronald Reagan is a good one, he won the Cold War for us. Though liberals would like to thank Gorbachev :shakehead:


James K. Polk was a good one, Manifest Destiny and all! A big believer in expanding the land of our growing Republic. Historically a "middle of the pack" figure when compared to everyone else.

George Washington was solid, I think he's the "gold standard" as he was handed the reigns to a new country he could have ruled over until his death, but he grew our young nation....he had his struggles of course, The Whiskey Rebellion being the biggest domestic issue he faced.

FDR is up there with Washington & Reagan as he was in the office during the Great Depression & Allied victory of World War II...though the war had more of a hand in getting the US out of the Depression than FDR's policies did. Solid leader though.

Andrew Jackson is a pretty good choice, due mainly to his passionate battle to save the country from a centralized bank, and he was the first president to survive an attempt on his life as a result.
Reagan, sorry, is my pick for the worst president of all time, and I am sad to admit that I volunteered large amounts of time to his 1980 campaign. See, he was a liar and a fraud. He won the primary by campaigning against the CFR and TLC, charging that their interests were anti-thetical to those of the American people. Then he chose Bush as VP and stocked his cabinet with CFR and TLC members. He was anti big government yet the size and scope of government exploded while he was president, he signed of on 12 tax increases, including the largest of all time...It goes on and on.
In my life, we have not had a decent president, from 1964 to the present.

George W. Bush with Barack Obama being a close second. ;D

William Henry Harrison, only because I'm related to him and he holds the record for the shortest term.

Ronald Reagan.

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Originally Posted by El Kabong

Andrew Jackson is an interesting choice....if miles were here he'd berate you for picking him though. Andrew Jackson treated the Indians very poorly, sent them on 'The Trail of Tears'...some Indians won't use $20 bills to this day on account of what 'Old Hickory' did to their ancestors.


Ronald Reagan is a good one, he won the Cold War for us. Though liberals would like to thank Gorbachev :shakehead:


James K. Polk was a good one, Manifest Destiny and all! A big believer in expanding the land of our growing Republic. Historically a "middle of the pack" figure when compared to everyone else.

George Washington was solid, I think he's the "gold standard" as he was handed the reigns to a new country he could have ruled over until his death, but he grew our young nation....he had his struggles of course, The Whiskey Rebellion being the biggest domestic issue he faced.

FDR is up there with Washington & Reagan as he was in the office during the Great Depression & Allied victory of World War II...though the war had more of a hand in getting the US out of the Depression than FDR's policies did. Solid leader though.

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Reagan was a tax and spend liberal.

Jfk

As an outsider (and a fairly left-leaning one at that) and a person who studied American history at university, I find it very interesting to see the people listed by American's as their best/favourite Presidents.

I would imagine that in a country as large and diverse as the U.S. opinions would differ wildly on this subject.

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Originally Posted by El Kabong

Andrew Jackson is an interesting choice....if miles were here he'd berate you for picking him though. Andrew Jackson treated the Indians very poorly, sent them on 'The Trail of Tears'...some Indians won't use $20 bills to this day on account of what 'Old Hickory' did to their ancestors.


Ronald Reagan is a good one, he won the Cold War for us. Though liberals would like to thank Gorbachev :shakehead:


James K. Polk was a good one, Manifest Destiny and all! A big believer in expanding the land of our growing Republic. Historically a "middle of the pack" figure when compared to everyone else.

George Washington was solid, I think he's the "gold standard" as he was handed the reigns to a new country he could have ruled over until his death, but he grew our young nation....he had his struggles of course, The Whiskey Rebellion being the biggest domestic issue he faced.

FDR is up there with Washington & Reagan as he was in the office during the Great Depression & Allied victory of World War II...though the war had more of a hand in getting the US out of the Depression than FDR's policies did. Solid leader though.

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Well, the trail of tears is something that I see as one of those things that many people just won't be able to understand. Whites and Indians were never going to get along, and Jackson had to choose between turmoil in his country, or advancing the suffering of the people who would have ended up suffering anyways. It's not right, but it was just the way white people were in the time period.

I live in South Dakota, and it's a beautiful place. White people should have left the indians alone. The Indians really had it good before the white man came.

George Washington is a brilliant guy that you really can't fault. He's my number two favorite. He didn't believe in belonging to a political party because he thought that political parties were merely something used to divide the country. Boy was he fucking right!

FDR was a fantastic president, but he had his faults, too. The three areas that his new deals applied to were Relief, Reform, and Restoring the country to it's old glory. The first two areas he did a wonderful job in, but he completely fucked up when trying to Restore the country. The only reason that he was actually able to bring the country back to economic prosperity was because so many jobs had opened up when we jumped into World War Two.

But FDR was phenomenal in the fact that there weren't many other presidents that could have done a better job than he did.

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Originally Posted by greynotsoold

Andrew Jackson is a pretty good choice, due mainly to his passionate battle to save the country from a centralized bank, and he was the first president to survive an attempt on his life as a result.
Reagan, sorry, is my pick for the worst president of all time, and I am sad to admit that I volunteered large amounts of time to his 1980 campaign. See, he was a liar and a fraud. He won the primary by campaigning against the CFR and TLC, charging that their interests were anti-thetical to those of the American people. Then he chose Bush as VP and stocked his cabinet with CFR and TLC members. He was anti big government yet the size and scope of government exploded while he was president, he signed of on 12 tax increases, including the largest of all time...It goes on and on.
In my life, we have not had a decent president, from 1964 to the present.

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That was one of the most enjoyable parts of learning about Andrew Jackson is exactly how he battled Nicholas Biddle, and I think Henry Clay. I might have the Kentucky politicians name wrong, but I'm too lazy to google it.

One thing cannot be doubted. Andrew Jackson had balls of steel. ;D

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Originally Posted by killersheep

William Henry Harrison, only because I'm related to him and he holds the record for the shortest term.

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You ever hear about the Tecumseh's 20 year curse? It's very interesting.

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Originally Posted by CFH

As an outsider (and a fairly left-leaning one at that) and a person who studied American history at university, I find it very interesting to see the people listed by American's as their best/favourite Presidents.

I would imagine that in a country as large and diverse as the U.S. opinions would differ wildly on this subject.

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The unfortunate thing about America is that we're all getting our shit from the same sources, and many of us think the same way. Oftentimes, Americans aren't subject to having a differentiating opinion from the norm.

But then again, there isn't a lot of people that love history enough to really determine the actualities of how our American presidents actually were.

Franklin D. Roosevelt brought America out of the great depression, and lead us to Victory in WWII. I can't think of another President who did more for the U.S., so by default, he's my favorite.

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Originally Posted by Mars_ax

Franklin D. Roosevelt brought America out of the great depression, and lead us to Victory in WWII. I can't think of another President who did more for the U.S., so by default, he's my favorite.

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If you read my post above, I talk about FDR and the Great Depression.

WWII was really what brought us out of it. I think that was just more so a fortunate sequence of events -economically speaking, anyways- rather than FDR's work as president.

One thing is more certain, though. FDR made the Depression bearable, and he gave Americans hope and change.

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Originally Posted by generalbulldog

George W. Bush with Barack Obama being a close second. ;D

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Yeah right. :rolleyes:

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Originally Posted by Slim the BoxingManiac

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Originally Posted by Mars_ax

Franklin D. Roosevelt brought America out of the great depression, and lead us to Victory in WWII. I can't think of another President who did more for the U.S., so by default, he's my favorite.

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If you read my post above, I talk about FDR and the Great Depression.

WWII was really what brought us out of it. I think that was just more so a fortunate sequence of events -economically speaking, anyways- rather than FDR's work as president.

One thing is more certain, though. FDR made the Depression bearable, and he gave Americans hope and change.

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By the time America entered WWII in 1942, FDR's programs had already brought back economic stability/prosperity. Considering what dire straits America was in during the depression, what Roosevelt accomplished was nothing short of a miracle.

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Originally Posted by Mars_ax

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Originally Posted by Slim the BoxingManiac

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Originally Posted by Mars_ax

Franklin D. Roosevelt brought America out of the great depression, and lead us to Victory in WWII. I can't think of another President who did more for the U.S., so by default, he's my favorite.

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If you read my post above, I talk about FDR and the Great Depression.

WWII was really what brought us out of it. I think that was just more so a fortunate sequence of events -economically speaking, anyways- rather than FDR's work as president.

One thing is more certain, though. FDR made the Depression bearable, and he gave Americans hope and change.

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By the time America entered WWII in 1942, FDR's programs had already brought back economic stability/prosperity. Considering what dire straits America was in during the depression, what Roosevelt accomplished was nothing short of a miracle.

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So you advocate Keynesian economics?

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Originally Posted by Mars_ax

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Originally Posted by Slim the BoxingManiac

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Originally Posted by Mars_ax

Franklin D. Roosevelt brought America out of the great depression, and lead us to Victory in WWII. I can't think of another President who did more for the U.S., so by default, he's my favorite.

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If you read my post above, I talk about FDR and the Great Depression.

WWII was really what brought us out of it. I think that was just more so a fortunate sequence of events -economically speaking, anyways- rather than FDR's work as president.

One thing is more certain, though. FDR made the Depression bearable, and he gave Americans hope and change.

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By the time America entered WWII in 1942, FDR's programs had already brought back economic stability/prosperity. Considering what dire straits America was in during the depression, what Roosevelt accomplished was nothing short of a miracle.

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Economic stability wasn't restored until we began putting the country to work for the war. WWII is what brought us back. Not FDR's programs.

FDR would probably rank close to my top spot for worst President. Thomas Jefferson would more than likely get my vote for best President.

i have to say it was bush

what a retard, its highly hilarious that any country would vote him into power never mind the worlds superpower

Quite surprised nobody's mentioned Lincoln or Teddy yet. Hard for me to pick a favorite, while there have been some great ones, all of them also have significant negatives. If I had to choose it would be Lincoln(some would say borderline facist/tyrant) or FDR(expanded federal government way beyond many people's likings) I guess, I think they did as good a job as one can with the adversities they were faced with.

Abe Lincoln because he stopped slavery.
JFK because he took on the establishment and got killed by 6 assassins.
Obama has to clean up the mess of the most inept and clueless president of all time.
George Washington because he would not lie.

My history is so bad I do not want to carry on and embarrass myself. :)

Killersheep, liberals don't spend on defense ;D

Teddy Roosevelt was a good one, starting the National Parks.



The worst Jimmy Carter & Barack Obama

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Originally Posted by El Kabong

Killersheep, liberals don't spend on defense ;D

Teddy Roosevelt was a good one, starting the National Parks.



The worst Jimmy Carter & Barack Obama

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I know ya a lean bit to the right, but seriously carter as the worst? Also barack far to soon to juudge, still in office and hence shouldn't even be in these discussions yet as the current president he's subject to hyperbole and overblown scrutiny

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Originally Posted by VictorCharlie

FDR would probably rank close to my top spot for worst President. Thomas Jefferson would more than likely get my vote for best President.

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How come? Explain this one for me.

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Originally Posted by erics44

i have to say it was bush

what a retard, its highly hilarious that any country would vote him into power never mind the worlds superpower

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Bush is given a very bad rep. He's not quite as bad as people think he is. Most of it was rather circumstantial.

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Originally Posted by armin

Quite surprised nobody's mentioned Lincoln or Teddy yet. Hard for me to pick a favorite, while there have been some great ones, all of them also have significant negatives. If I had to choose it would be Lincoln(some would say borderline facist/tyrant) or FDR(expanded federal government way beyond many people's likings) I guess, I think they did as good a job as one can with the adversities they were faced with.

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I love Teddy. Roosevelt was a man's man.

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Originally Posted by Master

Abe Lincoln because he stopped slavery.
JFK because he took on the establishment and got killed by 6 assassins.
Obama has to clean up the mess of the most inept and clueless president of all time.
George Washington because he would not lie.

My history is so bad I do not want to carry on and embarrass myself. :)

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JFK was killed by one man. :lol:

John Wayne.;D

Why because he's the fuck in best cowboy you lot ever had.;D

I am not taking the piss I feel he would have made a fine President.;)

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Originally Posted by Dia bando

I am not taking the piss I feel he would have made a fine President.;)

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As would Arnold schwarzenegger

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Originally Posted by Master

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Originally Posted by Dia bando

I am not taking the piss I feel he would have made a fine President.;)

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As would Arnold schwarzenegger

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I don't know. Schwarzenegger is sketchy for me.

But I do love his position on Marijuana legalization. I think that alone might be worth it.

I think Bush Sr. has to get some props for this gem.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XnOnDatqENo

My issue with FDR is not that he lacked leadership, which in fact I think he had in spades. FDR used a time of national disaster to trample the Constitution and bully the Supreme Court. Many of his policies have led to the massive expansion of Federal government, the dismissive attitude concerning the 10th amendmendt and movement away from the principle of federalism. The depression was caused by a number of factors but the employment of millions of Americans in support of the war effort combined with the US having the only major industrial sector to survive WWII was what finally pulled us back into prosperity. Ultimately it wasn't what FDR did as President at that time but the long lasting effects.

Jefferson epitomizes the beliefs and values the nation was formed under. His presidency has few highlights domestically but if you believe in federalism then that is preferred.

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Originally Posted by VictorCharlie

My issue with FDR is not that he lacked leadership, which in fact I think he had in spades. FDR used a time of national disaster to trample the Constitution and bully the Supreme Court. Many of his policies have led to the massive expansion of Federal government, the dismissive attitude concerning the 10th amendmendt and movement away from the principle of federalism. The depression was caused by a number of factors but the employment of millions of Americans in support of the war effort combined with the US having the only major industrial sector to survive WWII was what finally pulled us back into prosperity. Ultimately it wasn't what FDR did as President at that time but the long lasting effects.

Jefferson epitomizes the beliefs and values the nation was formed under. His presidency has few highlights domestically but if you believe in federalism then that is preferred.

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You're very right. That's the thing about FDR's reign as president is that it can be seen on so many different points of view, and still be right. It's all subjective to your values, I think.

Although, I do think Roosevelt was a good leader. He made Americans believe in him. That takes some effort.

Thomas Jefferson is a brilliant man, though. The guy was a genius.

Stupid people exist everywhere. Hahaha! I have no need for words.

For the Americans: What qualities would you say an ideal President embodies? Is it wholly dependent upon the period in which they lived or are there some constants?

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Originally Posted by VictorCharlie

My issue with FDR is not that he lacked leadership, which in fact I think he had in spades. FDR used a time of national disaster to trample the Constitution and bully the Supreme Court. Many of his policies have led to the massive expansion of Federal government, the dismissive attitude concerning the 10th amendmendt and movement away from the principle of federalism. The depression was caused by a number of factors but the employment of millions of Americans in support of the war effort combined with the US having the only major industrial sector to survive WWII was what finally pulled us back into prosperity. Ultimately it wasn't what FDR did as President at that time but the long lasting effects.

Jefferson epitomizes the beliefs and values the nation was formed under. His presidency has few highlights domestically but if you believe in federalism then that is preferred.

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Jefferson was also responsible for the The Louisiana Purchase:

Louisiana Purchase - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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Originally Posted by CFH

For the Americans: What qualities would you say an ideal President embodies? Is it wholly dependent upon the period in which they lived or are there some constants?

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Well I think right now the biggest issue is we haven't had a President that unified the entire country since Reagan...Clinton came close, but with the 24/7 "news" cycle it is becoming very difficult to lead with a broad net so to speak.


I like Presidents who believe in the greatness of America, the power this nation has, the drive its people have....I do not want my President going to Europe and Egypt and apologizing for our greatness. Has America made mistakes? Yes, but show me a nation that hasn't! We have a target on our backs because we aim to be "the good guys"....Russia and China do not care how they are viewed.

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Originally Posted by Gandalf

Stupid people exist everywhere. Hahaha! I have no need for words.

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Feel free to expand that opinion of yours, my friend. :cool:

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Originally Posted by CFH

For the Americans: What qualities would you say an ideal President embodies? Is it wholly dependent upon the period in which they lived or are there some constants?

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I think the constants rely on how they performed as president. Whether or not they stood for what was right or what actions they did. Andrew Jackson isn't considered the greatest president, but one of the reason I like him the most is because of the mans personalities and actions.

A lot of people favorite presidents come from America's biggest struggles. Like Lincoln, Washington, Franklin Roosevelt, John F. Kennedy, etc. I think they rely too much on that.

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Originally Posted by El Kabong

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Originally Posted by CFH

For the Americans: What qualities would you say an ideal President embodies? Is it wholly dependent upon the period in which they lived or are there some constants?

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Well I think right now the biggest issue is we haven't had a President that unified the entire country since Reagan...Clinton came close, but with the 24/7 "news" cycle it is becoming very difficult to lead with a broad net so to speak.


I like Presidents who believe in the greatness of America, the power this nation has, the drive its people have....I do not want my President going to Europe and Egypt and apologizing for our greatness. Has America made mistakes? Yes, but show me a nation that hasn't! We have a target on our backs because we aim to be "the good guys"....Russia and China do not care how they are viewed.

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What makes you say Reagan was a unifier?

Generally speaking of course, I always think of him as someone who was loved by center or right-leaning middle class and rich whites, especially white men, and disliked by most other people.

He still seems to be a fairly divisive person to this day, but maybe that's just my perspective.

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Originally Posted by CFH

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Originally Posted by El Kabong

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Originally Posted by CFH

For the Americans: What qualities would you say an ideal President embodies? Is it wholly dependent upon the period in which they lived or are there some constants?

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Well I think right now the biggest issue is we haven't had a President that unified the entire country since Reagan...Clinton came close, but with the 24/7 "news" cycle it is becoming very difficult to lead with a broad net so to speak.


I like Presidents who believe in the greatness of America, the power this nation has, the drive its people have....I do not want my President going to Europe and Egypt and apologizing for our greatness. Has America made mistakes? Yes, but show me a nation that hasn't! We have a target on our backs because we aim to be "the good guys"....Russia and China do not care how they are viewed.

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What makes you say Reagan was a unifier?

Generally speaking of course, I always think of him as someone who was loved by center or right-leaning middle class and rich whites, especially white men, and disliked by most other people.

He still seems to be a fairly divisive person to this day, but maybe that's just my perspective.

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I believe Reagan was seen as a "strong" president coming right after Jimmy Carter who was one of the most inept, weakest presidents ever. Reagan may have 'unified' republicans/conservatives, but he was loathed by blacks and "white" liberals. The jury is still out about how effective he really was as president. I believe he served a purpose at the time when Carter was turning the country into a fucking disaster, but he also did many negative things during his 8 years in the white house.

FDR is #1 in my book.

Bill Clinton is an under rated president, brilliant mind.