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Listed below are the five most effective and five most destructive American presidents. Some were rich. Some grew up poor. Some were brilliant. Others had only average intelligence. These are my evaluations, based on my understanding and interpretations of history, economics, and human nature and do not necessarily represent the opinions of anyone else. Since all humans have weaknesses and strengths, I also gave a criticism of the policies of the best presidents and a compliment for the successes of the worst presidents.
Five Best
5. Thomas Jefferson: Not interested in serious military preparedness. Saw that the first transition between political parties was seamless. Promoted small farmers over moneyed interests. Expanded the country with the Louisiana Purchase. A genius.4. Theodore Roosevelt: Put the country on the path to empire. Balanced the needs of capital with the needs of labor. Expanded conservation. Incredible confidence and energy.
3. Franklin Roosevelt: His New Deal was an abject failure but his personality prevented a more damaging lurch to communism or fascism. Successfully led the country through most of WWII.
2. George Washington: Cold and aristocratic. Universally respected. Led by example. A personality marked by moderation and selflessness. Created the office of presidency. Turned down the post of president for life.
1. The best--Abraham Lincoln: Greatly limited states' power. Rags to riches biography. Shepherded the country through its worst crisis, despite vicious political opposition and personal tragedy. Writer of timeless political prose. Embodied wisdom. Died a martyr.
Five Worst
5. Woodrow Wilson: Regulated big business and lowered tariffs. Promised
his new income tax would only tax the rich. His Federal Reserve has overseen the loss of almost all of the dollar's purchasing power. Meddled in Mexico,
accomplishing nothing. Curtailed civil liberties during WWI.
Incapacitated during his second term, and his inability to govern was hidden from
the American public.*4. Barack Obama (as of January, 2012): Oversaw termination of Osama bin Laden. Attempted to reform a broken healthcare system. Pushed through a healthcare bill before it could be vetted. Wasted billions on an ineffectual spending scheme to reduce unemployment. As debt hit critical levels continued to promote deficit spending programs. Went on lavish vacations using the people's money during difficult economic times.
3. George W. Bush: A patriot and leader against Islamic terrorism. Turned the United States closer in spirit to imperial Rome and a police state. Wasted billions on war.
2. Andrew Johnson: Believed with all his being in the sacredness of the Constitution. An opponent of doing anything for the freedmen (ex-slaves). Used presidential reconstruction to get even with plantation aristocracy rather than to do anything for equality. Emotionally unstable.
1. The worst--James Buchanan: Potentially an antebellum president both North and South could trust. Overly sympathetic to the South's cause. Promoted the Dred Scott case as a resolution to North-South divisions. Failed to cool secessionist feelings or stop southern states from seceding.
* Based on lowering of AAA-credit rating and increase of debt, low GDP growth, and poor employment when compared to other post-recessionary periods.
Feel free to comment on who I should have included or left out.
Obama: Totally unfair. Should I have expected anything different? My turn:
ReplyDeleteHealth care forced into passage before it could be vetted?--Ridiculous! The Senate Republicans took more than a year to "vet" the proposal and succeeded in getting well over a hundred modifications, then voted unanimously against it. The hypocrisy was amazing, especially on the part of Charles Grassley, who only PRETENDED to be part of the negotiators!
The stimulus was a waste of money? Only because it wasn't big enough, given the size of the problem. PLEASE find me a reputable economist who takes the opposite view! What WAS wrong with it was the Republicans only signed on if one-third of it was set aside as tax cuts, then again voted unanimously against it! It saved up to 3.3 million jobs, people who otherwise would have gone on unemployment.
On other spending, his bailout of the auto industry also saved about two million jobs AND kept our auto industry from being taken over by foreigners. Anyone want our tanks built in China?
Continued to spend the people's money? On WHAT?! Name me ONE major NEW program, aside from the short-term stimulus and the auto bailout, which will result in MAKING money for the Treasury when all is said and done, by the way.
The REAL reason for the increasing deficits?--Tax revenues that are at a 60-year low in terms of percentage of GDP (15%), courtesy of Obama's numerous tax CUTS
(relatively small impact) and the Republicans under Bush taking care of their wealthy friends and their lobbyists--witness the 15% tax rate on hedge fund managers, trying to zero out "death" taxes, and on and on. Meanwhile, Obama's continued spending on the military has increased substantially our deficit (Reagan Redux!). Another major contributor to the deficit had been mandated social programs (unemployment compensation, Medicaid and food stamps), which have increased courtesy of the fact that businesses and banks are hoarding money instead of investing it to create new jobs; Obama's attempts to renovate our crumbling infrastructure have been stymied by the Republicans (again) at every opportunity, though they cynically call themselves "job creators". Note that their congressional website is jobs.gop.gov, the absolute height of cynicism!
And your last complaint shows that you are absolutely unwilling to look at his presidency with anything approaching a sense of fairness: Vacations? Totally below the belt! He's gone on less than one-third the number of vacation days that Bush took AND less than any president in several decades.
Shameless, Mike!
I stand by my analysis: He has accomplished nothing of value except for ending bin Laden. His Keynesian stimulus has raised our debt considerably. Unemployment is still high. He and his wife spend on themselves like Roman emperors.
DeleteFor the most part,I agree with your top five.I would have included Hoover and others among your worst.As for Obama,he's as yet unproven.We liberals are very disappointed in him.However, he is fighting an intransigent Republican controlled congress being held hostage by the Tea Party right wing fringe.Also,for many reasons,I consider F.D.R.'s New Deal an incredible success
ReplyDelete