Your Favorite President?

[Avid_Liberal_Hater]

I'm curious who everyone's favorite president is.

I personally like Abraham Lincoln. That may sound odd coming from a Confederate sympathizer, but I really admire his strength as a leader. He fought a war he felt was justified, critics be damned, and he didn't kowtow to elitist special interest groups who tried to undermine his efforts. While he didn't believe that blacks and whites were equals, he showed compassion for a people that most felt were inferior.

He suspended the writ of habeus corpus and imprisoned seditious newspaper editors who tried to undermine the war effort. He banished Vallindingham from the country for being sympathetic to the enemy (imagine the liberals would could deport these days). He came in and called the shots in the White House when many thought that Seward would be his puppet master. He didn't interfere with his generals and let them fight the way they chose to. The man had a pair; the man we've got now doesn't seem to.

I'd like to have a strong, proudly patriotic leader in the White House in times like these. The spinless weathervane we have in the WH now is a weak president with no real backbone. He can rarely even form a coherent sentence. He deserves credit for striking back hard at terrorists, but he seems to have a hard time standing up to the PC police. We need a President who will put our needs first, screw the critics.

[short circut]

ronald reagan. he was a great president.

[RightisRightLeftisWrong]

I really dont have a favorite president I like Theodore Roosevelt and George Washington.

[believer]

Ronald Reagan, indeed. Then Abraham Lincoln and George Washinton. I read accounts of Washington standing plain as day in line of fire, he could hear bullets whiz by his ear many times. his right and left hand men, on a few occasions were struck down; he said "next". He stood there ala Apocalypse Now; like "I love the smell of napalm in the morning. Smells like.... like... victory." Questioned whether he ever feared, He said "Never, I know God has victory planned for us". Then, after victory; people insisted on making him king. His refusal of this honor only showed what this country really was made of. Rambo aint shit compared to this guy. Neither was any other diplomat or statesman. Reagan, however has entire humankind in his debt. In my book, nobody comes close, regarding ANY trait.

[Arbiter]

ronald reagan. he was a great president.

yea i agree.
Ronald Reagan probably my fav. but George Washington, TEDDY Roosevelt, Abe Lincoln

[Wadi66]

Thomas Jefferson. They don't come any better. Except Washington of course.

[Argonath]

Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Love the guy. He started and ended a lot of things. he ended the depression, after two other presidents didn't, keept America out of war (he wanted to go to war, but he didn't because he didn't want an unarmed America to fight in a war, that's what i've read, at least), and overall kicked Nazi ass.
Next would be JFK. My dad loves him, and from what i've read on him (not much), he was good. the whole conspiracy thing i have'nt decided on yet. my dad, on the other hand, believes whole-heartedly that it was a conspiracy. I know Oswald did it, but the CIA is what i'm sketchy on.

[Avid_Liberal_Hater]

Next would be JFK.

I will agree with FDR, but I can't understand the fascination with JFK. He lead the country for 3 years, and the most important thing he managed to do was get himself shot.

He was an adulterer, he'd make Clinton look like a Catholic priest. He got the presidency (so we're told) in large part because of the efforts of organized crime. He bailed out on the Bay of Pigs fiasco at the last minute and made himself look like a jackass. The Cuban Missile Crisis, while it took balls, was a very brash move and brought the world perilously close to Nuclear war.

He's been shown recently not to be the Civil Rights champion that he was made out to be. I just don't understand why he's so revered.

[Wadi66]

IHL we need a perpetual history class here.

FDR was the WORST president we had. For him I won't even capatilze the word president.

Yikes, you kids need to learn real history and not the garbage found in books at school. End the depression??? His policies created a bigger problem than the one he inherited. End the war? BS. He campaigned on not getting us into the war knowing full well that we would get involved. And don't give the "well we were bombed" crap. You all passed "Brainwashing 101".

As for JFK, you can bet your sweet backsides Oswald was not the only shooter.

here's a link follow it, read #42
http://www.theamericanright.com/vbforum/showthread.php?t=527&highlight=great+depression

[Argonath]

the whole end of the depression thing? nothing to do with him, other than the New Deal thing. It's also well known to anyone who studied him was that he did want to go to war, the whole trade embargo thing with Russia and England might have given it away. I also didn't say anything about him ending the war, that was Truman. Truman was the one that gave the go ahead for the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. There would have been public outcry if FDR didn't go to war with Japan. He might not have been the best, but he was a damn good president. JFK. . . I only like him because my dad liked him, mostly. I guess my second favorite would really be Teddy. he was a cool.

[Wadi66]

My mistake, didn't intend to say end the war. That was Truman (who by the way was ill qualified to be President). I guess anyone who likes social programs and government meddling would like FDR. As I said, he was the worst president, did more damage than anyone short of Carter and Clinton. The war ended the depression. Had it not been for that, we would have continued in the depression until FDR died. The depression went on for 12 years. That's insane. No depression had EVER gone that long and everything he did made it worse.

Did you follow the link or just ignore it, satisfied with what you think you know?

[Bumblebee]

[QUOTE=Wadi66]Truman (who by the way was ill qualified to be President).

Wadi, why do you say Truman was ill qualified?
I heard that he was the only president that went in poor to the White House and went out the same way, 'poor'. At least he must have been honest, which counts for a lot compared to all the corruption that goes on in politics.
I remember two of his quotes, one was about having friends in Washington DC.
He said something like, "If you need a friend here, get a dog".

Another quote of his was something like, "If you want to know what a person is really like, give him power". It's along those lines. Not the exact wording, but it's want he meant. His sounded better.

I thought I'd mention those quotes because I found them interesting.

[Wadi66]

Wadi, why do you say Truman was ill qualified?
I heard that he was the only president that went in poor to the White House and went out the same way, 'poor'. At least he must have been honest, which counts for a lot compared to all the corruption that goes on in politics. Truman wasn't a strong leader by any stretch. Bess was amuch stronger personality. In fact, had it not been for Bess, Truman would never have risen as far as he did. Because he wasn't a strong leader, neither did he have the mental capacity essential. He was easily manipulated. Yes he won the war, yes he made a difficult decision, just remember, he heavily relied on advice, more so than usual. Grandmother had many interesting stories about Bess. They were first cousins and knew each other well growing up. Bess was always trying to climb the social ladder. It irritated her that hubby wasn't so inclined.

[Bumblebee]

[QUOTE=Wadi66]Truman wasn't a strong leader by any stretch. Bess was amuch stronger personality. In fact, had it not been for Bess, Truman would never have risen as far as he did. Because he wasn't a strong leader, neither did he have the mental capacity essential.

Bess spent 90% of her time in Missouri during his White House years.

Wadi, you say that he didn't have the mental capacity, but Carter is supposedly a genius, and we both know that didn't help.

I have the book "Truman", written by David McCullough, who is a historian, writer, lecturer, and teacher, has received the Francis Parkman Prize, the Los Angeles Times Book Award, and two National Book Awards, for history and for biography. He praises Truman as an ordinary man from Missouri who was perhaps the most courageous president in our history.

I have to say, that I have not read the book. My husband read it, and he has told me some of the many things he did.

[Wadi66]

Well Bumblebee, you read what you want, believe what you want, I think I have a pretty good source.

[Argonath]

you made a good argument. hmm. . . I will have to look more into the matter via internet and/or coca cola ingredients. I think that FDR meant well, at least. the depression got better around '31, I think. He was a bit lucky the war was forced on America after Pearl. I know, some people think he knew about it, but I think he had some scant resources for it, a vague idea, like it would happen, but he probably didn't know when or where. Truman, on the other hand, sucked a**. Did you know that the options for the bombing on Japan had included showing Suzuki the film taken during the bombing test, issuing a warning, then if he still failed to surrender, that the cities would be bombed? GRR!! I hate Truman. :mad:

[Wadi66]

The depression got only slightly better, then it went back to double digit unemployment again. 12-18 million people out of work at any given time. Everything FDR did just made it worse.

[FKLBRLS]

Ronald Reagan, by far. Maybe Eisenhower as well, if it weren't for him, we'd all still be driving across the country on 2-lane roads and I can't even imagine what LA would be like if he haden't established the highways. And of course Washington and Lincoln. Lincoln especially, he could have stuck it to the confederacy and as a result we would have guerella wars going on for decades. But instead, he said, "throw down your arms, we'll do the same, let's move on, we'll rebuild your buildings." The worst punishment he gave to the confederacy was turning Robert E. Lee's house into a cemetary for those in the military.

As for the worst: Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter

[Avid_Liberal_Hater]

Lincoln especially, he could have stuck it to the confederacy and as a result we would have guerella wars going on for decades. But instead, he said, "throw down your arms, we'll do the same, let's move on, we'll rebuild your buildings." The worst punishment he gave to the confederacy was turning Robert E. Lee's house into a cemetary for those in the military.

As for the worst: Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter

Guerilla warfare was not supported by Confederate leadership. Lincoln had nothing to do with that.

As far as worst punishment, there were some acts of atrocity committed by Union soldiers on Southern civilians that I'll not get into. Suffice it to say that turning Arlington into a National Cemetery was not a bad thing compared to some other things his boys did.

But I know the President is not personally responsible for everything that happens down the chain of command. Actually, the worst thing that he did was get himself shot, because most historians agree that life for the South would have been MUCH better after the Civil War had he not been assasinated. Lincoln was a strong leader; Johnson was not. Johnson was also in the cross hairs from day one because he was a Southerner. The North sure has hell didn't want a Southern president.

And Eisenhower was good too. He had balls.

[Peace_by_superior _power]

The two best of all time are George Washington because he faught hard and worked along with the founding fathers to ensure what we have today. The other great president is Ronald Regan. He was a charasmatic man who lead the country incredibly well. He made it ok to be patriotic, He fixed the deficet, he created a system of economics that helped make our country rich (even though clinton got credit for it), he lead us through the cold war with unwavering courage and determination to obtain victory and showed strength the whole time. He made us love our country and helped reverse what the 60's and 70's did to our country

[Peace_by_superior _power]

George BUsh has to also be up thereas one of the best. Even though i disagree with him sometimes the way he has handeled the war on terror is probally an A+ thus far. He was forced to make tough decisions two weeks in office and after september 11th and the wars in Iraq and Afganistan we havent had to face that horror again.

[RLord4268]

Ronald Reagan, indeed. Then Abraham Lincoln and George Washinton. I read accounts of Washington standing plain as day in line of fire, he could hear bullets whiz by his ear many times. his right and left hand men, on a few occasions were struck down; he said "next". He stood there ala Apocalypse Now; like "I love the smell of napalm in the morning. Smells like.... like... victory." Questioned whether he ever feared, He said "Never, I know God has victory planned for us". Then, after victory; people insisted on making him king. His refusal of this honor only showed what this country really was made of. Rambo aint shit compared to this guy. Neither was any other diplomat or statesman. Reagan, however has entire humankind in his debt. In my book, nobody comes close, regarding ANY trait.

Maybe you should tell him about old stonewall, eh ALH? Reagan or Jefferson here, I love the writings and letters, funny how they could turn seperation of church and state around to be used opposite of the meaning that Jefferson cleary stated.

[Avid_Liberal_Hater]

Maybe you should tell him about old stonewall, eh ALH?

Stonewall did have much the same attitides regarding divine predestination on the field of battle. I always found it ironic that the man who gave Stonewall his nickname, General Bee, is reputed to have given it to him not out of affection, but frustration. "There stands Jackson like a stonewall" has been interpreted by some to mean that he wouldn't advance when he was needed and he was thus criticizing Jackson, not lioninzing him.

[Android]

Abe, definitely. He proved that sometimes the hardest thing to do is the right thing to do. On a side note, do you think that most Democrats realize that during the civil war the south referred to the north as the "republicans"? Sorry, new thread?