Top Ten Presidents  

Oh, I see that you would like to know why we would formulate the list according to our own perspective.

1. Teddy Roosevelt, far and away is my favorite President. Without getting too long-winded, let's just say: The Panama Canal, The Rough Riders, the Anti-Trust initiative, the National Parks Program, etc... He, above all others, levelled the playing field for the hard working American citizens.

2. Thomas Jefferson, a brilliant statesman who helped to usher in our independence with keen insight, and an unwavering commitment to justice. Oh, and let's not forget about his tactical obliteration of the Barbary Pirates.

3. George Washington - although not the most brilliant strategist, and a highly ambitious upstart, he was nonetheless a man committed to applying the last ounce of his energy into creating our great nation.

4. James Madison - "The Federalist Papers" are the substance of this great nation. He displayed outstanding statesmanship both domestically and internationally as he set the foundation of our national ideals, as well as effectively balanced the 'Trade' and economic realities of our yound nation and its tug of war with Britain & France.

5. Abraham Lincoln earned my respect by accepting his onerous role in the history of our nation. He demonstrated grace and a sincere commitment to our nation as he was forced to make some of the most difficult decisions of any U.S. Presidency.

6. Ike - He commanded the Allied Forces landing in North Africa in November 1942; on D-Day, 1944, he was Supreme Commander of the troops invading France. Few other Presidents have so diligently fought for peace, after having fought against tyranny. His international foreign policies ushered in many of the foundations for worlds 20th century members of the 'Democracy Club'. I also admire that he warned us all to keep a close eye on the relationships between business & the military. He is the first to warn us about the "Military-Industrial Complex".

7. Ronald Reagan returned the government of the American People to the American People. His commitment to empowering every American was a real first! He is single-handedly responsible for rendering economics as dinner table talk. His policies were directed at providing a 'hand up' and not a 'hand out'. His notion of "Peace through Strength" and "Trust but Verify", as well as his vision for Star Wars as the consummate defense from foreign hostility. Then of course, there was the "Tear Down This Wall, Mr. Gorbachav" speech, and his commitment to bankrupt the USSR, which resulted in the single largest mass liberation of people from tyrrany, in the history of the world.

8. Calvin Coolidge - I've included Coolidge in my list because he, more than any other President understood when to interfere in the business of the nation, and when to step out of the way. It is rare that a President knows when to shut up. His greatest challenge was in his determination to maintain the moral convictions that the nation had been founded upon, as it spiralled into moral decay. I credit him for recognizing that the nation needed to experience its growing pains, without the Federal Government imposing restrictions before The People and business understood for themselves, why Federal intervention is not always a good thing. He lowered taxes, and maintained an isolationist foreign policy, because that is what was most needed during his term in office. He acted as 'the brakes' in a wild and crazy time.

9. JKF - He understood that the world was changing. He recognized that the economic direction of America needed to focus on growth. He lobbied Congress to lower taxes, so as to bolster economic expansion. Then, when Soviet imperialism reared its ugly head, he stood firm and proclaimed for all the world to see that the USA will be bullied by no one!

10. Nixon - This may come as a bit of a surprise, but his administration was a veritable foreign policy power-house. Reduced tensions with China, his anti-crime initiatives, his treaty with Brezhnev to limit strategic nuclear weapons, the E.P.A., he ended the Viet Nam war, and he chose Henry Kissinger as his secretary of state, who is still today considered one of the most respected statesmen of our time.

Alot of people don't realize all that Nixon did. Unfortunately, most of them only remember his impeachment for Watergate. He was an absolutely brilliant mind and truly did alot of good things.
PEACE

Agreed Fpd!

Nixon will forever be remembered for Watergate. Yet, the truth is that his administration just got caught doing what most administrations have been guilty of doing - spying on the competition. Yeah, like that never happened before Richard Nixon's administration, or that it hasn't happened since.

All around I really liked your list. The fact that you included Coolidge, a president most people don't know, shows that you've studied well. I'm also glad to see Nixon on the list since so many people forget how great a president he really was. Unlike most people I don't rank Kennedy so high. He was young, intelligent, and popular, but there are a few bad marks on his record like the Bay of Pigs. I think most of his ideas were actually carried out by LBJ so the credit is a bit shared. As with Coolidge, most people forget LBJ because he wasn't too popular.

Thank you Taskr36!

wealthy, I do not believe LBJ was President when our troops came home from Vietnam. I believe that was Nixon. Nixon was also the first President to visit China, bettering our relationship with them. He was an absolutely brilliant man, but not brilliant enough to make sure he didn't get busted and impeached for Watergate!
I am pretty sure LBJ signed a civil rights act. And yes, He would be on my list instead of Georgie.
PEACE

Hello Wealthy,

Fpd is correct about Nixon ending the Viet Nam war, not LBJ. Nixon also is credited with ended the military draft, as well as easing tensions with both China and the former Soviet Union.

I stand corrected. Thanks to both of you.

Thanks for being so gracious about the correction, Wealthy. That is very admirable!

yes wealthy, I agree with ladyluna. it is very gracious of you.
PEACE

LBJ actually sent more troops to Vietnam, but that's a moot point now. I still considered him one of our best presidents since he signed the Civil Rights act and the Voter's Rights act. Sadly Kennedy always seems to get credit for his accomplishments.

Hello Ladyslew,

I just love it when somebody puts on their 'thinking cap'!

As for your missing worst President, I'd be happy to nominate Jimmy Carter for the position. The few good things that he attempted, he put on the back burner when faced with minor dissent - e.g. alternative energy R&D funding, and rebates for average Americans to employ the technology. Calling his economic policy "disastrous" would be generous; double-digit inflation, double-digit interest rates, double-digit unemployment, etc...

However, I will take issue with you blaming the collapse of the gold standard on Richard Nixon. That lovely award falls squarely on FDR's shoulders.

Below is a teacher's instructional link explaining how FDR OWNS the collapse of the U.S. gold standard.

http://www.pickens.k12.sc...

Incidentally I would list FDR as the #1 or #2 worst President. Not only for collapsing the gold standard, and saddling generations of Americans with the bill for his socialist initiatives. Or for the cronyism that flourished under his rule. Or, for his well-earned title as "The Butcher of Haiti" and his part in perpetuating racism in this country, but specifically for his fervent attempt to convert this country into a monarchy, under his total control.

I have done extensive research on FDR, and let me just say that there is a whole lot more to the FDR story than what we learned in our history textbooks. Personally, I am outraged by racism! And, I cannot fathom how FDR got away with being one of the most flagrant racists to ever occupy the Oval Office, and not have been called out for his bigotry.

Regarding Calvin Coolidge:

Coolidge took office after Harding died. "Harding would preside over one of the most corrupt Administrations in American history."

*This is a terrific link that explores Coolidge's perceived 'laissez-faire' attitude on governance.
http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/i...

Part of Coolidge's great burden was to try to 'undo' much of the damage that Harding ushered in. This included top-heavy Federal regulation, including Farm Regulation.

"Although President Coolidge based his opposition to Federal-aid on economy in government affairs and his support for lower Federal taxes, sympathetic State officials saw the debate he had launched from their perspective. Governor Albert C. Ritchie of Maryland, a Democrat who strongly opposed Federal intrusion in State affairs, joined the denunciation of Federal-aid in a speech to the Governors' Conference at Poland Springs, Maine. After complaining that the Federal Government collected more in taxes from residents of Maryland than did the State government, Governor Ritchie explained one of the causes for "this Federal invasion of the pocket-books of the people":

One of the contributory causes of this Federal invasion of the pocket-books of the people is maintenance of an enormous and growing overhead of bureaus and commissioners, of which some are not needed, while others should be curtailed, and still others do work and spend money for purposes which should be turned back to the states...

He particularly disliked the 50-50 Federal-aid concept that he said had begun in 1914 with Federal land grants. In fact, he considered the term a misnomer:

The Federal Government can scarcely be said to "aid" the states, when all it does is take money from the people of the states and then give it back to them again. Most certainly the Federal Government does not "aid" the states, when what it actually does is give back only a part of what it collects from them, and keep the rest to pay the cost of expensive bureaus maintained for the purpose of giving it back.
But his primary objection was even more serious:

The granting of Federal Aid means the taking of Federal control over local subjects in a manner which could not possibly be done directly under the Constitution. The Federal Government would have no conceivable right to interfere at all in the management by any state of its health conditions, of its schools, or of its works of internal improvement. But when the Federal Government gives Federal Aid, it does so on conditions. It always demands the right of supervision. It can withdraw its appropriation at any time if its directions are not observed by the state. So that instead of being an "aid," the thing is really a trade in which the Federal Government buys the right to superintend activities which primarily belong to the States...
He also questioned the quality of the Federal supervision:

Then the everlasting annoyance of Federal inspectors and investigators and agents, often irresponsible and incompetent, prying into business which ought to be private and into affairs which ought to be personal, and exercising supervision and demanding reports and audits of almost every conceivable kind."

"On February 6, 1925, Senator William C. Bruce (D-Md.) summarized the argument against Federal-aid during debate on a bill authorizing funds for the Federal-aid highway program for FYs 1926 and 1927:

My objection to the general system of Federal aid or subsidy is... fundamental. In my judgment it constitutes the stealthiest, the most insidious, the most perilous, the most effective invasion of State rights that has ever been known in the history of our country. A more skillful, a more ingenious method on the part of the Federal Government of robbing the States of the full measure of their State sovereignty could not be devised; in other words, this system of Federal aid is simply an indirect, oblique method of filching from the States the domestic powers that properly appertain to them...

Like Samson when robbed of his omnipotent locks by Delilah, the people of the United States have permitted themselves to be deprived of a large portion of the State authority with which they were originally endowed... I do not quarrel with any proper exercise by the Federal Government of the power to establish post roads. That is one of the objects to be subserved by the Federal power, just as much as any other object that falls within the domain of the power. I do object, however, to this system by which the Federal Government lures the State governments into the surrender of that State sovereignty, and that is not all; by which it tempts the State governments often into most imprudent, improvident, and extravagant expenditure of State funds.114"
http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/i...

Below is a link to his 3rd State of the Union Address:
http://www.usa-presidents...

From it, you will glean why I applaud Coolidge for stepping back, and letting The States learn that Federal intervention is not always wise.

Well I have to agree that Carter was sure no good with the economy, and I feel a bit foolish for not thinking to include him on the list.

I am aware that FDR ended private possession of gold. But on a larger economic scale, the US Dollar as an investment by other countries was still redeemable for gold. But it was Nixon who, in 1971, took the Dollar completely off the gold standard. His action paved the way for rampant government debt, higher inflation, and an eventually valueless Dollar. Our difference of opinion seems to coem from how we view the Dollar. From what you are saying, I am gathering that you view the Dollar strictly as related to the US economy only. I am speaking of the Dollar as a world currency.

As to Coolidge, I think we are just going to have to agree to disagree. :)

Oh, and to further the explanation of why Nixon's action had such an impact, it wasn't until after the US went off gold by his order in 1971 that the other countries in the world went off the gold standard too. The European fiat monitary system wasn't even established until 1979.

Hello Ladyslew,

Whew! Don't ya' just love a good policy debate?

You needn't feel foolish about Carter's Presidency. It was an easy era to try to forget. Grrrr! I remember waiting in line for hours to get gasoline. Nope, I definitely do not want to go back to those days.

I'm A-OK about agreeing to disagree about Coolidge. Not so about Roosevelt & Nixon though. Not just yet, anyway. If you tell me that you'd like to end the discussion, then I'll happily meander off. However, I'm not inclined to let Roosevelt off that easy.

Britain was the first to abandon the gold standard on 9/21/1921.

Roosevelt didn't just outlaw private ownership of gold, he internationally repudiated the gold standard, and refused to meet debt obligations with gold.

"Herbert Hoover's Reconstruction Finance Corporation was greatly expanded by Roosevelt, but its effect was to make capital markets less efficient, thereby prolonging the Depression even further. As explained by RFC director Jesse Jones in his autobiography, Fifty Billion Dollars, "The law specified that we should lend only where the borrower could not get the money from others on reasonable terms." That is, only to uncreditworthy borrowers.

Guided by this directive, Jones and the RFC redirected billions of dollars in valuable capital to politically-connected but economically-questionable businesses. "We even loaned money to [the owners of] a drove of reindeer in Alaska," Jones boasted. The RFC was abolished in the 1955 under a cloud of corruption and scandal."
http://www.mises.org/story/55

"Debt may be a grievous bondage to an honorable man, but it may be a “national bond” which, in President Roosevelt’s words, “is owed not only by the nation but also to the nation.”"
http://www.mises.org/story/1846

“In the late 1920s, governments of the various nations could inflate their currencies by pyramiding on top of an inflating pound; similarly in the Bretton Woods system, the U.S. exported its own inflation by encouraging other countries to inflate on top of their expanding accumulation of dollar reserves. As world currencies, and especially the dollar, kept inflating, it became evident that gold was undervalued and dollars overvalued at the old $35 par, so that Western European countries, reluctant to continue inflationary policies, began to demand gold for their accumulated dollars (in short, Gresham's Law, that money overvalued by the government will drive undervalued money out of circulation, came into effect). Since the U.S. was not able to redeem its gold obligations, President Nixon went off the Bretton Woods standard, which had come to its inevitable demise, in 1971. “
http://www.mises.org/econsense/ch74.asp

The largest European demands for the exchange of gold for dollars followed the Korean Conflict, then again after Viet Nam. By the time Nixon entered the White House, there was no way for the U.S. to meet the 35:1 ratio.
Nixon had no choice but to either: bankrupt the nation, or bolster the fiat system. Hence, the decision to attempt to normalize relations with China & Russia, to the degree possible, so that new export avenues might be developed.

Nixon was between the proverbial rock and a hard place because of Roosevelt's ignorance and arrogance.

Actually, the British *suspended* use of the gold standard from 1921 to 1925 due to war. In 1931 private exchange of currency for gold bullion ceased, but as in the US there was still a backing of currency with gold. They did not totally abandon the gold standard until the breakdown of Bretton-Woods in the 1970's.

I wish I had more time to discuss FDR with you, but this week I just don't. I'd love to pick this conversation up at a later date though, if that's OK?

Hello Ladyslew,

Of course, time is always a precious commodity. I thank you for indulging me.

It is such a pleasure to encounter folks who are not intimidated by policy discussions.

Take Care!

If you wanted a 10th, I might suggest Grant. Grant had an attitude of tolerance towards the government corruption that to me, set the stage for corruption to be an acceptable fact of politics. He even defended corrupt politicians. That precedent continues today as we regularly see presidents and other politicians defend their corrupt allies.

ladyluna, I really would like to continue our discussion after I catch up on a few things. I was out of town for way longer than I thought I would be, and so I'm way behind on everything. But I would enjoy continuing our discussion when I have the time to devote to it. I just didn't want you to think I was brushing you off....

Thank you, Ladyslew.

I appreciate a good policy/historical discussion. And I have very much appreciated your having indulged me thus far. Still, I recognize that these discussions can be exhausting, and frustrating. So, I'll follow your cue on this topic.

Why don't you send me a p.m., if and when you'd ever like to pick this up. Either in this discussion, or in a separate more specific discussion. I would welcome reading your thoughts!

Hello Gardengrrl,

I didn't forget about little Jimmy Madison. He's definitely on my short list. Plus, I'm rather fond of Dolly. She seems to have been quite a gal.

Hey! Madison was on my list too. Scroll up. ;)

It's like I said in my post, this was a poll, and most Americans know nothing about presidents before the 20th century. That's why 3 of the last 4 presidents are on that list. GW Bush and Bill Clinton have done nothing historically significant, but some people will say they are the best because that's who they know. Everyone loves saying Kennedy is a great president but hardly anyone can say what makes him great. He was young, popular, and got killed in office, so people love him.