good presidents of the opposition party

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

you know, after thinking i've realized there's only 3 Republican presidents that I think were good at all:

Abraham Lincoln - self explanitory
Teddy Roosevelt - most anti-corporate president up until the time, and big environmentalist
Dwight Eisenhower - I still think his military accomplishments were far greater and more notable. But he established the Interstate system, ended the Korean conflict, pushed for the first Civil Rights legislation, and had an excellent response to Orval Faubus.

every other one ranges from mediocre and unnotable to beyond terrible.

[??????????]

you know, after thinking i've realized there's only 3 Republican presidents that I think were good at all:

Abraham Lincoln - self explanitory

He threw dissidents in jail. Unless you like that sort of thing you would have been in trouble during those times.

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

you know, after thinking i've realized there's only 3 Republican presidents that I think were good at all:

Abraham Lincoln - self explanitory

He threw dissidents in jail. Unless you like that sort of thing you would have been in trouble during those times.

I would've been a pro-Union hardliner extremist. He'd have no problems with me.

but wouldn't you have supported the Alien and Sedition Acts and like them reinstated? Seems a little hypocritical to me.

[minionofmidas]

you know, after thinking i've realized there's only 3 Republican presidents that I think were good at all:

Abraham Lincoln - self explanitory
Teddy Roosevelt - most anti-corporate president up until the time, and big environmentalist
Dwight Eisenhower - I still think his military accomplishments were far greater and more notable. But he established the Interstate system, ended the Korean conflict, pushed for the first Civil Rights legislation, and had an excellent response to Orval Faubus.

every other one ranges from mediocre and unnotable to beyond terrible.

While the last statement sounds harsh, basically I'd say those are every Lefty's favorite Republican presidents.

[Fritz]

you know, after thinking i've realized there's only 3 Republican presidents that I think were good at all:

Abraham Lincoln - self explanitory
Teddy Roosevelt - most anti-corporate president up until the time, and big environmentalist
Dwight Eisenhower - I still think his military accomplishments were far greater and more notable. But he established the Interstate system, ended the Korean conflict, pushed for the first Civil Rights legislation, and had an excellent response to Orval Faubus.

every other one ranges from mediocre and unnotable to beyond terrible.

I would put Ronald Reagan as #4 on this list.  Although I disagree with most of what he stood for, you have to admit he was very good at the job.

[Lunar]

Lincoln
Teddy
Ike
Ford
Reagan

[Starbucks Union Thug HokeyPuck]

lincoln, t.roosevelt, eisenhower and nixon were all good.  

[PBrunsel]

James K. Polk, Grover Cleveland, Woodrow Wilson, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Harry S Truman, John F. Kennedy to name a few.

[© tweed]

It may be hard to count TR as a Republican as he no doubt would be a Dem today.

Real Republicans:

Eisenhower
Nixon
Reagan

[Akno21]

lincoln, t.roosevelt, eisenhower and nixon were all good.  

Nixon?

[Keystone Phil]

lincoln, t.roosevelt, eisenhower and nixon were all good.  

Nixon?

Yes Akno, aside from Watergate, Nixon was seen as a good President.

[Akno21]

lincoln, t.roosevelt, eisenhower and nixon were all good.  

Nixon?

Yes Akno, aside from Watergate, Nixon was seen as a good President.

Yes, which makes Watergate even more stupid considering he would have one in a landslide anway. (Although if some a------ hadn't killed RFK Nixon would never have been President.)

[Keystone Phil]

lincoln, t.roosevelt, eisenhower and nixon were all good.  

Nixon?

Yes Akno, aside from Watergate, Nixon was seen as a good President.

Yes, which makes Watergate even more stupid considering he would have one in a landslide anway. (Although if some a------ hadn't killed RFK Nixon would never have been President.)

A left winger like RFK who was out of touch with mainstream America would have beaten Nixon? I don't think so.

[Akno21]

lincoln, t.roosevelt, eisenhower and nixon were all good.  

Nixon?

Yes Akno, aside from Watergate, Nixon was seen as a good President.

Yes, which makes Watergate even more stupid considering he would have one in a landslide anway. (Although if some a------ hadn't killed RFK Nixon would never have been President.)

A left winger like RFK who was out of touch with mainstream America would have beaten Nixon? I don't think so.

You think he was more liberal than JFK?

[Keystone Phil]

lincoln, t.roosevelt, eisenhower and nixon were all good.  

Nixon?

Yes Akno, aside from Watergate, Nixon was seen as a good President.

Yes, which makes Watergate even more stupid considering he would have one in a landslide anway. (Although if some a------ hadn't killed RFK Nixon would never have been President.)

A left winger like RFK who was out of touch with mainstream America would have beaten Nixon? I don't think so.

You think he was more liberal than JFK?

RFK more liberal than JFK? Absolutley.

[Fritz]

A left winger like RFK who was out of touch with mainstream America would have beaten Nixon? I don't think so.

Humphrey lost to Nixon by less than 1% of the popular vote.  Go check out Daves 1968 election map....he has a what-if scenario witht a handful of votes changing in four states, Humphrey would have won.

RFK had the advantage of being a Kennedy.  I think he would have done better than Humphrey did, and might have even won.

[Keystone Phil]

A left winger like RFK who was out of touch with mainstream America would have beaten Nixon? I don't think so.

Humphrey lost to Nixon by less than 1% of the popular vote.  Go check out Daves 1968 election map....he has a what-if scenario witht a handful of votes changing in four states, Humphrey would have won.

RFK had the advantage of being a Kennedy.  I think he would have done better than Humphrey did, and might have even won.

Yes Humphrey came close. Very close, actually. However an RFK candidacy would have been out of touch with America. Yeah he was a Kennedy but he would have been running against someone that was closer to the mainstream.

[The Duke]

A left winger like RFK who was out of touch with mainstream America would have beaten Nixon? I don't think so.

Humphrey lost to Nixon by less than 1% of the popular vote.  Go check out Daves 1968 election map....he has a what-if scenario witht a handful of votes changing in four states, Humphrey would have won.

RFK had the advantage of being a Kennedy.  I think he would have done better than Humphrey did, and might have even won.

Yes Humphrey came close. Very close, actually. However an RFK candidacy would have been out of touch with America. Yeah he was a Kennedy but he would have been running against someone that was closer to the mainstream.

RFK opposed the war in Vietnam, Humphrey supported it.  McGovern didn't fare too well on an anti-war ticket, I don't think RFK would have been able to win either (though he'd have won more than just one state).  Humphrey was a moderate, RFK wasn't.

[Keystone Phil]

A left winger like RFK who was out of touch with mainstream America would have beaten Nixon? I don't think so.

Humphrey lost to Nixon by less than 1% of the popular vote.  Go check out Daves 1968 election map....he has a what-if scenario witht a handful of votes changing in four states, Humphrey would have won.

RFK had the advantage of being a Kennedy.  I think he would have done better than Humphrey did, and might have even won.

Yes Humphrey came close. Very close, actually. However an RFK candidacy would have been out of touch with America. Yeah he was a Kennedy but he would have been running against someone that was closer to the mainstream.

RFK opposed the war in Vietnam, Humphrey supported it.  McGovern didn't fare too well on an anti-war ticket, I don't think RFK would have been able to win either (though he'd have won more than just one state).  Humphrey was a moderate, RFK wasn't.

Agreed. The liberal anti-war message didn't work in '72 and wouldn't have worked in '68. I also agree with John Ford on the statement that while RFK would have lost, we would have won more than one state.

[The Duke]

My favorite opposition Presidents.

1. Franklin Roosevelt- Did quite well in WWII, had some success in alleviating the Depression, though he didn't always make the right move, and his success was marred by many setbacks.

2. James Polk- The best one termer ever.  He won the land on which I live, and I'm grateful.

3. Harry Truman- He finished the war well.  Cleaned up Europe after the war nicely, the Marshall Plan and all.  Too close to the unions, but had a great cabinet.  Did the right thing in firing a loose cannon McArthur.

4. Thomas Jefferson- Not as great as his reputation (the embargo in 1807 hurt the economy badly) but he did take advantage of the Louisiana Purchase.

The rest of the Democrats that I probably would have voted for at the time like JFK and LBJ made mistakes that bother too much to admire them in retrospect.

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

Nixon's other accomplishments:

-started the war on drugs
-escalated the war in Vietnam (although he did pull out in the end, but he should've done that much sooner)
-the coup in Chile
-the other atrocities of Henry Kissinger

no, Nixon sucked overall.

[Keystone Phil]

Nixon's other accomplishments:

-started the war on drugs
-escalated the war in Vietnam (although he did pull out in the end, but he should've done that much sooner)
-the coup in Chile
-the other atrocities of Henry Kissinger

no, Nixon sucked overall.

Well we expected that from a socialist such as yourself, BRTD. Everyone has their opinions but I was referring to most of America's opinion of Nixon. Aside from Watergate, people did approve of his Presidency. The 1972 election seemed to prove that.

[The Duke]

Nixon's other accomplishments:

-started the war on drugs
-escalated the war in Vietnam (although he did pull out in the end, but he should've done that much sooner)
-the coup in Chile
-the other atrocities of Henry Kissinger

no, Nixon sucked overall.

First off, I'm not sure most people are as bothered by this stuff as you are.  Even if you are right, and some of these criticisms are quite reasonable, most people wouldn't agree, and that gives Nixon the edge over RFK.

Also, no one knew in 1968 that Nixon would do thsoe things.

[Akno21]

My favorite opposition Presidents.

1. Franklin Roosevelt- Did quite well in WWII, had some success in alleviating the Depression, though he didn't always make the right move, and his success was marred by many setbacks.

2. James Polk- The best one termer ever.  He won the land on which I live, and I'm grateful.

3. Harry Truman- He finished the war well.  Cleaned up Europe after the war nicely, the Marshall Plan and all.  Too close to the unions, but had a great cabinet.  Did the right thing in firing a loose cannon McArthur.

4. Thomas Jefferson- Not as great as his reputation (the embargo in 1807 hurt the economy badly) but he did take advantage of the Louisiana Purchase.

The rest of the Democrats that I probably would have voted for at the time like JFK and LBJ made mistakes that bother too much to admire them in retrospect.

I know LBJ made many mistakes, but what about JFK? He sure handled the Cuban Missile Crisis very well.

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

Nixon's other accomplishments:

-started the war on drugs
-escalated the war in Vietnam (although he did pull out in the end, but he should've done that much sooner)
-the coup in Chile
-the other atrocities of Henry Kissinger

no, Nixon sucked overall.

First off, I'm not sure most people are as bothered by this stuff as you are.  Even if you are right, and some of these criticisms are quite reasonable, most people wouldn't agree, and that gives Nixon the edge over RFK.

Also, no one knew in 1968 that Nixon would do thsoe things.

I wasn't arguing about if RFK had beat him, but whether he was a good president outside of Watergate.