Most OVERRATED President

[twenty42]

Reagan is the first that comes to mind, although I think Washington is also a candidate, just given the near deification some people give him.

Washington was really the only president who ever completely transcended politics and was universally loved by practically every citizen of the country. That being said, the presidency really wasn't a political office until after 1796, so I don't know if you can really include Washington in this poll anyway.

[MAINEiac4434]

Regan is literally one of the worst presidents this country has ever had. Literally bottom 5. The damage of his idiotic ideology is being felt almost two decades after his death and three after he left office, and yet he is deified and considered great by the public and bootlicking historians.

Also in regards to the Obama discussion: he killed Bin Laden. For that reason alone he will be fondly thought of in the years to come. He’ll also have a long retirement to even further cement his legacy.

I honestly think as we get more distance between his presidency and the present, he’ll become even more widely recognized as a good president, faced with an obstructionist congress run by some of history’s worst politicians.

[OSR stands with Israel]

In '82 and '86 people voted on the candidate not the president

Reagan's approvals were in the 40s in both Nov 82 and Nov 86. Granted, that was because of some ill-timed economic events, but Obama was gifted a terrible economy from the start, so it's fair game to attack Reagan for it if we're attacking Obama.

You guys just proved my theory that people will forget about Obama's midterms: you guys forgot how Reagan got EVISCERATED in both of his midterms, far harder than Obama. And he had lower approvals in his midterms. Thanks for proving my point!

Here’s a major difference between Reagan in 1982 and Obama in 2010


In 1982 while GOP did lose a lot of seats they still had more seats than they did before Reagan win in 1980. So that means they kept many of their 1980 gains

In 2010 the Democrats at fewer seats in the House than anytime since 1946



Also even at the end of his Presidency The GOP has more seats in the house and senate than they did before Reagan became president while for Obama they lost many seats from where they were before Obama won .

[OSR stands with Israel]

Regan is literally one of the worst presidents this country has ever had. Literally bottom 5. The damage of his idiotic ideology is being felt almost two decades after his death and three after he left office, and yet he is deified and considered great by the public and bootlicking historians.

Also in regards to the Obama discussion: he killed Bin Laden. For that reason alone he will be fondly thought of in the years to come. He’ll also have a long retirement to even further cement his legacy.

I honestly think as we get more distance between his presidency and the present, he’ll become even more widely recognized as a good president, faced with an obstructionist congress run by some of history’s worst politicians.

The country has largely been in way better shape since 1988 than it was in the 12 years before Reagan

[twenty42]

Regan is literally one of the worst presidents this country has ever had. Literally bottom 5. The damage of his idiotic ideology is being felt almost two decades after his death and three after he left office, and yet he is deified and considered great by the public and bootlicking historians.

Also in regards to the Obama discussion: he killed Bin Laden. For that reason alone he will be fondly thought of in the years to come. He’ll also have a long retirement to even further cement his legacy.

I honestly think as we get more distance between his presidency and the present, he’ll become even more widely recognized as a good president, faced with an obstructionist congress run by some of history’s worst politicians.

You deem Obama’s administration a complete success on the basis of one foreign policy win, but you completely whitewash the fact that Reagan brought about the end of the Cold War.

I don’t know what this “damage of idiotic ideology” is that you’re speaking of, but we have had 16 years of Democratic rule since Reagan left office. If his policies are supposedly still damaging the country so much, wouldn’t that be more the fault of Clinton and Obama for not overturning them?

[Darthpi – Anti-Florida Activist]

The correct answer is Andrew Jackson, and it isn't even close. Easily among the worst presidents we have ever had, and yet rarely regarded as such by the public.

[Rookie Yinzer]

Reagan!!!!

He was scum.

[MAINEiac4434]

Regan is literally one of the worst presidents this country has ever had. Literally bottom 5. The damage of his idiotic ideology is being felt almost two decades after his death and three after he left office, and yet he is deified and considered great by the public and bootlicking historians.

Also in regards to the Obama discussion: he killed Bin Laden. For that reason alone he will be fondly thought of in the years to come. He’ll also have a long retirement to even further cement his legacy.

I honestly think as we get more distance between his presidency and the present, he’ll become even more widely recognized as a good president, faced with an obstructionist congress run by some of history’s worst politicians.

You deem Obama’s administration a complete success on the basis of one foreign policy win, but you completely whitewash the fact that Reagan brought about the end of the Cold War.

Glasnost and perestroika brought about the end of the Soviet Union. But Reagan certainly hastened it’s collapse by 2-4 weeks, I’m sure.

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No, because if he never implemented them in the first place, then we wouldn’t have had the problems we’re dealing with. It’s called Reaganomics for a reason.

The dismantling of the welfare state harmed the poor. The dismantling of unions harmed workers. And now, we’re seeing gilded age levels of wealth inequality, third-world levels of child poverty, and wages that haven’t increased in 30 years. Every succeeding president is guilty of continuing these policies, but Reagan is the patron saint of awful ideas, so he gets all of the blame.

It’s easy to destroy things. It’s hard to build them again, especially when you have an adversarial congress, like both Clinton and Obama did (one of them got impeached for no reason ffs).

[Doimper]

H.W.

[Associate Justice PiT]

The correct answer is Andrew Jackson, and it isn't even close. Easily among the worst presidents we have ever had, and yet rarely regarded as such by the public.

     The problem is that the average member of the voting public doesn't really know anything about politics from before they were born. Andrew Jackson permanently changed important aspects of government for the worse, but most people don't care since it was sufficiently long ago that they can't be bothered to be aware of it. Most people also don't realize that James Buchanan is by far the worst President we have ever suffered.

[Fuzzy Bear]

JFK.  More for the pop culture aspect than anything else.  He's kind of like a star QB whose career suddenly ended in his 3rd season; the body of work was limited.  I do think JFK would have been one of the best Presidents if he had been re-elected (likely).

Wilson is my second pick.  The reason I pick Wilson is that many people misunderstand what happened with the League of Nations treaty.

Wilson's arch-rival, Senate Majority Leader Henry Cabot Lodge (R-Massachusetts), SUPPORtED the ratification of the Treaty of Versailles and America's entry into the League of Nations, but with a number of reservations to the treaty, whereas Wilson insisted that the Treaty be ratified without reservations.

The Lodge Reservations were as follows:

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If this were Barack Obama, he would have accepted the Lodge Reservations and allowed the treaty to pass.  Wilson, however, was not Obama; he was a holier-than-thou and an elitist who held grudges, and Wilson hated Cabot Lodge more than any other politician.  Lodge knew this, and counted on it; he counted on Wilson to oppose his own treaty with the Lodge Reservations.  Wilson never got it through his head that his choice was between the Treaty with the Lodge Reservations, or no Treaty at all, and his argument that the Lodge Reservations nullified the treaty didn't really hold up.  

Wilson instructed the Senate Democrats to vote down the Treaty, and while a few of the more moderate and reasonable Democrats bolted, the majority of Democrats voted to reject the Treaty, leaving them short of the 2/3 needed for ratification.  Some of Wilson's stubbornness was made worse by his suffering a stroke during the process, but I believe, based on what I've read, that Wilson would have not shared his triumph with the hated Lodge if he had been healthy as a horse.  The failure of the US to enter the League of Nations was squarely Wilson's, and I can't justify the high rating he gets on that basis.

[dw93]

By Historians: Reagan, JFK, and Wilson in that order
By the Public/pop culture: Reagan, JFK, and up until 2 years ago, Bill Clinton
By Atlas: Obama, and ever since Trump got elected, George W. Bush

H.W.

Why???

[Catholics vs. Convicts]

I think Kennedy and Reagan make a lot of sense. With Kennedy tho, I think he could have reached his potential if he had lived. Its just that the idea of Kennedy changed America a lot more than he actually was able to as president.

[Absentee Voting Ghost of Ruin]

Trump, obviously.

He's still in office with an approval rating, instead of being impeached and jailed as flight risk while duty-mind law enforcement officers keep the mobs from breaking in and lynching him.

[Sir Mohamed]

Reagan, by far. He raised taxes on the middle class, gave giveaways to the rich, did not decrease government size and the cold war/USSR ended for various other reasons that had just little to do with the Reagan Administration specifically. Not to mention Iran Contra Affair, which was not better than Watergate.

JFK to some degree is overrated, too, I admit that. I also think Eisenhower is overrated. He was not bad, but not great either.

[RINO Tom]

Trump, obviously.

He's still in office with an approval rating, instead of being impeached and jailed as flight risk while duty-mind law enforcement officers keep the mobs from breaking in and lynching him.

Are you capable of talking about anything else?  LOL, at this point I expect you to bring Trump into threads about how you like your steak cooked.

Anyway:

By Historians: Jackson, Polk, Wilson, JFK
By the General Public: JFK, Reagan (though I still regard him as a very good President)
By Atlas: Arthur (LOL, remember that phase?), Carter, Obama

[OSR stands with Israel]

By Historians: Wilson , JFK

By General Public : JFK

By Atlas : Arthur , Carter

[President Johnson]

Yeah, Reagan and JFK for the reasons already written multiple times.

[Sprouts Farmers Market ✘]

Also in regards to the Obama discussion: he killed Bin Laden. For that reason alone he will be fondly thought of in the years to come. He’ll also have a long retirement to even further cement his legacy.

This was literally one of the worst moments of the Obama presidency that revealed him to be part of the establishment center. Extrajudicial killings are not something to be celebrated. Not that this stops him from being the best ever.

[#gravelgang #lessiglad]

JFK.  More for the pop culture aspect than anything else.  He's kind of like a star QB whose career suddenly ended in his 3rd season; the body of work was limited.  I do think JFK would have been one of the best Presidents if he had been re-elected (likely).

So what I'm hearing here is: JFK = Sandy Koufax?

[junior chįmp]

JFK (the entire Kennedy family is garbage)
Ford (he only pardoned Nixon to mitigate GOP losses in the upcoming elections)
Reagan (total garbage)
Clinton (devil incarnate)

[Peanut]

Agree with Reagan and JFK.

[darklordoftech]

Regan is literally one of the worst presidents this country has ever had. Literally bottom 5. The damage of his idiotic ideology is being felt almost two decades after his death and three after he left office, and yet he is deified and considered great by the public and bootlicking historians.

Also in regards to the Obama discussion: he killed Bin Laden. For that reason alone he will be fondly thought of in the years to come. He’ll also have a long retirement to even further cement his legacy.

I honestly think as we get more distance between his presidency and the present, he’ll become even more widely recognized as a good president, faced with an obstructionist congress run by some of history’s worst politicians.

You deem Obama’s administration a complete success on the basis of one foreign policy win, but you completely whitewash the fact that Reagan brought about the end of the Cold War.

I don’t know what this “damage of idiotic ideology” is that you’re speaking of, but we have had 16 years of Democratic rule since Reagan left office. If his policies are supposedly still damaging the country so much, wouldn’t that be more the fault of Clinton and Obama for not overturning them?

When you criticize Clinton, you're told that you should be blaming Reagan for forcing Clinton to the right. When you criticize Reagan, you're told that you should be blaming Clinton for going along with Reagan's ideas.

[Santander]

In chronological order: Lincoln, Kennedy, Reagan, Obama

[UncleSam]

FDR holy sh**t it’s not even close.

Dude regularly gets compared to Lincoln and Washington. He was not a bad president (he created some social programs that work and some that don’t) but he didn’t do much of anything for ten years to get America out of the depression and he got lucky that Hitler provided the necessary spurs for America to get into gear again.

JFK and Reagan are overrated too because JFK got shot and Reagan was a conservative with a fun personality which blew everyone’s minds.

Obama is overrated by Atlas and so is Eisenhower.