Atlas ranks the presidents -- week 9 (WORST OF THE WORST) (user search)
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  Atlas ranks the presidents -- week 9 (WORST OF THE WORST) (search mode)
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Author Topic: Atlas ranks the presidents -- week 9 (WORST OF THE WORST)  (Read 9622 times)
Alcibiades
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Political Matrix
E: -4.39, S: -6.96

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« on: July 19, 2020, 03:46:31 AM »

1. Abraham Lincoln
2. Ulysses S. Grant
3. Zachary Taylor
4. Millard Fillmore
5. James K. Polk
6. William Henry Harrison
7. John Tyler
8. Franklin Pierce
9. James Buchanan
10. Andrew Johnson
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Alcibiades
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Posts: 3,851
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Political Matrix
E: -4.39, S: -6.96

P P
« Reply #1 on: July 27, 2020, 06:05:36 AM »

1. Theodore Roosevelt
2. James A. Garfield
3. Benjamin Harrison
4. Chester A. Arthur
5. Rutherford B. Hayes
6. William Howard Taft
7. Grover Cleveland
8. William McKinley
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Alcibiades
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Posts: 3,851
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Political Matrix
E: -4.39, S: -6.96

P P
« Reply #2 on: July 27, 2020, 01:04:33 PM »

Where is this fiction coming from that Rutherford B. Hayes literally ended Reconstruction? Yeah, he got to be president instead of Tilden, and that ended Reconstruction, but the hard negotiating that went on and how it went down had almost nothing to deal with Hayes the individual. To put in Alfred Hitchcock terms Hayes was the MacGuffin in the episode. President was important but Congress called the shots in this era, the president was not someone that can rule by dictate and his party would follow lockstep behind him.

Exactly. Hayes had his hands tied by a Democratic Congress and enthusiasm for Reconstruction was waning among Republicans. Hayes personally was, by the standards of the time, a fairly strong supporter of civil rights. Reconstruction would have ended under pretty much any president at the time.
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Alcibiades
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Posts: 3,851
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Political Matrix
E: -4.39, S: -6.96

P P
« Reply #3 on: August 05, 2020, 04:00:54 AM »
« Edited: August 05, 2020, 04:04:00 AM by Alcibiades »

1. Franklin D. Roosevelt
2. Lyndon B. Johnson
3. Dwight Eisenhower
4. Harry Truman
5. John F. Kennedy
6. Woodrow Wilson
7. Calvin Coolidge
8. Herbert Hoover
9. Warren Harding

FDR to LBJ was the greatest run of Presidents in American history. FDR and LBJ are both in my top 3, and Eisenhower, Truman and JFK in my top 10.
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Alcibiades
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Posts: 3,851
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Political Matrix
E: -4.39, S: -6.96

P P
« Reply #4 on: August 05, 2020, 01:02:29 PM »

8. Lyndon B. Johnson (D-TX) - I am of the camp that LBJ was a complete opportunist and find the rewriting of his civil rights attitudes by historians to be wishful thinking ... that said, the guy signed the CRA and VRA, so props.

I’m sorry, how is this true? All his advisors told him not push for civil rights legislation, as it was a waste of political capital which would have negative electoral results. He did it because he had a genuine belief in racial equality. His only competition in doing more to advance this is Lincoln.
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Alcibiades
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Posts: 3,851
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Political Matrix
E: -4.39, S: -6.96

P P
« Reply #5 on: August 05, 2020, 03:27:27 PM »

8. Lyndon B. Johnson (D-TX) - I am of the camp that LBJ was a complete opportunist and find the rewriting of his civil rights attitudes by historians to be wishful thinking ... that said, the guy signed the CRA and VRA, so props.

I’m sorry, how is this true? All his advisors told him not push for civil rights legislation, as it was a waste of political capital which would have negative electoral results. He did it because he had a genuine belief in racial equality. His only competition in doing more to advance this is Lincoln.

There are plenty of stories from his contemporaries of him playing the "good cop" on civil rights while other Democratic Senators played the "bad cop," effectively watering down the civil rights legislation of the 1950s, not to mention his infamous "I'll have those n*ggers voting Democratic for 200 years" quote, which always initiates an irate refutation from Democratic partisans, but I have zero reason not to believe he said that.  I think by LBJ's Presidency, it was more than apparent which way the winds were blowing, and the South was really starting to crack for the Democrats, while the votes of Northern Blacks (which had been reliably Democratic for decades at this point) were absolutely essential to the Northern urban support the party relied on for both Congress and the Presidency.  Again, I give the man credit for signing the laws and pushing for them, but it's just odd to me that Democrats have tried to paint him as this truly altruistic man who took a huge political risk ... I'd argue the bigger risk would be kicking the can down the road another ten years and possibly alienating Northern Black voters.  His early career involved opposing civil rights legislation and then supporting watered down versions in the 1950s.  I don't know why it's so controversial that a man born in rural Texas who entered Congress as a segregationist *MIGHT* have been a bit personally racist and seen some political capital in solidifying the Black support that was now absolutely essential for Democrats to win the Northern states necessary to win the White House...

LBJ was a complex and flawed man, insatiably ambitious and craving power. But he appeared to have a genuine belief in social and racial justice, inspired by his religiosity and experience growing up in the Depression. I also have no reason to doubt the infamous n-word comment, but it in no way shows he is racist. The word was one he grew up with and he was known for off-colour language. He is acknowledging the political upside to a bill which carried arguably more considerably downside in that regard.
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Alcibiades
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Posts: 3,851
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Political Matrix
E: -4.39, S: -6.96

P P
« Reply #6 on: August 09, 2020, 04:20:41 PM »

1. Barack Obama
2. Bill Clinton
3. Jimmy Carter
4. George H.W. Bush
5. Gerald Ford
6. Richard Nixon
7. George W. Bush
8. Ronald Reagan
9. Donald Trump

I realise my ranking of Reagan below W is controversial, so let me explain. Dubya was, in my mind, a bumbling idiot, but at heart a decent man. Reagan on the other hand, represents the moral vacuum at the heart of conservatism. First there are the economic policies; it is immeditaely a red flag when someone raises military spending but cuts social spending, revealing a fundamental worship of authority and lack of compassion. Reaganomics caused far more long-term damage to the US than anything W ever did. Then there are the scandals (like actual corruption, not just being sucked off by an intern). Finally, perhaps most unforgivably are the corrosive social policies, in particular the politically motivated ignorance of the AIDs epidemic, having sold his soul to the Religious Right. And don’t forget the “States’ Rights” speech in the county where the Freedom Summer murders happened. Also, he concealed behind the charismatic, humourous facade a complete lack of attention to detail and true leadership.

These rankings are always hard. Carter’s term was not successful, but he restored integrity to the office, and he is a great humanitarian. Nixon was the opposite.
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Alcibiades
YaBB God
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Posts: 3,851
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Political Matrix
E: -4.39, S: -6.96

P P
« Reply #7 on: August 16, 2020, 12:29:11 PM »
« Edited: August 16, 2020, 12:34:47 PM by Alcibiades »

1. Franklin D. Roosevelt
2. Abraham Lincoln
3. Lyndon B. Johnson
4. George Washington
5. Theodore Roosevelt
6. Dwight Eisenhower
7. Barack Obama
8. Harry Truman
9. Bill Clinton
10. Ulysses S. Grant
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Alcibiades
YaBB God
*****
Posts: 3,851
United Kingdom


Political Matrix
E: -4.39, S: -6.96

P P
« Reply #8 on: August 20, 2020, 04:05:37 PM »

Imagine thinking it is possible to have an "objective" opinion of Ronald Reagan less than twenty years after the man died. This entire exercise is arbitrary and silly (though enjoyable), so I don't know why some people are pretending there is an inherently correct order outside of maybe the top three.

I mean, agree to disagree.

Really the only way you can judge Reagan at the moment is on ideological grounds: do you think his social and economic policies were beneficial or detrimental to the USA? Stuff about “leadership” is vague and wishy-washy; the main way good leadership manifests itself is through imaginative and effective policy, which I would argue Reagan did not have.
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Alcibiades
YaBB God
*****
Posts: 3,851
United Kingdom


Political Matrix
E: -4.39, S: -6.96

P P
« Reply #9 on: August 23, 2020, 03:30:03 AM »

1. Bill Clinton
2. James Monroe
3. James Madison
4. John F. Kennedy
5. Woodrow Wilson
6. John Adams
7. John Quincy Adans
8. Jimmy Carter
9. George H.W. Bush
10. James A. Garfield
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Alcibiades
YaBB God
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Posts: 3,851
United Kingdom


Political Matrix
E: -4.39, S: -6.96

P P
« Reply #10 on: August 28, 2020, 02:10:02 PM »

1. Reagan
2. HW Bush
3. Clinton
4. W Bush
5. Ford
6. Carter
7. Nixon
8. Obama

Trump isn’t ranked due to being in office currently but if he was counted he’d be between Reagan and HW

Obama (IMO 2nd worst President of all time Wilson being worst) is lower than Nixon because Obama’s negative stance towards Israel. Nixon while corrupt and a progressive, stood with Israel at a critical time.
lol.

Also funny that being only generally supportive of one random foreign country is apparently more damaging than a President’s standing than causing long-term harm to people’s trust in government and accountability of politicians.
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Alcibiades
YaBB God
*****
Posts: 3,851
United Kingdom


Political Matrix
E: -4.39, S: -6.96

P P
« Reply #11 on: September 06, 2020, 09:35:53 AM »

1. Woodrow Wilson
2. James Garfield
3. Gerald Ford
4. Benjamin Harrison
5. Chester A. Arthur
6. Richard Nixon
7. Millard Fillmore
8. Andrew Jackson
9. James K. Polk
10. Rutherford B. Hayes
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Alcibiades
YaBB God
*****
Posts: 3,851
United Kingdom


Political Matrix
E: -4.39, S: -6.96

P P
« Reply #12 on: September 10, 2020, 12:08:16 PM »

1. Benjamin Harrison
2. Richard Nixon
3. Millard Fillmore
4. Andrew Jackson
5. William Henry Harrison
6. Martin Van Buren
7. George W. Bush
8. Herbert Hoover
9. John Tyler
10. Franklin Pierce
11. Warren Harding
12. James Buchanan
13. Andrew Johnson
14. Donald Trump
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Alcibiades
YaBB God
*****
Posts: 3,851
United Kingdom


Political Matrix
E: -4.39, S: -6.96

P P
« Reply #13 on: October 19, 2020, 05:05:17 PM »
« Edited: October 19, 2020, 05:51:34 PM by Alcibiades »


He was one of the most corrupt and incompetent presidents of all time, a self-admitted unqualified simpleton:

Quote
“I am not fit for this office and should never have been here.”

Also, like all the Republican presidents of the 20s with their short-sighted economic policies, he must shoulder a share of the blame for the Great Depression.
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