NationStates Jolt Archive

Whos that?

You leave out Lincoln in favour of Carter?

>_< D'OH i forgot him.....

Somewhat centred on the US, isn't it?

Who's the Fat president
That's got stuck in a tub
TAFT!
Ya damn right!

Who is the man that would risk his neck
For nobody
TAFT!
Can you dig it?

Who's the cat that nobody
know at all about?
TAFT!
Right On!

They say this cat Taft is a bad mother
SHUT YOUR MOUTH!
I'm talkin' 'bout Taft.
THEN WE CAN DIG IT!

He's a complicated man
But no one understands him but um- nobody
HOWARD TAFT!

Now that reminds me of something that I just never did get...

"He's a complicated man but no one understands him but his woman, John Shaft." the guy's old lady not only took his last name, she's got his first name too! Is that wierd or what? I mean, "do you John Shaft, take this woman, John Shaft..." ...assuming it was her maiden name, that is. But just hooking up with a lady named John, when your own name is also John, that has got to be wierd!

My choice for greatest of all time isnt' on the list.

Andrew Jackson

Tarja Halonen

Now that reminds me of something that I just never did get...

"He's a complicated man but no one understands him but his woman, John Shaft." the guy's old lady not only took his last name, she's got his first name too! Is that wierd or what? I mean, "do you John Shaft, take this woman, John Shaft..." ...assuming it was her maiden name, that is. But just hooking up with a lady named John, when your own name is also John, that has got to be wierd!

It was customary practice until a couple of decades ago in the UK to sometimes refer to Mr. John Shaft's wife as Mrs. John Shaft - possibly this is related to the form of address 'Mr & Mrs John Shaft'. I can't give a good answer, but such a form of refence is not without historical precedent.

FDR was #1 for the simple reasn that he was an experimenter who saw Hitler as a threat when no one else would bother. He used what he had to fight the Nazis when he didn't have a declaration of war, and it may have helped out. He wasn't afraid of failure a few times; he knew some of his ideas probably wouldn't work, and he was ready for that. Count his successes against his failures, and I would say the successes come way out ahead even if they need at least a little updating today. But it's hardly his fault we run outdated programs today.

GWB is dead last for the opposite reasons. He's hardly an experimenter; he's a man who will run the ball down the middle no matter how many times he gets stuffed. If FDR tried running the ball down the middle and got stuffed, he might try something different. GWB seems to think that only by running the ball down the middle will the U.S. get anywhere, and so far it hasn't. He is not an experimenter, and the "threat" he claimed to be a genius about wasn't really there (Saddam's WMDs.) And to think he lightened the load on Afghanistan just to pursue this pipe dream in Iraq. THis is Carter's mistake times twenty, and if Iraq goes quagmire on him, he's sunk.

No Thomas Jefferson either?

GWB is #1 for the simple reasn that he was an experimenter who saw terrorism as a threat when no one else would bother. He used what he had to fight the terrorists when he didn't have a declaration of war, and it may have helped out. He wasn't afraid of failure a few times; he knew some of his ideas probably wouldn't work, and he was ready for that. Count his successes against his failures, and I would say the successes come way out ahead even if they need at least a little updating today.

:p

Definitely Reagan for the last century. There really should be two polls, one for modern era Presidents (ie 1900's) and one for Presidents before then, because it's hard to compare people when 200 years separate them and the issues are quite separate. Anyway, I would vote Washington and Reagan.

Why though, do GW Bush and FDR have so many votes? Bush is definitly not the best President. FDR was even worse. He turned the USA into a Socialist state. He also purposely prolonged World War 2 almost another year, letting the Communists have much of Europe. The Germans offered to surrender just to the English and Americans in '44, in September as I remember. How many more lives were lost because of this?

FDR is thought of as great because of his "war on poverty".
All talk, no chalk.

We still have just as much poverty today, if not more.

But I guess his heart was in the right place....alot of good THAT did.
:rolleyes:

It was customary practice until a couple of decades ago in the UK to sometimes refer to Mr. John Shaft's wife as Mrs. John Shaft - possibly this is related to the form of address 'Mr & Mrs John Shaft'. I can't give a good answer, but such a form of refence is not without historical precedent.

I'm sorry... had you taken me seriously? :D

How about Teddy Roosevelt?

None of them :sniper:
Oki if i had to choose it will be Bill Clinton. :)

None of them :sniper:
Oki if i had to choose it will be Bill Clinton. :)

If Clinton was so great.....then can you give me just 1 major accomplishment that he had?
.....other than him been dragged kicking and screaming to sign the Republican's Welfare Reform bill.

I'd have to say Washington. He kept the nation together and out of war in our critical formulative years. He also paid down our monstrous debts from the war. I could also credit him, however, with being the father of America as an industrial power. He was a Federalist, the party that believed in good relations with Britain and a strong central government, but also the industrialization of America. It was in opposition to Thomas Jefferson, who believed in state's rights over the federal government, but also to put emphasis on farming. He was a Democrat-Republican, btw, where both modern political parties come from, though especially the Democrats.

Calvin Coolidge, the do-nothing president! do you recall hearing of anything bad happening in his reign?

What kind of morons voted for Bush?

GWB is #1 for the simple reasn that he was an experimenter who saw terrorism as a threat when no one else would bother. He used what he had to fight the terrorists when he didn't have a declaration of war, and it may have helped out. He wasn't afraid of failure a few times; he knew some of his ideas probably wouldn't work, and he was ready for that. Count his successes against his failures, and I would say the successes come way out ahead even if they need at least a little updating today.

GWB never fought terrorism until it was forced upon him. he was given a definative plan to get rid of al qaeda by the clinton administration, and yet he ignored it. it is all a matter of public record. the plan involved freezing al qaeda funds wherever they can be found, eliminating training camps, and putting special forces troops on the ground in afghanistan. this would have been done a year earlier, in time to stop the 9/11 attacks if clinton had gone ahead with his plan before handing over the oval office to bush, giving him a war instead of giving him that plan and trusting that bush would see the danger in allowing al qaeda to flourish. he instead disowned the plan because it was made by the clinton administration. he proceeded to ignore the terrorist problems until events overtook him and what clinton had warned about happened. i do not say that the attacks are his fault, i am just saying that the fact they were not prevented when they could have been was his fault.

GWB never fought terrorism until it was forced upon him. he was given a definative plan to get rid of al qaeda by the clinton administration, and yet he ignored it. it is all a matter of public record. the plan involved freezing al qaeda funds wherever they can be found, eliminating training camps, and putting special forces troops on the ground in afghanistan. this would have been done a year earlier, in time to stop the 9/11 attacks if clinton had gone ahead with his plan before handing over the oval office to bush, giving him a war instead of giving him that plan and trusting that bush would see the danger in allowing al qaeda to flourish. he instead disowned the plan because it was made by the clinton administration. he proceeded to ignore the terrorist problems until events overtook him and what clinton had warned about happened. i do not say that the attacks are his fault, i am just saying that the fact they were not prevented when they could have been was his fault.

As I recall, Bush gave $3 billion to the Taliban as reward for combating illegal opium cultivators.

i did not know he had done that. that turns me even more against bush. however, i dont know whether you are trying to rebutte my statement or support it. it seems like you are supporting it, but in a very strange manner.

As I recall, Bush gave $3 billion to the Taliban as reward for combating illegal opium cultivators.

And as we all know, them damn opium cultivators were ruining our lives.

The greatest American president would probably have to be Washington, because when offered to be king, he chose not to take the ring of power, but to share what he could have had with the people. Nowadays, if you were to offer Kingship to someone like Bush...

I won't go there.

i did not know he had done that. that turns me even more against bush. however, i dont know whether you are trying to rebutte my statement or support it. it seems like you are supporting it, but in a very strange manner.

I am supporting you by outlining the fact that perhaps a portion of that $3 billion probably went into Al Qaeda's pockets. Al Qaeda were at the time based rather securely and snugly in Afghanistan, Bush would have been very aware that Afghanistan supported these terrorists.

I'm going to have to go with my ever unlisted favorite

the one and only, tyranasourus Roosevelt

Oh yeah, Washington also was a hemp farmer, or Marijuana farmer, depending on which term you like more. Now thats a president.

Personally, I like the term pot farmer best.

Good god, out of all those Presidents, Washington was the best one there.

Where's good ol Jackson and Lincoln? Oh...but I see Carter there...

meh *shrug*


At least Washington kicked British ass, eh? No offense Brits.

Good god, out of all those Presidents, Washington was the best one there.

Where's good ol Jackson and Lincoln? Oh...but I see Carter there...

meh *shrug*


At least Washington kicked British ass, eh? No offense Brits.

Yeah, Lincoln was one of the best, and Carter won a Nobel Peace prize, so he must've done something right. I personally think that any president that wins a nobel prize has to be in at least the top 5.

Hemp was grown for use as a fiber, not for getting high. 18th century statesmen would have no more use nor respect for potheads and pothead culture than do 21st century statesmen.

Including duds like Carter, Clinton, and Bush as choices is useful, as it allows you to determine the polls MIR. (Margin of Idiots Responding.) Clinton is comedic relief trailer trash who accomplished absolutely nothing, Bush is a mediocre if well meaning figurehead who is noteworthy only for having an eventful watch, and Carter is a good choice for the worst leader in US history.

Reagan wasn't bad, but having utter duds for 20 years on both sides of his Presidency does alot to make him look good.

I picked Washington, and if you read history you would too.

Hemp was grown for use as a fiber, not for getting high. 18th century statesmen would have no more use nor respect for potheads and pothead culture than do 21st century statesmen.

Including duds like Carter, Clinton, and Bush as choices is useful, as it allows you to determine the polls MIR. (Margin of Idiots Responding.) Clinton is comedic relief trailer trash who accomplished absolutely nothing, Bush is a mediocre if well meaning figurehead who is noteworthy only for having an eventful watch, and Carter is a good choice for the worst leader in US history.

Reagan wasn't bad, but having utter duds for 20 years on both sides of his Presidency does alot to make him look good.

I picked Washington, and if you read history you would too.

Actually, I'm pretty confident marijuana has been smoked for a lot longer than 100 years, as a matter of fact, I feel pretty confident that 18th century statesmen did in fact "get high" just as they "got drunk." If a plant does something to you now, it probably isn't some sudden evolution, yes growing procedures have changed to make it more potent, but the fact is people smoked it then just as they do now.

You'll also note that I picked Washington, and that you can't take a joke.

Oh yeah, HEMP was grown industrially as a fiber, and then there were more tropical, exotic plants that had their flowers imported and whatnot, so they could use tea. No the statesmen might not have smoked it actually, what they probably did was make tea. But, that still gets you high.

Nice to see so many people voted for Roosevelt :)

Hemp was grown for use as a fiber, not for getting high. 18th century statesmen would have no more use nor respect for potheads and pothead culture than do 21st century statesmen.

Including duds like Carter, Clinton, and Bush as choices is useful, as it allows you to determine the polls MIR. (Margin of Idiots Responding.) Clinton is comedic relief trailer trash who accomplished absolutely nothing, Bush is a mediocre if well meaning figurehead who is noteworthy only for having an eventful watch, and Carter is a good choice for the worst leader in US history.

Reagan wasn't bad, but having utter duds for 20 years on both sides of his Presidency does alot to make him look good.

I picked Washington, and if you read history you would too.

Wasn't Reagan the guy who wasted tax money on nukes and went against international law by selling arms to the Iranians?

I agree with the person who said that there should be two polls: one for presidents before 1900, and one for the presidents since. Before 1900, I'd have to go with Jefferson. After 1900, FDR all the way.

Calvin Coolidge, the do-nothing president! do you recall hearing of anything bad happening in his reign?

Coolidge was great. He just played golf and left everyone alone.


"Collecting more taxes than is absolutely necessary is legalized robbery. "

"Civilization and profits go hand in hand."

Calvin Coolidge

GWB is #1 for the simple reasn that he was an experimenter who saw terrorism as a threat when no one else would bother. He used what he had to fight the terrorists when he didn't have a declaration of war, and it may have helped out. He wasn't afraid of failure a few times; he knew some of his ideas probably wouldn't work, and he was ready for that. Count his successes against his failures, and I would say the successes come way out ahead even if they need at least a little updating today.

:p

If GWB is an experimenter, I will eat my shoe. I also don't see that he was fighting terrorists before 9/11; not too many people in the U.S. were. Some people in the FBI/CIA come to mind, but not anyone in GWB's cabinet; they wanted Iraq.

And if GWB's programs already need updating, he didn't plan worth a damn.

And if you put any more thought into your reply to my post than I did into eating lunch today...and let's just say all I had to eat all day until an hour ago was a couple of cookies...then you might be able to come up with something half-decent.

No Teddy Roosevelt? The man gave a speech while still bleeding after being shot by an attempted assassin. He also founded the National Park system. This was way back when Republicans were respectable.

Jefferson has got to be #1 overall, as he was the only polymath president. If only we had gentlemen like him and Benjamin Franklin around today. Brilliant, learned in multiple disciplines, and dedicated humanists.

You know what I think would improve Presidential elections? A "none of the above" spot. If a plurality vote that way, both (or all) candidates should be barred from becoming president. Primaries could be conducted the same way.

My choice for greatest of all time isnt' on the list.

Andrew Jackson


Jackson was a mass murdering fuck.

George Washington.

Jackson was a mass murdering fuck.

yea. i was about to say andrew jackson was a horrible president. he killed a lot of native americans, a lot. my vote goes to washington. he handed over power when it was needed and that set the standard for today. also...whiskey rebellion anyone?

yea. i was about to say andrew jackson was a horrible president. he killed a lot of native americans, a lot. my vote goes to washington. he handed over power when it was needed and that set the standard for today. also...whiskey rebellion anyone?


Damn Right.

"The onlu good indian, is a DEAD one, and Im dedicated to the principle of a lot of dead indians."
-Andrew Jackson.

Calvin Coolidge, the do-nothing president! do you recall hearing of anything bad happening in his reign?
Warren G Harding and Calvin Coolidge caused the Great Depression.

FDR is by far the worst on that list. All his socialist programs (which are still with us today, unfortunately) caused the unemployment to just go UP during the depression. We had the most unemployment in this country in 1940. His programs never worked.

He had to drag us into a World War to hit the reset button. Yeah, great president. Right.