NationStates Jolt Archive

Which US Presidents of the 20th Century would you say were good? Keep in mind that George W. Bush is not a 20th Century President.

Here is my list:

Calvin Coolidge

Cool.

You forgot Teddy Roosevelt!!!!!

Which US Presidents of the 20th Century would you say were good? Keep in mind that George W. Bush is not a 20th Century President.

Here is my list:

Calvin Coolidge

I'd say Woodrow Wilson, in that he had great ideas, but I'd kinda say not because he ended up losing for the Treaty of Versailles...

Which US Presidents of the 20th Century would you say were good? Keep in mind that George W. Bush is not a 20th Century President.

Here is my list:

Calvin Coolidge

Except for ignoring signs of the looming economic crisis, then yes.

Nixon did very well on the foreign policy front before divulging into CREEP.

Good? That's a fairly low bar to clear.

Teddy Roosevelt, if only for his environmental stances.

FDR--he changed the course of the US, and for the better in my opinion

Ike--if only for the warning about the military-industrial complex. Too bad we didn't listen to him.

JFK--Generally overrated, but it's hard to beat defusing nuclear war during the Cuban Missile Crisis. If he'd let the generals have their way, we might be living in a far different world. Or not living at all. Plus, he was big on space.

Carter--This will no doubt get some derision, but he put Volcker in charge of the Fed, and forced the country to take the economic medicine that LBJ and Nixon had been delaying. He gets little credit, but he's as responsible for the booms of the last 25 years as anyone.

Clinton--if only for the fiscal discipline he forced on his own party. I'm ambivalent about a lot of his policies, but he was the right man for the times.

Honorable mention--Poppy Bush. He wasn't a douchebag, though he raised a family of them. He knew better than to invade Iraq, and was unfairly pilloried for it. His son has proven him correct on that score.

I really want to put LBJ on this list for his push into space and for the war on poverty, and his civil rights legislation, all of which were successful (some more than others), but Vietnam and the damage he did to the economy just outweigh it by too much for me to give it to him.

Except for ignoring signs of the looming economic crisis, then yes.

Nixon did very well on the foreign policy front before divulging into CREEP.

Yeah, Coolidge should've laid off the fractional reserve pyramiding. But hey, no one's perfect. And I'm not particularly fond of the fact that half of the soldiers on the Vietnam Memorial were put there under his administration.

T Roosevelt for starting conservation

FDR for war policy

Truman for guts

Carter for energy policy

Calvin Coolidge is probably my favorite; honestly, things were all around very good during his presidency. The economy boomed, disposable incomes soared, America became the world's economic and technological powerhouse, and we were at peace with no real overseas commitments.

FDR was good as a leader in WWII, and Eisenhower gave a solid performance.

Honorable mention--Poppy Bush. He wasn't a douchebag, though he raised a family of them.
Actually, he was a douche. He said Atheists should not be considered citizens of the US. Unless you agree with him, I am sure you could agree he is a douche.

Which US Presidents of the 20th Century would you say were good? Keep in mind that George W. Bush is not a 20th Century President.

Here is my list:

Calvin Coolidge

My list is the same.

None. I hate them all.

Edit: Maybe Jimmy Carter.

Honorable mention--Poppy Bush. He wasn't a douchebag, though he raised a family of them..

Poppy had terrible choice in friends.

Good:

Woodrow Wilson - Knew what to do after WWI, but Europe wouldn't listen

FDR (although I flinch to put him here) - Got us through the Great Depression in one piece. Did well with WWII, even if he did fuck up at Yalta.

Eisenhower - Ended Korea, Built Highways, warned of M-I Complex.

Those'll be the three history remembers positively. The rest will just be details.

My list is the same.

Welcome to the Coolidge club. :D

Welcome to the Coolidge club. :D

Yay! Do I get a T-shirt? :)

I agree with Coolidge, and both Roosevelts. I'd also put in Gerald Ford - he actually did a lot of good, even if he tended to be quiet about it. A fair bit of the economic reform that Carter continued started under Ford.

The best three were Teddy, Truman, and Ike.

I don't know why so many of you like Wilson. He was an utterly irredeamable racist and anti-semite. His inability to convince congress to enter the League of Nations was a major failure that helped lay the ground work for WW II and the Nazis. (He could have got the Senate on board if he'd listened to their concerns regarding declarations of war.) But his worst points were establishing the presidency as a moral example and soapbox, and setting the US on an idealistic foreign policy course that has gotten the US into more trouble than just about anything else.

Truman

McKinley...but only because he was killed by an anarchist. :p

I don't know why so many of you like Wilson. He was an utterly irredeamable racist and anti-semite. His inability to convince congress to enter the League of Nations was a major failure that helped lay the ground work for WW II and the Nazis. (He could have got the Senate on board if he'd listened to their concerns regarding declarations of war.) But his worst points were establishing the presidency as a moral example and soapbox, and setting the US on an idealistic foreign policy course that has gotten the US into more trouble than just about anything else.

So was Thomas Jefferson. So was George Washington. We have to view these people in the context of their own time. Wilson's failure with the League of Nations was his fault. However, the fault for WWII does not fall on Wilson's shoulders, it falls on the shoulders of the European powers who did not embrace his 14 points, and instead opted for revenge and moral self-satisfaction.

I like FDR and Jimmy Carter.

Teddy. Coolidge. FDR. Ike. Kennedy. LBJ. Ford and Carter.

That's about it. Honorable mentions go to Nixon, Clinton and the first Bush.

Reagan, Nixon (Before watergate).

Congrats for Carter for creating massive Crime rates, massive inflation, and a sucky economy...

Reagan, Nixon (Before watergate).


May I ask why?

I'm not criticizing your choice, just curious.

The best three were Teddy, Truman, and Ike.


Amen to that!

I'd say:

Wilson
F.D.Roosevelt
Eisenhower
Clinton

Reagan. By no means perfect, but the best of a bunch of morons. Clinton, Eisenhower and Coolidge weren't too bad either. I wonder whether the next one will outdo any of them.

Actually, he was a douche. He said Atheists should not be considered citizens of the US. Unless you agree with him, I am sure you could agree he is a douche.

Poppy had terrible choice in friends.

No one is perfect, and he didn't make the low bar set for "good presidents." Maybe it's that he isn't a douche in comparison to his kids.

I don't know why so many of you like Wilson. He was an utterly irredeamable racist and anti-semite.

THANK YOU! Wilson was an evil man. When Japan proposed an anti-racism resolution in the League of Nations, Wilson opposed it. Along with Britain, which was subjugating the non-white peoples of the world.

I don't know why so many of you like Wilson. He was an utterly irredeamable racist and anti-semite. His inability to convince congress to enter the League of Nations was a major failure that helped lay the ground work for WW II and the Nazis. (He could have got the Senate on board if he'd listened to their concerns regarding declarations of war.) But his worst points were establishing the presidency as a moral example and soapbox, and setting the US on an idealistic foreign policy course that has gotten the US into more trouble than just about anything else.
I agree. As far as I am concerned he is one of the worst.

THANK YOU! Wilson was an evil man. When Japan proposed an anti-racism resolution in the League of Nations, Wilson opposed it. Along with Britain, which was subjugating the non-white peoples of the world.
Iin other words, he was a man of his times. That's not meant to excuse him or to say that he's worthy of praise--just to acknowledge that you can't fully judge him by contemporary standards.

Reagan. By no means perfect, but the best of a bunch of morons. Clinton, Eisenhower and Coolidge weren't too bad either. I wonder whether the next one will outdo any of them.

How was he good? He didn't set up any type of plans to stop the crack or AIDS epidemics, trickle down economics is a bunch of BS, and the whole thing with supporting right wing dictators in Latin America. Oh there is soooo much more about him. He is among the worst presidents.

How was he good? He didn't set up any type of plans to stop the crack or AIDS epidemics, trickle down economics is a bunch of BS, and the whole thing with supporting right wing dictators in Latin America. Oh there is soooo much more about him. He is among the worst presidents.
Hey, I never said the guy was perfect (look at my post). He just compared somewhat favourably to the rest of the morons who've run the country. I suppose Eisenhower is better overall though.

Hey, I never said the guy was perfect (look at my post). He just compared somewhat favourably to the rest of the morons who've run the country. I suppose Eisenhower is better overall though.

I still say Clinton was the best Republican president of the 20th century. ;)

I still say Clinton was the best Republican president of the 20th century. ;)

The only thing that prevented me from trying to contradict you was the last minute realisation that Republicans raise taxes too.
Clinton I guess did what he had to do to ensure that at least some legislation would get passed with a Republican dominated Congress. Personally I was a huge fan of Newt Gingrich until he over-reached with impeachment.

Teddy Roosevelt.

Search for his stump on immigration...the answer before the question.

Good:

Woodrow Wilson - Knew what to do after WWI, but Europe wouldn't listen

FDR (although I flinch to put him here) - Got us through the Great Depression in one piece. Did well with WWII, even if he did fuck up at Yalta.

Eisenhower - Ended Korea, Built Highways, warned of M-I Complex.

Those'll be the three history remembers positively. The rest will just be details.

France wouldn't listen.
Big difference.

In any case, Wilson's ideas for the Treaty of Versailles were, on the whole, far too idealistic to actually work in reality. The original British stance was probably the best; a sort of hazy middle ground.

My "good" list for the 20th century:
Theodore Roosevelt
Woodrow Wilson
Franklin D. Roosevelt
Harry S Truman
Dwight D. Eisenhower

And it stops there. The last 40 years of the century kind of depress me.

I'll add that Ronald Reagan was an extremely effective president, if one measures "effectiveness" by the ability to get one's policies enacted. I don't like his policies, but I have to admit he was damned good at getting them passed. He changed the course of American politics, for better or worse.

My "good" list for the 21st century is currently empty. Hopefully that will change in a couple of years. We'll see.

This thread should be titled, "The Good US Presidents of the 20th Century", I'm even willing to accept "The Good American Presidents of the 20th Century".

Not all good or bad presidents during the 20th century were american. Other countries were republics and democracies back then. A slip, perhaps?

Hmmm...

FDR for sure, what with the various Alphabet Agencies as well as other measures to get people out of the Hoovervilles and back to work.

Clinton, other than the stuff in Africa, was a fairly good president.

Don't really know about many presidents of the US, so I'm probably not a very good person to answer this question.

*edits*

And Wilhelm Pieck. Shame that the DDR was led by some less excellent people afterwards, really.

France wouldn't listen.
Big difference.

In any case, Wilson's ideas for the Treaty of Versailles were, on the whole, far too idealistic to actually work in reality. The original British stance was probably the best; a sort of hazy middle ground.
Well, I'd say that's true as far as disarmament is concerned, but most of the fourteen points were by no means unachievable when they were first made. After all, we have points 3 and 14 - free trade and an 'association of nations' which have been running successfully in Europe since WWII. We have freedom of the seas beyond territorial waters.

The points on what to do in Eastern Europe got muddier after Austria-Hungary collapsed (Wilson wanted it to continue) but states like Poland and Czechoslovakia survived until the German invasion.

I love Presidential history discussions. Why don't i go through some of them and give my opinions!

Teddy Roosevelt (Republican,'01-'09)
He was Rascist which sadly wasn't uncommon in those days but that doesn't make it ok. I have very strong respect for him as he was the 1st President to seriously think about environmental conversation which even up until a few years ago wasn't taken seriously by a lot of the public. Panama canal was another positive thing he did.

What makes him look a little bad in my eyes is the whole great white fleet thing which in my opinion was a waste of money to make him look good in the closing months of his Presidency. All in all he was a good President.

Warren Harding (Republican,'21-'23)
The worst President in history. George W. Bush, Nixon, noone comes close to him in terms of being horrible horrible Presidents. Any decent ideas he had he was too scared to push because he didn't want to make any enemies. His Attornel General was corrupt,as i'm sure many others in his administration, possible even he was. The Teapot Dome scandal, which Harding did nothing to stop.

His numerous mistakes when speaking are laughable to. At least (hopefully) Bushs mistakes are unintentional. Harding made mistakes, was told about them, then kept doing it because he liked the sound of his made up words.

In closing, worst president ever.

Franklin Roosevelt(Democrat,'33-'45)
Took the country out of the recession. Showed strong leadership during the War.

In my opinion, the greatest President ever.

John Kennedy(Democrat,'61-'63)
Cuban missile crisies. He and his administration stopped a nuclear war and politiclly smashed Kruschev. Had the vision to set the groundwork for winning the space race. Sounded like an idiot when he said we'd be in space by the end of the decade, and we got there.

He made a mistake in Vietnam but was pulling out as soon as he saw it was a mistake. Which is more then can be said about Bush. Sadly he died before he could pull out and the idiot that followed him as President cancelled the withdraw orders and instead escalated it into a full blown war.

The civil rights acts and most of LJB's good things came from him.

A good president.

Lyndon Johnson(Democrat,'63-'69)
I hold him personally responsible for the Vietnam war. As i said earlier, Vietnam should have ended at the latest by '64, but instead because of this President it turned into a full blown war that lasted over a decade and cost thousands and thousands of our soldiers to needlessly die.

Most of the civil rights acts that he gets the credit for were from Kennedy.

In my opinion Johnson was worse then Bush.

Richard Nixon(Republican,'69-'74)
Wasn't completely evil. He did have some good points which a lot of people today don't know about. He did open up relations with China, he did finish Vietnam. But nothing balances out Watergate. He disgraced the country, he disgraced the title of President.

Because of Watergate he is the second worst President of the 20th century.

Warren Harding (Republican,'21-'23)
The worst President in history. George W. Bush, Nixon, noone comes close to him in terms of being horrible horrible Presidents. Any decent ideas he had he was too scared to push because he didn't want to make any enemies. His Attornel General was corrupt,as i'm sure many others in his administration, possible even he was. The Teapot Dome scandal, which Harding did nothing to stop.

His numerous mistakes when speaking are laughable to. At least (hopefully) Bushs mistakes are unintentional. Harding made mistakes, was told about them, then kept doing it because he liked the sound of his made up words.

How was Harding the worst President? How many countries did he bomb? How many Americans did he get killed? How badly did he screw over the economy? How much did he expand the government, or restrict civil liberties?

Granted, the man was not a saint, but he was nowhere near the worst, not even in the bottom 10.

The best pres. would be TR all the way because he had an awsome policy for war and the envoriment. He is the perfect blend of strengh and compassion and i wish every pres was like him and there was another pres like him Regan. So Regan is #2 because he was like TR.
For those of you that pick FDR I think he was the worst of them all because he like tripled the size of the government which is the reason we have such a crappy government today.

Yay! Do I get a T-shirt? :)

You get an e-shirt.

http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o310/Greill/kewlidge.jpg

Reagan. By no means perfect, but the best of a bunch of morons. Clinton, Eisenhower and Coolidge weren't too bad either. I wonder whether the next one will outdo any of them.

Reagan wasn't that great at taxes (he balanced out decreases in marginal rates with "closing loopholes" that increased taxes on many Americans, not to mention he made the tax code absolutely incomprehensible), he increased regulation in the stock market and agriculture, made the debt and deficits spiral out of control, brought up barriers of trade between the US and Japan along with other places, and on and on and on. Coolidge made sure that almost no one paid income taxes and kept low tariffs, as well as paid down the public debt.

How was Harding the worst President? How many countries did he bomb? How many Americans did he get killed? How badly did he screw over the economy? How much did he expand the government, or restrict civil liberties?

Granted, the man was not a saint, but he was nowhere near the worst, not even in the bottom 10.

Ah, but you HAVE to bomb the crap out of everyone and make monuments to your own hubris if you're going to be a great president.

True to form, I don't like any of the presidents of the 20th century all that well.

Teddy was an imperialist, and advocated progressive policies not out of any genuine humanitarian urge but to stop genuine social change.

Taft was corrupt and ineffective.

Wilson was practically a fascist with his Espionage Acts, and entered the US into WWI to, in the words of the Onion, "make the world safe for corporate oligarchy."

Calvin Coolidge presided over the massively growing social inequalities of the 1920s and helped many a boss smash a union.

Hoover practically twiddled his thumbs when the depression started.

FDR was another reactionary progressive, and his policies were borderline corporatist. The internment of Japanese-Americans was inexcusable.

Truman's hubris lead to the dropping of the atom bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and his bombing campaigns devastated the Korean people.

Eisenhower may have warned about the M-I complex (and resisted his advisor's plans to do a nuclear first strike on the USSR) but he overthrow the democratically elected Iranian government and installed the Shah.

Kennedy accelerated the Cold War with this insistence on a non-existent missile gap. Had he not insisted on building 1000 minuteman missiles, there could have been a reasonable detente and perhaps end of the Cold War. Khrushchev only moved missiles to Cuba to counterbalance American missiles in Turkey and the growing US arms lead.

Johnson is responsible for the start of the Second Indochina war and the resulting genocide of the Vietnamese people. Not to mention he presided over J. Edgar Hoover's COINTELPRO.

Nixon continued said genocide, and had the Watergate scandal.

Ford pardoned Nixon.

Carter helped instigate the Afghanistan conflict, and began giving aid to the deposed Khmer Rouge with the hopes of destabilizing the newly installed Vietnamese puppet.

Reagan gave us Voodoo economics, a massive increase in deficits, accelerated the Cold War, Star Wars, Iran-Contra, deregulation and the list goes on.

G.H.W. Bush started these ridiculous volunteering programs, slashed welfare spending and generally did nothing useful.

Clinton caved in, gave us neo-liberalism and had an affair on his wife all the while bombing Yugoslavia back to the Third World and instigating the forced deportation of the Albanians.

Hoover practically twiddled his thumbs when the depression started.

That's one of the most enduring myths about Hoover, and it's completely false. This myth has been thoroughly and irrefutably demolished by, among others, Murray Rothbard in his America's Great Depression.

You get an e-shirt.

http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o310/Greill/kewlidge.jpg

Yay! :D

Ah, but you HAVE to bomb the crap out of everyone and make monuments to your own hubris if you're going to be a great president.

Oh, right, I forgot. :p

No one is perfect, and he didn't make the low bar set for "good presidents." Maybe it's that he isn't a douche in comparison to his kids.

He was a personal friend of Mobutu Sese Seko, of whom he said, "I have come to appreciate the dynamism that is so characteristic of Zaire and Zairians and to respect your dedication to fairness and reason. I have come to admire, Mr. President, your personal courage and leadership in Africa."

Theodore Roosevelt
Ronald Reagan :)