Author Topic: Last good Democrat Pres? (Read 1248 times)

nw_hunter · « **on:** May 19, 2009, 05:12:25 AM »

I like this by Kennedy!

John Kennedy once said to a assembled group of
scholars in the White House, "I think this is the most
extraordinary collection of talent, of human knowledge, that
has ever been gathered at the White House - with the
possible exception of when Thomas Jefferson dined
alone. ................................................................."AMEN" Mr Kennedy!

ironglow · « **Reply #1 on:** May 19, 2009, 05:30:35 AM »

Sorry, I must disagree..the last great Dem prez was Harry Truman..even though JFK was the first pres I ever voted for. Still, HST was the only great Dem prez of the 20th century. The only great presidents of the 20th century were Reagan & Truman ..in that order.
JFK was not that outstanding..confronted the USSR when he had no other choice. Where he did have a choice..at the Bay of Pigs..he abandoned thousands who were depending upon him for their lives...Then he put MacNamara as Secy of Defense..a man who threw our troops lives away.. (all IMO of course)

Questor · « **Reply #2 on:** May 19, 2009, 05:50:30 AM »

ironglow:

Don't forget that he was a big fan of the teleprompter, and used one in most, if not all, of his televised speeches.

Snide comments aside, Kennedy handled the missile crisis very, very well. He exercised excellent judgement, despite the various bad advice he was getting from his military and civilian advisors. It was truly a shining moment in our national leadership and he deserves a lot of credit for it. It is as if he really took the lessons of the Bay of Pigs fiasco to heart and learned to lead with the team he had. He knew that Khruschev needed to keep face, and he made a deal that was truly a win-win deal for the US and the Soviets. It was very important that it turned out the way it did. I remember reading some of the crackpot advice Kennedy got during this genuine crisis and thank God he had the sense to ignore it. We owe him a lot.

slim rem 7 · « **Reply #3 on:** May 19, 2009, 06:14:34 AM »

my only comment .. this applys to anyman ,but no judgement on my part because ive gone thru temtations that only god got me thru.. but if you make a covenant with a women in presense of your family an hers ,to be true to her.. you are oblidged to keep that covenant or tell her you want to break the marriage..
as much as i admired kennedy.. its my impression he couldn t keep his promise to jackie .. so while leaving judgement to the judge.. i think less of him for breaking that promise than anything else..slim.
ps if non of what ive read is true.. mr. kennedy has my deepest apology..

Sourdough · « **Reply #4 on:** May 19, 2009, 07:14:04 AM »

Since I did not know what the Democratic and Republican parties were before Carter I cannot speak about Democratic or Republican. I just know how I felt at the time, and what I remember. My parents were Democrats and very biased.

Kennedy only acted when his back was against the wall. He turned his back on some people and made both horrible and good decisions. He was a mediocre President who gained martyrdom status when he was killed. The country was in love with Jackie and the kids, and was devastated by their loss. Many people rationalized their (Jackie and the Kids) tragic loss as the countries loss. Kennedy did bring us NASA, and started us on a race to the moon.

I don't remember Truman, but I do remember Ike. What I remember most is what my parents pointed out about him. They thought Eisenhower did a pretty good job. He brought us the Interstate Highway System. He gathered up and sent many Illegals back to southern Mexico, causing many more to leave before being caught. He did this to make jobs available for returning Vets from Korea. One of the families best friends (A Marine) came back and had nothing but praise for Ike.

I have fond memories of Richard Millhouse Nixon, but at the time I really did not understand what was going on with world or American politics. I was young (19 to mid 20s) dumb, and too wrapped up in my job in the military, and working on Key Biscayne, and chasing women. Talking politics was one thing we were warned not to do at work. I did not have a clue what was going on in the world anyway.

I felt sorry for Ford, good man shoved into a bad situation. Congress was united against him.

Carter, I was embarrassed over.

Reagan was the best President so far during my lifetime that I remember.

beerbelly · « **Reply #5 on:** May 19, 2009, 09:58:11 AM »

Thomas Jefferson may have been OK, but none in the last hundred and fifty years or so have been worth a dam! Not JFK, not Harry and certainly not Bill. all are just flaming liberals. In other words want to be communist!
Beerbelly

hunt-m-up · « **Reply #6 on:** May 19, 2009, 10:00:56 AM »

Monica thought Bill was good...

Sourdough · « **Reply #7 on:** May 19, 2009, 11:44:20 AM »

Bill did not say Monica was good. What he said was "He did it just because he could".

Skunk · « **Reply #8 on:** May 19, 2009, 12:06:36 PM »

From the Comentary of Steven Greenhut: The Last Great Democratic President

http://www.lewrockwell.com/ocregister/grover.html

Grover Cleveland, the 22nd and 24th President of the United States (1885–1889 and 1893–1897).

1) He was "hailed as an honest, self-effacing promoter of the founding fathers' core principles. The last classical liberal (i.e., libertarian, as opposed to modern liberal) to ever win the nation's highest office."

2) "If a bill didn't pass constitutional muster he vetoed it. If some powerful constituency didn't like it, he told them to elect someone new in the next election."

3) "He actually stayed up late reading the text of the bills he was handed to sign or veto."

4) "He was a man of few words, yet deep convictions. When he talked about compassion, he meant a personal virtue, not the government's dispersing other people's money around."

5) "He rebuked special interests, refused to squander taxpayers' dollars, pushed through government reforms, opposed tariffs."

6) "He avoided war, stood up against greedy government pension-seekers and owned up to his own past misbehavior when scandal arose about an illegitimate child."

7) "He believed in states' rights and stood up to union thuggery."

ironglow · « **Reply #9 on:** May 19, 2009, 02:33:12 PM »

As I said earlier, JFK was the first prez I voted for..missed Johnson-Goldwater vote (overseas) . In 1968 I was in transition politically..didn't like Nixon or Humphrey or the idiots running riot bin the streets..so in protest, I voted Wallace. In 1972, still searching for my political base..McGovern led the Democrats where I had no desire to go ..so I went with Nixon.
The Democrats heve never regained common sense as a national trait..I always vote for the more conservative candidate.

Nixon got run out of office for saying he knew nothing about the Watergate thing..when he did. He was no worse than slik Willy with "I did not have sex"..or Nazi Pelosi today. lots of lies to go around....Nixon just got unloaded upon.
With Reagan, I thought the Lord had given the US another chance to get back to honesty, moral values and respect for God...but we as a nation...failed the test..
Now we must "pay the piper"...

Swampman · « **Reply #10 on:** May 19, 2009, 02:37:23 PM »

Andrew Jackson was our last (& perhaps only) good Democrat President.

mauser98us · « **Reply #11 on:** May 19, 2009, 06:29:57 PM »

What's that?

magooch · « **Reply #12 on:** May 20, 2009, 04:04:21 AM »

It is my policy to never use the words "great" and "Democrat" in the same sentence.

hunt-m-up · « **Reply #13 on:** May 20, 2009, 04:44:07 AM »

Quote from: Sourdough on May 19, 2009, 11:44:20 AM

Bill did not say Monica was good. What he said was "He did it just because he could".

Yes, and the SOB got away with it.

I'm too young to remember Kennedy,but it seems there are some simularities between him and the current guy in office. Rock-star status without substance...

victorcharlie · « **Reply #14 on:** May 20, 2009, 02:05:41 PM »

Quote from: Swampman on May 19, 2009, 02:37:23 PM

Andrew Jackson was our last (& perhaps only) good Democrat President.

As a Tennessean, I can tell you Andrew Jackson was surrounded by scandal as well.

Swampman · « **Reply #15 on:** May 20, 2009, 04:36:58 PM »

The scandal doesn't bother me. At least he had some balls.

ironglow · « **Reply #16 on:** May 21, 2009, 07:16:48 AM »

Look it up....
Jackson's invited his friends to his inaguration...they just about destroyed the capitral building and grounds...

http://www.thesmartset.com/article/article09300801.aspx

nw_hunter · « **Reply #17 on:** May 21, 2009, 08:36:59 AM »

Quote from: magooch on May 20, 2009, 04:04:21 AM

It is my policy to never use the words "great" and "Democrat" in the same sentence.

I Think the subject was good (not great), but what I really liked was what he said to those assembled, about Jefferson.If in fact he ever said it! I don't compare him with Jackson,or Truman but I think he did have some principles,and made some good decisions, something none that have followed him have, including most Republican presidents. With the exception of Reagan. Ford was just a fill-in.

He really didn't make a big difference, which is what a good president should do.

SHOOTALL · « **Reply #18 on:** May 21, 2009, 10:58:50 AM »

there was one ?

rockbilly · « **Reply #19 on:** May 21, 2009, 11:18:44 AM »

Though I don’t condone Bill and Monica’s actions, I still believe anything that takes place between two adults behind closed doors is their business.

I am sure you can contribute her submission to being young and in-experienced in the company of such a “powerful” man, but it was her choice, and she was, by legal definition, an adult. I would be willing to bet this is not the first such case in the White House, Kennedy likely had his fair share as did many others.

I was all for the investigation on Clinton but you have to admit the head investigator was a sneaky little slime ball himself.

SHOOTALL · « **Reply #20 on:** May 21, 2009, 11:32:36 AM »

takes one to catch one .
If it were between them it would be one thing but when you ask to lead the most powerful and rich (before the last election ) country in the world and are granted the privlage you should be above such BS . The affair was a black mark to our country , it also granted permission to many youth in our country for such actions . he harmed America !

jager · « **Reply #21 on:** May 21, 2009, 06:17:45 PM »

Sourdough-I "echo" your recollection of presidential historal events. Of course, it may be because I have a very similar Democrat up-bring in the same time period. In my home state, if you weren't a registered Democrat, you couldn't vote in the "primary's" because there were no Republicans running. I never had an idea what a "liberal" was until I had one screaming obsenities at me when I came home in uniform to San Francisco in '70. When I began to pay attention to history and politics, I found the events and outcomes defined the presidents, not the other way around.
Reagan was a "standout" (IMO) because his principles and character reflected his love and devotion to this country. His dedication to the "office" transcended political parties and made most of us "proud to be an American". He had a Democrat House and Senate, yet was able to stand against the "Soviets", while many of his political foes were ready to "do him in" if his policies failed. He was not "infallable" but an "honest broker".
I think JFK had the potential to be a great president judging by his enacted economic and security policies (Bay of Pigs, excepted). He might have reached his potential if he had never accepted the invitation to Dallas in a convertible. (Then again, he had as many medical problems as he had "lady problems" that might have put him out of commission eventually during his first "tenure".)
I'm no fan of FDR, who made a "Depression" out of a deep "Ressession" and gave the "Soviets" eastern Europe as a reward for sacrificing their soldiers on the "eastern front". He enacted security policies during WWII that makes Bush's "Patriot Act" look like a minor infraction of freedom of speech, while controlling and restricting most economic activities most of us take for granted, such as fuel, commodities, and personal articles.
I don't think there was ever a president that escaped the "looking glass" of seeing what they accomplished after their policies took effect the next "decade" or two. Whether it was "Ike" with the "National Road System" (good), or Carter with the "Department of Education" (bad), each president had their "strong points" as well as "weak". I can recall my Dad making remarks about Ike spending too much time in a "golf cart", while he thought "Harry" always told like it was no matter what (he wouldn't have survived today!) Old Harry had "grit", but his final dual prong attack in Korea was almost a total diaster for our Armed Forces.
I do not recall any of the past presidents "purposely" try to destroy our country. Even Carter truly thought he could deal with the most dangerous of dictators in the name of "peace" (the Ahiatolla just didn't agree). Carter even make Clinton look "passable" (it's even hard for me to say that

. The present office holder makes the whole "bunch" look pretty "patriotic".
Now Grover Cleveland is another subject I had little knowledge of, Skunk. I will have to "study up" on your favorite.

LaOtto222 · « **Reply #22 on:** May 21, 2009, 11:02:07 PM »

Harry S. Truman was the last Democrat president who was not a liberal. He would never had been elected had it not been for FDR passing away and Harry taking office. He was a conservative Southern Democrat, unlike this liberal boss. He made the tough decision to drop the H-Bomb on Japan to save thousands of American lives and he fired McArthur when he got too big for his britches. "The buck stops here" was on his desk and he meant it. He was a tough bird, one you did not want to cross - I am a conservative and will give a conservative Democrat his due. I think Regan was even better, but we are talking Democratic Presidents.

ironglow · « **Reply #23 on:** May 21, 2009, 11:28:46 PM »

Jager;
I can appreciate your grasp of history. You refreshed my memory of some incidents/facts that I had let slip away. One small point; you said you believed that all presidents did/do what they think is best for the country..I must add the qualifier, "until now".
I would suppose even then the current prez could still fit the statement if he truly thinks Social Marxism and Fascism is the best thing for the country...

williamlayton · « **Reply #24 on:** May 22, 2009, 01:29:10 AM »

HUMMMMM.
I love the old story about Harry and the bomb.
Harry was kept in the dark and knew nothing, was not in oon any level of a loop.
When he took office, he was told of the bomb and asked did he intent to use it.
"Bomb, what bomb,---hell yes, drop that sonofabitch."
Not exactly true, but funny---and not exactly a lie, either.
JFK was a very good president.
Harry was more of my kind of guy.
The Democrtaic Party was a different party, in those days---as is the Republican party, these days.
NOBODY IN AMERICA wanted a Republican of the ilk of those in that day.
The last great Democrat was John Conally.
Blessings