My list of best and worst presidents

[Gary G]

My list of best presidents:
1. William Henry Harrison, because he died before he could do anything.
2. Thomas Jefferson because he opposed the government stealing ones private property (ones money is private property).
3. George Washington, because he opposed a two party system saying that it would undermine our liberty and not be good for the country.
4. One who upholds his oath to the Constitution, but this one hasn't been elected yet.

My list of worst presidents:
1. Abraham Lincoln, because he violated the constitution in every way imaginable and murdered thousands on his own countrymen.
2. Woodrow Wilson, because he was a progressive (socialist) and lied to the people selling us out to the big bankers (Federal Reserve).
4. Franklin D. Roosevelt, (another progressive) because he made a normal recession into a great depression that lasted 16 or more years while starting the welfare state.
5. Lyndon Johnson because he sealed the welfare state.
6. Bush, he spent us into oblivion.
7. Obama, all the above plus fascism.

[righttoown]

Seems like you forgot the main master mind who started the lets finance everbody who wants to buy a house. Bill Clinton! I would put him right ahead of Bush on your worst list.

Clinton
Bush
Obama

[Wyo. Coyote Hunter]

   Gray, My list would match yours but I would place Clinton there instead of Bush. 

[Ruskin]

You all have left our super Goober:  James E. Carter the man from Plains.  He should have stayed there.

In my lifetime I will remeber Ronald Reagan as the best.

[Oldshooter]

William Henry Harrison, because he died before he could do anything.

Now thats a good Prez! HMMMMMMMMM!! 

[kynardsj]

The best was Ronald Reagan and so far the worst is in office right now followed closely by Clinton and Carter.

[jlchucker]

Around here we like Chester A. Arthur as the best president.  He was born nearby (not Canada like revisionist history socialists would have you believe) and he came to office after the assassination of Garfield.  When he got there, he looked around, saw nothing much needed doing, that's what he did--pretty much nothing.  Most of these others get in there, try to do a bunch of things, and screw up the works. Not ol' Chester A!  I used to think that Jimmy Carter had to have been the worst--but now I think that today's incumbent has even him beat, with plenty of help from his congressional majority.

[Gary G]

The best was Ronald Reagan and so far the worst is in office right now followed closely by Clinton and Carter.

That used to be my opinion too, until I did a little reading on the subject of Reagan, http://mises.org/freemarket_detail.aspx?control=488. But it was Bush who finally drove me from the Republican party. (That is not saying that I could be a democrat, for I think the progressive movement has taken them over completely). It was not the economy, for Bush inherited the economy, but the bailouts, the spending, etc. and the loss of liberty that occurred after 9/11. It seems that all presidents since about 1900 have been progressive (socialist) in regard to central planning, but I think we just followed European transition toward Marxism. Most presidents prior to 1900 were somewhat constitutional, other than Lincoln who was dictatorial, suspending habeas corpus, etc.

Remember that government has no money and produces nothing. All that it does and it's very existence must ultimately come from the working man. Thus it is the removal of private property (earnings) by force. Therefore, the larger the government is, the poorer the people will be. I think some presidents knew this and tried to keep government growth in check. The writers of the Constitution certainly knew it. Such presidents would be the best.

Why do people look to government to "fix every problem", as if they were all genius enough to do so? History does not prove this out. Take that concept to it's full extent and you have the communist countries, which have all floundered.

[45-70.gov]

You all have left our super Goober:  James E. Carter the man from Plains.  He should have stayed there.

In my lifetime I will remeber Ronald Reagan as the best.

who  is  jimmy carter??

[Ruskin]

45-70, how old are you?  Did you miss Prez Goober? Your from Florida and close to GA.  Everyone knows of the man from Plains.

South of you.

[45-70.gov]

45-70, how old are you?  Did you miss Prez Goober? Your from Florida and close to GA.  Everyone knows of the man from Plains.

South of you.

i   was  refering to his  insignifagence
he is the one that  gave away the panama canal
and  taught  me lot  about  the effects  of  inflation
buy  now  while  your  money  is worth  something
 its about to  happen  again  soon 
and  your dallars  you saved will  have  much less  buying power

[JBlk]

I am surprised that no one has mentioned Harry Truman as one of the best.That man inherited a war and made the tough decisions that took to win it.He refused to take his salary and donated it back to the country.When he said that the buck stops here he meant it.Unlike other Presidents he did not rob funds from the general revenue to advance his agenda.Our present President will probably go down in history as the worst, closely followed by Bill Clinton.When Clinton signed the bill allowing the jobs to leave American soil and turned his head away from illegal immigration he signed a death warrant for this country.

[Bladeforger]

I am surprised that no one has mentioned Harry Truman as one of the best.That man inherited a war and made the tough decisions that took to win it.He refused to take his salary and donated it back to the country.When he said that the buck stops here he meant it.Unlike other Presidents he did not rob funds from the general revenue to advance his agenda.Our present President will probably go down in history as the worst, closely followed by Bill Clinton.When Clinton signed the bill allowing the jobs to leave American soil and turned his head away from illegal immigration he signed a death warrant for this country.

I like him, too.  Truman was the absolute best Democrat to ever hold office.  His sense of honor is missing in most politicians today from all parties.

I wouldn't have Bush listed as one of the worst, either, I think "W" was one of the best we've had--right up there with Reagan, Jefferson, and Washington.

Keith

[steve y]

Reagan of course. That goes without saying. Harry Truman would be my next choice. I read his biography by David McCullogh. He was as common a man as any of us. He did make the tough decisions when they had to be made and most of them were the right ones. I guess the thing that tells the most about the man was the way he left office. Harry and Bess drove out of DC in their own car with Harry at the wheel and drove all the way back to Independence by themselves. They talked to folks along the way as if they were just taking a vacation like any other tourists. There are not too many presidents that are as common a man as Harry Truman was. Steve

[skarke]

Gary,

I love these posts because of the wide diversity of opinion.  I am a die hard conservative with libertarian leanings, and believe strongly in free markets, free expression, tiny government, and strong defense.

I have to differ with your opinion of Reagan being changed by what some, including me, consider revisionist, or at least incomplete, history of the man.

Everybody has faults, but I believe one of the best tools for assessing the beliefs of an individual is to read his writings.  i highly recommend a piece written by, frankly, Reagan and compiled by Kiron Skinner, entitled Reagan in his own hand.

One need remember that Reagan was in office while the economy was recovering from a truly incompetent Congress and Administration at its helm.  While his abilities were a huge improvement, he still had to deal with Tip O'Neil and the rest of the Democrat machine politicians from the 50s 60s and 70s.  Remember Jack Brooks?  There were hundreds like him.

While he never accomplished his greatest strategic objective, the dismantling of the ever expanding Federal, central government with its massive tentacles reaching into every corner of our lives, he could have.  Just think where we would be if we could have matched a "94 Congress with an '83 Reagan.

It sends shivers up my spine to even contemplate the potential.

Bottom line, fear any government with 40% of the US's GDP at its disposal.  I really don't care who is in charge, that is WAY too much power, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.

[Oldshooter]

Gary,

I love these posts because of the wide diversity of opinion.  I am a die hard conservative with libertarian leanings, and believe strongly in free markets, free expression, tiny government, and strong defense.

I have to differ with your opinion of Reagan being changed by what some, including me, consider revisionist, or at least incomplete, history of the man.

Everybody has faults, but I believe one of the best tools for assessing the beliefs of an individual is to read his writings.  i highly recommend a piece written by, frankly, Reagan and compiled by Kiron Skinner, entitled Reagan in his own hand.

One need remember that Reagan was in office while the economy was recovering from a truly incompetent Congress and Administration at its helm.  While his abilities were a huge improvement, he still had to deal with Tip O'Neil and the rest of the Democrat machine politicians from the 50s 60s and 70s.  Remember Jack Brooks?  There were hundreds like him.

While he never accomplished his greatest strategic objective, the dismantling of the ever expanding Federal, central government with its massive tentacles reaching into every corner of our lives, he could have.  Just think where we would be if we could have matched a "94 Congress with an '83 Reagan.

It sends shivers up my spine to even contemplate the potential.

Bottom line, fear any government with 40% of the US's GDP at its disposal.  I really don't care who is in charge, that is WAY too much power, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.

I only wish that I had said that! but thank you for doing so!

[Ruskin]

I came out of the service in 71.  In Hillsbough County Florida, the democrats controlled the county commission.  I was told to register as a Democrat.  Over the years, on the national level I had difficulty finding a dumocrat I could vote for.  I switched to the Republican party because they were more to my thinking, at least in rhetoric.  I think a republican has a streak of libertarian in one's blood, the yearning for freedom. I guess the voter registration card has been used by me as a ticket to get in the voting both; however, I see the two major parties merging rather than being separate and distinct.  It upsets me that leadership in our country is lacking.  Once elected, a person changes from stateman to politician.  They are continually reapplying for the same job by sprinkling money and favors to special interests.

I remember Nikita Kruschef(SP?) pounding his shoe on the podium at the UN telling us he would take us over without firing a shot.  We are watching it happen before our eyes, and our elected idiots are aiding the king and his czars.

[RangerJoe]

Read a little about Teddy Roosevelt. Best president ever - better than Reagan. TR was healthily skeptical of big business and big banks; he was a sportsman and a conservationist. He gave us the National Park system. A war hero - a true hero, too - no sitting on the sidelines for Teddy. When the US Navy wouldn't allow him to fight in the Spanish American War, he resigned and formed his OWN unit and took it to fight in Cuba, I believe at least partially on his own money. He is the only president to have won the Congressional Medal of Honor, and given the kind of presidents we've been electing lately, I'm guessing that may stand forever.

He was a very interesting guy. He believed strongly in policies you'd find on both sides of the aisle in a modern Congress. The US population generally loved him. He believed in a "fair shake" for everyone, which you really can't argue with. I really think Teddy Roosevelt would be the perfect president for the situation we find ourselves in right now - a guy who could take the best from both sides and make something that will work out of it. Not a power-hungry socialist who wants to cram this all down our throats.

[Wyo. Coyote Hunter]

 ;)Joe, I have been reading some of Roosevelt's hunting stories from his Dakota days. He was a heck of a guy.  Also read when I was a bout 12 years old African Game Trails. Took me  most of a semester. You are right we should have picked him as the best. The national news media would be scared to death of him today, so I doubt he would get much of a chance at the office . Somewhere, I have the list the commies gave for the take over of a country. One thing is to make all good leaders look foolish, while grabbing power from the people. I must look this up. Perhaps some of you have seen it. I must have had it for 30 years.

[skarke]

Rangerjoe,

Welcome to the forum.  It you like ol' Teddy, then you really need to read Hunting Trips of a Ranchman and The Wilderness Hunter.  Both are penned by Roosevelt  In my opinion, they are two of the finest accounts of the historic, unspoiled northern range, the old "West", ever written.

[Cabin4]

Lincoln is clearly the worst of all time.