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Census Best U.S. President since 1960?

Discussion in 'Community' started by Ghost, Apr 2, 2016.

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Best U.S. President since 1960?

  1. John Fitzgerald Kennedy

    24.0%
  2. Lyndon Baines Johnson

    5.3%
  3. Richard Milhous Nixon

    2.7%
  4. Gerald Rudolph Ford

    1.3%
  5. James Earl Carter

    5.3%
  6. Ronald Wilson Reagan

    13.3%
  7. George Herbert Walker Bush

    2.7%
  8. William Jefferson Clinton

    9.3%
  9. George Walker Bush

    2.7%
  10. Barack Hussein Obama

    33.3%
  1. GrandAdmiralJello

    GrandAdmiralJello Comms Admin ❉ Moderator Communitatis Litterarumque star 10 Staff Member Administrator

    Registered:
    Nov 28, 2000
    How are we defining shadows? Policy consequences or perceptions?


    Missa ab iPhona mea est.
     
  2. Ender Sai

    Ender Sai Chosen One star 10

    Registered:
    Feb 18, 2001
    Bit of both, yes. And certainly, the way in which their name is still relevant to discussions we have today.
     
  3. GrandAdmiralJello

    GrandAdmiralJello Comms Admin ❉ Moderator Communitatis Litterarumque star 10 Staff Member Administrator

    Registered:
    Nov 28, 2000
    The reason I ask is because there are things that are significant that we don't talk about and there are things that are irrelevant that we do.

    Nixon's creation of the EPA is tremendous on both the substantive environmental level and on the economic level. The regulatory impact is huge too -- all US agencies are a lot more powerful because of EPA regulatory activity. The EPA is one of the most high-impact US agencies.

    Similarly, Bush Sr's ability to diplomatically arrange for a unified Germany -- something neither US allies nor the Soviets wanted -- has tremendous consequences for Europe and the world in general.

    But we don't talk about it. It's not in the popular awareness. But the EPA is a huge legacy domestically and unified Germany is huge globally.


    Missa ab iPhona mea est.
     
    MrZAP, Ezio Skywalker, Debo and 4 others like this.
  4. Ender Sai

    Ender Sai Chosen One star 10

    Registered:
    Feb 18, 2001
    Absolutely. Or Nixon with China, pushing the KMT in Taipei out of "official China" status and waking a sleeping giant - we mostly know Nixon for Watergate.

    The question does become a 'cult of personality' one Iello, no doubt. But that's the nature of Presidential system, no?
     
    Debo likes this.
  5. blackmyron

    blackmyron Chosen One star 7

    Registered:
    Oct 29, 2005
    Well, it's quickly forgotten that Reagan had a number of conservatives turn on him in his second term, mostly for being 'soft' on the Soviet Union in the wake of Able Archer.
     
  6. grd4

    grd4 Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    Dec 11, 2013
    GrandAdmiralJello: It's good that you bring up the EPA, but just remember that when historians designate Nixon as the last liberal president, it's not because he was a bleeding heart, but rather because:

    1. Nixon was facing the most progressive, overwhelmingly Democratic-dominated Congress, as well as the most engaged, activist citizenry, in American history. He couldn't so much resist legislation, as he could find ways to soften its more sweeping aims.

    2. Nixon was largely uninterested in legislation, famously quipping "I didn't come here to build outhouses in Peoria.". His designs were firmly and resolutely global, fomenting a balance of power and mitigating the perils of the Cold War (using the children of Indochina as collateral damage). In a sense, he was the antithesis of LBJ, the consummate New Dealer who saw foreign affairs as an annoyance and, with Vietnam, a curse, which stood in the way of his aim to end poverty and racism in America.
     
  7. DarthPhilosopher

    DarthPhilosopher Chosen One star 6

    Registered:
    Jan 23, 2011
    To be fair JFK's influence is greatly exaggerated by historical romanticization.
     
  8. Coruscant

    Coruscant Chosen One star 7

    Registered:
    Feb 15, 2004
    What the hell is historical romanticization?
     
  9. Ghost

    Ghost Chosen One star 8

    Registered:
    Oct 13, 2003
    Overrated. Romanticized.

    See: King Arthur and his Camelot
     
  10. ShaneP

    ShaneP Ex-Mod Officio star 7 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Mar 26, 2001
    What is this? Never heard of this historical school in the historiography of the study of presidents before. Oh wait, you mean media romanticization. Yeah, that's not the same.
     
  11. DarthPhilosopher

    DarthPhilosopher Chosen One star 6

    Registered:
    Jan 23, 2011

    Yes, because I clearly was talking about the academic study of history, and not the aggregate of historical knowledge of lay people.
     
  12. ShaneP

    ShaneP Ex-Mod Officio star 7 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Mar 26, 2001

    Well I wasn't sure. Just checking. :-B
     
  13. DarthPhilosopher

    DarthPhilosopher Chosen One star 6

    Registered:
    Jan 23, 2011
  14. Ender Sai

    Ender Sai Chosen One star 10

    Registered:
    Feb 18, 2001
    [face_plain]
     
  15. DarthPhilosopher

    DarthPhilosopher Chosen One star 6

    Registered:
    Jan 23, 2011
    It's too late for me Ender, save yourself.
     
  16. Darkslayer

    Darkslayer #1 Sabine Wren Fan star 7

    Registered:
    Mar 26, 2013
  17. Lord Vivec

    Lord Vivec Chosen One star 9

    Registered:
    Apr 17, 2006
     
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  18. SithSense

    SithSense Force Ghost star 4

    Registered:
    Sep 29, 2002
    Getting shot in the back of the head before a live audience will generally minimize any negative criticism of a presidential administration and put the President in question on a tower of martyrdom and mythology.
     
  19. Juliet316

    Juliet316 Chosen One star 10

    Registered:
    Apr 27, 2005


    Pretty much. Same with Lincoln.
     
  20. ShaneP

    ShaneP Ex-Mod Officio star 7 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Mar 26, 2001
    Having Obama as a selection, who hasn't even finished his term yet, automatically invalidates this poll. Great job Ghost.
     
  21. Jabba-wocky

    Jabba-wocky Chosen One star 10

    Registered:
    May 4, 2003
    ShaneP, come on. We all know there is no other credible choice.
     
  22. WriterMan

    WriterMan Jedi Master star 4

    Registered:
    Nov 26, 2012
    1. Kennedy
    2. LBJ
    3. Bush '41
    4. Clinton
    5. Carter
    6. Nixon
    7. Reagan
    8. Ford
    9. Bush '43

    I would've put Obama probably 2nd, but I'm reserving my opinion until the end of January.