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  1. In Memory of LAJ_FETT: Please share your remembrances and condolences HERE

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. Rylo Ken

    Rylo Ken Force Ghost star 7

    Registered:
    Dec 19, 2015
    LBJ all the way
     
  2. Point Given

    Point Given Manager star 7 Staff Member Manager

    Registered:
    Dec 12, 2006

    I unfortunately don't have the books in front of me, but in Robert Caro's biographies of Lyndon Johnson, he relates how Kennedy and his allies nearly botched the Civil Rights Act of 1964 by failing to shepherd it through Congress efficiently, and getting it bogged down in front of a budget bill that Kennedy needed to get passed. In return, Kennedy had to withdraw support for it. It was Johnson, the arch-pragmatist who was able to ram it through.
     
    ShaneP, Ender Sai, dp4m and 2 others like this.
  3. grd4

    grd4 Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    Dec 11, 2013
    Anakinfansince1983: John Fitzgerald Kennedy was anything but a neocon. Throughout his brief presidency, he resisted the moral corruption of the Eisenhower-Dulles machine; consequently, his death was as catastrophic as Lincoln and FDR's. I recommend reading David Talbot's Brothers: The Hidden History of the Kennedys and James Douglass's JFK and the Unthinkable: Why He Died and Why It Matters.

    Here's a good essay:

    https://consortiumnews.com/2013/11/25/jfks-embrace-of-third-world-nationalists/
     
    anakinfansince1983 likes this.
  4. Ender Sai

    Ender Sai Chosen One star 10

    Registered:
    Feb 18, 2001
    Ehhh, a bit but also no.

    You're just more picking up that first gen neocons were all frustrated liberals.
     
  5. Alpha-Red

    Alpha-Red Chosen One star 7

    Registered:
    Apr 25, 2004
    If Eisenhower were on the list, I'd vote for him...followed by Obama, Ford, and Carter.
     
  6. DarthPhilosopher

    DarthPhilosopher Chosen One star 6

    Registered:
    Jan 23, 2011
    As much as I like JFK he is significantly overestimated in debates like this. He was a good President, who made some significant mistakes, and who is held in better regard for his potential than for his actual achievements.

    LBJ made actual great progress, however is forever damaged by Vietnam.

    Nixon is an outright terrible human being.

    Carter is a victim of history, and probably the best person to ever hold the office. He wasn't a very good President however.

    Reagan - a misguided and dangerous conservative responsible for Americans current problems.

    Bush I - handled the Gulf War well.

    Clinton - much like his wife he is an opportunist, morally ambiguous, and failed to reverse the move towards the Great Recession.

    Bush II - Useless.

    Obama - an idealist, who was changed by the office and who was ultimately unable to get through the necessary change. However he effectively saved America and the world from a Depression many magnitudes worse that the 30's Depression and repaired America's reputation greatly.
     
  7. Ender Sai

    Ender Sai Chosen One star 10

    Registered:
    Feb 18, 2001
    I would be disappointed if the name Bernie Sanders was on this list, for his extreme hate of the global poor.
     
  8. DantheJedi

    DantheJedi Jedi Grand Master star 5

    Registered:
    Aug 23, 2009
    I have a book (Okay, a graphic novel) that's a history of the 1970s, and it describes Carter as being symbol-minded, but choosing the wrong symbols, like deciding not to light all the lights on the White House Christmas tree, except for one, during the Iran hostage crisis, saying they'll all be lit when all the hostages are freed.
     
  9. Ender Sai

    Ender Sai Chosen One star 10

    Registered:
    Feb 18, 2001
  10. ShaneP

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

    Registered:
    Mar 26, 2001
    LBJ would be the runaway favorite for his passage of the CWA of 64,VRA of 65 and the Great Society initiatives. Unfortunately, Vietnam, aka "Johnson's War", drags him down to just being ahead of everyone else. But he accomplished the most since 1960 by far and the Great Society had a huge influence, so much so that Nixon actually expanded it with OSHA and the EPA etc. We still live with its legacy today(and the expectations of government).

    LBJ all the way.
     
    MrZAP likes this.
  11. duende

    duende Jedi Grand Master star 5

    Registered:
    Apr 28, 2006
    lbj was a gotdamned disaster, and he knew it too, in the end.
     
  12. ShaneP

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

    Registered:
    Mar 26, 2001

    Still the "Best" if by that we mean biggest impact and legacy, even if you think that impact was good/bad. We live with LBJ's vision of government. He was a game changer.
     
  13. blackmyron

    blackmyron Chosen One star 7

    Registered:
    Oct 29, 2005
    Kennedy. If for anything else, the book Dark Sun made it clear we were one cool head away from a nuclear war.
     
  14. grd4

    grd4 Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    Dec 11, 2013
    Whenever I'm tempted to vote LBJ, I recall that Galbraith anecdote:

    "You know, if it hadn't been for Vietnam, Johnson would have been a great president."
    "True, but that's like saying Switzerland would be flat if it weren't for the Alps."
     
    Rew and Darth Guy like this.
  15. duende

    duende Jedi Grand Master star 5

    Registered:
    Apr 28, 2006


    well of course he was impact-ful. but he still makes me puke!
     
  16. ShaneP

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

    Registered:
    Mar 26, 2001

    Well there are a few on this list that make me do that. [face_sick]
     
    Rew likes this.
  17. duende

    duende Jedi Grand Master star 5

    Registered:
    Apr 28, 2006
    well maybe we could share a bowl someday. i'd like that.
     
    Coruscant likes this.
  18. duende

    duende Jedi Grand Master star 5

    Registered:
    Apr 28, 2006
    a toilet bowl, that is
     
    Coruscant likes this.
  19. Coruscant

    Coruscant Chosen One star 7

    Registered:
    Feb 15, 2004
    This is how you double post, people.
     
    Violent Violet Menace likes this.
  20. Asplundhe

    Asplundhe Jedi Master star 2

    Registered:
    Aug 29, 2016

    lol, you're adorable.
     
  21. Master_Rebado

    Master_Rebado Chosen One star 6

    Registered:
    May 31, 2004
    Ronald Wilson Reagan
     
  22. Ender Sai

    Ender Sai Chosen One star 10

    Registered:
    Feb 18, 2001
    Actually, arguably, Reagan and Kennedy are the only ones who cast large shadows.

    Nixon, but for his indiscretion more than his legacy.
     
  23. Jabba-wocky

    Jabba-wocky Chosen One star 10

    Registered:
    May 4, 2003
    They cast shadows, while his Excellency radiates glorious light.
     
  24. Ender Sai

    Ender Sai Chosen One star 10

    Registered:
    Feb 18, 2001
    Yes, that'd be the propulsion from the Hellfire missile he fired personally from a Predator drone.
     
  25. slightly_unhinged

    slightly_unhinged Jedi Master star 4

    Registered:
    Jan 28, 2014
    Isn't this kinda like asking 'what's the best venereal disease?'

    I mean, I guess on some level it's better to have chlamydia than hep C but even so.