Monday, April 10, 2006

Who's the Greatest US President Since FDR?

So who do you think is the best American President in living memory? Take part in the new poll down the left hand column. You won't be surprised to know that my vote has gone to the 'Gipper'.

17 comments:

Anonymous said...

Was about to say Ronny myself.

Richard Bailey said...

I don't know who the Gipper is, but I have voted for George Bush the 1st. I don't think he was the best but I always respected the way he tackled the first Iraq war and I didn't want him to get nil points.
Some may argue that he caused the 2nd war by not doing the job properly in the first place but he did what was right and that commands respect.

Iain Dale said...

Richard, can't believe you don't know who the Gipper is! Ronald Reagan! There's a famous line in one of his films, which he used in his campaigns - "I'm just going to win one more for the Gipper." Reagan played George (?) Gipp in the film, whose title I can't recall.

Anonymous said...

Truman or Johnson. Truman because he stopped the loons who wanted to start world war three but did so without appeasement and Johnson because the stakes are too high for me to stay home.

Anonymous said...

Without doubt it has to be Reagan.

Paul Linford said...

Hmm. A good thing the "Gipper" never got the chance to put into effect the pre-tribulation rapture theory, or else we wouldn't be here now discussing who was the greatest...

Anonymous said...

'Knute Rockne - All American'

Anonymous said...

It's always interesting to see how the view changes over time. I've always admired Truman (for taking the presidency in his stride and for the 48 victory more than actual achievements) but I think it it hadn't been for Vietnam (a pretty big if I admit) then Johnson would have been able to point to an impressive record - tho I admit that it wouldn't be one whose content would necessarily appeal to the typical reader of this blog. Also Ike who while condemned for inertia etc probably was the right choice for his period.
How about a poll of best losers, ie those who could have won but didn't (Stevenson, Humphrey, Dewey, Nixon (1960), Ford?

PoliticalHackUK said...

Apart from Jed Bartlett?

Reagan was barely mentally competent through his second term. He gave a great performance as President, but I'd still rather have Martin Sheen.

Don't forget that he cheerfully sold weapons to Iran to fund his Central American adventures. He did win the Cold War by bankrupting the Soviet Union, so we'll give him that little victory. Don't forget his pointless invasion of Grenada or that intriguing little matter of the release of the Iranian hostages.

Bush I was better than many think. Clinton could have been great, if he'd been able to keep his trousers zipped (shagging an intern got him impeached, but screwing up the reconstruction of a foreign country gets Bush II re-elected - go figure). Nixon could have been great, if he hadn't had serious personality flaws.

Greatest President of the past half century? Johnson, for his FDR-inspired Great Society and Civil Rights action. Don't forget Eisenhower, either.

Rigger Mortice said...

LBJ.
Arguably one of the most amoral men in politics ever (please read any of Robert A. Caro's books on him) but one who must have had a shred of decency somewhere that made him use his abilities to push through reforms whose effects will last a very long time

Tony Blair,that's a legacy!

James Hellyer said...

Nixon: a preident who teetered on the edge of greatness. Today he would probably be seen as ome kind of liberal by the neo-cons. Federal spending grew faster under Nixon than under LBJ particularly social spending (which first exceeded defence spending while Nixon was president), he had a genuine belief and commitment to cvil rights (whilst JFK's was, arguably, politically driven first and foremost) and was suspicious about business and arguably less in thrall to its interests than LBJ.

In foreign policy he was much more constructive with the Soviet Bloc than would have been expected from such a supposedly ardent Cold Warrior.

Waterate and his personal weaknesses add a Shakespearian gloss to the man. Quite a remarkable character

Anonymous said...

Iain, if the poll included FDR, would you have put him ahead of Reagan?

Anonymous said...

I am a big Gipper fan amd he has to be number 2. But in objective terms, you cannot go past FDR. In getting the US into WW2 (no mean feet) he rescued the world from Nazi domination. He also set up a basic welfare state which was roight and necessary. As Reagan said, he never wanted to role back the New Deal, it was the Great Society he wanted to target.

Anonymous said...

The boring answer is probably Kennedy. All the other significant Presidents in the list did just enough to foul their own legacies. LBJ was a great social reformer but a disaster in Vietnam. Nixon had foreign policy success but James is wrong to call Watergate a gloss - a major lasting legacy was to devalue and sour the Presidency by completely rejecting all concept of a rule of law which applied to hime. Reagan introduced some important economic reforms but the supply siders went too far contributing to spiralling debt, a heavy world recession and semi-permanently skewed spending priorities. Clinton, Truman and Eisenhower probably simply did not do enough to justify the title "greatest President" (and Clinton fouled his legacy in the obvious way too). Bush Jnr had Iraq and economically it hasn't been great either. The rest failed to be re-elected and probably rightly so.

Kennedy gets it by default as an iconic figure who set the road map for Johnson's social reforms, changed the dynamics of relations with the Soviet Union and staved off the incident which took us as near to nuclear war as I pray we will ever get with remarkable skill and nerve. And, to be brutally honest, he died at just the right time to avoid ruining his legacy.

Anonymous said...

"In getting the US into WW2..."

Surely the Tojo and Hirohito have got to take a certain amount of "credit" for that one?

The results of the poll so far say something interesting about this site's readership if nothing else. I am not saying Reagan was not an important President - he was - but there is some stiff competition there (no Clinton jokes please!) Nixon was also important, but it would take a twisted mind to put him as the greatest yet he was running a strong second when I looked.

Anonymous said...

Kennedy is probably the most defining figure, history will remember his "greatness" more than that of LBJ or Nixon and I feel the gloss will come up Reagan over time.

James Hellyer said...

James is wrong to call Watergate a gloss

I think you misunderstood my point, which was about the man rather than the office.