Who was the best president the US has ever elected and why?

[UncleBuck]

Ever since December 23, 1913 when Woodrow Wilson signed away this country with the Federal Reserve Act, all presidents have been puppets. Except one who was killed for ending the Fed, JFK. But his successor LBJ righted that wrong, by signing the Federal Reserve back as his first presidential action.

Neo nazi conspiracy theory

 

[abandonconflict]

God DAMMIT.
I just knew that if I read your postings enough, I'd find something that you were right on.
It finally paid off.
Thank you Santa Claus.

You are dead on about that POS.
We survived him, we'll survive the one we got now.
Because we are America.

You don't make much sense with Trimp's dick in your mouth.

 

[HashBucket]

You don't make much sense with Trimp's dick in your mouth.

LoL
You just hate it when I agree with you.

 

[abandonconflict]

Fascinating thread, 5 stars and one of the reasons AC is also known as 'Always Cool'.

It's very subjective to pick the 'greatest' president, just like it's subjective to pick the 'greatest' heavyweight boxing champion. One can say Ali would have beat Joe Louis or Jack Johnson but you really don't know because they were from different era's with different training procedures, etc.

Every president was a product of his life experiences and environment. Presidents vary from horrible to inept to uplifting to smart to brilliant politicians, etc. But all were politicians in the end.

I can't pick the greatest, so I'll list a few I find to be very impressive. Not in any specific order.

FDR

He won after the worst economic disaster in history
and gave the country hope. His predecessor went fly fishing for 3 years with pictures of him (Hoover) in the paper having fun while people went hungry. FDR strongly supported unions that built a huge middle class tax base, started Social Security so that old people got $40 a month to help them survive, started public works programs to help with unbelievable unemployment. He had flaws, he was a millionaire politician, he was somewhat racist and I'll address that before I'm done.

Lincoln

Probably was president in the worst possible time to be president and kept the country together despite watching over 600,000 people die brutal deaths. Ended slavery and got shot in the head for it. He battled depression before people knew what depression was, but you'd probably be depressed too if the country was literally killing each other in a bloody civil war that you weren't sure would end with the country intact. He also had racist tendencies, but understood the 'greater good' and did the right thing.

Jimmy Carter

Anyone who won the 1976 election was doomed, period. The other party was going to win after that 4 years of economic and foreign political hell. I've often contemplated that if Ford had won, we never would have had Reagan which would have been a good thing. Reagan was the definitive laziest president up to that time and his trickle down bullshit still hasn't trickled down.

Jimmy was the last president to avoid war, had to deal with recession, inflation, Iranian revolution and the hostage crisis and OPEC running oil prices through the roof. A lot of those problems were directly related to this country's support of the crooked, evil Shah of Iran so we could buy gas at 32.9/gallon from WWII into the 1970's. And Jimmy publically supported him like the others and like anybody else would have done at that time to his political demise. He is the most underrated president and he spoke the truth about sacrifice that people didn't want to hear.

JFK

The best speaker of all the president's that were recorded. Inspirational leader with 70% approval at a time when politics still had an element of mutual respect. Pushed for civil rights and become all in on that subject even though he and his brother first thought of it as an annoyance. They thought the cold war was the biggest problem facing mankind and put civil rights on the back burner for a year, but they both evolved rapidly and did the right things in the end. And both got shot by madmen for it. The world would be a different place with different history had they each lived just 10 years longer. I personally don't think we ever recovered from those assassinations with MLK also shot between them.

Barack Obama

The absolute squeakiest clean president in history. They could never dig up dirt on him so right wing conspiracy writers like Jerome Corsi just made shit up. And Fox news and Trump jumped on it and repeated it over and over again until it caught on with the brain dead conspiracy lovers. Not as good a speaker as Kennedy, but a near flawless personality that didn't need to fuck movie stars for fun. He had help following a president who was there when the economy tanked bad and inherited a fucking mess. If you look at any economic graph starting in 2008 through now, you'll see who got those graphs moving up nonstop until present.

He had to deficit spend to avoid another depression. Of course his vile successor didn't have to deficit spend but does anyway at the future expense of the environment and economy. The next correction may be vicious, save your money.

LBJ

Probably the most influential politician in my lifetime. A racist, but one who did the right things with the civil rights act and voting rights act. He may have not particularly liked black people, but he gave them equal rights at least on paper. And he knew full well it was at political cost. He said after the 1964 CRA that he probably lost Texas for the next 20 years. He miscalculated, it's been over 50 years now. Yeah, I know some of it was politically motivated to get black votes but he still did the right thing on many social issues including medicare.

The Gulf of Tonkin and Vietnam were the horrible things he did, much better at domestic policies.

About racism and discrimination of previous presidents:

The country was founded on slavery, you don't have to like it, but you have to acknowledge it. It took a civil war to change that and another 100 years for civil rights on paper, if not totally in reality.

Entering the 21st century there were still problems but it's overall better now than it was in previous centuries albeit far from perfect with much work to be done.

When FDR sent his wife down south to try to stop lynchings, it was because he was politically scared of losing the south he needed to stay in office. All these guys were politicians first, presidents second.

And when he put Japanese Americans in camps during WW II, it is wrong in retrospect. But at the time, there was no outcry from Americans to free those people. The country was scared of Japan after Pearl Harbor, the west coast put up barbed wire on the beaches and had blackouts at night. They were literally worried about a Japanese invasion force after Pearl Harbor.

Racism played a role in Pearl Harbor as well, many military officers thought Asians were 'too stupid' to successfully carry out an attack on an American installation because they were ridiculously racist and thought only white men could wage war and win.

My dad fought in the Pacific in WW II from early 1942 to early 1945 when he had enough points to cycle out. He was a lifelong FDR union Democrat and strongly supported civil rights in the 1960's. But he didn't like Japanese people for years after WW II until he actually met and played golf with several groups of them in Myrtle Beach in the early '80s after he retired. A lot of Japanese vacationers would travel to Myrtle Beach back then. He played and had lunch with people who served on the other side in the Pacific Theater and became enlightened that it was their government, and not them personally, who was responsible for that Pacific war and he died not hating them anymore.

People change, societies evolve, personalities are flawed but surely we're in a better place today that we were in 1969 or 1959 or 1949 or 1939, etc.

That's not to say we're done or that in the last 3 years we haven't been going backwards under Trump.

We'll be rid of him soon. Much like FDR's wife went down south to appeal for sanity against murder, it's the women who will turn the tide against this horrible backward slide in our history. We're one election away from turning that tide. I'm optimistic and will never throw in the towel. There's always hope and the dream will never die.

Awesome post, I'm honored. Your grandfather and mine had very much in common. My grandfather hated Japanese people at one point as well and was disgusted that I owned a Toyota at the age of 17 but he died before I enlisted. He respected Japanese people and didn't think that the nukes were necessary. He used to tell me that the US was making a mistake by not valuing our alliance with Filipinos more, you see, he fought in the Philippines and never forgot how much love and respect he got over here. It's one of the things that has always endeared the Philippines to me and I now live here, in Siquijor. He always said it was racism that kept our government from valuing certain alliances more than others and that the most important friends are not always the most powerful. Anyway, I try to be like him in many ways, but unlike him in others and I think he'd be honored by that. Some changes don't happen quickly, or even within a generation, but they do eventually.

 

[Fogdog]

Yeah, move Obama up.

Clinton fucked up bad with Monica which is why I didn't mention him. I still remember having young kids exposed to that bullshit and I still believe he's the single biggest reason Gore lost in 2000 even though Gore had a half a million more votes. Gore would have been a better guy after 9/11. No 2nd Iraq war and all that followed. Gore couldn't use Clinton to campaign for him after that. What a waste, over a stupid blowjob from a girl 30 years younger.

Only assholes get impeached and although a good president and the last one with a balanced budget that I voted for twice, his sexual activities were damaging to the country and cost us a Gore presidency. So I have very mixed feelings about him. So does Monica.

Yes, Clinton lied to us. Also impeached by Congress. Completely inexcusable. But really, his was the last time the working person, man or woman got a fair shake during his presidency. Would have been better if he hadn't gotten that BJ. His was a personal transgression and nothing like what the next administration did. I thought Obama was a great president but I wanted his enforcement actions against the banks to be more aggressive.

I'm not aware of any proven corruption charges among any Democratic presidents. At least, nothing like what Conald is doing. Bush approved torture and tanked our economy. Anybody who says Republikkkans are same as Democrats isn't very smart.

 

[tangerinegreen555]

Awesome post, I'm honored. Your grandfather and mine had very much in common. My grandfather hated Japanese people at one point as well and was disgusted that I owned a Toyota at the age of 17 but he died before I enlisted. He respected Japanese people and didn't think that the nukes were necessary. He used to tell me that the US was making a mistake by not valuing our alliance with Filipinos more, you see, he fought in the Philippines and never forgot how much love and respect he got over here. It's one of the things that has always endeared the Philippines to me and I now live here, in Siquijor. He always said it was racism that kept our government from valuing certain alliances more than others and that the most important friends are not always the most powerful. Anyway, I try to be like him in many ways, but unlike him in others and I think he'd be honored by that. Some changes don't happen quickly, or even within a generation, but they do eventually.

My dad carried this Ronson lighter through the war and scratched in the places he was.

He didn't like to talk about it much, but did tell me stories of jungle fire fights that lasted for days. Lots of people died, everybody got jungle rot and malaria. Lots of people shot up bad.

I also have over 100 letters he sent to my aunt, his sister. Not one of those letters mentions that he's being shot at almost daily or enemy planes shooting up the place, or anything whatsoever to upset his sister.

Nothing but 'how's mom, how's dad, how are you, I'll be home soon, or I ran into ______ from home, can you believe that?'

Fucking amazing generation. Never showed fear.

 

[abandonconflict]

View attachment 4444454View attachment 4444456
My dad carried this Ronson lighter through the war and scratched in the places he was.

He didn't like to talk about it much, but did tell me stories of jungle fire fights that lasted for days. Lots of people died, everybody got jungle rot and malaria. Lots of people shot up bad.

I also have over 100 letters he sent to my aunt, his sister. Not one of those letters mentions that he's being shot at almost daily or enemy planes shooting up the place, or anything whatsoever to upset his sister.

Nothing but 'how's mom, how's dad, how are you, I'll be home soon, or I ran into ______ from home, can you believe that?'

Fucking amazing generation. Never showed fear.

A lot of people want to politicize this honor and valor. We're fortunate to have inherited more from them.

 

[hanimmal]

Ever since December 23, 1913 when Woodrow Wilson signed away this country with the Federal Reserve Act, all presidents have been puppets. Except one who was killed for ending the Fed, JFK. But his successor LBJ righted that wrong, by signing the Federal Reserve back as his first presidential action.

The great boogie man, the Federal Reserve.

The one entity that actually pays the government every year, guarantees people will not lose all their life savings if the bank (that is forced to pay into an insurance program and pay fully for the Federal Reserve so that the citizens don't) collapses.

And since was enacted and started doing its job after the old White guys who demanded that banks should fail for their 'bad behavior' (like the idiots in the Republicans party did again in '0 were proven wrong with the Great Depression, has dramatically reduced the recessions we experience. Recessions where all the newly built capital created by the common man, is bought up by the super wealthy dirt cheap when they are forced into bankruptcy.

And since the 50's has helped America become the #1 economy in the world because of the stability that the Federal Reserve system provides.

hmmm.....

I wonder why a foreign troll would want to create distrust in the Fed........

 

[hanimmal]

Yes, Clinton lied to us. Also impeached by Congress. Completely inexcusable. But really, his was the last time the working person, man or woman got a fair shake during his presidency. Would have been better if he hadn't gotten that BJ. His was a personal transgression and nothing like what the next administration did. I thought Obama was a great president but I wanted his enforcement actions against the banks to be more aggressive.

I'm not aware of any proven corruption charges among any Democratic presidents. At least, nothing like what Conald is doing. Bush approved torture and tanked our economy. Anybody who says Republikkkans are same as Democrats isn't very smart.

I always found her very attractive, and I am not sure many men with a beautiful, smart, funny woman spending hours with them who is in love with you would be able to say no. But I'm kind of a male slut, so I always understood Billy Boy, he screwed up not sucking it up and telling the truth when he got caught however. I am a big believer in accepting consequences.

With the banks however, I think it becomes really murky when deciding who to hold accountable.

Owners/CEOs of the banks providing incentives for more 'sales' of mortgages, meant more houses being sold, which everyone wanted.
The managers generally stuck to the letter of the laws in place (a lot of protections repealed since S&L meltdown in 80s) as they pushed the sales people to do more business.

The low level sales people fudging paperwork forcing through predatory loans onto people who were willing to fudge their paperwork so that they could buy their house with a 105% loan with 0% interest on a ARM was were the majority of the laws were broken. And nobody was going to start throwing common folks in prison.

People were making money hand over fist in the lead up to the collapse in the housing market, this money found its way into stores as people were buying goods to fill their new homes with too, everyone was in on the bubble.

And the bigger problem is that there is a difference between banks and non-financial institutions. Banks are heavily regulated and have a lot of restrictions in the businesses they can invest in, the 'shadow banks' had a lot more freedoms and are not a part of the Federal Reserve System and did not have much oversight from the SEC. That is where the real issues blew up the economy.

I am not saying it is not shitty and that a lot of the people up at the top were not being greedy and just obnoxious with their scrape, but retro fitting laws to get a bunch of scalps when everyone was in on the problem is just mob 'justice' designed to make us feel better. It might have saved us from the Tea Party, but it wouldn't have been just.

 

[Moses Mobetta]

I'll start, unless someone replies faster than I can write this.

I think Barack Hussein Obama was the best president in US history. He took office during one of the worst recessions ever and by the end of his presidency the entire world was on track toward better times. He wasn't a perfect president, but neither were any of the others. He was honest and respectable while breaking our preconceptions of how a black man such a name could restore American exceptionalism. He was everything you should hate if you want the United States to fail. He took the principal of "States' Rights" which had been conceived to preserve racial inequity in the name of liberty and he actually applied it to real liberty. He did so despite the adversarial nature of the relationship between the federal government and the governments of red states. It was the GOP who created this dynamic while also hobbling his momentum with congressional opposition to his skin color. Nonetheless he worked to repair those relationships and fostered unity in our nation. In fact it was the previous president who did more than any other to erode states' rights.

As a Californian proud of my state's position leading the nation in most ways, I see the current disunity which has been created by the GOP as a direct response to all of the efforts of the 44th president. Essentially, by trying so hard to undo his efforts, they have done more damage to the country than any foreign power ever could.

Agreed, for all the reasons you mentioned, there are more than just those. Character is very important to me as how children and young adults may perceive someone of such a high position. He had a most presidential attitude, class and a positive nature that was to me incredible. He also had a Theodor Geisel thing going on, a person can be anything, very inspiring to others. When he spoke neither my wife or myself wanted to miss it. He was a true leader, serving the needs of the people. There were quite a few choices I had but President Obama is my choice.

 

[Rob Roy]

The great boogie man, the Federal Reserve.

 

[hanimmal]

View attachment 4444680

Nice to have you back.

How exactly does the Federal Reserve create new paper?

 

[Fogdog]

I always found her very attractive, and I am not sure many men with a beautiful, smart, funny woman spending hours with them who is in love with you would be able to say no. But I'm kind of a male slut, so I always understood Billy Boy, he screwed up not sucking it up and telling the truth when he got caught however. I am a big believer in accepting consequences.

With the banks however, I think it becomes really murky when deciding who to hold accountable.

Owners/CEOs of the banks providing incentives for more 'sales' of mortgages, meant more houses being sold, which everyone wanted.
The managers generally stuck to the letter of the laws in place (a lot of protections repealed since S&L meltdown in 80s) as they pushed the sales people to do more business.

The low level sales people fudging paperwork forcing through predatory loans onto people who were willing to fudge their paperwork so that they could buy their house with a 105% loan with 0% interest on a ARM was were the majority of the laws were broken. And nobody was going to start throwing common folks in prison.

People were making money hand over fist in the lead up to the collapse in the housing market, this money found its way into stores as people were buying goods to fill their new homes with too, everyone was in on the bubble.

And the bigger problem is that there is a difference between banks and non-financial institutions. Banks are heavily regulated and have a lot of restrictions in the businesses they can invest in, the 'shadow banks' had a lot more freedoms and are not a part of the Federal Reserve System and did not have much oversight from the SEC. That is where the real issues blew up the economy.

I am not saying it is not shitty and that a lot of the people up at the top were not being greedy and just obnoxious with their scrape, but retro fitting laws to get a bunch of scalps when everyone was in on the problem is just mob 'justice' designed to make us feel better. It might have saved us from the Tea Party, but it wouldn't have been just.

To me, it's almost a wash. Both were great presidents. I don't agree that Obama's handling of the banks was appropriate to the situation but that doesn't prevent me from giving my respect for what he managed to do during a critical time for our country.

 

[hanimmal]

I know I put Carter, but it was because President Obama was too obvious of a choice for the best President. He was a decent person and tried to keep people engaged even when they were treating him with the most undeserved disrespect any President has had to deal with.

 

[Rob Roy]

Nice to have you back.

How exactly does the Federal Reserve create new paper?

 

[Communist Dreamer]

View attachment 4445061

I thought the Fed changes the flow of money indirectly, like when they manipulate interest rates?

 

[abandonconflict]

I know I put Carter, but it was because President Obama was too obvious of a choice for the best President. He was a decent person and tried to keep people engaged even when they were treating him with the most undeserved disrespect any President has had to deal with.

When someone says "status quo" as a criticism of the decent times in the last half century...

 

[Aeroknow]

Awesome post, I'm honored. Your grandfather and mine had very much in common. My grandfather hated Japanese people at one point as well and was disgusted that I owned a Toyota at the age of 17 but he died before I enlisted. He respected Japanese people and didn't think that the nukes were necessary. He used to tell me that the US was making a mistake by not valuing our alliance with Filipinos more, you see, he fought in the Philippines and never forgot how much love and respect he got over here. It's one of the things that has always endeared the Philippines to me and I now live here, in Siquijor. He always said it was racism that kept our government from valuing certain alliances more than others and that the most important friends are not always the most powerful. Anyway, I try to be like him in many ways, but unlike him in others and I think he'd be honored by that. Some changes don't happen quickly, or even within a generation, but they do eventually.

My grandfather was shot during the Battle of Corregidor, was givin blood by a Filipino while held up in a tunnel for a week before he was captured, death marched and POW for the whole rest of the war.
I grew up down the street from him. Was real close to him. I never heard one bad word about the Japanese out of his mouth despite what he had been through.

 

[Rob Roy]

I thought the Fed changes the flow of money indirectly, like when they manipulate interest rates?

The flow and manipulation of "money" AFTER it is "created" is an interesting topic.

The initial CREATION of money from thin air, and who it benefits, is a topic that needs some scrutiny.

 

[abandonconflict]

My grandfather was shot during the Battle of Corregidor, was givin blood by a Filipino while held up in a tunnel for a week before he was captured, death marched and POW for the whole rest of the war.
I grew up down the street from him. Was real close to him. I never heard one bad word about the Japanese out of his mouth despite what he had been through.

So you've got a little Filipino in you. Have you ever been here?