Who is America's greatest president?

[Azania-]

Hey OP, it's Robert Mugabe, not Rupert.

After the turn of the 20th century, this question can really only be asked in the form: Who is the least despicable US President? To which I would answer Jimmy Carter.

P much this. Nearly every President post-1900 barring maybe Carter and Coolidge was awful in their own way, and the only reason those two really get exceptions is because they didn't do much.

Yeah this basically. The US's ascension to superpower status inevitably meant that it was gonna do a lot of messed up stuff.

[Cameroi]

no nation has ever had a head of state who wasn't a fallible human.
that is the danger of investing too much authority in any one individual human person.

in my lifetime j.f. kennidy fought an impossible battle against the forces of belligerent bias, and died a hero fighting them.
like every human he was undoubtedly flawed.

every democrat elected in my life time has been a hero
for having the patience to every time have to retake that same territory,
that should never have to be fought over.

[Kowani]

After the turn of the 20th century, this question can really only be asked in the form: Who is the least despicable US President? To which I would answer Jimmy Carter.

P much this. Nearly every President post-1900 barring maybe Carter and Coolidge was awful in their own way, and the only reason those two really get exceptions is because they didn't do much.

i'm like 90% sure that the carter admin was allied with pinochet
just less loud about it than some others were

[Nilokeras]

As the immortal angry South Korean grandma said best:

(Image)

Sorry. I already forgot her after I clicked hide.

That's concerning, you might want to get that checked out.

[Wizlandia]

Lincoln and then Washington.

[Engadine Mcdonalds 1997]

I would say Lincoln would be one of the greatest's for his abolishment of slavery nation wide and managing to keep America 'unified' against a heavily armed rebellion/uprising.
Washington was also pretty cool for creating the American nation as we know it, however I'm not a big fan that he and his mates compromised on the slavery issue by letting the south keep their plantations and slaves.
FDR was, again, pretty cool and being the only president to be in office for more than 2 terms, and I appreciate that he was staunchly anti-Nazi and wanted to pimp slap them as soon as he could. His economic changes during the Great Depression were also pretty nifty like the public works programs he had used as opposed to Hoover going "Bruz shut up the market will fix itself shut up cunt". Although I'm not a fan of the internment camps for any of the detained peoples in WW2.
LBJ is complicated because on the one hand I love how he told the south to get bent and passed the Civil Rights Act. On the other hand... agent orange is EXTREMELY fucked up.

But yeah, tldr, Lincoln was 10/10, Washington was 7/10, FDR was 7/10 and LBJ was 6/10

[Austreylia]

America won't ever have a president as good as Trump ever again.

He wasn't perfect and I absolutely despised some things he did and stood for, but he was good overall.

[Engadine Mcdonalds 1997]

Charles Koch

yes, funny meme friendo

[Nolo gap]

good for precisely what? i guess anyone can say anything, whether it makes even the tiniest bit of sense or not.

"good" for intentionally doing everything he could to attempt to destroy the country he swore an oath to protect and defend?
because that is the one and ultimate agenda it was ever detectable the fraud father, don panoccio chump ever appeared to have.

many other presidents have wadded up the constitution and thrown it in the waste basket, but only chump, as far is i know, ever deliberately tried to set a match to it.

there are no two things, closer in this universe, or any universe, to being absolute binary opposites, then goodness, and the desire to be feared.

[The Huskar Social Union]

Taft was certainly the largest president, does that count?

He should have eaten the other presidents to assert his dominance.

[United Engiresco]

Sheesh... If I had to say, I'm between Washington, Abe, and FDR or JFK. On the other hand if I was to pick, probably Lincoln.

Don't think I need to explain why, he's a pretty well known guy.

[Washington Resistance Army]

America won't ever have a president as good as Trump ever again.

He wasn't perfect and I absolutely despised some things he did and stood for, but he was good overall.

He genuinely did nothing good beyond Supreme Court picks though. Like, almost everything else was objectively bad. Even things that were good in theory like anti-PRC economic policy ending up flopping because it was done in the most brash and incompetent way possible.

[-Ra-]

So this is pretty interesting.

I expected Lincoln to come out on top of Washington in the poll, but didn't think Franklin D. Roosevelt would do so as well. I'm surprised that opinion seems to be so unified in those two being the two best presidents. I guess that this forum tends to lean to the left, and I suppose that FDR and Lincoln's objectives most line up with what left-leaning people believe, as opposed to Washington.

I'm a little sad Washington doesn't have more votes, personally. I find it interesting that Theodore Roosevelt beat him. T.R.'s achievements, while they are great, don't really hold a candle to Washington's work, in my personal opinion. I'm not sure whether it's because people on this forum hold Washington in low estate, or whether they just think other presidents are much better.

I'm interested what people in the "Other" category are thinking. Since so many people seemed to have picked it, I was thinking maybe I should have added some of the recent presidents, like Trump and Obama?

[Austreylia]

I guess that this forum tends to lean to the left

That was never in question.

[The Archregimancy]

The British were never going to help the Confederacy and only the Confederates believed otherwise. That was a Southern pipe dream cooked up by the same propagandists that came up with the "King Cotton" nonsense. The cotton gin made slave labor obsolete.

Oh, I don't know. Looking at this from the British perspective, we came quite close to declaring war on the United States in December 1861 - not so much in support of the Confederacy, but rather in protest of a perceived violation of the rights of neutrals and diplomatic slight on the part of the US. Fortunately, Prince Albert - in almost his last action before his death - managed to tone down Palmerston's first draft of the formal British response to the Trent Affair, and language offering a diplomatic way out was inserted; Seward and Lincoln then had the good sense to make the concessions that were necessary on the American side without fully conceding the British position. But for some weeks there, the UK was looking very closely at the feasibility of an invasion from Canada, and it would have been virtually impossible to keep any British military action against the United States separate from the Civil War.

The successful resolution of the Trent Affair ended any immediate impetus towards British intervention in the conflict, and after that any 'help' was only going to be diplomatic, though recognition of the CSA was seriously considered by Russell and Palmerston in 1862. It was the combination of staunch Lancashire working class opposition to the Confederacy's promotion of slavery - despite the Lancashire Cotton Famine - and Lincoln issuing the Emancipation Proclamation following Antietam that ended any effective support for the Confederacy in both London and Paris; though even then future Prime Minister William Gladstone tried to argue that it would be more effective to require an independent Confederate States to end slavery as the price of recognition than to have the United States enforce the Proclamation via military conquest.

[Ifreann]

Taft was certainly the largest president, does that count?

He should have eaten the other presidents to assert his dominance.

His major failing was not eating other presidents.

[Esthe]

Probably a tie between Washington and Obama, but Washington may just take the top spot.

I’m surprised that this hasn’t turned into a Trumpist flame fest yet.

Also, there are 46 presidents, not 45.

[Las Riqueza]

Ronald Reagan: 0 votes

Lol

[Ethel mermania]

To be fair, Lincoln abolished slavery mostly as another reason to win the civil war and keep Britain from getting involved on the Confederate side. While he did believe that slavery was awful, he was still a bit of a white supremacist.

No he didn't. He abolished slavery because he was morally opposed to it and because it was a more potent cause to rally around than just "keep the Union together".

The British were never going to help the Confederacy and only the Confederates believed otherwise. That was a Southern pipe dream cooked up by the same propagandists that came up with the "King Cotton" nonsense. The cotton gin made slave labor obsolete.

That is not correct, the emancipation proclamation was a war measure that only effected slaves in Confederate held territory. It was designed to deny the Confederacy the benefits of slave labor. It had no affect on the slave states that Remained in the union. Lincoln did not believe he had the constitutional authority to just ban slavery everywhere.

Lincoln did hate slavery, and the war was fought over Lincolns pledges to not allow slavery in any new states or territories that wanted to enter the union.

Also the cotton gin allowed the expansion of the slave economy by making it easier to process cotton, it did not hinder it.

[Ethel mermania]

Lincoln, he loved cats.

[Killadonia]

Teddy Roosevelt. Lincoln comes in close second. Pre-war FDR comes in a close third. The rest are trash.

I agree with the notion that FDR's accomplishments pre-war and during the war should be considered separately. Pre-war FDR is in the top three for me as well, but wartime FDR is removed from consideration due to Executive Order 9066.

[Ethel mermania]

I'm not American but I think Obama was the best cause he was gonna make healthcare affordable cause yall have to pay for everything.

The closest this country has come to socialized medicine was under Nixon.

[Ghost Land]

I'll join the herd and say Washington. His role in serving as our first president and getting our nation off the ground is just not comparable to any of his successors' accomplishments, and I really admire him for voluntarily stepping down after two terms and not wanting to be an authoritarian monarch. His pre-presidency accomplishments as commander in the Revolution should not go understated either. I mean, he was still human and made mistakes, and I certainly don't condone owning slaves, though that was a lot more acceptable at the time and I don't think he should be condemned because of it.

I mean from what I seen on NSG, most people on here dislike Bush.

When he was in office, I hated him because I followed my parent’s politics. Now, I consider him a B+ President.

I notice you say in your signature that you're 29 - so you didn't have any real political leanings of your own until you were in your late teens?

America won't ever have a president as good as Trump ever again.

He wasn't perfect and I absolutely despised some things he did and stood for, but he was good overall.

Agreed on all counts - though I certainly hope that first sentence is wrong!

Probably a tie between Washington and Obama, but Washington may just take the top spot.

I’m surprised that this hasn’t turned into a Trumpist flame fest yet.

Also, there are 46 presidents, not 45.

Grover Cleveland is double-counted due to having two nonconsecutive terms - so while we count to 46, only 45 different guys have served as our president. Also interesting that you are torn between literally my favorite and least favorite presidents. (Not counting Biden as we're only a few months into his term - but if his current performance is any indication, I'm sure he'll replace Obama at the bottom.)

[The Archregimancy]

Lincoln, he loved cats.

So did Muhammed.

That said, I've heard that all cats are Jewish, so perhaps there's no need for you to renounce Judaism for Islam just yet.

[Ethel mermania]

Lincoln, he loved cats.

So did Muhammed.

That said, I've heard that all cats are Jewish, so perhaps there's no need for you to renounce Judaism for Islam just yet.

Oy,

How did you know to look for that?