May 18, 2012
Blog by John Steigerwald
For a dumb, war mongering actor, Ronald Reagan did OK for himself.
He’s considered the best U.S. President since WWII according to the Harris Poll.
“W” is considered the worst.
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Date: February 20, 2012
Categories: Politics
This country owes Reagan a debt it can never repay.
You’re right, the end of the Cold War.
Very true mike. The start off all of the trickle down nonsense that has driven this country into debt that will never be repaid. All of you deficit hawk GOP fans can thank St. Ronnie for starting it all.
It created the greatest peace time economc expansion in history. Dems were in charge of congress. He thought spending the USSR into oblivion was a good idea. It worked. He did such a bad job that he won re-election 49-1.
49-1 means nothing to me and should mean nothing to you. Brought to you by the same electorate that gave you 8 years of Dubya and 4 of Barack.
Make the 8 of Barack
is TOAST
The percentage of debt under Reagan was nothing compared to what it is right now.
And if you’ll recall, with the post-Cold War “peace dividend,” the ’90s tech bubble that drove the economy upward, and the republican control of the House for the first time in 50 years, that budget was balanced and that “debt that will never be repaid” was projected to be repaid. Recesssions and wars change things, as they always will, but Reagan won the Cold War.
Jimmy Carter was far worse than GW Bush.
George Washington is the greatest president and the greatest American ever.He could have been president for life,but he walked away and went home to Mt Vernon.JFK should be graded as incomplete if anything.He handled the Cuban missile crisis well,but he wasn’t around long enough to accomplish much besides screwing as many women as possible.
JFK is the most overrated president in history. Not bad. Not great. Just overrated.
Those who rate JFK among the greatest presidents ever only do so because we are told it over and over again. People always mention the Cuban Missle Crisis, but seldom mention the Bay of Pigs fiasco.
I am not so sure that, if Nixson would have won in 60 (some say he actually did), that Mr. Nixon at that time would not have handled the Commie Russians and Cubans better than JFK. We will never know, of course, and few would agree that he would have. That is because, when speaking of Richard Nixson, we always read Watergate back into the discussion. But 1960-’63 was a different time, and Nixson was a different man in many respects. He was not afraid of the commies. Had the Bay of Pigs tragedy been a triumph instead, how different the world would be today. What would a young Dick Nixson have done?
Chicago gangsters and politicians (same thing) stole the election for Kennedy.
Kennedy would of won without carrying Illinois. No big deal.
There was also massive voter fraud in Texas.
If Nixon won in 60, the world would be a nuclear wasteland right now.
Nice theory.
The gentleman Kennedy beat, Nixon, wasn’t exactly a patron saint of fair play himself.
The image is that JFK stared down the Russians. In truth, he made concessions during the Cuban crisis to the Russians regarding missiles in Turkey that were completely unnecessary considering the position of strength relative to the USSR that the US enjoyed at that time. And removing the missiles from Turkey was the Russian’s goal all along.
JFK may have turned out to be a great president. He was not great based on his actual short time in office.
No big deal. The emergence of ICBM’s and nuclear submarines made missile bases in either Cuba or Turkey obsolete shortly thereafter.
I was 14 years old during that crisis and it was a very big deal.
I was referring to the removal of the missiles. Avoiding a nuclear exchange was much more important than us having a couple of missiles in Turkey.
The USSR was in no position for a nuclear exchange. They would have been annihilated as they had nowhere near enough force to counter US forces. I don’t think the missiles in Cuba were even operational yet; they were being shipped. KGB documents revealed since show that they knew they couldn’t dare launch a strike against the US.
Kennedy made concessions that he didn’t have to make, a point which as been pretty well covered up in the “Camelot” mythology.
Your point about ICBMs is somewhat true. Remember in the 1980s the Russians howling about mid-range missiles being placed in Europe? That was a big part of Reagan’s Cold War strategy, facing them down on all fronts. And that was well into the ICBM age.
I know a liberal friend of mine who would completely agree.
JFK is so revered because he was gunned down in Dallas. That chaotic scene left an everlasting impression on an entire nation.
Death, especially a tragic one, does wonders to peoples memories.
The more I hear JFK’s various speeches – the more I believe he was a very good President and leader. Most liberals would read JFK’s speeches as “right wing propaganda”.
Ask NOT what your country can do for you, ask what YOU can do FOR YOUR COUNTRY.
How many of the “99%-ers/Occupy ?” out there would agree 100% with that statement? 0%? (yeah, I’m into math)
JFK had a terrific speech writer. Big deal. The man was only in office TWO YEARS, which is hardly long enough to draw any conclusions..
He was a fraud.
Obama is the best president since W.
Can’t argue with that.
I know you’re bumping this poll because Reagan tops the best presidents since WWII.
But the polls, especially the best presidents in history poll further down the page, show how unbelievably stupid people are, and how people have no sense of history.
Ronald Reagan ahead of George Washington? Come on. George W. Bush ahead of Teddy Roosevelt? Give me a break.
I post. You decide.
Obama is the worst and scariest ever as pointed out in this letter to the NYT by a P&G executive:
By Lou Pritchett, Procter & Gamble
A LETTER FROM A PROCTER AND GAMBLE EXECUTIVE TO THE PRESIDENT*
THE LAST SENTENCE IS THE MOST CHILLING
Lou Pritchett is one of corporate America ‘s true living legends- an
Acclaimed author, dynamic teacher and one of the world’s highest
Rated speakers. Successful corporate executives everywhere recognize
Him as the foremost leader in change management.. Lou changed the way
America does business by creating an audacious concept that came to
Be known as “partnering.” Pritchett rose from soap salesman to
Vice-President, Sales and Customer Development for Procter and
Gamble and over the course of 36 years, made corporate history.
AN OPEN LETTER TO PRESIDENT OBAMA
Dear President Obama:
You are the thirteenth President under whom I have lived and unlike
Any of the others, you truly scare me.
You scare me because after months of exposure, I know nothing about you.
You scare me because I do not know how you paid for your expensive
Ivy League education and your upscale lifestyle and housing with no
Visible signs of support.
You scare me because you did not spend the formative years of youth
Growing up in America and culturally you are not an American.
You scare me because you have never run a company or met a payroll.
You scare me because you have never had military experience, thus
Don’t understand it at its core.
You scare me because you lack humility and ‘class’, always blaming others.
You scare me because for over half your life you have aligned
Yourself with radical extremists who hate America and you refuse to
Publicly denounce these radicals who wish to see America fail..
You scare me because you are a cheerleader for the ‘blame America ‘
Crowd and deliver this message abroad.
You scare me because you want to change America to a European style
Country where the government sector dominates instead of the private sector.
You scare me because you want to replace our health care system
With a government controlled one.
You scare me because you prefer ‘wind mills’ to responsibly
Capitalizing on our own vast oil, coal and shale reserves.
You scare me because you want to kill the American capitalist goose
That lays the golden egg which provides the highest standard of
Living in the world.
You scare me because you have begun to use ‘extortion’ tactics
Against certain banks and corporations.
You scare me because your own political party shrinks from
Challenging you on your wild and irresponsible spending proposals.
You scare me because you will not openly listen to or even consider
Opposing points of view from intelligent people.
You scare me because you falsely believe that you are both
Omnipotent and omniscient.
You scare me because the media gives you a free pass on everything
You do.
You scare me because you demonize and want to silence the
Limbaugh’s, Hannitys, O’Reillys and Becks who offer opposing,
Conservative points of view.
You scare me because you prefer controlling over governing.
Finally, you scare me because if you serve a second term I will
Probably not feel safe in writing a similar letter in 8 years.
Lou Pritchett
This letter was written in May, 2009-so the jury was, and still is, out on what kind of president Obama is. It was never published by the way.
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2009/06/18/744134/-Lou-Pritchett,-you-scare-me
That guy is insane. Clearly living in the bubble listening to the Fox News cycle on a 24 hour loop. One of the guys who thinks Obama is making back-door deals to rip up the Constitution and become king for life while throwing dice in the rose garden. His life hasn’t been affected one iota by Obama’s presidency but Fox News tells him that is has. Remember, HIS TERM IS TEMPORARY. If you are scheming for domination of the country, it’s the wrong office to do it in!
People seem to forget one of the reasons Obama was elected is because he WASN’T a big business Washington insider.
Obama scares him? What a pussy.
He gets to appoint Supreme Court justices who can, as he likes to say, “TRANSFORM” the country.
You don’t think Rick Santorum wants to “transform” the country?
W wanted to, and did, the same thing with his appointees.
America is not based on religious doctrine like the Catholic Church or those Middle Eastern countries that have laws based on the Koran. I’m very glad for that. But there are people who want to treat our founding principles as if they WERE religious doctrine, which is something to ACTUALLY be scared of. That’s why we are allowed, and encouraged, to AMEND the constitution.
Anyone scared of Barack Obama should just leap off a bridge now and save us their whining.
He doesn’t want transform the country. Obama has said that the Bill of Rights is “flawed.” He doesn’t think the Constitution gives the government enough power. Santorum has never said anything close to that. His feelings on religion mean nothing if he believes in strict adherence to the Constitution.
Santorum will set back scientific research in this country much the same way that Dubya did. He will fight stem-cell research of any kind . Heck, why do you need actual science and research when you can pray problems away.?
Liberals lie about a lot of things, but the garbage they spew about stem cell research is pretty bad, even for them.
First, all Bush did was refuse to use government money to fund this — private money was, is, and always will be unconstrained.
Second, the hype about stem cells’ effectiveness as a cure for everything has always been a convenient but false knife with which to stab Bush.
Lastly, Bush was right — new ways of producing stem cell lines were, as his scientific advisors predicted, right around the corner. Thus it was no longer necessary to use freshly aborted embryos.
But why let all of this get in the way of the “Bush is an anti-scientific troglodyte” meme?
“stem-cell research of any kind” get your facts straight. First, it was only against EMBRYONIC stem-cells (NOT of ANY kind). Second, W did NOT OUTLAW EMBRYONIC stem-cell research, JUST GOVERNMENT FUNDING of it.
Then again, all you liberals think that ALL funding comes from GOVERNMENT (pay my gas, my mortgage, etc.). PRIVATE BUSINESS CAN FUND ALL THE EMBRYONIC STEM CELL RESEARCH THEY WANT TO.
Rick Santorum wants to tranform this country more than anyone.
What transformations has he proposed?
Without 8 years of W, there is no Obama. Its that simple, I personally think W is a pretty good guy but he sure did screw up America six ways from Sunday.
Lou Pritchett and the people who think like he does scare me more than than anything else.
What did Pritchett write that scares you?
Ken – Start with the first scare. Pritchett says he knows nothing about Obama. What cave has he been living in?
If Pritchett knows nothing about Obama, than nothing else he says matters. By his own admission, he knows nothing about Obama. So, all of his fears amount to “fear of the unknown.”
But then, Pritchett goes on to list specific fears he has based on things he says he knows about Obama.
Pritchett sounds like a crazy idiot. That’s scary. Even scarier are the people who treat what he has to say as anything other than the rants of a fool.
You can’t say you don’t know anything about someone and then list a bunch of things you don’t like about that person. What stupidity!
great point Bald Guy.
It’s funny, half the things that scare this guy are things i like about Obama.
Not surprising. And scary.
I’m not afraid of people who hold different opinions than I do or about those beliefs themselves. I can think someone is wrong, without running around crying that the sky is falling.
The outrageous fear of Obama is laughable. In 2008, gun advocates said Obama was going to take away their guns. The only gun legislation Obama has signed was to allow guns in national parks and on Amtrak trains.
Fear, hate, and lies. That’s what the GOP has to offer.
Did you read OK’s quotes from Obama?
This poll is rather meaningless and reflects nothing more than partisan feelings. Looking at the article, Republicans focused on Reagan as the best,. Democrats split their “best” vote among Clinton, FDR, and JFK.
As for the worst, Democrats zeroed in on “W,” while the GOP focused on Obama, which is why they wound up 1-2. The bipartisan “worst” president is Nixon.
A better way to judge best and worst presidents is by having people give a rating to each president (or rank order the presidents), rather than having just one vote for “best” or “worst”.
Any kind of polling of Americans, though, reflects their politics more than anything else.
Asking historians to rank presidents is more interesting. A good summary of this kind of ranking can be found at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Historical_rankings_of_Presidents_of_the_United_States
Those polls consistently showed FDR ahead of Reagan, even among conservative historians.
And, there are many other public opinion polls showing FDR ahead of Reagan.
That said, Reagan is consistently highly ranked.
I agree with Ken. Jimmy (he has ceased to be relevant) Carter has got to go down as the WORST president EVER. Jimmy and his beer “swigglin” brother Billy were a disgrace to the office.
LBJ is right there, too. All he did was send 50,000 young men to their early graves. How quickly people forget.
Nixon also supported the war. You can’t lay this all on LBJ.
He ended it.
How can you blame Jimmy for what his brother did?
Clinton was much better than Reagan. Reagan was like your neighbor that drives a Lexus and takes vacations to Europe….but all on credit cards and home equity loans. Clinton balanced the budget and left W with a 300 billion surplus, which he turned in to a trillion dollar deficit.
Abortion rates, crime rates, unemployment and welfare were all lower under Clinton and home ownership, wages, kids going to college and stock market were all up.
The Republicans took over in 1994 when Clinton was saying there would be deficits for as far as the eye can see. Reagan was promised three dollars in cuts for every dollar in taxes raised and the dems reneged. Ever heard of the peace dividend? That’s what Clinton got as a result of the disappearance of the USSR and the end of the Cold War. He gutted the military and the intelligence. He vetoed welfare reform twice before Dick Morris convinced him to pass it.
Clinton got the job done. Of course, “W” immediately blew it. Big tax cuts, increased spending…and this was before the unpaid war.
“W” was handed a gourmet meal from Clinton, and then Bush ate it, digested it, passed it through his system, and handed Obama what came out of the back end.
Do you blame Clinton for Bush’s failure to maintain the balanced budget Clinton handed to him? Maybe you’ll blame Congress. Oh wait. The GOP was in charge.
Bush was handed a recession and then an attack that devastated the economy.
And Obama was handed “The GREAT recession” and 1.3million jobs lost in his first three months in office…..is that his fault or W’s?
Actually I think it was closer to 2.4Million jobs lost in Obama’s first three months and Bush was in office 9 months prior to the attack, just not adding up John. You better cancel that order of “TOAST” you made.
He inherited a recession. Then 9/11. He had 52 consecutive months of growth.
It was Bush’ s fault if it’s ever the president’s fault. Obama said he would fix it. Remember hope and change? He made it worse.
I think it would have gotten much much worse without his intervention. Saving GM and Chrysler was HUGE! If America would have let them go under, we’re in THE GREATEST depression right now!
Again, a nice theory.
Dick Morris was one of Clinton’s top advisers, should Clinton be vilified for listening to him?
Not unless you want to blame Morris for Clinton’s second term.
So your saying that Clinton did NOT sign the bills (welfare reform, balanced budgets etc) that were passed by the Republican congress? I don’t recall them having to vote these bills into law by overriding a presidential veto. Damn you have to give good old Bill a little credit, he was only the President of the country at the time!
He vetoed it twice and they didn’t have the votes to override it. Then he ran on it in 1996 after it was wildly successful.
Other than W he was the worst. He started this caste system and division. Also sold arms to our enemies., raised taxes 6 times., and voted pro abortion until he flip flopped when it benefited him politically. A total fraud. Typical chest beating, flag waving, fake tough guy cowboy.