Best U.S. President

[Jess]

Who would you say was the best U.S. president the US has ever had?

and why?

[Sugaree]

Multiple presidents of the United States had great presidencies. The 20th century alone gave us John Kennedy, Franklin Delano, and Bill Clinton. Looking at what we know - and there's a lot we don't know about these presidents (except for Clinton) - I think it's safe to assume that these were some of the best the United States had.

Kennedy turned the public attention to Cuba and their missile program. Though the entire Bay of Pigs incident was a complete fuck up on OUR part, it put the American public on alert. A part of me still thinks this was simply a result of the Red Scare of the mid-20th century, so any president during this period must have their actions questioned.

Roosevelt led the nation when we needed it the most. Getting the country back on its feet and to work was no easy task. I don't understand how we can't look back at the Congress during Roosevelt's 12 years in office and parallel it to the situation we're in NOW. He also brought us into WWII, which would have never happened had Japan not attacked us. But we should have known better and NOT cut off their oil supply from us (though they were using it for their military conquests).

Clinton was the last effective president in terms of economic growth. He got the budget balanced for the first time in decades. On top of that, Clinton gave us a 200 billion dollar surplus. It's just a shame that George W. Bush couldn't look at Clinton's success and build on it. Instead, he and Congress pissed it all away without even thinking. Clinton did scar the image of the presidency for his affair with Monica Lewinski.

[TheMatrix]

It all depends on what you define as "best".
If you mean "best" as in solving a major debt, then Andrew Jackson is probably the best-fitting.
If you mean "best" as in (mostly) solving a large dispute, then it might be Abraham Lincoln, who abolished slavery(for the most part) and reunited the union.
On the other hand, "best" could also mean how well a president has taken care of their predecessor's legacy, in which case Obama(in all fairness) has done quite a good job of solving Bush's problems.
The latter observation may be irrelevant in this context because over time, different technology was made available to solve the problems.

Just my two cents.

[Sugaree]

If you mean "best" as in (mostly) solving a large dispute, then it might be Abraham Lincoln, who abolished slavery(for the most part) and reunited the union.

I think people now are starting to see Lincoln as just trying to do something his Northern constituents wanted. By abolishing slavery, he pretty much destroyed the southern states and their economy. In a way, he hurt the nation MORE than uniting it.

[Professional Russian]

I think Kennedy was the best President

[antiabort]

Bill Clinton hands down.

[Genghis Khan]

President StumbleUponHorseMating

[Professional Russian]

Bill Clinton hands down.


I dont think Clinton was the best

[Syntax]

I think people now are starting to see Lincoln as just trying to do something his Northern constituents wanted. By abolishing slavery, he pretty much destroyed the southern states and their economy. In a way, he hurt the nation MORE than uniting it.

Basic military logic says that if you want to end war as quickly as possible, then attack what your enemy depends on the most such as, in this case, the Confederacy's economy. Examples of bringing the enemy to its knees by destroying what it depends on is Scipio Africanus' campaign against the Carthaginians, the Russians adopting a scorched earth policy during Napoleon's invasion of Russia and in this case again, Sherman's March to the Sea.

Thus, it was really necessary during those times that instead of meeting the enemy head on with open battles, you maneuver and avoid these open battles and instead, destroy what their armies depend on the most. To harm the economy of the South in which the Confederate armies got their supplies from, was in fact necessary rather than unnecessary. To say that Lincoln did worse than better during his term is entirely folly.

@ Topic: Although I'm not American, I think FDR was the best.

[chris1997]

FDR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Jess]

It all depends on what you define as "best".
If you mean "best" as in solving a major debt, then Andrew Jackson is probably the best-fitting.
If you mean "best" as in (mostly) solving a large dispute, then it might be Abraham Lincoln, who abolished slavery(for the most part) and reunited the union.
On the other hand, "best" could also mean how well a president has taken care of their predecessor's legacy, in which case Obama(in all fairness) has done quite a good job of solving Bush's problems.
The latter observation may be irrelevant in this context because over time, different technology was made available to solve the problems.

Just my two cents.

what the definition of "best" I completely leave up to you all (:

[Jakezilla]

that one, the old one. You know, the one that lived in The White House? He is dead now though. ;p

[ChicagoBlackhawksFan]

To be Obama is the best. Reason is because he's sending our troops home where they belong. They spent way to long in Iraq thanks to Bush.

[spoke]

Teddy Roosevelt. he dealt with similar economic times we have and got it strightened out and he created so many national parks which will preserve some of our best natural areas forever

[Stronger]

FDR was the best in my opinion, Obama is defiantly not the best, I mean yeah our troops are coming home but we really didnt get anywhere with him

[BossHogg]

Bill Clinton because he fixed the national debt and he had a surplus...un till you know who became president and mess up our economy...cough* cough* G.W.B.

[Modus Operandi]

FDR was quite good, as was Wilson, the other wartime president.

Teddy Roosevelt of course wins in terms of sheer badassery.

Also: Alexander Hamilton. Not a president, but worthy of recognition for basically establishing most of the federal financial institutions still in place today.

[slappy]

I think that FDR had to have been the best president of the united states. I say this because he helped America get out of the great depression. Of course he had some help (WWII) but all in all, i think he did the right thing when America was faced with great hardship and he was a person that millions of people liked, i mean he did get elected three times. He got elected three times because many people trusted him and knew he would do the right thing.


FDR also showed that people with disabilities can do great things. I as a person with a disability can look at FDR and have hope that i can actually make something out of myself.