Reagan was the best Prez?

Question

Who agrees that Reagan was the best, than Teddy Roosevelt, than W. Bush

Answer 1

Reagan was definitely the best since Teddy R, perhaps over time we'll see he was the best ever.

The country has never known a time of such prosperity and only those who chose to remain so were unemployed. The Trickle Down theory that he championed worked. He oversaw the end of the cold war just by mentioning SDI.

Answer 2

First of all, there are some idiots answering this question before me. Particularly "me".
I agree with your three choices as great Presidents. You can it voodoo economics if you like but supply side economics is the only viable way to sustain an economy and we had fantastic economic growth under Reagan. The world did not respect America pre-Reagan and had no problem taking our citizens hostage or killing them at their will. You see how fast the hostages were released from Iran when a powerful leader was elected into office. You also saw how fast the cold War ended and the USSR crumbled under Reagan. The man took a bullet and never skipped a beat.
I do think Reagan should have done more to eliminate our welfare state and bureaucracy and that would have eliminated his deficit problem.
Teddy Roosevelt and W have the same great qualities of leadership and knew how to make America proud. Too many Presidents have catered to world sentiment instead of looking out for our interests at home. They both set out to accomplish what other leaders were scared to even attempt.

Answer 3

While I did like Reagan, Teddy Roosevelt remains the best in my opinion.

He was a combat veteran, a competent politician and strategist, and an intelligent man who had the ability to cooperate and/or associate with almost anyone.

Reagan may have ended the Cold War, but Roosevelt won the Nobel Peace Prize for ending the Ruso-Japanese War ... which would have spread across the Pacific and may have even escalated into a world war with other Asian nations and perhaps even European countries with vested interests in that region of the world.

Teddy also revitalized the conservationalist movement and brought the National Parks System further than all other presidents combined. He also understood the nature of the hunter and environmentalist and sought to find a balance between the two.

Roosevelt was crucial in bringing about one of the grandest man-made structure of all time - The Panama Canal. He sought to connect the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans to allow for ease of transport and improve general shipping and sealane safety.

Roosevelt was also critical in shutting down monopolies in America and allowing freedom of small businesses to be maintained with his Anti-Trust laws. Without them, phone companies and cmoputer services could actually be controlled by a single company and charge people whatever they wished ... Roosevelt saved the small business component to the nation's economy (imagine what he would do if Wal-Mart were around back then).

Some of his other firsts as president include:
- inviting the first African-American to the White House for a social event - Booker T. Washington (which was risky since there was still some residual angry sentiment from the south since the Civil War & Reconstruction was not that long ago)
- first president to fly in an airplane and gone under in a submarine (both considered extremely risky and not for someone of his stature to dare undertake).
- first to win Nobel Peace Prize (as mentioned earlier)
- first president to ever have been a Police Commissioner
- all-time youngest president and first to ever defeat one of the two major political parties in a presidential election (Bull Moose over the Republicans; which allowed Woodrow Wilson to win the office - he was outright terrible)

He also took a bullet and carried on (the only thing that saved him was the speech in his pocket which slowed the bullet down). He was patched up and went back on the campaign trail the next day. That is what I call recovery time.

I could continue on and on about Teddy Roosevelt (yes, he WAS the Man).

Reagan was very good, I will agree with that. Reagan was not the best though. Teddy still holds on to that honor. He spoke softly but carried a big stick ... and he used it when he had to!

Answer 4

Ranking Presidents is not easy, since much that happens is out of their control. Reagan was a good President, and definitely left the country stronger and healthier than when he got there. I argue that many of our best Presidents were from the 19th century. Lincoln, Adams, Jackson were all excellent Presidents. I would not include Teddy Roosevelt on any top 10 list however.

Answer 5

That's a pretty good order right there.

Reagan was definitely the best President of the 20th Century, far superior to FDR.

while President, FDR was merely reacting to events that he did not put into motion whereas Reagan had a vision that would have been easier to ignore than to implement. Reagan's vision, of course, is paying us great dividends.

The great depression was a fait-acompli when FDR took office and World War II was due to pressures in Europe and Asia that he could not influence, though he could perhaps have done more to prepare the US for it.

Reagan came into office with a pro-active vision to enact profound change because he believed in them, not because external events made them expedient. Parts of Reagans agenda, especially moving from an accomodative posture to a confrontational one with the Soviet Union, were anything but expedient. Nevertheless, he pursued them because he believed they were good for the future.

There were economic and foreign policy difficulties during the '70s, but none so bad that they called for a revolutionary approach. The status quo in 1980 wasn't good, but it wasn't so bad either. Most leaders would have played it safe rather than take the risks that Reagan did, to our great benefit.

On the other hand, I wonder how successful FDR would have been had Winston Churchill and General Eisenhower been missing from the picture. History tells us that FDR was willing to implement just about any idea to get us out of the depression... and that's admirable. However, it's not visionary leadership.

Ronald Reagan lead with vision from the start. He held his positions steady through a period of incredibly low public opinion. Optimistically he watched his policies reverse, turning positive along with public opinion, that resulted in a landslide re-election.


But you really almost have to rate Presidents by centuries...Lincoln was the best President of the 19th Century, and probably the best of all time...

Answer 6

He played a large role in the fight to topple communism, freed the Iranian hostages, and set the stage for the economic boom of the 1990's, regardless of what some may think of his voodoo economics. The Iran-Contra scandal was the only real mishap of his presidency, but their is no proof that Ronnie actually had any part in it. Reagan was surely one of the best presidents, however, I believe that Teddy Roosevelt was the best.

Answer 7

Washington, Lincoln, Reagan, Jackson, Teddy, Jefferson....all greats.

Answer 8

In my opinion he was one of the worst. The supply-economics theory that he championed..also called "Reaganomics" was a miserable failure. The majority of relief went to the upperclass while the conditions of people at the bottom went down. People also claim that he "singlehandedly took down the Soviet Union." Thats a bunch of bologna. He was just one of many presidents, starting with TRUMAN that helped bring down the soviet union. His hardline stance probably sped the process of the collapse by about 7-10 days. Reagan also claims to be a family man..but why are his kids so messed up? Sounds like he wasnt the best father figure..and was even worse as a president!

Answer 9

Reagan got us into this mess by pulling out of Lebanon. He emboldened the terrorists and made matters worse. And his "tear down this wall" speech did not topple the commies, the Pope going to the shipyards in Poland toppled them, as did the dying Russian economy.
His firing of the air traffic controllers did more to erode workers rights than any other single move in US history.
Oh yeah, he's the best all right.

Answer 10

Being a celebrity before being elected governor of CA, and finally president - he may have been the most popular. He did get the country into some messes, though. Read up on him, or do a search on his terms in office.