Of the following presidents, which will the historians of the 21st century consider . . .?

Question

(a) the best
(b) the worst
(c) the most underrated
(d) the most overrated
(e) the most admirable human being
(f) the least admirable human being

Give your reasons briefly, if you would like to.

Truman
Eisenhower
JFK
LBJ
Nixon
Ford
Carter
Reagan
Bush I
Clinton
Bush II

Renate: Please note that the question does not deal with how historians will consider 21st century presidents but how 21st century historians will consider the presidents I listed. Please read Q carefully; then answer

Answer 1

a. JFK, Carter, Clinton, they brought hope back to the people.

Carter has turned out to be an excellent ex-president, probably the best ex-president the US has ever had.
JFK had the energy of youth telling the people that working together the people could accomplish great things

From the belly-button up Clinton is the best president of the past quarter century.

b. A close tie, Nixon and Bush 2.

c. I think Carter is the most under-rated.

d. RonOLD is the most over rated. He was out of touch and didn´t get a lot of what was going on.

e. Carter, a deeply religious man wjho has been practicing wjhat he has been preaching.

f. A very close tie between Nixon and Bush 2

Answer 2

The best:
Either Reagan or JFK (Regan because of the 'morning for America', JFK for the defusing of the Cuban missile crisis)

The worst:
Toss up between Nixon and Bush II

The most overrated:
Probably Clinton.

The most admirable human being:
Historians usually don't make value judgments such as this. Probably the most admirable human being who has ever been president would be Herbert Hoover. Hear me out.. Hoover was a Quaker, he donated his entire presidential salary to charities every year, and is responsible for saving 600+ lives during the Boxer Rebellion in China. So yeah, terrible president, great man. I know he wasn't up there, but I had to put my 2 cents in. As far as who you have up there, I'd say Carter.

The least admirable human being:
Nixon. Bush II is a dummy, LBJ kind of fell into Vietnam but he had good intentions. Nixon was just a jerk overall.

<>

Contrary to popular opinion, Reagan did NOT end the cold war. The primary reasons for the fall of the Soviet Union were as follows:

-No leadership in an authoritarian government from roughly 1980-1985 (when Gorbechev took over, the other guys were in terrible health), this happened during the war in Afganistan
-Increased information available to citizens (they were finally able to see how behind they were)
-Failing economy
-Political infighting
-To a MUCH smaller degree, outside economic influence from Reagan and Thatcher.

The wall didn't fall just cause the Gipper told it to.

Answer 3

(Sigh) There have only been two presidents in the 21st century: Clinton and Bush II.

All the rest you mention were Presidents in the 20th century and you left out the Roosevelts (Teddy & Franklin), Mckinley, Taft, Wilson, Harding, Coolidge, Hoover.
http://www.whitehouse.gov/history/presidents/index2.html

How these presidents will figure in history is greatly dependent on the person who is looking at the list: it is an individual choice and not a blanket fact of one versus the other.

Surely we all know Nixon resigned. This should not necessarily make the total of his tenure as president a bad term because Nixon was a very keen political strategist. Nixon's biggest problem was that he knew JFK's father had bribed the Chicago mayor to fix the election back when he lost to JFK and Nixon was forced to concede and decided not to make a fuss because he knew the mob might take it out on his family and his constituents. The experience scared Nixon for life and that was the psychological setting behind the Watergate scandal: Nixon's complete mania for political control.

Reagan: I remember the Reagan years and they were not that good because after Reagan was shot he went down physically and mentally but it was hidden from the public. Reagan had a lot of really good people in his cabinet but Reagan was getting and let Nancy have too much power. I think the Republic party started pushing Reagan for Sainthood when it became apparent that Bush the lessor was a complete idiot.

Certainly Carter is a wonderful man who was totally inefectual as a president.

The greatest and most constructive president we have had in the 20th century was: Franklin Roosevelt. His reconstruction during the depression and dust bowl was brilliant, then too he was also president for most of WWII but Harry Truman will be remembered as the president who made the difficult decision to drop the Atomic bomb on Japan: a terrible decision that had to be made.

Eisenhower was a very good president.

JFK was problematic in that his family first aligned with the Mob to get him elected and then turned on him when he went after organized crime: some think this was the reason he was assasinated.

Clinton is a brilliant man who did so much for our country but was brought down by the Republican machine for something all the Presidents, except Carter and Truman, have done. You better believe they all have their mistresses and misters (yes some have been gay)

All these presidents have had their good and bad moments. The only president I can categorically state that has been horrible through and through is Bush II. A president who almost rivals Bush for his terrible record is (my relative) Warren G. Harding.

I had not intended to write a thesis but greatness is in the eye of the beholder and I think a person who has been around during these presidential "regimes" has more information that someone who just reads and believes historical propaganda and what they are told.

Answer 4

No way would anyone ever consider Reagan our greatest president of all time unless they are so blindly republican they actually think Nixon did nothing wrong. To say that Reagan was the greatest president of all time is ludicrous. You act like the fall of the USSR is totally his doing (which it was not). Plus you're flashing the finger at all the truly great presidents we had: Washington, Lincoln, Jefferson, FDR, Teddy Roosevelt. Reagan is a ways down the list friend. And Clinton was not the worst president. Again by saying that you show how retarded you are. You're saying that the current president who has given us the biggest debt we've ever had is better than Clinton. Or that our current president didn't mislead us into a war (by the way, I'm a republican). And you might want to read up on Grant's presidency, now that was a messed up presidency. Or maybe, oh, I don't know, NIXON's!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Please, if you are blinded by your own personal bias and can't answer a question even the slightest bit objectively don't answer it.

Answer 5

The Best: Reagan- Ended the cold war and the threat of communism.

The Worst: Clinton- Brought moral bankruptcy upon America

The most underrated: Bush1- Continued Regans policies and stopped Sadaam's expansion

The most overrated- Clinton- Tell me one thing he accomplished that wasn't surrounded by scandal

The most admirable human being: Carter- Not a good Pres. but a very good person that does a lot of good for the country

The least admirable human being: LBJ- Lied about Vietnam got us mixed up with that war when we shouldn't have been

Answer 6

A. Truman -- no nonsense approach to events
B. Ford -- did nothing, just filled the chair
C. LBJ -- took over under very bad circumstances, actually signed several bills for civil rights, war did him in
D. Eisenhower -- did nothing
E. Carter -- too nice for politics
F. Nixon -- too paranoid, not a friendly personality

Answer 7

a. JFK
b. Nixon
c. Truman
d. Clinton
e. Reagan
f. LBJ

Answer 8

Historians, if they are honest; will consider Ronald Reagan the best president in the history of our country.

Under his leadership, the Soviet Union crumbled and so did the wall dividing East and West Europe.

The worst president, by far; Bill Clinton. He was an embarrasment to the post of President and furthermore - Commander in Chief of our Armed Forces - a draft dodger himself.

He brought shame to what it means to be an American by protesting the same war he refused to bear arms in.

Answer 9

A) FDR
B) Buchanon (but Bush II is quickly gaining)
C) Eisenhower
D) FDR
E)Lincoln
F)Nixon

Answer 10

a. Clinton, JFK, Carter
B. BushII, BushI, Nixon
c. LBJ, eisenhower, Ford reagon truman