Anyone else out there orginally had a high opinion of a past president?

Question

I thought Teddy Roosevelt was a really cool guy. Then I learned more about him and realized he wasn't that good of a person. Anyone else out there had an experience like this? Ex- Thomas Jefferson was a great inventor, thinker, writer, then you learned he inpregnated one of his slaves.

Answer 1

There is a saying that good men, even very great men can be very, very wrong. It was made in reference to Davis who was in fact a great lawyer yet made the mistake of trying to defend the segregationist side of Brown vs. Board of Education.

As for Presidents, the benefit of hindsight has tough me to marvel Lynden B. Johnson. I was a Radical in my teens then and given my expectations at the time I felt Johnson wasn't progressive enough but now I see none who can light a candle to him despite being mislead and betrayed in Viet Nam.

Answer 2

They all had complex lives - that doesn't make them bad. There's something Christ-like about Abraham Lincoln, but maybe it's just a martyr image because he was assassinated. I never like George Washington much. I like the philosophical presidents the best - Jefferson, Lincoln, Kennedy, Carter.

Answer 3

Yes, Bill Clinton. Wait 30 years and with historic perspective everybody will remind him as the greatest president of the XX century

Answer 4

Nice guys finish last. The drive and ambition that it takes to become president comes with character flaws. Finding about their private lives is always disappointing.

Answer 5

Or you can like a guy even more. Like that Andrew Jackson has killed a guy before in a duel. Sweet!

Answer 6

Just keep in mind someone being good in a position doesnt mean they have to be a good person, you just need to learn how to seperate the two. Welcome to real life.