2007-12-15 10:08:09 · 15 answers · asked by Anonymous in Politics & Government ➔ Government
I agree with quid pro... who said Lincoln. In the 2oth and 21st centuries there are only conditional answers:
FDR is probably the greatest of the recent era. He brought us out of the Depression and set us up to face without fear the dangers of the modern era. But several runners up (none of whom are better than Lincoln was):
Gerald Ford (for helping heal the wounds of Watergate but in the process killed his prospects of election in his own right),
JFK (for giving us a vision that we could do better but left unresolved by his untimely assassination)
Ronald Reagan (same as JFK but I really disagree with many of the methods and policies he advocated)
Bill Clinton (an intelligent and charismatic leader who did many things to make life better, but tempered by his personal pecadillos), and
Lyndon Johnson (for his ability to get things done, and vision of a Great Society, but tempered by all things related to Vietnam).
2007-12-15 10:34:14 · answer #1 · answered by Mister J 6 · 2⤊ 1⤋
Impossible to answer, really,
We have had several presidents who were truly great ( Washington, Lincoln, arguably FDR ) and several who were almost (Jefferson, Teddy Roosevelt, and name your favorite - Truman in my fathers lifetime, but a lot of people would take issue with that).
There are probably several others who had the seeds of greatness, but didn't face the crises that cause ordinary men to rise to that rare level of extraordinary excellence/achievement.
And for every one of the real dogs (Bush x2, Harding, Polk, Van Beuren) there are a pack of adequate executives, some of whom did good things or even notable things, but were either balanced by negatives or shot down by the circumstances that were handed to them (Johnson is perhaps the classic example).
If I had to pick a best, it would have to be Lincoln, who preserved the Union against almost impossible odds, in the process creating the conditions that would allow the nation to heal and grow after a bitter, horribly destructive Civil War. The effort killed him, figuratively and finally literally, but the Union survives because of him. Finally, I like him because he was as self-made a man and President as we have ever had, an excellent writer, and a very funny guy. In addition, there is no way that this ungainly man, born in poverty, self-educated, a homely country lawyer with a dreadful wife and a sqeaky speaking voice, could ever get elected in the age of TV and computers. This endears him to me all the more.
2007-12-15 10:11:41 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 4⤊ 0⤋
Abraham Lincoln
2007-12-15 10:14:15 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋
Abraham Lincoln
2007-12-15 10:14:09 · answer #4 · answered by alessa_sunderland 5 · 3⤊ 0⤋
Franklin Delano Roosevelt
2007-12-15 10:14:17 · answer #5 · answered by marlene50 3 · 3⤊ 0⤋
The best president in America was Peron an Argentinian president that turned that nation around and brought it into the 20th century.
2007-12-15 10:11:22 · answer #6 · answered by r1b1c* 7 · 0⤊ 1⤋
George Washington. Without a man of such perseverance, you would never have got free of the Brits. Without a man of such character, you could have ended up with a monarch.
2007-12-15 10:57:47 · answer #7 · answered by gortamor 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
J.F.K. with out a doubt! He did so many things and had so much more he could offer for the future! But alas, there where those who didn't see his vision of a better America...
2007-12-15 10:24:24 · answer #8 · answered by Johnny Lovegood 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I would say Bill Clinton!! He saved us all a lot of money!! And at least he didn't run up the gas prices! LOL He was a very good president and went out of his way for alot of people!!
2007-12-15 10:18:33 · answer #9 · answered by Sara R 1 · 2⤊ 2⤋
It is hard to compare presidents from different eras, but in the modern era, I would vote for George W. Bush.
2007-12-15 11:03:40 · answer #10 · answered by Rick 5 · 1⤊ 3⤋