Who Was America's Best President?

[Jason0808]

🇺🇸 Who Was America's Best President Today?

Bill Clinton

George Bush

Barrack Obama

Donald Trump

Joe Biden

[nightdrot]

Voted George W. Bush - but without much enthusiasm. Could we go back to George H. W. Bush and Ronald Reagan, please?

Seriously, it is hard to imagine a less consequential series of Presidents since the mid-19th century. Unremarkable figures, intellectually thin and less than the sum of their parts.

Mr. Clinton's presidency came and went with scarcely a ripple. Most remembered for an unserious impeachment over a crime - perjury, it is why he lost his Arkansas law license - that the country preferred not to call a crime. (The origins of our current impeachment mania was born here.) His biggest legislative accomplishments were hallmarks - at least nominally - of the other party. (Welfare reform. The Crime Bill.)

Barak Obama was most notable for what he was - the nation's first African-American President - rather than what he did. Obamacare was his biggest accomplishment but it was not what he wanted - Medicare for all - was watered down from that - it did not even have the "public option," and has since been watered down further. His foreign policy was feckless and content free.

Indeed, even in terms of race relations, Obama did not offer much. His condescension - "clinging to guns and religion" - made the Trump presidency possible by antagonizing social resentment. This also to note that the current spate of racial violence began on his watch - see also Ferguson, where his language exacerbated rather than soothed the circumstances. In toto, Obama was less than the sum of his parts.

As noted, I voted for George W. Bush, but without enthusiasm. His domestic agenda was non-existent in the wake of 9/11. Tax cuts, "No Child Left Behind," Prescription Drug benefits. All worthy, but at the margins. Not really marking anything distinct in the nation's political evolution.

Bush's main accomplishment was his reasonably effective handling of 9/11. He steadied the ship at an uncertain moment, but then frittered it away. He put the nation on its tiptoes - we are at war!! - and then told the nation to go shopping. Thus turning a strategically important war into a morally frivolous one - which is why the nation remains divided in what is nominally wartime and is engaged in war without end.

The latter as much being a consequence of Bush's almost Vietnam-era hubris that all people want democracy, conceive of it in the same way, and that, in any case, that the U. S. knows how to rebuild societies of which it has minimal knowledge to start. The ancient Greeks called it hubris.

As to Mr. Trump - I've written a number of things, but offer these observations on him in relation to another question: If the 2020 US presidential election came down to these two people, who would you vote for?

All of these Presidents, by the way - Clinton excepted - were at the bottom of the list of post-FDR Chief Executives in terms of their ability to get legislation through Congress. Not impressive. (LBJ is number one. Reagan is number two.)

As to Mr. Biden, as his term is barely a year old, elementary fairness requires withholding any final judgments. However, what can safely be said to date is that his tenure has been less than stellar, made worse by Mr. Biden's lack of commitment to any guiding principle.

"Democracy," Walter Lippman said, "is the theory that the people should get what they want - and get it good and hard." With these Presidents, they have.

[jimmy2]

Well here slow joe the first President in whitehouse that stsys in the basement becase when he comes out we who live in United States our blood boils.
Where the smoke there is fire. Last election there was a lost of smoke

[nightdrot]

@jimmy2 Well, I submit that Mr. Biden stayed in his basement because the less he said, the less each voter would have to object to. In effect, every voter filled in the gap with what they wanted to believe.

Of course, it left Mr. Biden without a positive mandate - a fact of life under which he now labors and is burdened. However, as an electoral strategy it worked, and in the process showed the fecklessness of the American voter.

See also my response to this question: Who elected that Biden guy? ↗

[NamerOfStars]

So, from the bottom, we have a walking war on the Constitution, the incarnation of bloviating narcissism, a would-be messiah who turned out more like the Antichrist, a would-be Antichrist who turned out more like the Antichrist, and a smooth-talking horndog who lied to Congress about committing adultery.

Man, this century SUCKS, at least so far as US Presidents go. Clinton's the best of that lot, but none of them can hold a candle to the likes of Polk, who fulfilled EVERY SINGLE CAMPAIGN PROMISE HE MADE.

[Whatthefluff]

Jimmy Carter. People accuse him of being a "do-nothing". I understand it appears so, but I believe his special meditative forethought disallowed him from the more pernicious actions of many leaders. I am proud on his behalf for all the humanitarian development. He may not have been the most actionable leader, but his morality as one is top-notch.

-He pardoned Vietnam draft evaders unconditionally.
-Encouraged energy conservation during the U. S. energy crisis (and practicing what he preached by installing solar panels on the White House, wearing sweaters rather than use heat)- one example of his authenticity. Established the Department of Energy.
-Was an outlier in that he didn't play by the rule book. He would disagree with Congress openly. (Authenticity). As a leader, he didn't appeal to people to appeal to him. If he disagreed, he disagreed staunchly, which is more than you can say for 99 percent of politicians who will magically sway their view in response to public disagreement.
-Expanded the education system, including Head Start. Established the Department of Education.
-Deregulated oil, railroads, beer industry, airlines, and other industries to improve growth.
-Was the mediator behind a peace treaty between Egypt and Israel.
-Highest-profile proponent of Habitat for Humanity.
-Gave Panama rights to the Panama Canal.
-Established the nonprofit Carter Center. ("Exceptional" score on Charity Navigator)
-Awarded Peace Prize and Presidential Medal of Freedom.

No, no one is perfect, but Carter is the best example ethically and personably of a president that I know. The most humanitarian of the bunch.

[exitseven]

He really was a victim of the times in which he served.

[888theGreat]

Reagan deregulated Airlines , better go back to school

[888theGreat]

Got destroyed in elections by Reagan. If his shit didn't smell , it would have been close.

[888theGreat]

He also destroyed the military , allowed Soviet Union to invade any country they wanted. His hostage rescue was a disaster but at least he tried. I just think using rubber bands instead of bullets never works

[Xtcy2083]

@888theGreat How many countries has the USA invaded since Carter was in office, since Ronnie took over? The USSR "invaded" just one - Afghanistan. That was it. One. You make it sound like they were trying to outdo Hitler.

[888theGreat]

@Xtcy USSR invaded Germany, and Poland , you better study your history

[Xtcy2083]

@888theGreat Oh boy. The "USSR invaded Germany"
Um, yeah, because the Nazis invaded the USSR. You know, 'Operation Barbarossa', World War 2. Ring any bells?
Besides, we are talking about the time during, and since, the Carter administration, are we not? Ronnie Raygun mined the ports of Nicaragua, funded the 'Contras' in an effort to forcibly remove the legitimate government of that nation, supported the very brutal dictatorship that existed in El Salvador, sent in the marines to invade Grenada, sent aid to the thuggish mujaheddin in Afghanistan (who later on morphed into Al Qaeda and perpetrated S11), and... oh boy, I could go on and on.
I have advice for you. You better study your history, because you clearly do not know it.

[888theGreat]

@Xtcy2083 You forgot he gave Khadfi a hair cut. He was great. Loved the guy.

[888theGreat]

@Xtcy2083 You asked how many countries Russian invaded

[Xtcy2083]

@888theGreat Russia doesn't invade other nations, except in self-defense. The United States, on the other hand, invades just because the president of the day is in a bad mood, or is bored, or needs a quick and dramatic story to distract the media because he's involved in yet another scandal.

[Xtcy2083]

@888theGreat The "guy" you love was a psychopath, a monster who suffered cognitive decline that was even worse than what Biden is now going through.

[Massageman]

Must be biden's stagflation that brought back memories. Oops - sorry. You weren't even a concept yet when he was POTUS. The only thing Carter ever did to help me was drive the interest rate up to 15% on my savings accounts. Of course, rampant inflation sucked most of that away!

[Whatthefluff]

@888theGreat
Nope. Carter deregulated airlines.
en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Airline_Deregulation_Act

[Elliegirl]

Ronald Reagan was good. Based on the elections, almost everyone in the country thought so too.

[888theGreat]

Both times , with media after him 24/7 .

[Ryfyle]

He was a gun grabbing Neo Liberal.

[888theGreat]

@Ryfyle Reagan was most Conservative President we ever had. Layoff the drugs man.

[Ryfyle]

@888theGreat Signed and an Illegal Amnesty bill that turned Cali blue, And signed the Hughes Amendment. He was a bonafide Gun Grabber at the end of the day.

[888theGreat]

@Ryfyle He was NRA all the way

[Ryfyle]

@888theGreat www.inspiringquotes.us/.../about-gun-control

“I think maybe there could be some restrictions that there had to be a certain amount of training taken.”
“Well, I think there has to be some (gun) control.”
“Every year, an average of 9,200 Americans are murdered by handguns, according to Department of Justice statistics. This does not include suicides or the tens of thousands of robberies, rapes and assaults committed with handguns. This level of violence must be stopped.”

He was big on infringing on what should not be infringed. He would be considered a Centrist Democrat these days.

[888theGreat]

@Ryfyle Mostly these were after he was almost killed and Brady Bill

[Ryfyle]

@888theGreat Shall not be infringed, no excuses. He was a Gun Grabbing Rino at the end of the day.

[ADFSDF1996]

John F Kennedy

Even though he was a Democrat, he was the good type of Democrat.

[Staximus]

Clinton is super shady. Biden is a senile girl groping puppet. Obama dropped more bombs than any other president and supported the military industrial complex, and did nothing for disadvantaged blacks. Trump is Trump, a brash unprofessional blowhard who divided and polarized the country instead of uniting it like a good leader. He did good things for the economy and at least he wasn't a democrat who believes they can do whatever they want with taxpayer money. Bush Jr. might have be an idiot but he's not a piece of shit like the rest of them. He actually did more good and charitable acts to help poor people in foreign countries and is credited with being directly responsible for government aid that saved the lives of something like 5 million people in Africa.

[Datboi65]

Obama. He was very likeable as a person, and great as a President. He fixed the economy after the recession, killed Osama Bin Laden, Healthcare reform, criminal justice reform, but most importantly he had no scandals like the other 3. Bill Clinton cheated on his wife. George Bush is well known for the Iraq War. Trump for cheating on Melania with Stormy Daniel's, plenty of sexual assaults and tax evasion. Biden for a sexual assault against a secretary in 1993. Yeah.

[888theGreat]

He was two faced socialist that ruined health care system. Openly anti police and encouraged riots. Encouraged overthrow of world leaders that were pro US.

[Datboi65]

@888theGreat You tend to throw the word "socialist" very easily nowadays. If Obama really was a socialist, he would've put much more emphasis on increasing the tax rate to at least 50% for the highest tax bracket, like in Nordic countries. Obama is a capitalist. Trump got rid of Obamacare, without an alternative plan, and it mostly affects poor Southern states. Anti police? Encouraged riots? What a clown. Like the murders of Trayvon Martin and Micheal Brown, or Philando Castile that were all caught on camera were for nothing. Overthrow of world leaders that are pro US? My guy, you are tripping. Go ahead and be more specific, name those leaders. I'm waiting...

[888theGreat]

He didn't fix economy , he kicked can down the road and now we have exact same problem now. Housing is about to collapse and DOW is about to collapse. SO , when that happens , you going to blame Obama? DOW is down 1700 plus last 3 days.

[Datboi65]

@888theGreat Yes he did. You clearly have no idea what you're on about. His presidency came at a difficult time, right after the 2008 recession, and he was able to decrease unemployment, increase the average household income and property values went up. From a financial perspective, the COVID pandemic is similar to the 2008 financial crisis, as a lot of people have lost their jobs. If Trump would've taken the shutdown protocols more seriously, re-opening of the economy would've happened much faster and with more fluidity, but ofc he did what he did and plenty of people died because of it. Biden inherited Trump's America when it was down on its knees after more than 65 million cases total, and was able to bring it down by 20 million. Under his administration, 59% of the population are currently vaccinated. Most COVID cases are now coming from Republican states that don't take vaccines or mask mandates seriously. DOW being down has NOTHING to do with Obama. This Black Friday wasn't the most productive, because people are scared of the new South African Omicron COVID variant, which has decreased sales. Simple. Housing during a recession/pandemic will always be in a crisis. You cannnot blame Obama for it, because he's not currently in office. Your arguments are very foolish, I expected something better. by the way, I'm still waiting for you to name those pro US leaders.

[HighValue]

Out of the choices listed I would say Trump. The choices listed are the only ones I can legitimately choose between anyways because any presidents before them would have been before I was old enough to understand how I was affected by them.

[888theGreat]

Trump was a major league compared to those minors

[sensible27]

Just gonna drop this here.. (also, the answer is obviously me)

[Anonymous]

From a non-American perspective; None of the above.

All the best US presidents were the ones who focused on the country, instead of interfering in other counties' domestic affairs/building an empire. I nominate Lincoln. If I HAD to pick from these 5, I'd go with Clinton.

[888theGreat]

Trump wins again!

Clinton - Good economy , immoral person that I am sure is bound for Hell

Bush Jr - Bad economy , immoral person that killed people with war not needed - Hell

Obama - Somewhat moral , bad economy , really Muslim , bound for Hell

Trump- Good economy 3/4 years , doesn't try to be immoral, Can't say for sure Hell

Biden - Bad Economy , not a moral bone in body , heading for Hell on a jet.

[exitseven]

Trump actually got a lot done in 4 short years and most of it was the pro American agenda that he campaigned on. A lot of people including myself did not like him as a person but it was hard to argue with the results.

[NetSapien]

After having lived and experienced all these turds...

Trump remains the shiniest of these turds.

Man, the fact that this 'list' is the best we've come up with for presidential nominees since the mid 90's should be evident of a problem. Trump 'at least' was a step in the right direction even though he's narcissistic, arrogant, boorish, etc.. he was still better than the rest of those listed.

... and he had the best tweets, EVER!

[t-8900]

George Washington and Thomas Jefferson probably. Of the listen Trump. If you remove Trump then Clinton. W and Biden are catastrophes and Obama I'll never like after Fast and Furious. Only an absolute idiot would believe such an operation to work. Then you have the NDAA and also Libya. Because we totally didn't already have enough to worry about in 2 unwinnable wars we were fighting. The Iran Nuclear deal was also stupid. You don't give money to people who threaten to bomb you...

[Xtcy2083]

I don't like any of those listed, especially the last two. Someone else mentioned Jimmy Carter and what he did for the country, and the list is quite impressive. I'll pick Jimmy Carter as well then :)

[f_ckjoebiden]

Jimmy was arguably the worst in recent times. We know you are Biden fan.

[Xtcy2083]

@f_ckjoebiden No, I don't like Biden. Jimmy, on the other hand, was an absolute SAINT compared to the complete and utter CRETINS we've had since his time (and yes, that includes Old Ronnie).

[genericname85]

JFK. by far. he was so good for america and so bad for "the elites" that rule behind the curtains that they felt it was necessary to take him out of the picture...

[888theGreat]

He blew Bay of Pigs which was almost as bad as biden Afgan debacle

[888theGreat]

JFK was shakey with military missions

[genericname85]

can you elaborate a bit more what afgan debacle you mean and what you mean by jfk being shakey with military missions?

[888theGreat]

read up on Bay of Pigs. It was a go, then not a go, then maybe we should go. Then it was a disaster. I will say he was smart enough to ask IKE his opinion. Ike was first guy he called for advice. Ike was a wise man.

[888theGreat]

He left allies in Cuban hands like Biden left allies and Americans in the hands of Taliban

[genericname85]

@888theGreat well first of all, biden is hardly at fault for the taliban debacle. that would be bush, who i consider one of the worst presidents ever. having said that, biden is probably already up in that hall of fame already as well. i have yet to see the guy do anything good.

when it comes to the bay of pigs thing, i'm not sure how much power "he" actually had there, cause the cia was massively involved and as he tried to tell us before he was murdered is that there are secret societies in power that he can not control.

anyway i know too little about the bay of pigs thing to be honest and i don't really feel like reading up. because i already don't think that the guy was a failure when it comes to war and diplomacy at all. i think with every other president, the tensions between russia and usa would probably have ended in nuclear war.

[genericname85]

maybe you could say jfk was a bit naive and unexperienced in some things. i wouldn't disagree. but he had his moral compass in the right place in my opinion, which not many other presidents did.

[888theGreat]

nope, Bay of Pigs was a Kennedy invention. Him and Bobby

[genericname85]

@888theGreat ok. if you say so. as i said, i don't know enough about that and i honestly don't really care. what do you think about the think about the tension between russia and usa? did he do well or did he fuck up in your opinion? i mean i didn't see a nuclear war happen. maybe you did.

[888theGreat]

That was a separate item and IKE gave him some sound advice. "you can't let Russia put missiles in Cuba ". He did what any president would have done at that time. Well maybe Biden wouldn't. Obama might not have since he thought if he said something it was better than 100,000 troops.

[genericname85]

@888theGreat i don't really know what IKE stands for. i'm not an American. but i do think that knowing who to get advise from and who not listen to belongs to the core competency of a president. JFK wasn't forced to listen to whoever IKE is, was he?

[888theGreat]

Eisenhower , World War 2 US Supreme Commander

[genericname85]

@888theGreat well a president can't know everything. it's a presidents job to find the right people for the right offices. so JFK did a good job choosing eisenhower.

[888theGreat]

He was a great President , US did well in the 1950's , built our interstates. It would have been great to be alive in the 1950's . Gays were still in the closet. Black people had their own areas and liked it, Jazz clubs and businesses and that would have been great living there too. Women didn't complain about everything and raised their own kids. Not much crime. Clean TV. People went to Church and believed in God. No anti culture crap. Drug usage was not bad. No sexting. A few town drunks.

[genericname85]

@888theGreat well i do think it's ok to allow people to do whatever the fuck they want as long as they're not harming someone. but i don't think it's appropriate to force everyone else to be a fan of that. and it's certainly not ok to force society to consider morbid sexual deviations as "normal".

i also think we should consider black people as "equal in value as human beings" to everyone else. but at the same time acknowlegde that there's cultural differences that "on average" leads them to perform worse than white people in all sorts of comparative metrics just like Asian people perform better than white people in a similar way... exactly the same with women in economical situations too. it's ok to acknowledge differences. it's not ok to blame someone for that.

and i do think that the merit of church is in community. community is a good thing. but i think the religius doctrin of the christian church is not.

but i think it's totally fine to have different views on things and i respect when someone is able to argue their point of view without attacking someone personally for the view that they have.

[OlderAndWiser]

Ronald Reagan

[exitseven]

Yes, and Trump a close second.

[Uptowngirl88]

Absolutely definitely Reagan even though I voted trump

[888theGreat]

Reagan was my favorite

[ohshee]

Abraham Lincoln and the part that really sucks is it we have 570 Something official offices in the United States and not one person stands up and there's to be great

[MuddyMole]

I think you mean "to date".
Of those, Obama was the best by far. Going further back, maybe FDR, and then to be honest, I don't know too much about most of the ones that came before him.

[Stoner710]

Wow surprised how many people pick Trump, I’m a trump guy my self but dam maybe he should run again in 2024 I was going for Ron DeSantis because he’s better for the independent vote but shit

[Scarecrow13]

None of the ones listed. There hasn't been a truly great president in a long time. My favorite, Calvin Coolidge, he tried not to expand the government and especially not the presidency. Thee economy was great and there were no major wars we were involved in. There was prohibition and the issues associated with it, but that was a constitutional Amendment passed before he came into office and a s President there wasn't much he could do to overturn it himself.

[BCA6010]

Trump by a long shot faults and all, the rest of these were/are terrible.

[OddBeMe]

Our of these Obama. A lot of his accomplishments aren’t well known. In exchange for saving the Ito industry he required them to up MPG on their vehicles to average 30-35. Probably the biggest environmental achievement since the clean water act.

[OddBeMe]

*out

[Cheechee4me]

Most of you people don’t remember when Clinton was President. It was amazing then. Everyone had jobs and good paying ones. I will say though, he’s an absolute pig and morally corrupt.

[f_ckjoebiden]

Blue Dog Democrat they call it. For the exception of the Brady Bill, he wasn't a bad dude.