U.S. Presidents - Great Presidents Edition

wait Woodrow Wilson got the biggest kicking on ILX of any president ever

i voted for FDR

i dont know but i want to vote against andrew jackson

I have a weakness for Lincoln because he was not only funny, but a damn great writer -- the only here besides Jefferson.

lincoln, I think

The only time I'll get soft over a president is with Lincoln -- the only one who seemed like a genuinely great man, who understood the cost of war and whose writing incarnated those costs, contradictions, and necessities. I find the Lincoln Memorial a vulgar thing: it doesn't honor the simplicity, devastating and otherwise, with which he conducted a war and believed in Union-ism. But I choke up when I read the Second Inaugural Address.

can't believe you forgot to include obama

if nothing else lincoln was our best gay president

if jackson is here it seems like reagan could be as well (not an endorsement of either guy btw). voted lincoln w/ washington the only one giving him any competition. i think the gap between those two and everybody else is greater than the gap between everybody else and w. or nixon or carter.

max you're thinking of the dude before lincoln

if nothing else lincoln was our best gay president

thought that was his predecessor Buchanan.

Wilson and Jackson are at the bottom of my list. Historians credit Jackson for executive authority without wondering whether it was, uh, worth it -- seems Jackson was wrong most of the time.

My ranking:

Lincoln
Washington
FDR (he was wrong more than a few times, but his instincts mostly infallible; it fascinated me when my grandma told me that even in Cuba he was legendary -- people felt as if they'd grown up with him, which, after twelve years, in a sense they had).
Jefferson.

yeah you mentioned jefferson as a writer already but the opening to the declaration of independence means a lot to me

xp lol iatee

thought that was his predecessor Buchanan.

Sexuality of Abraham Lincoln

There was a fun episode of American Dad all about it.

Wishful thinking.

has to be lincoln

http://cdn.mos.totalfilm.com/images/a/aperaham-lincoln-630-75.jpg

i agree with everything alfred said (and his rankings) except that i think the lincoln memorial is pretty fantastic.

if jackson gets included, though, seems only fair to include polk!

i'd consider adding Polk, Truman and Reagan ... i voted for FDR, though it was a close choice b/w him and Lincoln.

Voted for Abe; least racist.

Didn't add Polk and Reagan because we'd argued about'em to death on the other thread, whereas we've had no next to no discussion on these men.

Speaking of which, NYT forum today on why the left and right hate Wilson.

Taft

I'd probably argue that one of the Roosevelts was the least racist of the presidents on that list. Abe signed the Emancipation Proclamation, but he was pretty steady in his belief of the supremacy of the white race. At least Teddy had Booker T. Washington over for supper.

I would also argue that there has never been a "fun" episode of American Dad either.

Abe signed the Emancipation Proclamation, but he was pretty steady in his belief of the supremacy of the white race.

so was Teddy. He made exceptions for pull-up-from-the-bootstrap types like Booker T.

i'm trying to think of another figure like lincoln anywhere -- someone else who killed nearly half a million of his own people, basically for good reason, and won. but in saying that i can't think of another instance like the confederacy or secession either. not saying there isn't anything like it, i just don't know! i mean there have been plenty of civil wars, sure...

Gore Vidal said, with some legal justification, that the southern states had a right to secede; Lincoln's great innovation was believing in the indivisibility of the Union.

lincoln also argued that many southerners did not actually want to secede -- according to some historians, a majority of them were opposed to secession pre-fort sumter.

Some Southerners -as they will tell you now - were even opposed to slavery.

They also all have Cherokee great-grandmothers

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

I would have to rate Lincoln very high on his humanity, humor and austere sense of history. The only president who can duke it out with him, imo, is Washington, a much less sympathetic character in many ways, but one who had nearly as many challenges to meet and an equally good track record at making good decisions. He even managed to win a war where the odds were more stacked against him than anything Lincoln faced.

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

Awright, let's smoke out the Wilson voter.

Today's Gallup poll:

http://www.gallup.com/poll/146183/Americans-Say-Reagan-Greatest-President.aspx

Not sure how transitory these polls are. Puzzling: W. ahead of H.W. (not that 2% is cause for celebration). Eisenhower close to 0%. (Johnson, too, but there's at least an obvious explanation for that.) Clinton so high--I'm guessing that's pocketbook nostalgia. Number-one.

Not sure either how Obama's 5% compares to other office-holders midway through their first term. I suppose Hannity and Limbaugh will complain that Gallup shouldn't be polling Kenyans on American presidents.

This answers your question in part:

This "greatest president" question is open-ended, meaning that respondents are asked to name a president off the top of their head. This type of measurement tends to increase the mention of recent presidents. Democrats, for example, are most likely to name Clinton -- the most recent Democratic president not currently in office -- as greatest. Republicans, in slightly different fashion, tend to skip over the two most recent Republican presidents, the two Bushes, and instead are most likely to choose Reagan.

margin of error = those <%5 results not particularly meaningful

wait Woodrow Wilson got the biggest kicking on ILX of any president ever

― acoleuthic, Sunday, October 10, 2010 8:05 PM (6 months ago) Bookmark

offtopic but where did this happen?

Gore Vidal said, with some legal justification, that the southern states had a right to secede; Lincoln's great innovation was believing in the indivisibility of the Union.

proved to be a terrible idea over time, like keeping a marriage together at all costs

oh brother

The States are fine, it's the politicians who can't explain why they lack convictions who suck.

re a Soviet-stylee breakup of the USA. i might've been open to such a thing (if it could be done w/t bloodshed -- e.g., it coulda been done the way the Czechs and the Slovaks effected their political divorce) in the not-too-distant past and would've been willing to waive "see ya wouldn't wanna be ya" to the more backwards parts of this country (to wit: the South, Texas and large portions of the Southwest). i've changed my mind mainly b/c the real problem is concentrated economic wealth -- Wall Street would still be located in the Social-Democratic Republic of the Northeast Corridor, not in Atlanta or Cheyenne.

― a regular Brick City Britney, she is. (Eisbaer), Tuesday, April 19, 2011 4:30 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark

wait Woodrow Wilson got the biggest kicking on ILX of any president ever

― acoleuthic, Sunday, October 10, 2010 8:05 PM (6 months ago) Bookmark

offtopic but where did this happen?

― music loves drugs (Drugs A. Money), Wednesday, April 20, 2011 1:16 PM Bookmark

For starters.

i think we should do this

http://www.tjc.com/38states/38states.jpg

or this

http://uploads.neatorama.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/redrawn-U.S.-map.jpg

hell no to that alaska split. four fucking senators from up there?? two is already about 1 7/8 too many

PP: was wondering where ILX was bashing WW, not why...I know at least a little about a lot of the fuckhead things Wilson did while in office

hey goole why dont you come up with your own damn map

that second one is pretty sweet, especially that jaggedy ass line cut through wisconsin

hey Alfred have you read the USA trilogy?

I have no reading comprehension, Drugs.

Maybe here, thought LJ seems to be exaggerating a bit: Woodrow Wilson - Classic or Dud?

Favorite part about that second map is how Missouri roughly stays the same shape.

"Let's split the U.S. up by geography, but let Missouri keep its bootheel."

PP thank you but I actually found that thread soon afterward. but think if I had just used the search function then we wouldn't have the max/goole flamewar for Alaska's soul!!! :D

John Tyler's grandson still lives.

Tyler was 75 years old when that Harrison's father was born!

more like handrew jacksoff

Can't believe http://tinyurl.com/hommphommp still works.

That John Tyler grandson thing is wild! And he's still alive today as far as I can tell. Jesus.

You mean both grandsons are still alive.

Happy happy to the statesmen, grifters, and charlatans!

The most recent rankings: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Historical_rankings_of_presidents_of_the_United_States#Siena_College_Research_Institute,_Presidential_Expert_Poll_of_2018

Need to rewatch Lincoln (2012) one of these days.

The [2018] ranking gave the top five spots to George Washington, Franklin Roosevelt (FDR), Abraham Lincoln, Theodore (Teddy) Roosevelt and Thomas Jefferson. This top five, described as Mt. Rushmore plus FDR, was consistent with prior surveys. Washington had been ranked fourth in all previous surveys, and FDR first.

Thomas Jefferson (Tommy)

Presidents Day is only about two of the presidents.

So I'm told, yes.

https://i.imgur.com/UyVVS0D.jpg https://i.imgur.com/svMbdUf.jpg

now kiss

ahem, Karl Malone, make it happen