Amercans: Who are your top and bottom 3 presidents from 1900 onward and why?

[konagold]

Worst

GWB - Great post presidency but set country back a few decades w/ Iraq
Nixon - Self explanatory
Trump - Greatest danger to US standing in modern history.

Best

FDR (WW2/Depression)
Eisenhower (Post WW2 expansion/Cold War)
LBJ (Civil Rights)

 

[AviatorShades]

TDR was the best US president

 

[drstrangelov]

Worst-

Hoover
Carter
Taft

All three were ill prepared to deal with the world that developed during their times in office. Probably three of the better men to take office, but none of them executed the job particularly well.

Best-

Wilson
FDR
Obama or Reagan, need some distance from Obama to decide between the two.

Basically the opposite of the other other three, these guys took over in a time of great global change and/or catastrophe, and guided the country through it, bringing us out in better shape on the other side.

 

[AviatorShades]

Sans the D, can't edit

 

[Jack V Savage]

Most overrated:
JFK (D) by far

Most underrated:
Nixon (R) by far

Edit: will add reasoning later

I agree that JFK is very overrated, but not as overrated as Nixon. He's given a lot of credit for losing battles with a good Congress and his negatives are way overlooked.

 

[superpunch]

Best
-----
Donald Trump
Lyndon B Johnson
Nixon
Reagan

Worst
------
JFK
Woodrow Wilson
FDR

 

[Jorge Luis Borges]

Having both Eisenhower and Reagan in the top 3 is ludicrous given they had nearly diametrically opposite economic views; Reagan began the GOP trajectory in the opposite direction that Eisenhower had taken it.

Really, having Reagan in any top 3 and Wilson in any bottom 3 is indefensible.

Oh, so I can only think a president is great if he has an economic policy consistent with another great president? GTFO.

Wilson did much to intensify segregation, notably in our armed services. He disliked the principles of universal freedom as espoused in the US Declaration to the degree that he famously said, "If you want to understand the real Declaration of Independence, do not repeat the preface.”

He also wrote and spoke extensively about how humans had evolved beyond the point where they were driven by self-interest. One of the conclusions he drew from this was that there was thus no longer any need for Constitutional checks on government power, which were historically contingent on the situation oat America's founding and not based in any kind of universal principle.

SO yeah, of course a man who would style himself after Trotsky would approve of a man who openly advocated for a government free of restraints. But liberals should reject his governing philosophy.

 

[leto1776]

Worst: FDR, Wilson, Carter.

 

[kahiljabroni]

Because effective presidents can do awful things, good man can commit bad acts.

Not everyone is a bifurcated moron.

You mean like all the men with monuments that are getting torn down?

 

[7437]

Any libs who put FDR in top 3 better explain how they can do so given the internment camps.

it doesnt negate all the good he did for the nation.

 

[LMP]

I could be convinced to change my mind

Top
1. Teddy
2. JFK
3. FDR


Bottom
1. Clinton (NAFTA)
2. G.W. Bush (Iraq, patriot act, housing crash.)
3. Reagan (Reagan economics and loosened regulations on the banks)

 

[SiKnSiN]

Please explain.

No need. I should of read the OP. I edited him out.

 

[SummerStriker]

Top: Jimmy Carter - the only one not to wage war.

Worst: Bush 2, Obama and Trump, because they are basically Nazis.

 

[The Diplomat]

Wilson overt racism against blacks is just too much for me to have much respect for the guy.

This is true, but people should be judged accordingly due to historical context. It wasnt even cool to be antiracist until the 60s and 70s, and even then we werent even close to a majority.

 

[Rod1]

This is true, but people should be judged accordingly due to historical context. It wasnt even cool to be antiracist until the 60s and 70s, and even then we werent even close to a majority.

Im judging him by the historical context, if i judged him by modern context he would be a PoS.

 

[JonnyRingo84]

Most overrated:
JFK (D) by far

id mostly agree, but his handling of the cuban missile crisis was F'ing amazing imo. and thats arguably the most dangerous two weeks in world history that he resolved. kruschev deserves credit as well for his role in working with kennedy.

 

[JonnyRingo84]

Good:
1. FDR - WWII, The Great Depression, Works Program, Social Security. Where the country was when he took office vs. where we were when he left.
2. TFR - national parks, progressive reforms.
3. Woodrow Wilson - maintaining our isolationism for so long during WWI and profiting from that insanity

Bad:
1. W 9/11, Iraq, Afghanistan, GFC, tax cuts, cost the country trillions of dollars, etc, etc.
2. Harding
3. Hoover - thisisfine.jpeg

i mostly agree with this list. though, im of the opinion that cheney was the cause of so many problems that bush gets blamed for. bush seems the classic "frontman" to me. iraq has been one of the greatest blunders in our country's history. afghanistan will be next.

 

[Anung Un Rama]

i mostly agree with this list. though, im of the opinion that cheney was the cause of so many problems that bush gets blamed for. bush seems the classic "frontman" to me. iraq has been one of the greatest blunders in our country's history. afghanistan will be next.

I tend to agree with Cheney & PNAC pulling the strings, but that just means W was asleep at the wheel; not an excuse.

 

[KILL KILL]

Genuinely surprised to see so many conservatives vote for FDR considering The New Deal consisted of tons of social programs passed through via executive orders and was very progressive in his views.

 

[Aegon Spengler]

Good:
1. FDR - WWII, The Great Depression, Works Program, Social Security. Where the country was when he took office vs. where we were when he left.
2. TFR - national parks, progressive reforms.
3. Woodrow Wilson - maintaining our isolationism for so long during WWI and profiting from that insanity

Bad:
1. W 9/11, Iraq, Afghanistan, GFC, tax cuts, cost the country trillions of dollars, etc, etc.
2. Harding
3. Hoover - thisisfine.jpeg

Agree with your top three

Three worst are Reagan, Bush and, if we can't include Trump, then Clinton, for laying the framework that has led to the current global environmental crisis and catastrophe - while having all the necessary info available to make changes for a full two terms