2016 Postmortem
In reply to the discussion: Want a heart? Who has been America's greatest president? [View all]zipplewrath
(16,646 posts)Last edited Thu Feb 14, 2013, 02:15 PM - Edit history (1)
It's kinda hard because one must define "greatness" some how.
Washington was far "greater" than most will every know, because he virtually DEFINED the job for the better part of 100 years or so. The whole CIC thing exists because the founders were thinking of Washington when they created the presidency. But only one guy gets to be 1st.
FDR defined the "modern" presidency, but I'm not sure that's something to be happy about. He also guided us through some of the darkest days of this country. We were darn close to having someone like Huey P. Long as president. There was a real possibility that could have been the end of anything we consider to be "constitutional" rule.
I'm less enamoured with Lincoln than most, but by the END of his presidency he really had learned alot, and was really beginning to hit his stride. Read his second inaugural sometime, in the light of the modern day, and think about ANY president that could say such a thing now.
LBJ would have eclipsed FDR, except for that one huge turd in the punch bowl. It's really sad in a way. The Great Society and Civil Rights should have been ALL we talk about with LBJ. It's just hard to get around Vietnam. (Hey, Hey, LBJ, how many kids ya gonna kill today?)
The one that virtually never gets discussed in progressive circles is Eisenhower. I understand why and all, after all he literally chose the GOP. Both parties pursued him. But one should understand that the Democratic party he knew, included alot of Dixiecrats. The GOP he grew up with was more the party of "Lincoln". His ACTIONS on many issues, from civil rights to the interstate highway system, not to mention unions and his observations on the Military-Industrial symbiosis place him in a very progressive position. He also was quite hard over on avoiding war, although between the way Korea ended, and how he left several "bombs" lying around (Bay of Pigs) for the next administration, it is a bit hard to classify him as a "pacifist" in any sense.
Jefferson aspired to be great, but his actions often didn't measure up. One could possibly describe Carter in a similar way.
All in all, at the end of the day Washington is hard to beat, but FDR probably came the closest.