It's a little boring to argue about best presidents and worst presidents -- the pantheon is os established that it becomes an argument around the fringes. The more interesting, entertaining and telling argument, to me, is saying who the most underrated president is. So I thought I would ask. There are two kinds of underrated presidents. The first group is the acknowledged underrated presidents, the ones that everyone seems to agree, more or less, are underrated. Most frequently in this group are James K. Polk, William McKinley and James Monroe. THe really fun group is the unacknowledged underrateds ,which is anyone else you can make an argument for. I'll argue for Benjamin Harrison. He was the first president to really look abroad as a world power, through trade treaties and expanding the navy. That's a huge step in our development on the world stage.
McKinely underrated? For what??? The more I think about it, the more I believe Bush I was an underrated President.
Thirded. Stagflation aside, he was the only president in my lifetime that I can think of as a force for good rather than harm. And he doesn't even deserve all the blame for stagflation. It was a couple of decades taking Keynes as economic Bible that got that whole ball rolling.
How long did we prop up the Shah before 1979? Second question: who had the connections to get them released on the day of Reagan's inauguration?
Nothing changes the fact that we suffered a long national humiliation during the Carter Administration. To call him underrated is absurd. If anything, he's benefited enormously by the Americans' short memories.
Nothing like this: You'd not have heard Jimmy Carter saying this: The first time I learned that the proceeds of any Iranian arms transactions might have been paid to any account used to provide weapons and military aid to the Nicaraguan Freedom Fighters -- what has been termed the ``diversion'' -- was on November 24, 1986, when Attorney General Edwin Meese reported to me that a memorandum had been found referring to such a use. I immediately instructed that the NSC, the leadership in Congress and the general public be told of this development. "I never authorized nor approved the ``diversion,'' nor was I ever asked to authorize or approve it. I can recall no conversation or discussion whatsoever of any such idea prior to my conversation with the Attorney General. As noted above, I was unaware that any profits or ``residual funds'' were to be generated by such sales. "It was only as the investigation by the Tower Board got underway that I learned of the operational roles of North, Secord or Hakim. I do not recall authorizing or approving, nor do I believe I was ever asked to authorize or to approve, operational details, such as what accounts were to receive payments. "It was only in my discussions with Attorney General Meese on November 24, 1986, and after that I learned any details of any bank accounts into which the proceeds of arms shipments were paid, or the retention of these proceeds by anyone other than the U.S. Government. I do not recall any discussion prior to that time concerning the proceeds of such sales, nor do I recall being asked for authority by anyone to use, control or retain these funds."
He's underrated. Your analysis is absurd. Peacemaker who did not trade arms or money to terror, period.
the matching aid for Egypt and Israel was the deciding factor to get them to the table.The truth is he paid them off to sign that treaty.Egypt at the time was one of if not the largest supporter of terrorism in the region.The govt. in Cairo ceased their open support for terrorists because of the pay off (which the the US still pays). Carter is the one who is also is responsible for us supporting Jordan with $$.Again, there support of terrorists was a major factor in this aid. Carter just as every other modern US president gave payoffs to Arab dictators.To say otherwise is ignoring the facts and history.
With the hindsight of 4 years, Bill Clinton is clearly not only the greatest president since WW II, but also among the most underrated presidents in history.
In 100 years, the only thing history books will say about Clinton is "second president impeached". There were better Democratic presidents than Clinton. Which Democrat you might say? Certainly not that horror Carter. Anyone who thinks he was a great president didn't have to live through him. Great man, terrible president. In terms of influence I nominate LBJ. He fundamentally changed America through the "Great Society" programs. He did more for Civil Rights than any other president has ever done. He continued and expanded Kennedy's quest to go to the moon and, when the heat was on to cancel the space program, stood by it. He could never figure out the North Vietnamese and why they would keep fighting with horrendous losses, but he never stopped trying. All while holding the Soviets at bay in the darkest days of the Cold War. Tell me a Democrat since WWII who can hold a candle to him (and I didn't like him!! )
Camp David was his shining moment. He fell short in just about every other aspect of his presidency. When he tells the country that "things svck and your fearless leaders really don't know how to un-svck things. now go wait 3 hours for rationed gas." well that's not exactly what an already bummed out country wanted to hear. A passage: The erosion of our confidence in the future is threatening to destroy the social and the political fabric of America. . . . The symptoms of this crisis of the American spirit are all around us. For the first time in the history of our country a majority of our people believe that the next five years will be worse than the past five years. Two-thirds of our people do not even vote. The productivity of American workers is actually dropping, and the willingness of Americans to save for the future has fallen below that of all other people in the Western world. . . .
I doubt there would be much of a historical difference if Carter and Clinton somehow could have swapped their periods in which they reigned. Basically it breaks down as such: Carter + Kennedy's libido = Clinton