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Andy_Copland

The Greatest US Presidents

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I'm sure to his dismay, George is probably doomed to stay on that list ... but I'd sure like to see if he moves higher (ok, I suppose lower IS possible also) on it with hindsight ... say, 50 - 80 years from now.
As long as you are happy with yourself ... who cares what the rest of the world thinks?

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I'm sure to his dismay, George is probably doomed to stay on that list ... but I'd sure like to see if he moves higher (ok, I suppose lower IS possible also) on it with hindsight ... say, 50 - 80 years from now.




I don't see how he could move lower... almost all the rest of them below him got shot in office.. having done nothing....George did a lot... you have to give him that.... he did slots of things...most of them the wrong things..for all the wrong reasons...

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First, I guess I wasn't too clear there - sorry! I meant higher as in moving toward being the worst (tied for 5th worst right now), not as in his overall ranking by that group moving up, which would mean he improved in their view.

That said, he could easily be seen as worse by a different group of people doing the rankings. Certainly the way he is preceived that many years down the road will be at least a little different from how we see him now. I'm sure the final outcome in Iraq can impact that some in either direction, as can Afghanistan.
As long as you are happy with yourself ... who cares what the rest of the world thinks?

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First, I guess I wasn't too clear there - sorry! I meant higher as in moving toward being the worst (tied for 5th worst right now), not as in his overall ranking by that group moving up, which would mean he improved in their view.

That said, he could easily be seen as worse by a different group of people doing the rankings. Certainly the way he is preceived that many years down the road will be at least a little different from how we see him now. I'm sure the final outcome in Iraq can impact that some in either direction, as can Afghanistan.




I am still hopefull that we can broker a meaningful and just peace for the people of Afghanistan.

I have every confidence that within the next two years the muslim factions of Iraq will rip the country apart into three new countries and Iraq as it has existed for the last 100 years will cease to exist.

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You know that this list has got to be biased. To place that peanut farmer Jimmy Carter so high on the list is bull. The man continues to embarrass the U.S. to this day.
"There is an art, it says, or, rather, a knack to flying. The knack lies in learning how to throw yourself at the ground and miss."
Life, the Universe, and Everything

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we asked a panel of experts from The Times to rank the previous Commanders-in-Chief in order of greatness.



Quantitative analysis on a slow news day? :S
Nobody has time to listen; because they're desperately chasing the need of being heard.

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You know that this list has got to be biased. To place that peanut farmer Jimmy Carter so high on the list is bull. The man continues to embarrass the U.S. to this day.



Agreed. Barry keeps going on about this being the worst economy since the Great Depression. Perhaps he doesn't remember the late 70's and early 80's under Carter.
Please don't dent the planet.

Destinations by Roxanne

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Carter wasn't president in the early 80's. Inflation started under Ford (I remember our stunted Christmas tree one year at college with a WIP, for Whip Inflation Now, button on it), and continued into the Reagan administration. Carter didn't help it, but neither was he the cause of it.

Carter wasn't a badass motherfucker Chuck Norris type of president. But he's exactly an honorable and honest man. If you don't like a non-politician for president, he's an example.

Wendy W.
There is nothing more dangerous than breaking a basic safety rule and getting away with it. It removes fear of the consequences and builds false confidence. (tbrown)

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Leaders of other countries played him for the well-intentioned, but naive, person that he is.

Absolutely. His focus on human rights was good, but he really didn't internalize that not everyone is the same as he is.

He really, really needed a badass Secretary of State that he'd be willing to listen to. But if people want an example of someone who wouldn't compromise his values, he's still a pretty good example of one. And why that's not always such a good thing in a President.

Wendy W.
There is nothing more dangerous than breaking a basic safety rule and getting away with it. It removes fear of the consequences and builds false confidence. (tbrown)

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Carter wasn't president in the early 80's. Inflation started under Ford (I remember our stunted Christmas tree one year at college with a WIP, for Whip Inflation Now, button on it), and continued into the Reagan administration. Carter didn't help it, but neither was he the cause of it.

Carter wasn't a badass motherfucker Chuck Norris type of president. But he's exactly an honorable and honest man. If you don't like a non-politician for president, he's an example.

Wendy W.



1981 qualifies as the early 80's I think.
Please don't dent the planet.

Destinations by Roxanne

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You know that this list has got to be biased. To place that peanut farmer Jimmy Carter so high on the list is bull. The man continues to embarrass the U.S. to this day.



32/44 is "high" ? He's in the bottom 25% - where he belongs. He was an embarassment. And I'm a Democrat, who voted for Reagan in 1980.

I think they got the Top 10, and especially the Top 5 right.

Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

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I'm sure to his dismay, George is probably doomed to stay on that list ... but I'd sure like to see if he moves higher (ok, I suppose lower IS possible also) on it with hindsight ... say, 50 - 80 years from now.



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But Harry S. has got to be third.
Twas a man of honor and basically saved the world with his descisions.




I think these two statements go well together seeing as how Truman left office with a 22% approval rating (according to that article). He's now 7th on that list. Anyone read what Bush's final approval rating was?

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Stay positive and love your life.

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I think it's nuts that they ranked Fillmore ahead of Garfield. What could they have been thinking??
Idiots.

I do think that a couple/few decades from now, Nixon will be (rightfully) ranked much higher than he currently is. Yes, he had a dark, paranoid personality (basically, he was an asshole), which led to the Watergate scandal; and I think he unnecessarily prolonged US involvement in the Vietnam war. But he's been one of our brightest presidents (he excelled academically); he was a capable manager, did a pretty fair job on a tough economy, had an excellent grasp on foreign policy and, partnered with Henry Kissinger, gave the US some of its best foreign policy successes in history. As far as I'm concerned, most of the books he wrote post-presidency are must-reads by any serious scholar of American government and international relations.

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At least Nixon had the respect to resign

__________________________________________________
"Beware how you take away hope from another human being."
-Oliver Wendell Holmes

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Nixon was impeached for the least of his crimes, but was an extremely adept president in many areas. Reagan is low. EJC is a bit higher than he should be.

Interesting to see this and their reasoning.

:)

Vinny the Anvil
Post Traumatic Didn't Make The Lakers Syndrome is REAL
JACKASS POWER!!!!!!

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At least Nixon had the respect to resign



Having lived through and studied the history of Nixon's resignation, I can tell you that respect had nothing to do with his resignation. He resigned because he knew he was about to be impeached, and he knew he'd probably be convicted - or that the ordeal might prove fatally stressful.

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