Education has been going downhill since he was in office, he valued a balanced budget, opened party lines by pushing through some Republican policies (not many, but some), etc. I don't like some of what his social policies were but comparatively he was the last good president.
Since the turn of the 20th century: TR-sucked Woodrow Wilson-worst president in American history Taft-no clue Harding-hard to judge, served only 2.5 years Coolidge-arguably the GOAT Harding-abomination FDR-below average Truman-decent Eisenhower-above average Kennedy-less than three years, somewhat decent LBJ-sucked Nixon-such a horrible person it’s cancels out any good that he actually did Ford-"There is no Soviet domination of Eastern Europe." Carter-Deregulated the airline industry, that’s one good thing Reagan-respectable Bush 41-vastly underrated Clinton-sucked(and got sucked) Bush 43-was brilliant in the days, weeks, and months following 9-11. It was all downhill after that. Really downhill Obama- meant well, but well... Trump- might be somewhat decent if he could actually shut the [uck fay] up for five seconds, but since that’s not possible.....
Just to throw out there, Harding's cabinet was corrupt as hell and one got thrown in jail, the first ever for a cabinet official in American history, to boot.
“Somewhat decent”? He saved the world from extinction at the moment of maximum peril in all of human history. 3 out of 5 stars. I do like your list, otherwise.
Teddy sucked? Maybe I don't know as much about him as I should, but I think he was a great President, one of the giants.
I know for a fact that if I was in charge during the Cuban Missile Crisis, I would have been peeing and shitting my pants on such a consistent basis, that they would have had to install a toilet behind the desk in the Oval Office.
Harding-abomination should be Hoover. Agree totally on Coolidge. Disagree on FDR. Not perfect by any means but definitely the right man at that point in history.
Teddy is awesome if for no other reason than he insisted on giving a speech after being shot in the chest (in which the speech papers slowed the bullet down). The bullet was still in his chest. That's awesome. Oh, and the National Parks System. Republicans used to be all about the environment.
FDR was a horrible president that just threw gas on the polices that Hoover had already started. Those polices only made the depression worst. We were lucky to be the only super power standing after WW2 or those polices would have had an even longer crippling effect on the economy.
if it were not for FDR, we wouldn't have been the only super power standing. good grief, between figuring out all the ways FDR got lucky when inheriting a depression and fighting fascism all while hiding being crippled, and blaming the housing collapse on government regulation that didn't even apply to most of the subprime loans, you're going to pull something with these contortions. I'm sure your private healthcare provider will be ready to assist.
It’s not that contrarian. It’s just not the standard popularized history. Hover was anything but a do nothing president but really sucked at PR.
That’s not true. He was very aggressive in implementing social programs to try to help ease the effects of the depression. He basically handed the playbook to FDR for his first 100 days. FDR was a master at PR though and Hoover was an engineer that couldn’t sell shit.
Let me expound. Hoover's policies to deal with the crisis were akin to applying one of those round band-aids you get after a shot to the throat slash the American economy had received that severed both jugulars. Hoover, like you, believed in an unfettered free market with little to no govt intervention. What's not taken into account is that people can't be trusted to do the right things if no one is watching, in general, and especially in money matters. Every time an unfettered free market is unleashed, it rips itself apart. I'm not ant-free market. I'm against a free market without guardrails to protect the overall economy from the inevitable bad actors inside a free economy. FDR says it beautifully, "The true conservative seeks to protect the system of private property and free enterprise by correcting such injustices and inequalities as arise from it. The most serious threat to our institutions comes from those who refuse to face the need for change. Liberalism becomes the protection for the far-sighted conservative. – Franklin D. Roosevelt
I know a couple of guys around here who are all the time harping on what a horrible President Lincoln was... I’ll give you one guess what type of decor their trucks are festooned with...
