Best President of the 20th Century

[Dark Vigilante]

Not sure if theres been a poll like this, but I figured it might be entertaining to take a break from the current presidential race and look back at the presidents of the last century and decide who out of all of them accomplished the most in their term of office.

I'm voting JFK. While he was only in office 1000 days, what he did in his short term not only turned the tide of the Cold War, it changed the face of America. He was able to keep peace when he was being urged not to; when war meant certain apocolypse. His economic programs launched the most sustained expansion of the American economy since World War I. He was the fist president to seriously support the Civil Rights movement, and he would've ended our involvement in the Vietnam War in 1965. If he had lived and stayed in office until 1968, it can be certain we would be living in a much different America.

 

[Fran]

FDR, no doubt. Got us out of the depression, put us into WWII when we needed to.

Served three full terms, was serving his fourth when he died. I think that alone proves he was an amazing person and a great President.

 

[The Chairman]

JFK, Teddy Roosevelt, FDR, or Reagan. Nixon may have had a chance if it had not been for Watergate.

 

[Byrd Man]

Regan. He defeated the Russians with imaginary lasers.

 

[PhotoJones]

FDR, no doubt. Got us out of the depression, put us into WWII when we needed to.

Served three full terms, was serving his fourth when he died. I think that alone proves he was an amazing person and a great President.

damn straight.

 

[Addendum]

 

[Matt]

FDR. not even a question. Hell, FDR isn't only the best of the 20th century. He is the best in US history.

 

[Fran]

FDR. not even a question. Hell, FDR isn't only the best of the 20th century. He is the best in US history.

That's what I said, and I completely agree.

 

[Tyrinus]

FDR.
JFK is overrated, he's put on a pedestal because he was young and his head blew up on film, not to say he didn't do anything of value. Just overrated.

 

[The Chairman]

FDR. not even a question. Hell, FDR isn't only the best of the 20th century. He is the best in US history.

I'd rank him second to Lincoln.

 

[hippie_hunter]

1. Franklin D. Roosevelt
2. Ronald Reagan
3. Theodore Roosevelt
4. Bill Clinton

- Nixon would be right up there if he weren't such a paranoid crook and JFK doesn't even deserve to be on the list of greatest Presidents, he's #1 as the most overrated President and the only reason why he even has a legacy, is because his head got blown off.

- Sun Down reminded me that Clinton deserves to be on the list. I may not care for his foreign policy too much, but he did one hell of a job domestically which is what matters the most.

 

[Sun_Down]

 

[Dark Vigilante]

1. Franklin D. Roosevelt
2. Ronald Reagan
3. Theodore Roosevelt

- Nixon would be right up there if he weren't such a paranoid crook and JFK doesn't even deserve to be on the list of greatest Presidents, he's #1 as the most overrated President and the only reason why he even has a legacy, is because his head got blown off.

He is definitely overrated due to his assassination, but there is no doubt that he deserves to be up there on a greatest president list. What he accomplished in only two years is pretty damn impressive, and it can only atest to what he could've accomplished in eight years.

 

[StorminNorman]

FDR was an incredibly overrated President whose legacy is only as great as it is because he was in the right place at the right time.

Truman was a far superior President. Teddy Roosevelt, however, was one of the greatest Presidents, period.

 

[PhotoJones]

god bless you, but i hope you're ready to face the wrath of the neo-cons on this board.

 

[StorminNorman]

1. Teddy
2. Truman
3. Eisenhower

 

[PhotoJones]

FDR was an incredibly overrated President whose legacy is only as great as it is because he was in the right place at the right time.

Truman was a far superior President. Teddy Roosevelt, however, was one of the greatest Presidents, period.

and i just called you smart in another thread.

 

[Matt]

1. Franklin D. Roosevelt
2. Ronald Reagan
3. Theodore Roosevelt

- Nixon would be right up there if he weren't such a paranoid crook and JFK doesn't even deserve to be on the list of greatest Presidents, he's #1 as the most overrated President and the only reason why he even has a legacy, is because his head got blown off.

Reagan doesn't deserve to be so far up. In fact, Wilson, Teddy, Johnson, Truman, and Eisenhower would all come before Reagan. Reaganomics are incredibly shortsighted, like most of his policies which we are now feeling the effects of today (loss of any form of manufacturing/blue collar jobs, the Middle East being as militant as it is, and oh yeah...Osama Bin Laden).

The only accomplishment of Reagan was the defeat of the Soviets and that wasn't so much an accomplishment as it was luck. Reagan or Mondale, it wouldn't have mattered. They destroyed themselves. If the Soviets had a more stable economy, Reagan's policies would've brought on a whole new era of tension in the cold war. Reagan threw fuel in the fire when it was starting to die down.

Hell, Nixon is better than Reagan, at least his policies were. Nixon wasn't a bad president by any means.

 

[Dark Vigilante]

FDR was an incredibly overrated President whose legacy is only as great as it is because he was in the right place at the right time.

Truman was a far superior President. Teddy Roosevelt, however, was one of the greatest Presidents, period.

I've got to agree. I think FDR did what any semi-intelligent person would've done if they were in office when it comes to the Depression. And our entry into World War II was inevitable. He had some really good economists in his administration, and the incrediblly skilled leaders of the military during World War II (Marshall, Eisenhower, MacArthur, Bradley, Patton, etc.) would've carried the country to victory no matter who was president at the time.\

And yes, Teddy is up there. It's really thanks to him the United States became a super power.

 

[The Chairman]

Are you joking? Dude, Clinton was good, and I respect the man, but no way is he among the best. The man ignored the Rwanda, lied under oath (and for the record, I do blieve that too big a deal was made out of that whole ordeal in the first place, but he still lied nonetheless), and yes, to an extent, his actions and policies did somewhat play a part in the events of 9 / 11.

 

[Arkady Rossovich]

I voted for the same person.From what i read,he did the most for the country and people.

 

[Matt]

FDR was an incredibly overrated President whose legacy is only as great as it is because he was in the right place at the right time.

Truman was a far superior President. Teddy Roosevelt, however, was one of the greatest Presidents, period.

That could be the case, but the fact is, it was Roosevelt's policies that stopped the depression and won WWII. Who knows how things would've turned out with a lesser man at the wheel.

 

[StorminNorman]

FDR, no doubt. Got us out of the depression, put us into WWII when we needed to.

Served three full terms, was serving his fourth when he died. I think that alone proves he was an amazing person and a great President.

World War II got us out of the Depression.

FDR also was a big reason China became Communist, and he refused to accept Soviet Union as the threat it was.

I also am against most of his New Deal policies, which was basically were basically socialist programs that did little to help us in the Depression, but increased National Government, not to mention bring us farther into debt.

 

[StorminNorman]

That could be the case, but the fact is, it was Roosevelt's policies that stopped the depression and won WWII. Who knows how things would've turned out with a lesser man at the wheel.

No, World War II stopped the Depression. The war stimulated the American economy into overdrive, pulling us out.

The credit for victory in WWII had little to do with Roosevelt and had more to do with the outstanding military and foreign relations experts he had around him.

 

[hippie_hunter]

He is definitely overrated due to his assassination, but there is no doubt that he deserves to be up there on a greatest president list. What he accomplished in only two years is pretty damn impressive, and it can only atest to what he could've accomplished in eight years.

Kennedy did nothing as President. He did a great job with the Cuban Missile Crisis, but the concept of MAD deserves most of the credit there.

- Kennedy had a Republican Congress that refused to work with him.

- He got us more involved in Vietnam.

- Bay of Pigs.

- Anyone could have created the Peace Corps.

- There was chaos in the South due to the Civil Rights Movement due to racist bastards attacking harmless demonstrators and Malcolm X.

Most of his programs eventually went through because Johnson knew how to milk his death.