Top 5 Favorite Presidents

[Donerail]

1. Van Buren
2. Cleveland
3. Tyler
4. Coolidge
5. Taylor

[Donerail]

1. Van Buren
2. Cleveland
3. Tyler
4. Coolidge
5. Taylor

ROFL

I mean, just ROFL.

Not like yours were much better. Lincoln? LBJ? Teddy? Really?

[Donerail]

1. Van Buren
2. Cleveland
3. Tyler
4. Coolidge
5. Taylor

ROFL

I mean, just ROFL.

Not like yours were much better. Lincoln? LBJ? Teddy? Really?

LBJ is somewhat debatable, but it's pretty obvious why one could consider him a great president. Lincoln and Teddy are widely considered by historians as being among the best.

Tyler, on the other hand, is clearly in the bottom five for a sane person.

LBJ had some good parts of his presidency (Freedom of Information Act, Civil Rights Act of 1964), but the vast majority of it (Voting Rights Act (not all of it, just Section 5; namely, the part of Section 5 that allows/mandates FL-03), Vietnam, the draft, Agent Orange, wiretapping MLK, invading the Dominican Republic, and supporting a coup in Brazil) was bad. Lincoln suspended habeas corpus, locked up politicians who opposed him, shut down newspapers, started a draft, launched the Dakota War of 1862, and possibly tried to assassinate a foreign head of state (Dahlgren Affair and whatnot). Teddy liked to invade things like the Philippines, and his foreign policy towards places like the DR, Japan, and Panama was worse than most modern-day neo-cons.

While I don't agree with Tyler's expansionist policies, particularly regarding Texas, he did manage to get several border disputes resolved via the Webster-Ashburton Treaty, didn't interfere with the Doorite incident in Rhode Island, and ended the Second Seminole War (the most costly Indian War in history).

[Donerail]

But as for Tyler, it just makes no sense. It's not that I particularly dislike him or his policies; he was just an epic failure.

He certainly did fail on re-election, his cabinet (which is one of the main reasons I respect him; he was willing to go against his party based on his principles), and his domestic agenda, but he managed to achieve multiple significant foreign policy landmarks (some of which I already mentioned; I think I forgot to mention he opened China to US trade as well) during his administration.

[Donerail]

But as for Tyler, it just makes no sense. It's not that I particularly dislike him or his policies; he was just an epic failure.

He certainly did fail on re-election, his cabinet (which is one of the main reasons I respect him; he was willing to go against his party based on his principles), and his domestic agenda, but he managed to achieve multiple significant foreign policy landmarks (some of which I already mentioned; I think I forgot to mention he opened China to US trade as well) during his administration.

Still, did you have to copy straight from the Libertarian Master List?

Yes. Yes I did.

[Donerail]

But as for Tyler, it just makes no sense. It's not that I particularly dislike him or his policies; he was just an epic failure.

He certainly did fail on re-election, his cabinet (which is one of the main reasons I respect him; he was willing to go against his party based on his principles), and his domestic agenda, but he managed to achieve multiple significant foreign policy landmarks (some of which I already mentioned; I think I forgot to mention he opened China to US trade as well) during his administration.

Still, did you have to copy straight from the Libertarian Master List?

Yes. Yes I did.

Isn't Libertarianism about independent thinking or something like that?

It's about free will and doing your own thing so long as it doesn't harm others, so yes, independent thinking. My independent thinking led me to be lazy instead of mentally disputing the relative achievements of Chester A. Arthur and Millard Fillmore, so that I could spend my time on more important things, like video games

[Donerail]

Well? Here's mine:

1. Teddy Roosevelt (progressive and badass, an unbeatable combo)
2. FDR (13 f[inks]ing years of New Dealing and war-winning)
3. Lincoln (Need I explain?)
4. Wilson (FDR Lite)
5. Kennedy (Civil rights, saved the world)

LBJ would be #4 but for the 'Nam.

You say Wilson is #4 like warmongering is a good thing. Like creating the Fed and income taxes is a good thing. Like creating the Constitution-shredding Espionage Act of 1917 and Sedition Act of 1918 were good things. Like military interventions in the Dominican Republic, Mexico, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Russia (not to mention WWI) were good things. Like Prohibition was a good thing. Like the Palmer Raids were a good thing. Like the Harrison Narcotics Act was a good thing. Like the Treaty of Versailles was a good thing. Like instituting the draft, which has been unconstitutional since 1865, was a good thing. Like segregation was a good thing.

There's your

shitstorm from libertards

[Donerail]

Well? Here's mine:

1. Teddy Roosevelt (progressive and badass, an unbeatable combo)
2. FDR (13 f[inks]ing years of New Dealing and war-winning)
3. Lincoln (Need I explain?)
4. Wilson (FDR Lite)
5. Kennedy (Civil rights, saved the world)

LBJ would be #4 but for the 'Nam.

You say Wilson is #4 like warmongering is a good thing. Like creating the Fed and income taxes is a good thing. Like the Harrison Narcotics Act was a good thing. Like the Treaty of Versailles was a good thing. Like segregation was a good thing.

Regarding segregation, wouldn't that rule out a whole lot of them? Lincoln himself was a racist by today's standards.

I believe that income taxes and the Fed are good things, and that our entry into WWI was justified. What I've read of the Harrison Act doesn't indicate it being actively bad.

You must be logged in to read this quote.

And I don't like Lincoln any better than Wilson, so... Yeah, income tax=bad, Fed=bad (both for obvious reasons), war=bad (oh, of course, except when it's a Democrat doing the killing, I forgot), Harrison Act=bad (Prohibition-style stuff on cocaine).

[Donerail]

5. George W. Bush
4. Andrew Jackson
3. Calvin Coolidge
2. George H.W. Bush
1. Ronald Reagan

What... what has... what is this?

[Donerail]

5. George W. Bush
4. Andrew Jackson
3. Calvin Coolidge
2. George H.W. Bush
1. Ronald Reagan

What... what has... what is this?

I like the foreign policy. He destroyed the Taliban Government in Afghanistan. Surely that must be a plus.

That's a minus...

[Donerail]

5. George W. Bush
4. Andrew Jackson
3. Calvin Coolidge
2. George H.W. Bush
1. Ronald Reagan

What... what has... what is this?

I like the foreign policy. He destroyed the Taliban Government in Afghanistan. Surely that must be a plus.

That's a minus...

So you'd prefer that it was still legal to stone women in Afghanistan. Me no understand

I'd prefer that Americans wouldn't be dying in foreign wars of aggression, in suppressing a guerrilla movement, or in 'nation building'. While the Taliban being overthrown is good, the cons outweigh the pros.