Best President from World War 2 to 2012? And why?

[Donerail]

I guess Ford, then probably Carter.

[Donerail]

I agree.  I believe using the atomic bomb was the right decision because had we not used it, the war in the Pacific would have gone on indefinitely, at a potentially greater loss of life.  Though it was certainly not an ideal option, it was the simplest and quickest way to defeat Japan.  As for Jimmy Carter, he was always a great man, but he was one of our worst, if not the worst, president since WWII, and hands down the worst in the past 50 years.

Bush?

Looking at it objectively, you've got to admit that Bush did a pretty good job considering what was handed to him (i.e. 9/11, Iraq, Hurricane Katrina).  Some mistakes were made in all of those areas and others (esp. Katrina), but keep that in mind.

Handed to him? He caused one of them and failed to prevent another, and you have Afghanistan, habeas corpus, PATRIOT Act, domestic spying, torture, etc, etc, etc, all of which were caused by him, not handed to him.

[Donerail]

Well if you're talking about failure to put 9/11 I always have to split the blame for that, between Clinton and Bush considering both had intel and opportunities to take out Osama prior to the incident.

Yeah, though I tend to allocate a bigger chunk to Bush than Clinton (like 60-40 or 70-30), just because of Bush being chronologically closer to it.