Rank The U.S. Presidents of the last 98 years.

[TroglocratsRdumb]

The notion that George W Bush would be considered a good President, by any measure, is just breathtaking. The mess he left behind was historic.

The Democrats cause the great recession with their mortgage policies and then blamed it on Bush

You clearly have no idea how the Meltdown happened.

I realize that talk radio avoids it and sticks with the incredibly simplistic CRA meme, but all the information is out there if you look for it a bit.
.

explain how Bush caused the Great Recession

I didn't say that Bush "caused" the Great Recession. Try again.
.

weeeeelll how did then?

 

[rightwinger]

The notion that George W Bush would be considered a good President, by any measure, is just breathtaking. The mess he left behind was historic.

The Democrats cause the great recession with their mortgage policies and then blamed it on Bush

You clearly have no idea how the Meltdown happened.

I realize that talk radio avoids it and sticks with the incredibly simplistic CRA meme, but all the information is out there if you look for it a bit.
.

explain how Bush caused the Great Recession

He didn’t cause it

But his denial and deer in the headlights reaction to an economic disaster made it worse. It was not till he told his trusted advisors to go fuk themselves and listened to Paulson that things started to look better

 

[Mac1958]

The notion that George W Bush would be considered a good President, by any measure, is just breathtaking. The mess he left behind was historic.

The Democrats cause the great recession with their mortgage policies and then blamed it on Bush

You clearly have no idea how the Meltdown happened.

I realize that talk radio avoids it and sticks with the incredibly simplistic CRA meme, but all the information is out there if you look for it a bit.
.

explain how Bush caused the Great Recession

I didn't say that Bush "caused" the Great Recession. Try again.
.

weeeeelll how did then?

It's a long and complicated story that involves Presidents from both parties and a general lassez faire, pseudo-libertarian approach to financial regulation.

It includes opaque financial instruments, the ratings agencies, the Fed, the CFTC and derivatives, blatant intellectual dishonesty by many banks and mortgage companies, paid-off ratings agencies and much more.

As I said, if you really want to know the whole story, you can look it up. Warning: It doesn't fit on a bumper sticker or a baseball cap.
.

 

[TroglocratsRdumb]

The notion that George W Bush would be considered a good President, by any measure, is just breathtaking. The mess he left behind was historic.

The Democrats cause the great recession with their mortgage policies and then blamed it on Bush

You clearly have no idea how the Meltdown happened.

I realize that talk radio avoids it and sticks with the incredibly simplistic CRA meme, but all the information is out there if you look for it a bit.
.

explain how Bush caused the Great Recession

He didn’t cause it

But his denial and deer in the headlights reaction to an economic disaster made it worse. It was not till he told his trusted advisors to go fuk themselves and listened to Paulson that things started to look better

Bush Admin. Had a Plan To Create An Agency for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac In 2003-Truth! - Truth or Fiction?
Bush did try to reform mortgage policies, but the Democrat congress called his plan.....wait for it......RACIST

 

[TroglocratsRdumb]

Franklin Delano Raines made millions off of bad mortgage loans
Franklin Raines - Wikipedia

 

[Likkmee]

Teddy was one tough SOB

you'll love this page.LOL
Badass of the Week: Theodore Roosevelt

 

[TroglocratsRdumb]

Rahm Emanuel made millions off of bad loans
Rahm Emanuel's profitable stint at mortgage giant

 

[Faun]

The notion that George W Bush would be considered a good President, by any measure, is just breathtaking. The mess he left behind was historic.

The Democrats cause the great recession with their mortgage policies and then blamed it on Bush

You clearly have no idea how the Meltdown happened.

I realize that talk radio avoids it and sticks with the incredibly simplistic CRA meme, but all the information is out there if you look for it a bit.
.

explain how Bush caused the Great Recession

Speaking to an audience of Republicans....

"Thanks to our policies, home ownership in America is at an all-time high!" ~ Gee Duhbya, 2004 RNC​

 

[McRocket]

I will just do top and bottom few.

Bottom?

- Trump (by miles - mostly because he is not mentally fit to be POTUS. But the 'big, fat ugly bubble' of an economy - his words - he inherited, he is just making fatter and uglier.)
- Hoover (what a pathetic job he did. He took an iffy economy and turned it into the Great Depression. Enough said.)
- GWB (the country was economically decent and posting fiscal surpluses when he took office and was in the Great Recession with gigantic deficits when he left office).
- FDR (contrary to popular belief...the New Deal was a disaster and economically stagnated the country until WW2. The lowest the unemployment rate was from his inauguration until WW2 -1933-1939 - was 14% and he more then doubled the national debt. Those are both pathetic stats. Plus, as the 1920/21 Depression proved, recessions/depressions ALWAYS end quickly if you just leave the economy alone. All FDR did was prolong the misery).
- Nixon (Watergate et al overrides everything good he did)
- Obama (like the guy but his foreign policy was generally bad and his solution to the Great Recession was to hand the problem to the Fed...and they turned the economy into a cheap debt house of cards that will come crashing down one day)

Top?

- Bush Senior (other then the deficit, he did everything else more or less right. And his foreign policy record was generally excellent - with a few exceptions).
- Clinton (he balanced the books - MASSIVELY important to me - and did most things semi-okay...EXCEPT RWANDA which he handled appalling bad...just horrific. The Lewinsky thing means little to me - what sane, consenting adult blows him is his business.).
- Harding (he fucked up lots of stuff. But he handled the 1920/21 Depression almost EXACTLY as you should...balance the budget and let the economy fix itself. Result? It ended quickly and the country's economy was strong again in 4 years - unlike the Great Depression and the New Deal).

 

[Polishprince]

Rahm Emanuel made millions off of bad loans
Rahm Emanuel's profitable stint at mortgage giant

Ditto with Liberal Superstar Chris Dodd who was a distinguished "Friend of Angelo" at Countrywide

 

[U2Edge]

How would you rank the U.S. Presidents of the last 98 years, from best to worst.

01. Franklin Roosevelt
02. Harry S. Truman
03. George H.W. Bush
04. Ronald Reagan
05. George W. Bush
06. John F. Kennedy
07. Bill Clinton
08. Barack Obama
09. Richard Nixon
10. Lyndon Johnson
11. Jimmy Carter
12. Dwight D. Eisenhower
13. Gerald R. Ford
14. Donald Trump
15. Calvin Coolidge
16. Herbert Hoover
17. Warren G. Harding



Most difficult part for me was ranking Presidents #7 through #10.

Let me recommend a book for you, which provides a little better understanding of President Harding's reign in the early 1920's.

"The Illustrious Life and Work of Warren G. Harding" by Thomas H. Russell. Russell wrote his outstanding biography of the great man in 1923, the year of Harding's untimely death in the Palace Hotel in San Francisco.

It might give you more of an objective view of the man's greatness. Nowadays, Harding is very the much underrated

I doubt it would change my mind. Any President that is pro-isolationism on the world stage deserves to be ranked towards the bottom. Woodrow Wilson had plans that could have prevented a 2nd World War, or made it less likely, through greater U.S. intervention abroad, but Harding and the Republican congress trashed those plans. Instead, they set America on the path to economic ruin, a weak military, weak foreign policy, all things that would strengthen Germany and Japan in later years, help create World War II, and have Americans playing catch in terms of building a military force large enough and strong enough to help save the world from the Axis powers. I would say Harding is more the Opposite of Franklin Roosevelt, Harry Truman and Woodrow Wilson when it comes to foreign policy, defense policy and the role of government in the economy.

 

[U2Edge]

you put both bushes in the top 5?....geezus....

Yep. George H.W. Bush presided over the end of the Cold War, removed Manuel Noriega from power in Panama, launched Desert Shield and Desert Storm which successfully restored peace and security to the Persian Gulf at the time, was willing to raise taxes despite the political price to help eventually balance the budget, had the last calendar year, 1992, when all 4 quarters of real GDP growth were above 4%.

George W. Bush successfully defending the United States from terrorism after 9/11, removed the Taliban from power in Afghanistan and replaced it with a better government, removed Saddam Hussein from power in Iraq and replaced his regime with a more stable government, no longer a threat to its neighbors, and more responsive to the rights and needs of its people, the Presidency of George W. Bush had one of the lowest average unemployment rates of any President in history.

He did attack the wrong country and turned the Clinton surplus into a deficit. No child left behind, is our children learning. He and I were born in the same hospital so I do have a soft spot for him. Truman probably was under rated- he fired a general like Trump did and caught even more flak.

The Flak Truman got for firing Douglas MacArthur is greatly overstated. It resulted in only a 4% drop in his approval ratings.

The United States was already at war with Iraq when Bush became President. The Clinton administration bombed Iraq every year that Bill Clinton was in office. The ceacefire or pause in military ground operations between March 1991 and March 2003 was essentially just that, a Pause. The United States had hoped Saddam would be removed internally during those 12 years but it did not happen, hence the necessity for the ground invasion in March 2003 to finish the job.

The Clinton surplus was small, a bit lucky, and already vulnerable to being turned back into deficit when Bush came into office. The events of 9/11 made keeping such a small surplus at the time impossible. Military spending needed to be greatly increased. But, Bush should be faulted for given tax cuts to the rich, reducing the top federal tax rate, which did nothing to improve economic growth and only worsened the United States ability to keep a balance budget. But the necessity of higher defense spending and the phenomenon of more anemic economic growth in the developed world, made budget deficits an unavoidable reality.

 

[Wry Catcher]

Warren Harding in the White House
Once in office, Warren Harding followed a predominantly pro-business, conservative Republican agenda. Taxes were reduced, particularly for corporations and wealthy individuals; high protective tariffs were enacted; and immigration was limited. Harding signed the Budget and Accounting Act of 1921, which streamlined the federal budget system and established the General Accounting Office to audit government expenditures. Additionally, the United States hosted a successful naval disarmament conference for the world’s leading countries. Harding also nominated ex-president Taft as the chief justice of the U.S. Supreme Court. To date, Taft is the only former chief executive to have held this position.

Harding appointed capable men to his cabinet, including Secretary of Commerce Herbert Hoover (1874-1964), Secretary of State Charles Evans Hughes (1862-1948) and Secretary of the Treasury Andrew Mellon (1855-1937). However, he also surrounded himself with individuals who were later accused of misconduct. Harding was popular while in office, but his reputation was tarnished following his death when Americans learned of corruption within his administration–even though he had not engaged in any of this criminal activity. In one infamous incident, known as the Teapot Dome Scandal, Secretary of the Interior Albert Fall (1861-1944) rented public lands to oil companies in exchange for gifts and personal loans. (Fall was later convicted of accepting bribes and spent less than a year in prison.) Other government officials took payoffs and embezzled funds. Harding himself allegedly had extramarital affairs and drank alcohol in the White House, a violation of the 18th Amendment.

https://www.history.com/topics/us-presidents/warren-g-harding

Seems President Harding and President Trump are not too different. See Highlighted parts.

 

[U2Edge]

I will just do top and bottom few.

Bottom?

- Trump (by miles - mostly because he is not mentally fit to be POTUS. But the 'big, fat ugly bubble' of an economy - his words - he inherited, he is just making fatter and uglier.)
- Hoover (what a pathetic job he did. He took an iffy economy and turned it into the Great Depression. Enough said.)
- GWB (the country was economically decent and posting fiscal surpluses when he took office and was in the Great Recession with gigantic deficits when he left office).
- FDR (contrary to popular belief...the New Deal was a disaster and economically stagnated the country until WW2. The lowest the unemployment rate was from his inauguration until WW2 -1933-1939 - was 14% and he more then doubled the national debt. Those are both pathetic stats. Plus, as the 1920/21 Depression proved, recessions/depressions ALWAYS end quickly if you just leave the economy alone. All FDR did was prolong the misery).
- Nixon (Watergate et al overrides everything good he did)
- Obama (like the guy but his foreign policy was generally bad and his solution to the Great Recession was to hand the problem to the Fed...and they turned the economy into a cheap debt house of cards that will come crashing down one day)

Top?

- Bush Senior (other then the deficit, he did everything else more or less right. And his foreign policy record was generally excellent - with a few exceptions).
- Clinton (he balanced the books - MASSIVELY important to me - and did most things semi-okay...EXCEPT RWANDA which he handled appalling bad...just horrific. The Lewinsky thing means little to me - what sane, consenting adult blows him is his business.).
- Harding (he fucked up lots of stuff. But he handled the 1920/21 Depression almost EXACTLY as you should...balance the budget and let the economy fix itself. Result? It ended quickly and the country's economy was strong again in 4 years - unlike the Great Depression and the New Deal).

Why not a full list?

 

[Polishprince]

Warren Harding in the White House
Once in office, Warren Harding followed a predominantly pro-business, conservative Republican agenda. Taxes were reduced, particularly for corporations and wealthy individuals; high protective tariffs were enacted; and immigration was limited. Harding signed the Budget and Accounting Act of 1921, which streamlined the federal budget system and established the General Accounting Office to audit government expenditures. Additionally, the United States hosted a successful naval disarmament conference for the world’s leading countries. Harding also nominated ex-president Taft as the chief justice of the U.S. Supreme Court. To date, Taft is the only former chief executive to have held this position.

Harding appointed capable men to his cabinet, including Secretary of Commerce Herbert Hoover (1874-1964), Secretary of State Charles Evans Hughes (1862-1948) and Secretary of the Treasury Andrew Mellon (1855-1937). However, he also surrounded himself with individuals who were later accused of misconduct. Harding was popular while in office, but his reputation was tarnished following his death when Americans learned of corruption within his administration–even though he had not engaged in any of this criminal activity. In one infamous incident, known as the Teapot Dome Scandal, Secretary of the Interior Albert Fall (1861-1944) rented public lands to oil companies in exchange for gifts and personal loans. (Fall was later convicted of accepting bribes and spent less than a year in prison.) Other government officials took payoffs and embezzled funds. Harding himself allegedly had extramarital affairs and drank alcohol in the White House, a violation of the 18th Amendment.

https://www.history.com/topics/us-presidents/warren-g-harding

Seems President Harding and President Trump are not too different. See Highlighted parts.

Al Fall wasn't a crony or close friend of President Harding at all. Fall was a New Mexican senator and a military veteran. Blaming President Harding for his corruption isn't fair at all.

 

[U2Edge]

How would you rank the U.S. Presidents of the last 98 years, from best to worst.

01. Franklin Roosevelt
02. Harry S. Truman
03. George H.W. Bush
04. Ronald Reagan
05. George W. Bush
06. John F. Kennedy
07. Bill Clinton
08. Barack Obama
09. Richard Nixon
10. Lyndon Johnson
11. Jimmy Carter
12. Dwight D. Eisenhower
13. Gerald R. Ford
14. Donald Trump
15. Calvin Coolidge
16. Herbert Hoover
17. Warren G. Harding



Most difficult part for me was ranking Presidents #7 through #10.

JFK always overrated. Outside of Cuban Missile Crisis he did not have enough time to do anything.

Kennedy Changed U.S. national security policy from "MASSIVE RETALIATION" with nuclear weapons if the Soviets invaded Western Europe and other areas to one of "FLEXIBLE RESPONSE". Kennedy new that the Soviets would eventually achieve nuclear parity with the United States making IKE's massive retaliation policy suicidal. IKE had tried to cut spending on defense by emphasizing the use of Nuclear Weapons allowing for a cut in conventional forces. A terrible idea that only worked during the time of temporary U.S. nuclear superiority over the Soviets. It made building a strong conventional military deterrent to Soviet Expansionism more difficult by putting America nearly a decade behind in that regard.

Kennedy believe in spending to have strong military conventional forces and actively opposing the Soviets all across the globe in ways IKE was not prepared to do. Kennedy was a much better Cold Warrior and anti-Soviet than IKE and many of the other Presidents. He had smarter and more realistic plans for building up the U.S. military, and was willing to spend the money to do it. IKE to a certain degree placed having a balanced budget over national security which was simply wrong and risky for U.S. and global security.

 

[rightwinger]

The notion that George W Bush would be considered a good President, by any measure, is just breathtaking. The mess he left behind was historic.

The Democrats cause the great recession with their mortgage policies and then blamed it on Bush

You clearly have no idea how the Meltdown happened.

I realize that talk radio avoids it and sticks with the incredibly simplistic CRA meme, but all the information is out there if you look for it a bit.
.

explain how Bush caused the Great Recession

He didn’t cause it

But his denial and deer in the headlights reaction to an economic disaster made it worse. It was not till he told his trusted advisors to go fuk themselves and listened to Paulson that things started to look better

Bush Admin. Had a Plan To Create An Agency for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac In 2003-Truth! - Truth or Fiction?
Bush did try to reform mortgage policies, but the Democrat congress called his plan.....wait for it......RACIST

More mythology

It wasn’t poor people getting mortgages that caused the housing bubble to burst
It was rampant speculation, derivatives, fake bond ratings
Poor people don’t control that

 

[rightwinger]

Warren Harding in the White House
Once in office, Warren Harding followed a predominantly pro-business, conservative Republican agenda. Taxes were reduced, particularly for corporations and wealthy individuals; high protective tariffs were enacted; and immigration was limited. Harding signed the Budget and Accounting Act of 1921, which streamlined the federal budget system and established the General Accounting Office to audit government expenditures. Additionally, the United States hosted a successful naval disarmament conference for the world’s leading countries. Harding also nominated ex-president Taft as the chief justice of the U.S. Supreme Court. To date, Taft is the only former chief executive to have held this position.

Harding appointed capable men to his cabinet, including Secretary of Commerce Herbert Hoover (1874-1964), Secretary of State Charles Evans Hughes (1862-1948) and Secretary of the Treasury Andrew Mellon (1855-1937). However, he also surrounded himself with individuals who were later accused of misconduct. Harding was popular while in office, but his reputation was tarnished following his death when Americans learned of corruption within his administration–even though he had not engaged in any of this criminal activity. In one infamous incident, known as the Teapot Dome Scandal, Secretary of the Interior Albert Fall (1861-1944) rented public lands to oil companies in exchange for gifts and personal loans. (Fall was later convicted of accepting bribes and spent less than a year in prison.) Other government officials took payoffs and embezzled funds. Harding himself allegedly had extramarital affairs and drank alcohol in the White House, a violation of the 18th Amendment.

https://www.history.com/topics/us-presidents/warren-g-harding

Seems President Harding and President Trump are not too different. See Highlighted parts.

Al Fall wasn't a crony or close friend of President Harding at all. Fall was a New Mexican senator and a military veteran. Blaming President Harding for his corruption isn't fair at all.

Who appointed his Secretary of the Interior?
A Democrat ?

 

[Polishprince]

The Democrats cause the great recession with their mortgage policies and then blamed it on Bush

You clearly have no idea how the Meltdown happened.

I realize that talk radio avoids it and sticks with the incredibly simplistic CRA meme, but all the information is out there if you look for it a bit.
.

explain how Bush caused the Great Recession

He didn’t cause it

But his denial and deer in the headlights reaction to an economic disaster made it worse. It was not till he told his trusted advisors to go fuk themselves and listened to Paulson that things started to look better

Bush Admin. Had a Plan To Create An Agency for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac In 2003-Truth! - Truth or Fiction?
Bush did try to reform mortgage policies, but the Democrat congress called his plan.....wait for it......RACIST

More mythology

It wasn’t poor people getting mortgages that caused the housing bubble to burst
It was rampant speculation, derivatives, fake bond ratings
Poor people don’t control that

your right, it wasn't poor people getting mortgages, but people with shitty credit that didn't pay back the money.

Subpar borrowers, not the poor.

Sure, some subpar individuals are poor. But many poor people pay their bills.

 

[rightwinger]

You clearly have no idea how the Meltdown happened.

I realize that talk radio avoids it and sticks with the incredibly simplistic CRA meme, but all the information is out there if you look for it a bit.
.

explain how Bush caused the Great Recession

He didn’t cause it

But his denial and deer in the headlights reaction to an economic disaster made it worse. It was not till he told his trusted advisors to go fuk themselves and listened to Paulson that things started to look better

Bush Admin. Had a Plan To Create An Agency for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac In 2003-Truth! - Truth or Fiction?
Bush did try to reform mortgage policies, but the Democrat congress called his plan.....wait for it......RACIST

More mythology

It wasn’t poor people getting mortgages that caused the housing bubble to burst
It was rampant speculation, derivatives, fake bond ratings
Poor people don’t control that

your right, it wasn't poor people getting mortgages, but people with shitty credit that didn't pay back the money.

Subpar borrowers, not the poor.

Sure, some subpar individuals are poor. But many poor people pay their bills.

More mythology

It was people taking out loans on the newly inflated value of real estate. I used to get 3-4 calls a week trying to get me to refinance back then. They said ....why not refinance and get a new car, boat or RV..you deserve it

Once those inflated values crashed, those loans went under water and people defaulted