Most underrated president?

[The Reckoning]

i'd like to shed a little optimism on our past presidents. who do you think is the most underrated president in our history?


to start off, i'd have to say Woodrow Wilson.

[DarrinS]

Truman

[ChumpDumper]

Truman has gotten his due the past decade or so.

I'd go with Eisenhower for modern presidents.

[Medvedenko]

Bush is pretty underrated...isn't he.

[Viva Las Espuelas]

to start off, i'd have to say Woodrow Wilson. although he was an isolationist, i think he was the most practical president. ironically, he necessarily shifted his policies during WWI and brought us onto the world stage - though the bastards in the opposing party halted most of his attempts
wow

[Nbadan]

That's easy...Jimmy Carter...

[KenMcCoy]

W...it'll be 30 to 40 years before anyone realizes that he was the right president for this time in american history.

[Nbadan]

...well, there goes any cred you had left...

[Shastafarian]

John Tyler of course! He was so good he didn't even need to get voted into office (though I guess the same could be said of Dubya).

[whottt]

Without a doubt, John Quincy Adams.


W might wind up being the guy depending on what happens in the Middle East over the next few decades.

[whottt]

That's easy...Jimmy Carter...


How old are you Dan?

[jimbo]

Without a doubt, John Quincy Adams.


W might wind up being the guy depending on what happens in the Middle East over the next few decades.

This probably.

Noone ever remembers how important he was as a diplomat to france. Nearly as important as Ben Franklin.

[cherylsteele]

John Tyler of course! He was so good he didn't even need to get voted into office (though I guess the same could be said of Dubya).
Neither did Ford

[bwdizzle]

Bush: "It's an adjustment, the fundamentals of our economy are strong." It's time for this traitor and his traitorous administration to shut their venomous mouths

[Viva Las Espuelas]

That's easy...Jimmy Carter...
...well, there goes any cred you had left...
exactly.

[whottt]

exactly.


What's funny is that libs laugh about the surge and say it's a payoff...



They must have never examined the detail$between the Egyptian and Israeli Peace Treaty...the only thing Carter did that wasn't an utter clusterfuck.

[Wild Cobra]

That's easy...Jimmy Carter...
Under "rated" dan, not underqualified!

[Tully365]

Eisenhower and Clinton. Two presidents that were able to fend off the more radical elements of their own parties and find practical solutions for problems.

[Wild Cobra]

Eisenhower and Clinton. Two presidents that were able to fend off the more radical elements of their own parties and find practical solutions for problems.
I never learned much about Eisenhower except to know he was a good president. As much as I disliked president Clinton's polices, he was definitely a leader. He knew how to use the charisma he has. Since the question doesn't specify what the underrated qualities are, I can say president Clinton is underrated. We conservatives hate is ideals, but do acknowledge he was among the best leaders.

[whottt]

Clinton's economic policies were conservative....centrist at worst.

His liberalism was more evident in his foreign policy.

[cherylsteele]

I never learned much about Eisenhower except to know he was a good president. As much as I disliked president Clinton's polices, he was definitely a leader. He knew how to use the charisma he has. Since the question doesn't specify what the underrated qualities are, I can say president Clinton is underrated. We conservatives hate is ideals, but do acknowledge he was among the best leaders.
I know people say similar thing about Reagan.
I did not like many of his policies, especially his economic but I will admit he had charisma and was very much a leader too. Although I think he was a little overrated in many people's view.

[Tully365]

As time goes on, I think Clinton's "obsession" with eliminating the deficit (that's the word Alan Greenspan used in his recent memoir) will be more greatly appreciated. Whatever your political persuasion, it's hard to say he didn't accomplish his economic goals.

[whottt]

As time goes on, I think Clinton's "obsession" with eliminating the deficit (that's the word Alan Greenspan used in his recent memoir) will be more greatly appreciated. Whatever your political persuasion, it's hard to say he didn't accomplish his economic goals.

And that was a conservative stance, as was balancing the budget.

Rolling back the Capital Gains tax was a conservative position...the degreee to which he did it was conservative even by conservative standards.


He also tightened the shit out of Welfare requirments to the degree that if a Republican had tried it he could have been accused of being the leader of the KKK.


There was nothing liberal about Clinton's economic policy.


Even the housing stance was high capitalism.



Clinton talked like a liberal...but he governed like a conservatrive economically.


He was able to do what he did because he was a Democrat...if he'd been a Republican and did the things he did he would have been called a racist etc.

[The Reckoning]

clinton was a great politician. he was one of those guys who nobody says they vote for, but somehow he gets elected.

[whottt]

I voted for him both times, and was considering voting for Hillary just to get him back in the Whitehouse.

[Tully365]

And that was a conservative stance, as was balancing the budget.


Do you mean "conservative", in the general sense, i.e., prudent, or conservative in the American political sense?

I don't think it's accurate to say wanting a balanced budget is a part of the conservative agenda in the last 25 years. Reagan criticized Carter's deficit and then quadrupled it, and GW did the same with Clinton's surplus.

Honestly, i think money management transcends political parties. A person who doesn't want to be crippled by debt is just generally smart about finances, even if he or she is a gay tree-hugger who drives a hybrid car, smokes pot, vacations in Bolivia, and works for Planned Parenthood.

[whottt]

Do you mean "conservative", in the general sense, i.e., prudent, or conservative in the American political sense?

Conservative as in Reagan pushed hard for the balanced budget amendment.


Conservative also as in Republicans seizing control of congress in 1994 on that promise and being Clinton's chief allies in balancing the budget and producing a surplus.




I don't think it's accurate to say wanting a balanced budget is a part of the conservative agenda in the last 25 years. Reagan criticized Carter's deficit and then quadrupled it, and GW did the same with Clinton's surplus.


True...both times the primary culprit was defense spending though, which always seems to take priority over the domestic issues with Republicans.




Honestly, i think money management transcends political parties. A person who doesn't want to be crippled by debt is just generally smart about finances, even if he or she is a gay tree-hugger who drives a hybrid car, smokes pot, vacations in Bolivia, and works for Planned Parenthood.


Well now...I don't agree with that. The President actually doesn't have much control over the money...it's congress that allocates money(or not). The President can't do shit without congressional approval....he can neither spend nor save without them.

The Republican Congress was a big reason Clinton was able to do a lot of the things he was able to do.

It was a good match.


That's(dynamic) what people were hoping would happen when they put the Democrats in power in 2006, and one would argue they are less popular than Bush is now. Hasn't been a good match...and those guys being paired up with Obama is going to be an even worse match.

[whottt]

By the way...what's hurting our country the most right now is the extreme polarization between our elected officials...we have a staunchly Republican President and a staunchly Democratic congress...no moderates.

[Galileo]

James Madison

The only president to win a war against against a nation with a higher GNP than us.

The only president to follow the Constitution during a war.

He lead us to voctory in the second war of Independence, aka, the forgottten war.

He was the most popular president in history at the end of his second term.

He keep all his promises.

Simply the best.

[whottt]

He was the most popular president in history at the end of his second term.


Which means he wasn't truly underrated.

[Galileo]

Which means he wasn't truly underrated.

He's underrated, because he's usually hailed for his work at the Constitutional Convention, not his work as president.

He also got trashed in 1889 by Henry Adams (grandson of John Quincy Adams).

Adams trashed the Madison presidency, and most historians followed Adams analysis to the 1950s and even to this day.

Madison's work as president made a comeback following the work of Irving Brant in the 1950s.

Adams trashed Madison's presidency because he wasn't an aggressive executive leader who liked to shred the Constitution and build up the military industrial complex.

Brant and some today now realize that this was precisely why Madison was a great president.

Modern scholars who admire Madison are Gordon Wood and Lance Banning.

[Shastafarian]

The same James Madison who was president while Washington was being burned? That James Madison?

[Galileo]

The same James Madison who was president while Washington was being burned? That James Madison?

No, the same FDR who was president while Pearl Harbor was bombed. The same Abrham Lincoln who was president while the Union forces were being slaughtered by Stonewall Jackson. And the same George Bush who was reading "My Pet Goat" while the World Trade Center was attacked.

[Shastafarian]

So you're equating the presidents who led during World War II and the Civil War to the president who by all intents and purposes lost a war where the US was invaded? I don't doubt Madison was a good president but was he one of the best? I don't think so.

[Galileo]

So you're equating the presidents who led during World War II and the Civil War to the president who by all intents and purposes lost a war where the US was invaded? I don't doubt Madison was a good president but was he one of the best? I don't think so.

Madison won the war of 1812. And he had tougher competition than Lincoln, FDR, or Bush.

[Shastafarian]

Madison won the war of 1812.

uh....the best outlook was it was a stalemate


But an estimate may be made based on the increased borrowing undertaken during the period, with the American war as a whole adding some £25 million to the national debt.[47] In America the cost was $105 million, though because the British pound was worth considerably more than the dollar, the costs of the war to both sides were roughly equal.

But then again I don't seem to remember any English cities burning at the hands of the Americans.



And he had tougher competition than Lincoln, FDR
I seriously hope you're kidding.

[Galileo]

uh....the best outlook was it was a stalemate



But then again I don't seem to remember any English cities burning at the hands of the Americans.



I seriously hope you're kidding.

1) We were the underdogs and held our ground at Baltimore and kicked the British ass at New Orleans. The treaty of Ghent was very favorable, a victory for us. We achieved our war aime of ending impressment. We also stopped the british from instigating Indian attacks. We also were granted free trade with France and England and had a post war economic boom, the greatest in our history which started the Era of Good feelings.

2) We trashed the capital of Canada, York.

3) I'm not kidding. Strength of schedule is a big factor in football rankings, basketball rankings, and president rankings.

[Shastafarian]

3) I'm not kidding. Strength of schedule is a big factor in football rankings, basketball rankings, and president rankings.

Oh I thought you were talking about their wartime enemies. I still disagree on the war of 1812 being a victory for the US. If anything, it was a "tie".

[cool hand]

Cheney.

[The Reckoning]

imagine if jimmy would've annexed canada. thank God he didnt

madison proposed the bill of rights, which is a huge :toast
(i know it wasnt during his presidency, but atleast that meant he wouldnt take them away like current presidents)

oh and dont forget about ol' hickory slaughtering the british at the battle of new orleans during the war of 1812

[Tully365]

By the way...what's hurting our country the most right now is the extreme polarization between our elected officials...we have a staunchly Republican President and a staunchly Democratic congress...no moderates.

I agree with you 100% on that.

[spurster]

I agree on Madison. Good arguments.

I'm amazed by all the W love still going on.

[Supergirl]

W...it'll be 30 to 40 years before anyone realizes that he was the right president for this time in american history.

LOL. I predict in 30-40 years people will reflect on Bush and wonder how anyone could have elected him...twice. Oh wait, they didn't. But you know, still -- how so many damn people could have voted him into office. It shouldn't have even been close, at least not the second time.

[The Reckoning]

bump

[The Reckoning]

John Tyler of course! He was so good he didn't even need to get voted into office (though I guess the same could be said of Dubya).

Ben Franklin was so good that he didnt even need to be president.

[Das Texan]

Pre 20th century:

Polk (acquired more land than any other President among other things)


Modern era (1900 - present)

T. Roosevelt (basically made the world know we were a world power amongst other things)