Joe Biden is NOT 'The Greatest President in my Lifetime'

[speak easy]

because LBJ was the greatest president in my lifetime EXCEPT for the Vietnam War. Joe Biden was a great president, EXCEPT for the Monumental Failure to bring Donald J. Trump to justice for January 6.

When LBJ was sworn in he made Civil Rights his first and foremost priority. The war was building not in the background, but certainly not on the front page ... until it was too late. The Biden Administration does not have that excuse. With the J6s videos available for all to see, with the Confederate battle flag waved in the Capitol, how could they take their eyes off the ball?

The Biden Administration will be remembered above all as the Federal Government who let a sadistic traitor back into the White House. Ultimately that is how they will be judged. They failed to do the one thing that was essential.

The buck stops at the Resolute Desk.

[H2O Man]

1. Gracious.

[speak easy]

5. At times liked this, grace is more than a luxury.

I've read Joe Biden was the greatest president in my lifetime far too many times. The buck stops at the president's desk.

[H2O Man]

12. On various internet sites,

people debate and argue who is the greatest heavyweight champion ever. Or middleweight. It is everyone's right to their opinion, even if I disagree. Same dynamic with presidents.

In my opinion, it would be JFK, who prevented a nuclear war. Had the previous two, or next two presidents been in office, the crisis involving Cuba would have led to nuclear war.

If not for Vietnam, LBJ would be remembered as the second FDR. He obviously was highly skilled at getting bills passed. But he owned Vietnam.

[NNadir]

31. JFK did not prevent a nuclear war. He almost CAUSED one.

His lack of preparation for the 1961 Vienna summit, a result of his dalliance with women the night before, caused Nikita Khrushev to take him, correctly, as a lightweight.

The crisis should not have happened in the first place. An unannounced codicil to the agreement was for the US to remove its missiles from Turkey.

JFK was an unreconstructed cold warrior who campaigned on a nonexistent "missile gap." His murder was tragic but Lyndon Johnson was a far better President, as was Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton and of course the greatest of the great Harry S. Truman and FDR.

JFK was the second worst Democratic President of the 20th century, just after Woodrow Wilson.

[Polybius]

56. Since you didn't mention him, where do you rank Obama in that list?

I know he wasn't 20th Century, but I'm curious.

[NNadir]

71. Highly, of course, close, if not equal, to Truman, the 2nd greatest President of the 20th century.

[H2O Man]

58. You are welcome

to your interpretation.

[Jack Valentino]

62. The US missiles in Turkey were obsolete, and intended for removal anyway....

Last edited Wed Jul 2, 2025, 02:11 AM - Edit history (1)

so that was more than a fair deal, for the removal of nuclear weapons from Cuba.

"Second worst" ?? PFFFFT. The fact that we are all still alive disproves that preposterous notion.
(I was 7 months 'in utero' at the time of the Cuban missile crisis..)


I have only read complaints about the removal of US nuclear weapons from Turkey
from right wing sources, so beware of whose talking points you are repeating....

[H2O Man]

68. Right.

I can't take that person's response seriously. It presents a tortured interpretation of the reality of those times.

[Jack Valentino]

69. Yeah.

[NNadir]

72. This is a guy who watched King's "I have a dream speech" a few blocks away on television, afraid it would cost him....

....votes.

It is a historical FACT that Kennedy ran for President on complaining about a non-existent "missile gap," and was a fucking cold warrior. His father assured everyone who asked that his son was "no liberal," and was correct in that assessment.

He enthusiastically embraced a nuclear arms race. The N reactor had Hanford was built by his administration to scale that arms race up.

His actions around the Diem assassination were appalling. It's on tape.

The greatest Democrat of the 20th century, Eleanor Roosevelt, addressed him, as "my dear boy," with a certain distain and he went to Valkill to plead with her not to withhold her endorsement, to which she reluctantly agreed. When she died she was organizing actions against his weak Civil Rights record.

History isn't "right wing" or "left wing." It's history. The guy campaigned on a "missile gap," and missiles, if one can read, were what the whole unnecessary Cuban MISSILE crisis was all about. The result of the stumbling incompetent events around the crisis was the arms race.

It is very possible that his lightweight incompetence might have killed hundreds of millions of people. I don't applaud arsonists for fighting forest fires, thank you, and I don't need to be lectured on where my politics lie, particularly when I see weak understandings of history.

If there's anything that anyone should be "careful" about, it should be a lack of insight and a failure to engage in critical thinking.

LBJ was a far superior President, marred only by taking the advice of the "Best and Brightest" set up by Kennedy, men like the automobile executive Robert McNamara in an administration that didn't bother to reach out to anyone who even spoke Vietnamese or learn anything about Vietnamese history or culture before giving assurances that the US would do nothing to oppose the assassination of Diem.

The big mistake that LBJ made was to not take Sam Rayburn's advice to not be awed by the "Best and Brightest," when he assumed office.

[harumph]

23. I think you're right about suceeding in everything but the most important detail.

The very detail on which history will judge him. Moreover, I think LBJ (if transported to the present day) would've prevented a second term Trump knowing the stakes. I'm done with "nice" and "decent." I want a pit bull Democratic president.

[LudwigPastorius]

61. "I've read Joe Biden was the greatest president in my lifetime far too many times."

Maybe the person doing the writing was born after 1968?

[speak easy]

67. Other than the Vietnam War,

the one thing I would fault LBJ on is that he had the votes to push through Medicare for All, not just seniors and the disadvantaged.

[Bev54]

2. But he is for many that are younger

[MineralMan]

3. I like Joe Biden, but Barack Obama tops him in several ways.

LBJ? Nope. Fucker let the Vietnam War go on far too long. Screw that! That was my attitude then, and it still is my attitude.

Greatest President during my lifetime? Barack Obama. I'd say JFK, but he didn't live long enough.

[Ms. Toad]

4. I'm with you on JFK and Obama. n/t

[CTyankee]

48. I agree. I love Obama and Michelle even more now that they're gone from the WH.

I have Amy Sherold's portrait of Michelle on the wall behind my desktop. She is one in my Wall of Women.

[garybeck]

51. Jimmy Carter too. n/t

[still-prayin4rain]

54. Agree 100%

[Chasstev365]

6. Milquetoast Garland is why Trump was never brought to justice

The single most disappointing AG in US history.

He could appoint a special prosecutor to investigate Hunter Biden, but waste two years not prosecuting an insurrectionist because he didn't want to appear partisan.

[Fiendish Thingy]

15. Pick your preferred AG

They still would have encountered the same obstruction, delays and immunity from the Roberts court, and there would have been no trial before the election.

Nothing would have changed, except perhaps the increased chance of charges being dismissed or the grand juries refusing to indict because of a rushed, incomplete investigation.

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

17. And the SCROTUS

They fought hard to say he had immunity

[Chasstev365]

18. Absolutely

[Autumn]

7. Seeing what Trump is doing I have come to that conclusion myself.

More should have been done and time was of the essence. Garland should have been kicked to the curb, the DOJ should have released a lot of info that was sat on. They warned us what a danger he was the whole time yet there was no urgency to do anything about him.

[doc03]

8. I vote for Obama.

[Ping Tung]

9. FDR was president when I was born. But, I think Jimmy Carter is the most dercent president of my liffetime.

“Liberty becomes a question of morals more than of politics.” Lord Acton

[Polybius]

57. Most decent, certainly

But decency cost him. The country wanted Iran to get their asses kicked in 1979 and 1980. Wonder how differently things would have been if he attacked Iran in 1979.

[Silent Type]

10. Civil Rights Act, Voting Rights, Medicaid, Medicare, Ed Act, Job Corps, etc., in a few short years is hard to beat.

Was a little young to appreciate all that. Obama is my favorite Prez, with Biden and Clinton close.

[mcar]

33. All with a Democratic super majority

Biden saved this country with a Virtually tied Congress. LBJ could never have accomplished what he did with that Congress.

[Silent Type]

37. I think when you factor in racist Dixiecrats, Johnson really didn't have a super majority.

Dixiecrats were Klan sympathizers who worshipped FDR's Social Security program which kept mom and dad from starving when they were too old to tend the farm. They were as disgusting, maybe more so than today's trumpsters.

[LudwigPastorius]

66. Yes, some people fail to remember that LBJ had...

Democratic/Liberal majorities on the Supreme Court and both houses of Congress during practically all of his tenure.

[BannonsLiver]

11. We could use an LBJ type these days.

I agree on Biden. It’s just recency bias.

[delisen]

16. Unfortunately only FDR stopped the rising tides of Fascism in America

I seek effective action to build a less fragile democracy- I think the last 80 years of presidencies illustrates that the office of the presidency has great potential to allow grave harm and less potential to do great good.

At this point we need millions of great citizens.

[BannonsLiver]

24. Not my point.

In talking about ruthlessness and not giving a shit about who or what special interest groups are offended.

[dalton99a]

13. It took only five months for Trump to destroy Biden's legacy.

Biden was poorly served by his advisors and staff.

There should have been a laser focus on the criminal prosecution of the traitor with the utmost urgency.

[Fiendish Thingy]

14. LBJ was fortunate to have a supermajority in the senate IIRC

Even then, he needed republican votes to counter the Dixiecrat defections over the civil rights act.

[usonian]

19. GODDAM IT. Let's fight over Joe Biden instead of fighting maga treachery. Indivisble has action items, TODAY

https://indivisible.actionkit.com/mailings/view/118776

Bickering is how we lose.

We are fighting a fascist coup. Why?

WHY?

THAT'S WHY

THAT'S WHY

THAT'S WHY

My advice?
General Strike Info
https://www.democraticunderground.com/10114325 (Activist HQ)
https://www.democraticunderground.com/100220438506 (GD)


PLEASE READ THE ACTION ITEMS FROM INDIVISIBLE
I am tired of typing in all the links.

[Autumn]

21. I would venture to say that discussing our former president on a message board

will in no way harm this "fight" against this fascist coup.

[usonian]

34. There are 24 hours in a day. No more, no less.

We are a resistance movement against a fascist coup, or Laputans, of Gulliver's Travels, detatched from the real world.





I am cutting back my posts to focus on actionable and inspirational items.

Q. Who was president when these people risked everything for the common good?
A. It doesn't matter. They took up the fight against overwhelming odds.

https://www.democraticunderground.com/100219813493

[Autumn]

38. A resistance movement with no power, no media, no journalists, no leaders

other than what is in the elected minority. The power of call your reps so far has done nothing.

[choie]

28. And let's waste our time fighting over Mamdani (sarcasm)

Totally agree unsonian.

[Brother Buzz]

20. A historical side note:

Harry S Truman's famous 'The Buck Stops Here" sign never sat on the Resolute Desk.

Harry Truman used the Theodore Roosevelt desk.




Another Presidential desk curiosity: Franklin D. Roosevelt had the front hinged panel added to the Resolute Desk that John John wonderfully discovered, but he never actually used it. FDR used the Hoover desk.

[usonian]

32. A historical side side note:

https://atkinsbookshelf.wordpress.com/tag/origin-of-the-buck-stops-here/

Related phrase: “passing the buck” means passing or evading blame. The term is from the world of poker in which a marker (often a buckhorn knife in the mid to late 1800s) indicated which player would deal. If a player did not want to deal, he would pass the marker (“pass the buck”) to the next player.

Hence, a buck-knife.

[Brother Buzz]

49. That's a Buck branded knife, not a buckhorn knife

Buck knives was founded in 1902 by Hoyt Buck. Cool history of a five generation family owned company.

That being said, the poker connection is correct: Both Truman and the Federal prison warden who tasked prisoners to make the sign were avid poker enthusiasts. Truman saw the sign a year earlier and expressed interest in it.

[usonian]

50. I am not a knife afficionado. My parents didn't want me to do any harm (mainly to myself) so no knifes until later.

The first knife anyone gave me (well, I had kitchen knifes etc.) was by a first class electrician's mate who thought I needed a proper electrical knife, a completely different beast.

[Jose Garcia]

22. Sy Sperling was the greatest President in the last 50 years

[Intractable]

27. And what made him great, was that he was also a client!

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/sy-sperling-founder-hair-club-men-dies-78-n1139926


He ran on the morehair party, yes?

[milestogo]

25. LBJ great?

[lostincalifornia]

29. It was mixed. guns and butter, but we lost 60,000 Americans in a war based on the gulf of tonkin LIE.

[milestogo]

39. Kennedy was de-escalating and he-re-escalated.

Big stupid war.

[lostincalifornia]

41. You are not going to get an argument from me. Whether he would have done a withdral or not is subject to

debate. McNamara was his Secretary of Defense at the time, and stayed on with Johnson until 1968 when he finally resigned because of disagreements with Johnson and the Joint Chefs of Staff on the war.

That the war continued after JFKs death while McNamara was still Secretary of Defense for five more years before McNamara resigned makes it debatable. The war finally ended in 1975.

[lostincalifornia]

26. Does anyone believe regardless of what Biden or Garland did that this supreme court would have allowed

trump's removal?

It wouldn't have happned.

2016 gave us this Supreme Court, along with judges like Canon, and the blame goes to those who refused to vote for the Democratic nominee in 2016 period.

[choie]

30. That doesn't mean you don't do everything you can

to hold a corrupt criminal president accountable.

[lostincalifornia]

35. They did go after him. Maybe not as quickly as you would have liked, but when they did,

trump's appointed judges and his Supreme Court from trump's first term, insured that he was NEVER going to be held accountable.

That is exactly how it turned out, and his same Supreme Court judges are doing the exact same thing with birthright citizenship, due process, etc. They are intentionally delaying it so it never gets decided as long as trump is in the white house.

You may not recall the appointment of the special counsel Jack Smith to lead the investigations into trump's actions related to the January 6th insurrection, and his handling of classified documents. Much of that came out of the January 6, committee hearings.

Those investigation led to Smith filing indictments against trump. They were dismissed because of delays by trump appointed judges such as Canon, and when trump won the 2024 election, they were dismissed by trump's justice department.

This is Project 2025 that VP Harris warned us about. The lessons from 2016, and the threat to our democracy from trump's first term were not taken seriously enough in 2024.

He was never going to be convicted or held accountable because of what happened in 2016. That was an existential election, and the Supreme Court was at stake in that election.

[choie]

36. Yes I do recall Jack Smith's appointment.

Thanks so much. But at the end of the day, Merrick Garland will go down in history as a coward.

[lostincalifornia]

40. At the end of the day, those who refused to vote for Hillary in 2016 by either voting third party or not voting

will go down as giving us the Supreme Court we have today, and those who refused to vote for VP Harris will go down as insuring that the Supreme Court will be lost for decades.

I suspect Thomas and Alito will retire within two years, and will be replaced by younger versions of these draconian judges.

[Rebl2]

42. It wasn't

President Biden’s job to bring Trump to justice. It was the DOJ and that wimp who was the head of the DOJ under Biden that should be blamed!

[speak easy]

43. Joe nominated Garland.

Garland served at the president's pleasure. The buck stops with the president.

[Initech]

44. Biden should have prosecuted Trump and his goons when he had the chance.

Fuck Fox News and the Heritage Foundation.

[totodeinhere]

65. Presidents are not prosecutors.

Garland should have prosecuted Trump. And President Biden has even said that he was disappointed in Garland.

[WarGamer]

45. Does bring about a good question... Clinton vs Obama

The 90's were still pretty magical... pre 9-11, better music, better cinema... last POTUS to run a surplus

Clinton was cool... don't forget annual surplus.


Obama was post 9-11, post Shrub...

But the best speaker in decades, I NEVER went to sleep at night worrying what would happen globally overnight... smooth hand at the helm.

Cool as the other side of the pillow...

Those are my best two POTUS in memory... I was too young to remember anything about LBJ.

If nostalgia wins... I'd go Clinton just because it was such an awesome decade in my life.

[fujiyamasan]

70. Yes, with Obama it always felt like a steady hand at the wheel

He embodied the best characteristics of leadership. He showed a rare sense of maturity, calmness and never any petty outbursts or wtf moments.

I’m not going to say I agreed with ever policy of his, but I could respect the thought process behind them.

Clinton was the first president I paid attention to. He was elected when I was in middle school and he was definitely a big contrast to Bush, both in terms of his relative youth and his ability to relate to everyday people (anyone remember Bush scanning groceries???). Those were probably the peak years in terms of US global power and respect. It all went downhill with Bush. Obama did a lot to repair the US global reputation after but people still forget the lasting damage the Iraq war did to the entire region.

[Raine]

46. Clinton BEST in my lifetime ...

the Big Dog!

[Hekate]

47. Jesus Christ on a Trailer Hitch. The House and Senate did that. Okay? It was not Biden's failure.

[JustAnotherGen]

52. He is in my lifetime

Born in 73.

That said - I love LBJ. He had guts. The Great Society he built is being dismantled every day.

[Captain Zero]

53. Trashing this

To the Trash.

[Polybius]

55. I wasn't around for LBJ

But my favorite is Bill Clinton.

[Renew Deal]

59. Obama was better than both of them

Better judgement than LBJ. More accomplished than Biden, and scandal free other than the tan suit.

[Jack Valentino]

60. That was ONE failure, YES. The OTHER was the failure to restrain Israel in GAZA...

a failure which seems almost as great as the one you cite,
since it helped to split and weaken the 24 Democratic turnout,
and helped allow Trump to win again.

The selection of Garland for Attorney General played out to be a huge mistake.


Still, the legislative successes of the Biden administration
certainly rival those of Lyndon Johnson,
and rather than escalating a war somewhere,
President Biden ended involvement in a 20-year war in Afghanistan.

[Jack Valentino]

63. Joe Biden might not have been 'the greatest president in my lifetime', either,

although that subject is open to debate---

However, he was certainly the "greatest President" of the latter years of my lifetime!


"Perfect"? No..... but light-years beyond the scumbag that he replaced.

[Jack Valentino]

64. President Biden's "biggest failure" was being a better man than he replaced!---

(he didn't try to manipulate or give orders to his A.T. and the Justice Department)

Perhaps he should have given a stronger 'directive' to his A.G.-- quite possibly so

but he believed in the independence of the Justice Department,
to pursue lawbreakers without being subject to political influence from
the President of the United States....

Today that seems an out-dated value to some---
especially today--- but President Biden did not desire to become
that which he fought against.

Whatever the final verdict of history on what you say was his 'failure'---
(and I'm not saying that it wasn't--)
I believe history will say that he was a good man,
and accomplished much good for our country during his term of office.


Attacking him now, on the other hand, is "water under the bridge",
and seems like "very small potatoes" with what we face now,
and provides "aid and comfort to the enemy"... who LIKEWISE
want us to talk about 'the failures of President Biden',
rather than the failures of the liar and nazi-in-chief
who is the man in power in the White House, RIGHT NOW!!!!....



If Joe failed, there is nothing he can do about it anymore,
and it appears that he now has terminal cancer---

So---- I DON"T GIVE A SHIT if you are annoyed
that *some people say* that President Biden was
"the greatest president in my lifetime"!

Complaining about it at this late date does no good
for the party you claim to support.... so why do it?


(ok, wtf, some people might say the same about some of my posts.... lol)

[Martin Eden]

73. Vietnam was no small thing

The war in Vietnam derailed a young generation of Americans inspired to "Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country."

The lost promise and potential is incalculable. They lost faith in their own government, America became more divided, and the counterculture degenerated from idealism into drugs and loss of its bearings.

IMO we haven't had a truly great president since FDR.

[OneGrassRoot]

74. If I live to see it, the greatest president in my lifetime...

will be whoever puts this entire regime behind bars and takes steps to ensure we don't go down this road again, at least not for another 100 years.