Who was the best President?

[BlueMTexpat]

59. Of those listed, I rank

Pres Obama the highest. Hands down.

I loved JFK and he remains a personal hero but his term was cut short by his assassination. The fact that he still has such a grip on our imaginations and aspirations shows that he might also have achieved greatness.

If Jimmy Carter had had a second term, I believe that he also would have been considered great. He most certainly is the greatest ex-President ever. The nation would not only be much more prosperous as a whole, but some of the worst foreign policy decisions of the Reagan era (our disastrous policy in Central & South America & Africa, Iran-Contra, arming mujaheddine who later became al-Qaeda, etc.) would likely have been avoided.

Lyndon Johnson's era saw the enactment of civil rights and Medicare, among other noteworthy actions that benefited society as a whole. But the Vietnam War was a horrible blight on these admirable accomplishments.

Bill Clinton presided over prosperity generally, but still had to spend a lot of time dealing with deficits from GOPer Presidents and nearly had his Presidency derailed altogether by his own failings. Some of the more controversial laws that were enacted during his Presidency, e.g., NAFTA and Welfare Reform among others, would likely have had their worst effects mitigated, if not obviated altogether, under an Al Gore administration.

But in 2000, there were too many Democrats who apparently believed that there was no difference between Gore and Bush. I hear much of the same rhetoric today from some - certainly not all - SBS supporters. When WILL we ever LEARN?