Who was the last decent Republican President?

[coloradodem2005]

For me it is either Eisenhower (1953-1961) or Ford (1974-1977). Before the party turned into the bastion of the religious right.

[Maddy McCall]

1. Lincoln

[Servo300]

2. He was a great one for sure...

But all of them since were bad?

[coloradodem2005]

4. TR wasn't bad.

[Maddy McCall]

20. imperialism

[Warpy]

32. Lincoln was a fool

He should have let Dixie GO. Mechanization would have made slavery unprofitable. The educated class of the south would have been intact, and would probably have slowly dragged the region into synch with the rest of the continent. The ignorant, backwards south would not have been dragging this country down for the past 140 years. They would likely be readmitted to the Union at some point.

The greatest GOP president was the progressive Teddy Roosevelt. The last "good" one was the mostly inactive but extremely perceptive Eisenhower. Even Nixon was a mixed bag, doing a few good things along with the bad.

Reagan, Bush and Bush have been dismal. May history record them all as the traitors they are.

[Maddy McCall]

37. Not necessarily...there was no guarantee of reunion had he let the

confederacy go.

The problem with reconstruction is that it indeed left the educated/delta planter class intact--thus prolonging racist/classist policies through planter control.

If the planter class had been demolished then things might have gone differently, and the crop lien/tenant farmer system would not have existed.

Land redistribution would have killed the planter class.

[shrike]

53. I hate to say it, but I agree with you

We should have let the south go. They've been more trouble than they're worth.

[Comicstripper]

41. Not Lincoln

Oh, it wasn't Lincoln. The Republican party was the more liberal party until the early twentieth century, when Wilson began adopting parts of their platform. Since Lincoln was the first Republican president, I'm sure there were some good progressive Republican presidents since then (maybe Teddy Roosevelt?).
(Note-Edited for subject line clarification)

[newyawker99]

52. Hi Comicstripper!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[Comicstripper]

57. Thanks

You all have been very welcoming.

[keithyboy]

3. I liked Ike!

Ford had a hateful side to him and he pardoned Nixon.

[Beaker]

35. about Ike-

as he left the presidency, he warned of the "military-industrial" threat to the soul of our society...but what did he do as president to stop it?

[SaveElmer]

5. Depends of how you use decent

I think Ford was a decent man, just not a good President...Eisenhower was a great man and a not bad President. Roosevelt was the last truly great Republican President

[apnu]

6. I agree with Eisenhower

Namely because he gave funding to get what has become the Internet off the ground. Instead of filling the White House with sycophants and celebrities, he often invited scientists and other men and women of learning. As a Systems Administrator, I feel that I need to give props to the guy who supported science as much as Ike did.

For Republican, Ike wasn't all that bad.

[THUNDER HANDS]

13. was he always a republican?

I thought I heard once that both parties were courting him to run for the presidency.

[coloradodem2005]

15. No.

Ike was never politically oriented either way really. He ran as a Republican because he knew that any other Republican would be against NATO, which he was for.

[leyton]

50. You are right that they did both court him.

In 1948, the Democrats were not too crazy about Truman. Can't remember why exactly, Southerners were not happy with his move towards civil rights and there were other factors too (may have been the Korean war - anyone know?). In any case, they offered the nomination to Eisenhower, who was moderate and could have run. Eisenhower declined, I think because he knew that NATO was getting off the ground and they'd need a commander.

In 1952, the Republicans offered him the nomination, knowing that he was popular enough to be the first Republican elected since Hoover.

In my opinion, and I only have limited knowledge, he was a pretty good President. I don't think he was particularly interested in bringing about more progress on civil rights, but he was a foreign-policy-oriented person and he did use Federal power to enforce Brown v. Board and other decisions. His foreign policy was good, he didn't screw anything up like Kennedy and Dubya have.

[supernova]

7. Ford

Except for his pardoning Nixon, I remember him mostly as inoffensive.

[JHB]

8. Ford pardoned Nixon

That throws it to Ike.

[Servo300]

14. That possibly cost him the election....

[ibegurpard]

9. Ford

Not a good or effective president but I think that he was overall a decent man.

[Bozita]

10. Jerry Ford is a decent guy. Love the fact that Ford and Carter are ...

... very good friends.

[Don_G]

Eisenhower

He ran the office so skillfully that no one knew he was there in an era when reporters could sniff out a story.

[tom_paine]

11. Eisenhower

Ford was a Nixonvik (now Bushevik) Patsy.

[catmandu57]

12. Eisenhower

though I don't think he was a true republican, they just offered him a better package.

[coloradodem2005]

17. He wasn't a true republican.

He ran Republican because he wanted to stay in NATO which most Republicans were against. According to his A&E bio, he was the one who silently set up McCarthy to look bad so McCarthy would fall into disrepute.

[ElementaryPenguin]

16. Lincoln!

But Ike the golfer IS looking better every year.

[ILeft]

18. Ford- decent man, Ike- decent man & President......eom

n/t

[trof]

19. Ike

Ford crapped in his mess kit with the Nixon pardon.

[FleshCartoon]

21. Lincoln? (n/t)

[IrateCitizen]

22. Eisenhower -- solely on preventing all-out war

Certainly, I am not happy about all of the policies pursued by the Eisenhower administration -- particularly the undermining of democracy in Guatemala (to satisfy the United Fruit Company) and Iran (to satisfy US and British petroleum interests) -- but the one thing that he did while in office was to overrule the military brass and prevent an outbreak of all-out war between the US and USSR.

In the years following WWII, there were a lot of generals itching to go at it with the Soviets. If someone of less than Ike's stature, from a military standpoint, would have been in office, we can only shudder as to what the outcome might have been. However, Ike had learned from his experiences in WWII that war was a horrible thing, and took steps to avoid it.

Much of his foreign policy WRT the developing world took the form of imperialism, simply a continuation of European policy, for which he can either be faulted or excused as a product of his times. Ditto for his lack of accomplishments in civil rights. But the man's contribution to maintaining peace in a polarized world cannot be discounted.

[fujiyama]

65. Another impressive thing he did

was the pressure he put on Britain, France, and Israel during the Suez Crisis.

[WI_DEM]

23. Ford

was a decent fellow. Not much of a president but he seemed like a human being.

[Blue-Jay]

24. Ike was the last good one, Ford was the last decent one. - n/t

[Feanorcurufinwe]

25. Ford

No, I don't in any way give him a pass for the Nixon pardon, I just don't think he is the same kind of evil pondscum as Reagan or the Bushies.

[IrateCitizen]

27. The East Timorese might disagree with you on that...

It was Ford and Kissinger who gave Indonesia's Suharto the OK to annex East Timor and begin ethnic cleansing.

[Feanorcurufinwe]

39. I'm not disputing what you are saying

but I would appreciate it if you provided colloboration of your claim that Ford gave the OK to ethnic cleansing.


Is it accurate? Or is it rhetorical hyperbole?

[IrateCitizen]

43. It was in the documentary "The Trials of Henry Kissinger"

directed by Eugene Jarecki. It was discussed in some detail in the film, and the transcripts of the meeting between Ford, Kissinger and Indonesian leader Suharto are pretty explicit in giving Indonesia the OK to take over East Timor.

I was lucky enough to catch a screening of the film with the director present. The film lasted about 90 minutes, and the discussion afterward went on for at least that long. If you have a chance to see it, I'd highly recommend it.

[Feanorcurufinwe]

47. So according to your words,

you are saying that "giving the OK to take over East Timor"

is the same as "giving the OK to ethnic cleansing"



it's not.

I don't agree with what Ford did; I can't think of a single domestic policy proposal or foreign policy decision of Ford's that I agree with. But I also have no patience for inaccurate and inflammatory rhetoric.

[IrateCitizen]

60. Peddle your sanctimony someplace else

Perhaps I overstated in my previous post. Heaven knows I would be the first one to do so on these boards. :eyes:

Ford and Kissinger gave the go-ahead for Suharto to send Indonesian troops in to take over East Timor. Regardless of whether or not they knew that Suharto had ethnic cleansing on the agenda, the certainly couldn't expect such an action to be taken without some kind of serious human rights consequences.

I'll keep in mind when responding to you from now on that I have to edit and vet my posts several times over before posting, so that I don't get accused of "inaccurate and inflammatory rhetoric."

Or maybe, I just won't bother to respond anymore at all.

[Feanorcurufinwe]

61. LOL - that's your idea of an intelligent response?

"Peddle your sanctimony someplace else"

I hope you don't mean your answer to be viewed as an intelligent response, because what it looks like instead is petulance at having to actually be held responsible for the veracity and accuracy of your comments.



The fact remains you made an assertion, which I guessed to be untrue, using the dishonest debate technique of conflating two different things ('giving the OK to occupy E. Timor' 'giving the OK to ethnic cleansing'), as if they were the same, and now when you are challenged on it, you throw a hissy fit.

I just won't bother to respond anymore at all.

That has to be the most empty threat ever. By all means, don't respond. Who cares?

[IrateCitizen]

62. No, it's an example of a pissed off response

I have no problem with people pointing out where I have made misstatements. What I take exception to is sanctimony, which you exhibited in the following statement:

I don't agree with what Ford did; I can't think of a single domestic policy proposal or foreign policy decision of Ford's that I agree with. But I also have no patience for inaccurate and inflammatory rhetoric.

A simple response saying that giving the OK to invade and explicitly authorizing ethnic cleansing are not quite the same thing would have been sufficient, and I would have agreed and retracted my previous statement, which was a side-effect of the OK to invade. But, for some reason, you had to take it one step further and present my statements as offending your base sensibilities, prompting you to talk about my posts in terms of things you "have no patience for".

If you're interested in intelligent debate, that's fine and good. But when you interject personal judgements into that debate, don't throw up your hands and cry foul when you are responded to in kind.

[Feanorcurufinwe]

64. Nice to see that you agree with me about your comments.

I truly don't have any patience for inaccurate and inflammatory rhetoric.


However, I have plenty of patience when it comes to pointing out when it is used, and that's all I have done.


You've admitted your rhetoric was inaccurate;


A simple response saying that giving the OK to invade and explicitly authorizing ethnic cleansing are not quite the same thing would have been sufficient, and I would have agreed and retracted my previous statement


perhaps you are trying to claim that falsely accusing someone of giving the OK for ethnic cleansing is not inflammatory -- but that position is nonsensical. I can't think of much that would be more inflammatory than charges of genocide or ethnic cleansing.


If you're interested in intelligent debate, that's fine and good. But when you interject personal judgements into that debate, don't throw up your hands and cry foul when you are responded to in kind.

I didn't "Cry foul" - I pointed out that your response was a petulant whine, not an intelligent response, but I did not say it was unfair or against the rules in any way. No harm, no foul. I will continue to include my personal judgements in my posts and you are welcome to include your personal judgements in yours.

[Feanorcurufinwe]

68. Clarification

By 'personal judgements' I didn't mean to say I will make judgements about other people's personal traits; rather that I will continue to make my own personal judgements about matters. If you are refering to personal 'attacks', that is a different matter, PAs are prohibited by the rules, but criticism of someone's rhetoric is by definition not a personal attack.

[Flubadubya]

26. MIke Malloy says it was Clinton....

One of these days he may see the error in that judgment? :shrug:

[Beaker]

34. I'd agree with that choice.

and lincoln before him.

[evil_orange_cat]

28. Eisenhower was good, Ford (while a bit of a dope) wasn't bad...

Ford just reminds me of Homer Simpson. And it seemed like he fell out of Air Force One a lot. But for all intents and purposes, he wasn't that bad. Economically, he did a lot of things that made sense.

[stickdog]

29. Ike.

Not that I particularly liked the guy.

[Burma Jones]

30. If you mean had a modicum of decency, then it would be Ford

If you meant someone with whom I would always agree, then you have posed a truly stupid question.

[amber dog democrat]

31. Eisenhower

Then Ford

[mohinoaklawnillinois]

33. Definitely Gerald Ford. He always seemed like a decent man

with the one exception Nixon's pardon. His wife Betty was a class act as well.

I don't remember the Eisenhower years as I was born in 1953, but from what I learned from my Dad, he didn't mind Ike too much, but he despised Richard M. Nixon with just cause.

[Beaker]

38. and that whole east timor genocide thing...

yeah, the guy was a real saint :eyes:

[mike1963]

36. I'd say Ike, he wasn't a hardcore Repub, though...he recognized the

danger of the military-industrial complex...

[Beaker]

40. but what did he do to stop it...?

or slow it's progress?

(talk is cheap)

[Feanorcurufinwe]

48. He was literally the first one to warn of its danger.

To use the cliche 'talk is cheap' about Eisenhower's Military-Industrial complex speech displays a singular lack of historical insight.

[Beaker]

66. Look at the date of the speech-

January 17, 1961...
I might of had more respect for him on the issue if he had made the speech on January 21, 1953- or even '57.

[Feanorcurufinwe]

67. He was the 1st to say it, but you criticize him for not saying it sooner?

:wtf:



Eisenhower did 2 good things, as far as I am concerned. His leadership during WWII and this speech. Give credit where credit is due.

[mike1963]

51. I presume he took some time to reach his conclusion, he described it

just before the end of his second term, leaving the 'solution' to his successors who didn't do much about it either...
:eyes:

[wadestock]

42. Eisenhower of course

Warned us of the military industrial complex which is alive and well in the middle east.

Clark would have been similar....but better.
He would have been one of the greatest presidents of all time...

[madrchsod]

44. ford

last centerist republican..his kids were alright, one admitted to smoking pot-plus gerald ford didn`t screw anything up. and he delt with his wife`s problem for years and never gave up on her..jesus, he sounds like a democrat

[Raenelle]

45. There have been a lot of decent Repubs, but the last was Ford.

Eisenhower
TR
Grant
Lincoln

[Commendatori]

46. Eisenhower

Ford was a nice guy, but not a good president. JMHO.

[greekspeak]

49. Eisenhower is not aweful

And hey...his wife was named Mamie. TR not bad, at his most progressive. Ford pardoned Nixon, but besides that he was more bland than Carter and was clearly a milquetoast spacefiller between Nixon and his cabal and the Reagan/Bushler regimes. Carter was probably an accident, and just gave the emerging conservatives something more upon which to sharpen their teeth and claws.

[leftofthedial]

54. Eisenhower

Ford pardoned Nixon. Even Ford once said he'd go to hell for having done that.

[banana republican]

55. Abraham Lincoln. eom

[bullimiami]

56. ford was decent but not much of a president

eisenhower was the last good republican president.

[WoodrowFan]

58. Ford (NT)

[VolcanoJen]

59. Easy... it was Nixon.

:P Made ya look!! :P

[Skittles]

63. in my lifetime, Ford

whatever he was, he wasn't a f***ing asshole like the rest of them.