How Would You Rank The Presidents From 1977 to Present From Liberal To Right Wing Nut

[Median Democrat]

Here is my ranking:

1. Barack Obama (2009-present)
2. Bill Clinton (1993-2000)
3. Jimmy Carter (1977-1980)
4. George H.W. Bush (1989-1992)
5. Ronald Reagan (1981-1988)
6. George W. Bush (2001-2008)

[FrenchieCat]

1. Mine...

1. Barack Obama (2009-present)
2. Jimmy Carter (1977-1980)
3. Bill Clinton (1993-2000)
4. George H.W. Bush (1989-1992)
5. Ronald Reagan (1981-1988)
6. George W. Bush (2001-2008)

[countmyvote4real]

5. Agree. That's how I'd rank them. n/t

[IDemo]

9. Agreed also. n/t

[iamthebandfanman]

16. same but,

id imagine the top three all *almost* tie...
all have their liberal stances , and all have their conservative stances...

weve never had a 'liberal' in charge of the country, imho

[FailureToCommunicate]

19. Agreed, but opposite order in how they screwed up the world...

[xchrom]

2. i gotta give 3 first spot. nt

[Median Democrat]

4. Delete

*

[Forkboy]

14. Same here.

I remember the talk of solar power back in his term. We even went on a field trip to a solar house in '78. Imagine if we had followed through on that 30+ years ago.

And hello! :hi:

[csziggy]

3. I'd move Jimmy Carter up one place - I think he was more liberal than Clinton

Definitely more liberal and green than Clinton.

And I would probably put George H. W. last. Personally, I think both George Jr and Ronnie were front men for the real conservatives But GHWB was actually in control of his administration. He just had more political savvy and was more subtle about how he manipulated our government.

[Political Heretic]

6. Clinton, Obama and Carter all tie.

But that's not really fair since Obama hasn't completed a term yet.

But so far they all tie at not being particularly "liberal" at all.

I still voted for em. Well, not Carter - I was too young.

[spag68]

7. Liberal?

Surely you jest! I am 67, and I have not seen a liberal President in my time. I respect Obama, but he is a centrist, not a liberal. Jimmy the peanut , was a good man, but hardly a liberal. Johnson was liberal at the end out of guilt, and Roosevelt, while he was responsible for many liberal policy's, was not really a liberal either. Your poll is flawed.

[Median Democrat]

10. Given That Its A Ranking, I Wouldn't Put Reagan & Clinton On The Same Level

It is not a poll, but a ranking. I know that some folks on DU seriously do assert that Bill Clinton is no different from Dubya, and blame him for the current economic crisis. If that is your ranking, I respect that opinion, though I don't agree with it.

[Mz Pip]

8. Define 'liberal'

If liberal is defined as big government then GW takes the cake on that one. Liberal and big government seem to be interchangable terms for some people.

For me "liberal" means open minded and willing to accept and try new things, so Obama would be #1 and maybe Carter #2.

[Median Democrat]

11. One Definition of Liberalism That I Agree With...

Liberalism is a political philosophy that emphasizes individual rights and equality of opportunity. Liberalism encompasses support for: freedom of thought and speech, limitations on the power of governments, the rule of law, an individual's right to private property, and a transparent system of government. Liberals also support some regulation of business and other economic interventionism that they believe to be in the public interest.

[leftofthedial]

12. That list doesn't include any liberals,

so how can it possibly go "from liberal" to whatever?

That's a list, (although Carter should be either 1 or 2) that goes from slightly conservative to insanely bug nuts right wing extremist.

[Median Democrat]

13. Okay, using your scale, how would you rank them?

I am not asking who is a paradigm of liberalism. I don't think anyone is. This is exactly why I posed the question in a relative manner. Also, I disagree with Obama and Clinton being "conservative," though I do wonder what is your definition of conservatism? I just don't either Clinton or Obama being Rush Limbaugh listening ditto heads.

[leftofthedial]

15. Why do we have so many paragons of extreme conservatism, but no liberals?

Anyway, my ranking would be:

Carter
Clinton
Obama
George the First
raygun
george the lesser

ranked from somewhat conservative to damn near fascist totalitarian. The difference between Carter and Clinton is fairly large. The difference between Obama and Clinton is fairly small. Any differences between the three "real" repukes are negligible, and more matters of style than substance.

[iamthebandfanman]

17. i dunno, i think that depends on what issues

youre talking about.


weve never had a 'liberal' president , save perhaps fdr...

any of the presidents who did actually have somewhat liberal agendas or stances on certain issues, also had a few stances they were conservative on...
none were really 'perfectly liberal' , as it mite be ... ;)
same goes for carter, he had stances on some issues that were pretty liberal... and stances on other things that were definitely not.

these days, you are expected to be happy if a president takes a progressive stance on a few of issues ... it would seem... you see how crazy conservatives make those people out to be, by trying to label terms that have been demonized, just be taking the lefts stance on any issues whatsoever...

theyd paint raygun as a socialist if it suited their political interests... lol

[Median Democrat]

18. Which Is Why I Suggest A Scale, Some Presidents Are More Liberal Than Others

Yet, there seems to be a weird refusal to acknowledge as you note that some presidents may have more or less liberal stands on certain issues. So, I agree with you.

For example, this thread poses a simple question that some folks feel compelled to hijack and turn into a rant that no President was ever liberal. Well, that wasn't the question. I submit that such folks have an agenda because they refuse to acknowledge that Obama or Clinton were more liberal than Reagan or Dubya. Worse, they create some really weird definition of liberal, in order to avoid getting flamed, than conclude that Dubya was a liberal, which strikes as the most intellectually dishonest argument to make. Indeed, it is the type of argument that conservatives are now making in order to argue that Dubya was really a liberal, and that the country now needs to return to "true conservatism.

[Zynx]

31. Obama is by no definition more conservative than Clinton. In no single policy is this true.

[leftofthedial]

34. 70 days in?

[cali]

37. you demonstrate once again how little history you know

but then what else is new?

[TexasObserver]

20. Agree

[road2000]

21. This would be a lot more interesting

if we went back to 1950 -- not nearly as easy.

[LWolf]

22. While there are no liberals on your list,

here is my ranking:

1. Carter
2. Clinton
3. Obama
4. George H.W.
5. Ronnie
6. GWB

[Democracyinkind]

23. Totally agree with comment and ranking!

[TBF]

35. Best reply, I'd rank them exactly the same, with Carter just a

bit left of center.

[LWolf]

43. That's where I place Carter, as well. nt

[cali]

38. bzzzzt.

Carter was almost certainly less to the left than Obama and so was Clinton. What on earth, aside from his energy stance, were Carter's liberal positions?

[TBF]

45. Yeah, you've right, Carter wasn't that great either. I still place him to the left of Obama

and Clinton.

[960]

24. Okay, but most here think Obama is the furthest left...

Bill Clinton
Jimmy Carter
Barack Obama
George H. W. Bush
Ronald Reagan
George W. Bush

[lame54]

25. why is Obama more liberal than Clinton

[Median Democrat]

27. How Would You Rank Them?

Are you saying you disagree? If so, that is refreshing given a segment of DU has tried to argue that Bill Clinton, not George Bush, is responsible for the current economic crisis.

[AtomicKitten]

30. Clinton: NAFTA, China MFN, DOMA, DADT, deregulation, institutionalizing faith based programs, etc.

[Zynx]

32. He is moving toward substantially more government intervention in the economy.

His proposed budget outline also is generally quite liberal in its priorities. Clinton's was geared toward generally a moderate conservative approach.

[harun]

26. Mine

1. Jimmy Carter (1977-1980)
2. Barack Obama (2009-present)
3. Bill Clinton (1993-2000)
4. George H.W. Bush (1989-1992)
5. Ronald Reagan (1981-1988)
6. George W. Bush (2001-2008)

[Median Democrat]

29. My take on Jimmy Carter Is That ...

1. He was a deregulator, and deregulation of the oil, airline, and trucking industries took place under his Presidency. Remember the Airlines Deregulation Act? Also, remember that Ted Kennedy recommended nationalization of the oil industry?

2. He appointed Paul Volcker who worked ruthlessly to stamp out inflation even at the cost of slowing economic growth.


Now, I am not saying that Jimmy Carter's actions were wrong or right. However, Carter's views were fiscally comservative for better or worse.

[Hippo_Tron]

33. Those were the extent of his conservative actions

Carter stopped blindly supporting Somoza and the Shah which was a huge reversal of the status quo to the left considering that every President since Truman more or less supported every right wing dictator they possibly could.. He also created the Department of Energy and the Department of Education. He was

[harun]

39. Airlines Deregulation Act

Nope, I don't remember that, as I was only 3 years old :-).

[Arkana]

28. Hmmm...

Barack Obama (2009-?)
Jimmy Carter (1977-1981)
Bill Clinton (1993-2001)
George H.W. Bush (1989-1993)
Ronald Reagan (1981-1989)
George W. Bush (2001-2009)

[MadHound]

36. There have been no liberal presidents in the past thirty years

The last(and probably only) liberal president was FDR. But at best, over the past thirty years we've gotten center right presidents(nominally Democrats) ranging all they way to batshit crazy conservative. However the one thing that all these presidents, including Obama, have in common is that they are all corporatists, and they put the welfare of corporations ahead of everything, including the welfare of we the people.

[Median Democrat]

42. *sigh* Question Was Not Who Is A Paradigm Of Liberalism...

I don't know why I keep getting responses that no President is or was liberal. As I noted above in response to a similar comment, the question asks for a personal ranking. For example, Jimmy Carter was a fiscal conservative and a deregulator, BUT he was also quite liberal and a pacifist with respect to foreign policy, and canceled big ticket weapons programs like the B-1 bomber.

So, I am not sure whether the comment is merely a mis-interpretation of the OP, or whether you are arguing that there is no difference between any of the Presidents since 1977 with respect to who is more or less liberal. So, once again, and using your scale of center right to batshit crazy conservative, how would you rank them?

[Robbins]

40. My rankins

1:Barack Obama
2:Jimmy Carter
3:Bill CLinton
4:George Bush
5:Ronald Reagan
6:George W Bush

[Liberal_Stalwart71]

41. My Rank:

Here is my ranking from most liberal to wingnut:

1. Barack Obama (2009-present)
2. Jimmy Carter (1977-1980)
3. Bill Clinton (1993-2000)
4. George H.W. Bush (1989-1992)
5. George W. Bush (2001-2008)
6. Ronald Reagan (1981-1988)

In my own meetings with Jimmy Carter and watching him grow and mature in his thinking, I actually believe that he is MORE liberal than Bill Clinton. Bill's DLC membership and deregulation policies put him after Jimmy Carter. In fact, I'm more inclined to put Jimmy ahead of Obama, but I don't know enough about Obama's philosophies overall yet. I think Obama and Bill are much closer than many of us on the left care to admit. Therefore, I could come back and revise this list later on, placing Jimmy at #1 and Obama at #2, followed by Bill at #3.

I also still believe that Reagan was much more of a wingnut than Dumbya. Dumbya was simply a puppet president who did what he was told by former Nixon/Republican sycophants. They are more dangerous than Dumbya.

[mvd]

44. It's hard to rank Obama yet

He could be at Clinton's level or to the left. But based on the past:

1. Barack Obama (2009-present)
2. Jimmy Carter (1977-1980)
2. Bill Clinton (1993-2000)
4. George H.W. Bush (1989-1992)
5. Ronald Reagan (1981-1988)
6. George W. Bush (2001-2008)

George H.W. Bush and Reagan are close. George W. Bush isn't as traditionally conservative as Reagan, but he certainly beats him for wingnuttery.