Strongest Presidency

[onehandle]

Poll question: Strongest Presidency

Ten slots. Last ten Presidents:

[Hawkowl]

1. W

Hands down. He got EVERYTHING he wanted except privatizing SS. The little fascist war criminal will never be brought to justice either.

[hlthe2b]

3. True, but Johnson's ability to get the civil rights bill passed...

create both medicare and medicaid, initiate many environmental and consumer protections, and initiate the war on poverty were phenomenal accomplishments, given the attitudes in the South. I give LBJ the nod.

[alsame]

4. Sadly, I agree. And it all started with a stolen election. nt

[jefferson_dem]

9. Didn't get immigration reform either.

But he was battling his own right flank on that one.

[Hawkowl]

10. Maybe

I'm not sure he really wanted immigration reform. Too much cheap labor. He did end Clinton's successful efforts at prosecuting and punishing employers who employed undocumented workers.

[Laf.La.Dem.]

2. Sad to say - BUT

You did not ask for best President - but strongest President (Sad but I had to vote for Reagan)

[onehandle]

6. Indeed. I did not say best. nt

[Honeycombe8]

21. Same here. It was the strongest, in a BAD way. nt

[grumgrum]

5. Strongest: LBJ, Regan, Bush II / Weakest: Carter, Obama, Ford

Although Regan and Bush II shifted america in a wrong direction and its ultimate doom to China by 2025/2050 they were strong in getting their polciies through without backing down.

Granted Obama has been in a mess caused by Bush II but its the obsessive capitulation that perpetuates he policies of the last that makes his presidency weak. If he fought and lost for his principles then i'd have more respect for his presidency...and so he remains one of the weakest.

[craigmatic]

7. Carter was stronger than people realized. He could've dropped bombs on Iran but he preferred

negotiations and that's what gained them their freedom in the end. It was President Carter who freed the hostages not reagan. He had a different kind of strngth that americans don't apprecoate-strength of character and conviction.

[Hawkowl]

11. +1 .nt

[Ter]

28. I alike Carter a lot, and despise war

But when Americans are being held hostage like that, something must be done other than lengthy negotiations.

[truthspeak]

8. Didn't LBJ have over 61 Dems in the Senate at one point...

not to take away anything from him...but it is a hell of a lot easier to get anything you want when you have a filibuster-proof congress.

[Kaleva]

12. But many of them were Jim Crow Southeners

"Georgia Democrat Richard Russell offered the final arguments in opposition. Minority Leader Everett Dirksen, who had enlisted the Republican votes that made cloture a realistic option, spoke for the proponents with his customary eloquence. Noting that the day marked the 100th anniversary of Abraham Lincoln's nomination to a second term, the Illinois Republican proclaimed, in the words of Victor Hugo, "Stronger than all the armies is an idea whose time has come." He continued, "The time has come for equality of opportunity in sharing in government, in education, and in employment. It will not be stayed or denied. It is here!" "

Senator Byrd(D) of West Virginia made a filibuster effort to prevent passage of the Civil Rights Act.

"At 9:51 on the morning of June 10, 1964, Senator Robert C. Byrd completed an address that he had begun 14 hours and 13 minutes earlier. The subject was the pending Civil Rights Act of 1964, a measure that occupied the Senate for 57 working days, including six Saturdays."

http://www.senate.gov/artandhistory/history/minute/Civil_Rights_Filibuster_Ended.htm

Without the support of the Republicans, the Civil Rights Act would not have passed the Senate.

[truthspeak]

15. More to the point...

He had a better environment of "bi-partisonship" support, in addition to a filibuster-proof congress (on paper). Compared to what Obama is dealing with now, thats like shooting fish in a barrel.

[Johnyawl]

13. Nixon

Even with a Democratic congress he reshaped the world.

[Kaleva]

14. But what he did didn't need approval from Congress

If you are referring to his visiting the USSR and Red China.

[grumgrum]

16. Realistically, Bush II should be ranked higher than Obama -- Obama should be last.

[Milo_Bloom]

17. bush by a mile.

He managed to get a DEMOCRATICALLY CONTROLLED SENATE to approve a war against a country that didn't attack us.

[cyr330]

18. You didn't list FDR

[onehandle]

20. Ten slots in polls. So last ten Presidents. nt

[cyr330]

26. Ah, ok. . .

Just wondering! :)

[bigwillq]

19. Can't really judge Obama

in full since it's not over yet, for better or worse.

* edited

[Freddie Stubbs]

22. Johnson's was so strong he didn't need to run for a second full term

[VMI Dem]

23. Obama should be slightly ahead of Carter and Ford.

[AngryAmish]

24. Andrew Jackson

[XemaSab]

25. Fascinating that Johnson's legacy has warmed considerably

in the last 40 years.

I picked Nixon. :P

[David Zephyr]

27. Define "strong".

Intersting poll, but expand on "strong".