Least favorite president of the United States? - VGF

Philip55 · 01-20-2005, 10:42 PM

Two are tied for last place: Lyndon Johnson and Franklin Delano Roosevelt.

FDR because he's a total joke, and his legacy is a complete lie. He ran on a platform of reducing government spending by "not less than twenty five precent" and bashed Herbert Hoover for being the "greatest spending peacetime administration in all of history." Throughout the 1932 campaign, he accused the incumbent administration of spending and taxing too much, boosting the national debt, choking off trade, and "putting millions on the dole."

"As a matter of fact and law, the governing rights of the States are all of those which have not been surrendered to the National Government by the Constitution or its amendments. Wisely or unwisely, people know that under the Eighteenth Amendment Congress has been given the right to legislate on this particular subject*, but this is not the case in the matter of a great number of other vital problems of government, such as the conduct of public utilities, of banks, of insurance, of business, of agriculture, of education, of social welfare and of a dozen other important features. In these, Washington must not be encouraged to interfere." - FDR, 1930

* - FDR refers to Prohibition of Alcohol, passed constitutionally by Amendment 18 and enacted by the Volstead Act.

As for Lyndon Johnson, this quote just about sums it up: "In 1964 they told me that if I voted for Barry Goldwater the United States would be sunk into a large scale war with no end in sight, well guess what? I voted for Goldwater and they were right!"

OcarinaMan · 01-20-2005, 11:22 PM

Woodrow Wilson: Huge racist who was pressured into passing civil rights laws. Also took too long to respond to WWI

Jonathan Resop · 01-20-2005, 11:41 PM

You are a complete idiot if you say FDR was the worst president. He brought us through not only the friggen Great Depression, but friggen World War II.

PLUS, he was FRIGGEN HANDICAPPED.

FDR is a role model.

You are a moron who doesn't deserve to be talked to.-jay

Philip55 · 01-20-2005, 11:57 PM

The Missing Link · 01-21-2005, 01:10 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Perrin Aybara:
You are a complete idiot if you say FDR was the worst president. He brought us through not only the friggen Great Depression, but friggen World War II.

He also introduced Social Security and has caused us headaches ever since.

But I shan't cross that bridge...

Man, there's a lot of them to choose from. So many deserve so little respect. I'd have to go with Jimmy Carter though; he just really didn't have all that much lasting impact as he flailed around with the USSR.

Nick · 01-21-2005, 02:33 AM

Its almost impossible to stick a modern age president in "worst ever" category because they lost the part where they were able to be completely ineffective. Worst ever would likely be one of those post-civil war, pre 20th century guys.

Koga · 01-21-2005, 08:48 AM

Wasn't there also a President who died within a month after the election?

The Missing Link · 01-21-2005, 09:10 AM

^ I think that was Garfield. Don't quote me.

Nick · 01-21-2005, 09:37 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by The Minish Link:
^ I think that was Garfield. Don't quote me.

HAHA.

Harrison died roughly a month into his term from pnemonia. Garfield got capped because the assassin was miffed he wasn't appointed Ambassador to France. Garfield lingered for 80 days and died.

Nick · 01-21-2005, 09:38 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Grinch1982:
</font><blockquote>quote:</font><hr />Originally posted by The Minish Link:
^ I think that was Garfield. Don't quote me.

HAHA. I QUOTED YOU.

Harrison died roughly a month into his term from pnemonia. Garfield got capped because the assassin was miffed he wasn't appointed Ambassador to France. Garfield lingered for 80 days and died. </font>[/quote]

**Booyakasha** · 01-21-2005, 05:34 PM

I couldn't possibly say who the worst president is. 'Most overrated' fits FDR like a glove, though. JFK, too.

**Prince Toad** · 01-21-2005, 08:21 PM

^Two things. First, how did the man who led us through our country's two greatest crises become overrated? And second... "right-wing badass" is an oxymoron.

The Missing Link · 01-21-2005, 08:52 PM

Bah, Lurch. I was darn close. I think I deserve partial credit at the very least.

^ It all depends upon your perspective, now. The government took a stark shift in its role and responsibility under FDR. Granted, it was necessary in some aspects due to the Great Depression; however many of his New Deal programs (which arguably played second fiddle to resolving the depression to WWII) became permanent fixtures of our society afterwards for good or ill. Those who say that the government should be a service-giving government will say that's a great thing; those who say that the government of our society should be a hands-off government will say quite the opposite.

He was a good president, in my opinion. I happen to believe that he's not in my top five.

Serial Miller · 01-21-2005, 10:57 PM

Phillip is hilarious.

Jonathan Resop · 01-22-2005, 12:20 AM

The man was friggen handicapped. He had polio and couldn't friggen walk during his entire presidency. That fact alone makes FDR a role model.-jay

The Missing Link · 01-22-2005, 12:08 PM

^ Yes, but you're intermixing FDR's personality and character with his policy. Was FDR a wonderful person? Absolutely; I haven't questioned that at all, Jay. My point alone is that some people disagree with FDR's policies and his entire paradigm shift about what the government should do for his people. We are seeing eye to eye, and in fact I'm saying what you're saying. The only difference is that some people treat them as very different things.

Jonathan Resop · 01-22-2005, 02:48 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by The Minish Link:
Absolutely; I haven't questioned that at all, Jay.

I know. I wasn't talking to you.-jay [img]tongue.gif[/img]

Codiekitty · 01-22-2005, 06:13 PM

From I'm A Stranger Here, Myself...

Quote:

By almost universal agreement, the most vague and ineffectual of all our leaders was Milliard Fillmore, who succeeded to the office in 1850 upon the death of Zachary Taylor and spent the next three years demonstrating how the country would have been run if they had just propped Taylor up in a chair with cushions. However, Fillmore has become so celebrated for his obscurity that he is longer actuall obscure, which rather disqualifies him from serious consideration.

Far more noteworhy to my mind is the great Chester A. Arthur, who was sworn in as president in 1881, posed for an official photograph, and then, as far as I can make out, was never heard from again. If Arthur's goal in life was to grow rather splendid facial hair and leave plenty of room in the history books for the achievements of other men, then his presidency can be ranked a sterling success.

Quote:

...and Franklin Pierce, whose term of office from 1853 to 1857 was an interlude of indistinction between two longer periods of anonymity. He spent virtually the whole of his incumbency hopelessly intoxicated, prompting the affectionate slogan "Franklin Pierce, the Hero of Many a Well-Fought Bottle."

My favorites, however, are the two presidents Harrison. The first was William Henry Harrison, who heroically refused to don an overcoat for in inaugural ceremony in 1841, consequently caught pneumonia, and with engaging swiftness expired. He was president for just thirty days, nearly all of it spent unconscious. Forty years later his grandson, Benjamin Harrison, was elected and succeeded the challenging ambition of achieving as little in four years as his grandfather had in a month.

Bill Bryson owns you all and all your grandmothers.

Where are these lemmings going? The Super Nintendo Super Shire! Hop in line and follow them there!

**L007 is Undecided** · 01-22-2005, 10:09 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Cap'n Boo from Timbuktu:
I couldn't possibly say who the worst president is. 'Most overrated' fits FDR like a glove, though. JFK, too.

Please dip your face in acid. JFK was probably the best President we ever had. He not only led us out of the Cuban Missle Crisis, but launced both Project Apollo AND Peace Corps. He was also just plain cool, so nyah. [img]tongue.gif[/img]

Jonathan Resop · 01-22-2005, 10:27 PM

As long as you ignore that whole Bay of Pigs thing. Heh.-jay

01-20-2005, 11:57 PM	#4
Philip55 Junior Member Join Date: Nov 2004 Posts: 142 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts Points: 4,479.00 Bank: 500.00 Total Points: 4,979.00 Donate	yawn

01-21-2005, 05:34 PM	#11
Booyakasha Mod of War Join Date: Nov 2000 Location: Wisconsinland Gender: Posts: 6,812 Thanks: 75 Thanked 338 Times in 220 Posts Points: 9,324.64 Bank: 20,637.07 Total Points: 29,961.71 Donate	I couldn't possibly say who the worst president is. 'Most overrated' fits FDR like a glove, though. JFK, too. __________________ Boo--the only dude bad enough to rescue the president

01-20-2005, 10:42 PM	#1
Philip55 Junior Member Join Date: Nov 2004 Posts: 142 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts Points: 4,479.00 Bank: 500.00 Total Points: 4,979.00 Donate	Two are tied for last place: Lyndon Johnson and Franklin Delano Roosevelt. FDR because he's a total joke, and his legacy is a complete lie. He ran on a platform of reducing government spending by "not less than twenty five precent" and bashed Herbert Hoover for being the "greatest spending peacetime administration in all of history." Throughout the 1932 campaign, he accused the incumbent administration of spending and taxing too much, boosting the national debt, choking off trade, and "putting millions on the dole." "As a matter of fact and law, the governing rights of the States are all of those which have not been surrendered to the National Government by the Constitution or its amendments. Wisely or unwisely, people know that under the Eighteenth Amendment Congress has been given the right to legislate on this particular subject, but this is not the case in the matter of a great number of other vital problems of government, such as the conduct of public utilities, of banks, of insurance, of business, of agriculture, of education, of social welfare and of a dozen other important features. In these, Washington must not be encouraged to interfere." - FDR, 1930 - FDR refers to Prohibition of Alcohol, passed constitutionally by Amendment 18 and enacted by the Volstead Act. As for Lyndon Johnson, this quote just about sums it up: "In 1964 they told me that if I voted for Barry Goldwater the United States would be sunk into a large scale war with no end in sight, well guess what? I voted for Goldwater and they were right!"

01-20-2005, 11:22 PM	#2
OcarinaMan Member Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: Ikana Castle Posts: 2,482 Thanks: 1 Thanked 5 Times in 3 Posts Points: 6,952.77 Bank: 500.00 Total Points: 7,452.77 Donate	Woodrow Wilson: Huge racist who was pressured into passing civil rights laws. Also took too long to respond to WWI

01-20-2005, 11:41 PM	#3
Jonathan Resop Banned Join Date: Dec 1969 Posts: 1 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts Points: 33,299.00 Bank: 500.00 Total Points: 33,799.00 Donate	You are a complete idiot if you say FDR was the worst president. He brought us through not only the friggen Great Depression, but friggen World War II. PLUS, he was FRIGGEN HANDICAPPED. FDR is a role model. You are a moron who doesn't deserve to be talked to.-jay

01-21-2005, 02:33 AM	#6
Nick Banned Join Date: Dec 1969 Posts: 0 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts Points: 10,122.00 Bank: 500.00 Total Points: 10,622.00 Donate	Its almost impossible to stick a modern age president in "worst ever" category because they lost the part where they were able to be completely ineffective. Worst ever would likely be one of those post-civil war, pre 20th century guys.

01-21-2005, 08:48 AM	#7
Koga Veteran Member Join Date: Sep 2000 Location: The Netherlands Gender: Posts: 17,094 Thanks: 105 Thanked 177 Times in 119 Posts Points: 103,438.41 Bank: 17,752.41 Total Points: 121,190.82 Donate	Wasn't there also a President who died within a month after the election?

01-21-2005, 09:10 AM	#8
The Missing Link Professional Lurker Join Date: Dec 2000 Location: New Hyrule, Washington, US Gender: Posts: 15,573 Thanks: 80 Thanked 183 Times in 110 Posts Points: 5,506.15 Bank: 51,115.11 Total Points: 56,621.26 Donate	^ I think that was Garfield. Don't quote me.

01-21-2005, 08:21 PM	#12
Prince Toad PC Mod Join Date: Aug 2001 Location: Rookery Gender: Posts: 11,394 Thanks: 42 Thanked 56 Times in 47 Posts Points: 42,222.88 Bank: 15,935.33 Total Points: 58,158.21 Donate	^Two things. First, how did the man who led us through our country's two greatest crises become overrated? And second... "right-wing badass" is an oxymoron.

01-21-2005, 08:52 PM	#13
The Missing Link Professional Lurker Join Date: Dec 2000 Location: New Hyrule, Washington, US Gender: Posts: 15,573 Thanks: 80 Thanked 183 Times in 110 Posts Points: 5,506.15 Bank: 51,115.11 Total Points: 56,621.26 Donate	Bah, Lurch. I was darn close. I think I deserve partial credit at the very least. ^ It all depends upon your perspective, now. The government took a stark shift in its role and responsibility under FDR. Granted, it was necessary in some aspects due to the Great Depression; however many of his New Deal programs (which arguably played second fiddle to resolving the depression to WWII) became permanent fixtures of our society afterwards for good or ill. Those who say that the government should be a service-giving government will say that's a great thing; those who say that the government of our society should be a hands-off government will say quite the opposite. He was a good president, in my opinion. I happen to believe that he's not in my top five.

01-21-2005, 10:57 PM	#14
Serial Miller Retro Nintendo Supermod Art & Literature Mod Metroid Mod Join Date: Aug 2002 Location: I rub my tilde all over your asterisk Gender: Posts: 15,679 Thanks: 416 Thanked 1,046 Times in 585 Posts Points: 14,106.59 Bank: 1,556,398.07 Total Points: 1,570,504.65 Donate	Phillip is hilarious.

01-22-2005, 12:20 AM	#15
Jonathan Resop Banned Join Date: Dec 1969 Posts: 1 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts Points: 33,299.00 Bank: 500.00 Total Points: 33,799.00 Donate	The man was friggen handicapped. He had polio and couldn't friggen walk during his entire presidency. That fact alone makes FDR a role model.-jay

01-22-2005, 12:08 PM	#16
The Missing Link Professional Lurker Join Date: Dec 2000 Location: New Hyrule, Washington, US Gender: Posts: 15,573 Thanks: 80 Thanked 183 Times in 110 Posts Points: 5,506.15 Bank: 51,115.11 Total Points: 56,621.26 Donate	^ Yes, but you're intermixing FDR's personality and character with his policy. Was FDR a wonderful person? Absolutely; I haven't questioned that at all, Jay. My point alone is that some people disagree with FDR's policies and his entire paradigm shift about what the government should do for his people. We are seeing eye to eye, and in fact I'm saying what you're saying. The only difference is that some people treat them as very different things.

01-22-2005, 10:27 PM	#20
Jonathan Resop Banned Join Date: Dec 1969 Posts: 1 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts Points: 33,299.00 Bank: 500.00 Total Points: 33,799.00 Donate	As long as you ignore that whole Bay of Pigs thing. Heh.-jay