Ricochet is the best place on the internet to discuss the issues of the day, either through commenting on posts or writing your own for our active and dynamic community in a fully moderated environment. In addition, the Ricochet Audio Network offers over 50 original podcasts with new episodes released every day.
Poll: Best GOP President of the 20th Century?
Time for a little Presidents’ Day diversion. I wondered who is Ricochet’s favorite Republican president of the 20th Century. I excluded the 19th Century (Lincoln would win running away) and I excluded our current century because of the recency bias (there’s a reason the Most Admired Person polls almost always go to the current president).
Is there a groundswell of support for Gerald Ford? An unexpected love for Warren G. “Regulate” Harding? It is time to make your stand!
(Fair warning: this freebie poll dealie won’t display correctly. If it looks like crap, it’s their fault!)
Poll is good for 24 hours. And in the comments, you can justify your choice or badmouth the competition.
Update: View final results here.
Published in General
I voted for Reagan, even though I think his support may be overstated due to recency bias. But hardly any love for Eisenhower? I thnk Ike is very underrated as a president, even by his own party.
Also W is the worst president of the last 50 years. I voted for his father as the best. Despite his lying on raising taxes. His liberation of Kuwait and his managing the fall of the Soviet Union are the reasons I credit him with best. Short but useful.
Sadly his son was an incredible failure who is directly responsible for the mess we are in Foreign Policy wise. His gross and total incompetence in Iraq and Afghanistan will forever mar him as one of the worst Presidents in USA history.
I rank Ike low because I’m not a big fan the central government unconstitutionally negating states rights. Centralized education, federal agencies, unilateral foreign policy decisions, federal public works projects…. all this stuff amps up under Ike.
Destroyed the Republican Party? Hardly. Two years after Bill Clinton took office the Republicans captured House and Senate after 40+ years in the wilderness. Destroyed what exactly?
They’ll say Hoover was actually a Democrat because he was president when the Great Depression started.
Can I put in a good word for William Howard Taft, known to his friends as Big Bill? He is a personal favorite of mine, not because he was a great President but for many other admirable qualities. He and I share the fact that 300 pounds is a goal weight, although I have never gotten stuck in a bathtub. He and his wife are still revered for their time spent governing the Philipines, which they did with wisdom and great respect for the people. He is the first President to drive his own car, and on one of their jaunts his wife pointed out that the Potomac Park area would be a lovely place to plant some cherry trees. Speaking of Mrs. Taft, she was very well-educated for her time, and Bill relied on her a great deal in all of his pursuits. When she had a stroke it devastated Taft’s presidency; it took her years to recover.
Taft’s greatest failing as President was not being TR. Their falling out led to Roosevelt’s third party run, which gave us Wilson in all his statist glory. Taft never wanted to be President; he wanted to be on the Supreme Court, where he served with considerable distinction.
A couple of my favorite Taft quotes:
“Some are graduated from college Summa cum Laude, and some are graduated Miriable Dictu.”
“No tendency is quite so strong in human nature as the desire to lay down rules of conduct for other people.”
Taft and Benj. Franklin are the proof of my favorite aphorism: never underestimate an old fat guy.