who are America\u2019s greatest presidents<\/a>, at least of the modern era?\u00a0 Not to waste my money, I didn\u2019t actually buy the\u00a0magazine\u00a0 \u00a0Instead, I skimmed over it in the checkout line at the grocery store. \u00a0In just a brief overview, I noticed a few things.<\/p>\nFirst, as can be expected, 7 of the top 10\u00a0mentioned\u00a0were Democrats. \u00a0Eisenhower, Teddy Roosevelt, and Reagan were the three Republicans. \u00a0Reagan came in dangling at number 9. \u00a0Eisenhower, who has never really been more than mid-ground in most presidential lists, beats him\u00a0handily.<\/p>\n
Second, Teddy Roosevelt gets kudos for his emphasis on \u2018progressive\u00a0legislation\u00a0 and his works on the National Parks, natural resources, and Trust busting. \u00a0Of course many moderns bemoan his involvement in the Panama Canal and his chest thumping American Exceptionalism. \u00a0But for being a progressive in terms of nature and finances, he gets high-fives just the same.<\/p>\n
Third, Lyndon Johnson, who was for the longest time considered at the bottom\u00a0because\u00a0of the Vietnam War\u00a0debacle\u00a0and the shady dealings\u00a0behind\u00a0it all,\u00a0because\u00a0of the questionable results associated with\u00a0the\u00a0War on Poverty and his idyllic Great Society, and because he lacked\u00a0the\u00a0support\u00a0to run for a second term, comes in a healthy number 3. \u00a0I noticed that the emphasis was \u2018look how much crap he\u00a0inherited\u00a0 rather than \u2018look what he accomplished.\u2019 \u00a0Sound familiar? \u00a0Only the Civil Rights act, which he shoved through a reluctant congress (without mention that more Democrats opposed it than Republicans).<\/p>\n
Fourth, our second impeached president makes the list. \u00a0This isn\u2019t odd. \u00a0In modern liberal circles, Bill Clinton has emerged as almost a second MLK. \u00a0The era of peace and prosperity when all was right with the world is usually used to cover up the fact that both the peace and prosperity\u00a0Clinton\u00a0was\u00a0credited\u00a0with had more to do with his opponents he worked with, or with the fact that a\u00a0sympathetic\u00a0media allowed him to deflect attention from\u00a0warning\u00a0signs that all of this would soon\u00a0come\u00a0crumbling down. \u00a0This was\u00a0necessary,\u00a0 of course, to protect him from having committed\u00a0perjury\u00a0in the high court in order to cover up during a sexual\u00a0harassment\u00a0investigation\u00a0 Yet within months of his departure, America was subject to one of the most\u00a0devastating\u00a0attacks on its soil in its history, most of which was planned right under the nose of the Clinton administration while he was, er,\u00a0otherwise\u00a0occupied.<\/p>\n
Likewise, the greatest\u00a0economy\u00a0in the history of the universe that Clinton had single-handedly\u00a0made possible, which is why we were called on to ignore his\u00a0indiscretions\u00a0 turned out to be based on a thin, debt ridden\u00a0and\u00a0debt driven economy that experts were predicting as early as 1998 was going to blow up in our face. \u00a0Was he all bad? \u00a0No. \u00a0I actually supported Clinton on several issues (such as smacking Insurance companies down for running new mothers out of the hospital in mere hours after giving birth). \u00a0But it is what it is. \u00a0His whole presidency looked like\u00a0the\u00a0kid\u00a0faking\u00a0it through school, hoping he graduates before the teacher\u00a0notice\u00a0 \u00a0So far, it looks like he did just that, at least according to Newsweek.<\/p>\n
Fifth, this is based on the input of 10\u00a0distinguished\u00a0historians. \u00a0Any time I see that in a news story I start to itch. \u00a0Especially\u00a0in our modern scholarly atmosphere, where we have few real standards in research and publishing apart from \u2018advance\u00a0this agenda\u2019, such a resume doesn\u2019t mean what it used to mean. <\/p>\n
Sixth, Eisenhower ushers in the Middle Class. \u00a0Such sweeping, vague, and incorrect\u00a0statements\u00a0always sends up warning flags and reminds me I am not reading something that is meant to be accurate. \u00a0Fact is,\u00a0the\u00a0phenomenon\u00a0of the Middle Class has its roots as far back as\u00a0Medieval\u00a0Europe. \u00a0True, it would not begin to find its full fruition until the suburban revolution of post-war America, but the middle class itself can hardly be considered as something Eisenhower himself ushered in. \u00a0Completely wrong? \u00a0When seen through a list of qualifying statements, no. \u00a0But hardly\u00a0accurate\u00a0enough to build confidence in the article and its esteemed historians.<\/p>\n
Seventh, Barack Obama. \u00a0Would someone please tell me what this man has accomplished? \u00a0Other than ramrodding an unpopular, and so far\u00a0inefficient,\u00a0 health care reform that raises more problems than it solves, and winning the Nobel Peace Prize for not being Bush, just what has he done? \u00a0Usually, he hands things over to the Democrats in Congress and says \u2018you do it.\u2019 \u00a0True, he isn\u2019t finished yet. \u00a0But that\u2019s why when I was growing up, most lists left Reagan off for the simple reason that he was still\u00a0president\u00a0 and there is no way to evaluate him fairly. \u00a0Obama\u2019s inclusion in the list, even if heavily qualified, suggests reading something else would be time better spent.<\/p>\n
Bonus credibility\u00a0point\u00a0 Jimmy Carter was not in the\u00a0list\u00a0 \u00a0Thank goodness. \u00a0There have been major attempts in recent years to lift Carter up as some\u00a0under-appreciated\u00a0genius who was one of the greats. \u00a0This, while the\u00a0attempts\u00a0to act as if Reagan was just wandering about, looking for the bathroom while all the great things of the 80s were happening, were all the rage. \u00a0The general treatment of Reagan is still there, though some progressives are finally caving and admitting that he got some things right. \u00a0But Carter? \u00a0One of the most ineffective, poor leaders in American presidential history at one of the worst points in American history? \u00a0I can\u2019t help but wonder if this is because of his\u00a0embarrassing\u00a0comments in recent years that\u00a0repeatedly\u00a0forced the White House to distance itself from him. \u00a0Perhaps there are problems he\u2019s having due to his age, but I wonder if his sudden absence suggests some on the left are tired of defying reality to defend someone who has become more trouble than he is worth, at least in their eyes.<\/p>\n
Anyhoo, just a few thoughts tossed about as I giggled over the thought that I should take Newsweek seriously about anything, least of all something as charged as presidential\u00a0efficiency.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
And I\u2019m still laughing. \u00a0OK, so anyone who goes to Newsweek for almost anything at this point has to be suspect. \u00a0I mean, folks who still trust the media in general have some explaining to do, but Newsweek? \u00a0Are you kidding me? \u00a0Anyway, this issue has Newsweek finally solving that age old mystery: who are […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2805,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2388","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n
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