Cross Posted at Left Coast Rebel
So a few days ago I posted my list of 10 Worst Presidents of all Time, I was prompted to do this because of the recent publishing of a ranking of the presidents by someone in the Legacy Obama Echo Chamber media. THAT list was pretty much upside down and inside out, so I thought I would make my own list. You will notice that in my list character and personal honor may take a higher position than some miraculous political achievement, and that is totally by design.
#10 [Tie] two one term presidents (by choice) are tied for #10 To have the power of the Presidency and voluntarily give it up speaks to a man’s character and that is one reason I put these two on the list. One shaped our boundaries in the west. (a blessing and a curse), and the other had undeniable character and a vision for the panama canal.
Polk - was a workaholic who worked long hours. He was elected to the House of Representatives and became Jackson's floor leader in the fight against the National Bank. His term as President was 1845-1849. Polk achieved his four major objectives - the acquisition of California, the settlement of the Oregon question, the reduction of the tariff, and the establishment of the independent treasury. Polk had announced before taking office that he would not seek a second term, a promise he kept.
Hayes – Accepted the nomination for House of Representatives but refused to campaign because he was still commissioned and on active duty in the military. Won the Presidency in an election that seemed to be replayed in 2000. Hayes insisted that all political appointments be based on merit and made his advisors rotate posts so that they did not become complacent. Hayes never planned to run for a second term in office and retired in 1881. He spent the rest of his life devoted to causes of importance to him such as providing scholarships to African Americans and encouraging temperance. He believed in and proposed civil service reform measures. Further, he set down a policy that would eventually lead to the development of the Panama Canal.
#9 Truman – Did not even want to be vice-President, telling FDR’s man to “go to hell, I am for Jimmy Byrne” later was convinced to take it. When FDR died he said, “Boys, if you ever pray, pray for me now. ... When they told me what had happened, I felt like the moon, the stars, and all the planets had fallen on me. I've got the most terribly responsible job a man ever had." George Will called Truman the last great leader the nation has had. As president at a most crucial period in the nation's history, it fell to him to make decisions that would determine the shape of events, both at home and abroad, for the next half-century. He set the course not only for the Free World's resistance to the march of communism, but for the resurgence of Western Europe. His policies laid the foundation for the recovery of Germany and Japan and the integration of Europe. Truman insisted that atomic power should serve the ends of peace and not only war. He took the first steps toward re-integration of the races in the military after Woodrow Wilson segregated them. Maybe one of the most humble presidents we have had, especially in the 20th century.
#8 Eisenhower –Ike understood the battle that would shape the twentieth and, so far, the 21st century: “Now we face a battle to extinction. … Our form of government is under deadly, persistent, and constant attack.” He warned friends about liberals who “would merely advance us one more step toward total socialism, just beyond which lies total dictatorship.” It was time, he proclaimed, to “combat remorselessly all those paternalistic and collectivistic ideas" that would eventually cause "the collapse of self-government.” Eisenhower was the first Cold Warrior, and he understood that the ideological war was very real. In 1953, Eisenhower brought all these views with him into the White House. His first inaugural address set the tone: “Forces of good and evil are massed and armed and opposed as rarely before in history.…Freedom is pitted against slavery; lightness against the dark.” To the end of his presidency, his basic message never changed. Midway through his second term, he was still warning that “the menace of communist imperialism” had “almost unlimited power.” “Peace, national safety—survival itself—demand of America strength in its every aspect.” Yep ,“I like Ike”
How am I doing so far?
Stay tuned for the rest of the list…
-KOOK
Logging you in...
Lady Cincinnatus · 768 weeks ago
KOOK 91p · 768 weeks ago
Andrew33 103p · 768 weeks ago
Andrew33 103p · 768 weeks ago
There will likely be one President we will disagree on, but we'll deal with that later. Good Post.
Cigarette Sally · 768 weeks ago
maelstrom07 2p · 767 weeks ago
Andrew33 103p · 767 weeks ago
1st question: Was Lincoln smart enough to know what his newspaper was printing? I tend to think so.
So, for the last year I have read the letters that pen pals Abe Lincoln and Karl Marx. Keep in mind Lincoln was a very private man and rarely if ever wrote anyone as much as Marx. As it turns out, the early "Republican" party was well funded by Marx and his "workers party" pals. Those letters are full of concepts we hear as code words today. redistribution, social justice, etc. The very last letter Marx wrote to Lincoln (after his death) expressed joy by the marxist political party over "their" victory in Lincoln's reelection. The war was all but over and Lincoln could get to the business of transforming America.
So, we have the original communist funding the birth of the "republican party", which held total power from the end of the Civil War to the turn of the century right at the time that the seeds of "progressivism" took root in America. Interestingly, there was a group within the early Republican Party who held all the power and defined their agenda. They were known as "radical Republicans". Back to Lincoln, he never led during peacetime. The only things Lincoln accomplished were successfully prosecuting a war and the "Emancipation Proclamation, which was good, but it did nothing more than told Southernors to give up slavery. Apparently, how freedmen were treated after being free didn't matter. Or is it possible that a marxist element in our government decided poor free ex slaves were the perfect foundation for a welfare state. By the time TR was elected as a "progressive" Republican, progressivism was an established concept with clear goals. Those are the same goals Marx and Lincoln chat about in those letters. Ever find it odd that the "south" did not wait to see what newly elected Lincoln's policies would be before going into open revolt? It sounds like they thought Lincoln was quite an extremist. I have a mounting pile of evidence that supports that notion.
*note* I see today's Republican party as having been reborn under Reagan, but many in the "Republican establishment" don't see it that way, which explains the Repub's leftward lurch after Reagan and Newt Gingrich were out of the picture.
So, did I just say that Abe Lincoln was a marxist? Read the letters between Lincoln and Marx available online and decide for your self. If we are going to judge BHO by his associations (which proved to be very accurate) shouldn't we do the same for Lincoln? Could this be what BHO really meant when he said he idolized Lincoln so while campaigning in 07-08? Now, everyone who reads this will probably cut my head off for this, but those letters prove that Lincoln at bear minimum sympathized with Marxist politics. I say to any detractor, forget Lincoln's name and monument and look at the facts instead of believing everything you think you know about historical figures like Lincoln. Lincoln did usher in to power the party that set the foundation for Marxism in the US during the reconstruction era. It's at least worth a look. Personally I am unsure about Lincoln's ideology. I'd like to know if those books mentioned discuss this. So far, as I dig into this topic more, it looks far more like the Lincoln we know from history is a far cry from the real Lincoln.
KOOK 91p · 766 weeks ago
-Sent from my iPhone
Andrew33 103p · 766 weeks ago
maelstrom07 2p · 765 weeks ago
For example, Lincoln was never a Christian. It fit the agenda to make him so. Another: He was never anti-slavery. In his first inaugural, and when he first took office, he was very much in favor of a Constitutional amendment that would forbid the federal gov't ever getting involved in the issue of slavery. He was more pro-white. Lincoln attempted to re-colonize all blacks out of the states. Ship them all to Africa or Bermuda, anywhere but in the states.
The reason for The War of 1861-1865 had nothing to do with slavery. It had to do with the Morrill Tariff passed in 1861. This was a protectionist tariff that benefitted the North and hurt all agricultural areas. Not just the South but also the northern Mid-West. Lincoln, in his first inaugural said, "The power confided to me will be used to hold, occupy, and possess the property and places belonging to the Government and to collect the duties and imposts; but beyond what may be necessary for these objects, there will be no invasion, no using of force against or among the people anywhere." Basically saying that he will fight to collect the tariffs from the South. He kept his promise.
Lincoln was a great inflationist. He believed firmly in the central bank. This was the core platform for the Whig/Republican party (when the Whig party collapsed, it was simply replaced by the Republicans that kept most of what the Whigs stood for). While in Illinois he fought hard to get banks the ability to not pay specie (notes immediately redeemable in silver & gold) and opt rather for a fiat currency that could be used to gain political power and keep it by spreading the money to their friends.
That's just some of what DeLorenzo goes through. In Unmasked he mentions some quotes that have been attributed to Lincoln. He mentions that a gov't cannot self-regulate (they will not limit their own power). So having a supreme court as the final judge will not, in the long run, side against their own gov't. The gov't has it's own propaganda machine: The Public School System. Those that attend are indoctrinated to believe the war was about slavery, Lincoln was anti-slavery, Lincoln saved the Union, etc. Lincoln, far from saving the Union, actually destroyed the Union that was there. At the core of the Constitution and Declaration of Independence was Secession. The 13 colonies seceded from England. The 13 separate colonies agreed to have a federal gov't only if they could leave if they didn't like it.
Well, this post is long enough. Hope that's enough to whet your whistle.