For the history buffs on here, I wonder who in your opinion were the greatest men to never become President of the United States? By this I mean, men who at their time were considered great candidates but for whatever reason never made it to the White House. I know Alexander Hamilton wasn't born here so he's out. What was Henry Clay's story?
I'm not sure who would be considered great candidates of their day, but here are some people who would've made great presidents. Benjamin Franklin Martin Luther King Jr. Ralph Nader
Nader couldn't help this country. He's an idealist, but a lot of what he's pushing for sounds good but isn't gonna make things better. His solution to the liveable minimum wage is to immediately increase it to $15, which well most likely 1. Kill off a lot of smaller stores, mom and pop shops etc 2. Increase inflation 3. Be back at square one in five years, at which point he'll propose to hike it to $30.
Are we supposed to be able to vilify the choices of others? I could go on a long rant about how awful Nadir would be as President, but I don't think that was the object of the thread. I could be wrong. Actually, it might be fun! Keep D&D Civil!!
Even though recent history has tarnished his reputation I still think Colin Powell would've made a great President.
I agree. RFK would have been President though. As painful as it is for me to say, Nixon would have lost to RFK. HHH was a terrible choice for the Democrats in 1968, as you probably remember. But at the same time, Sirhan Sirhan really did the Democrats in, and on a much grander scale, he did America in by robbing us of a true leader. The Dems didn't have much of a choice.
Martin Luther King Malcolm X Cornell West(probably my first choice) Caesar Chavez Jim Hightower Kinky Freidman Andrew Young Ramsey Clark Bill Moyers Robert Kennedy
That's a very good list. I don't agree with about half of your choices However, I can certainly see where you are coming from.
I'm sorry Deckard, I guess this is going to be more of a discussion than a debate thread (and here I wanted to layeth some verbal smacketh down) . So instead of arguing: Ben Franklin Martin Luther King Jr (see I like vwiggins other Choices) Abigail Adams (a woman ahead of her time) Collin Powell
Sam Houston I think he could have averted the Civil War. Here's my reasoning....... Sam had lifelong experiences with Indians. Texas, unlike other frontier states, had a very few Indian problems. In fact Texas only has two Indian Reservations in the entire state (src: http://www.forttours.com/pages/reserv.asp ). He refused to pledge support to the Confederacy and was thrown out of office. I think, his experiences during life (Indian knowledge, military experience, and political experience) could have put him in a position where he could have diffused the slavery and state's rights issues in the 1850's and averted the Civil War. I concede that the nation could have still split into two countries, but without the bloodshed and years of hatred the war brought to the country.
Ross Perot - yeah he was annoying but he wasn't shirking from talking about issues and I really believe we'd have seen a lot of positive change if he'd been elected.
A lot of preacher-type people on your list. I don't know how effective they would be as leaders though. They can inspire, but to what end?
