True, don't think anyone seriously credited Nader for Gore's loss however and it certainly doesn't mean those people would have voted for Gore rather than another third part candidate. In fact I recall how voting Nader was seen as a throwaway vote. It is really besides the point that people viewed no difference between Gore and Bush.
I don't see why that's relevant to the effct of the decision. I think its accurate to suggest the O'Connor court previous to Roberts and Alito appointments rules differently.
The last 15 years hasn't been stellar to Rockets fans. How you picked to be one is interesting. Just sayin...
I'm not sure the relevance to the discussion, but a ton of people blamed Nader for the loss. That's why, in 2004, everyone railed on the idea of Nader running again, and part of the reason his vote total went down so much.
It's probably also part of why Dean's quirkiness came to be seen as such a liability after the first primary loss; and Democrats covered their stereotypical weak spots with a veteran and a Southerner.
It's close between him and Nixon and if I hadn't been a baby during Nixon maybe my opinion might be different. From reading history I don't think Nixon did that bad of a job governing but the whole secret bombings and Watergate thing. GW Bush in my opinion isn't really that bad of a person but someone who couldn't really govern and let others take the country down a wrong road. Nixon was a bad person but was smart enough to govern.
I agree with most of these rankings, but at the risk of Deckard's wrath, I wouldn't put JFK in the top 10. He had potential though... Historians Rank George W. Bush Among Worst Presidents President George W. Bush is near the bottom of the heap in the latest survey of historians on presidential leadership. Bush received an overall ranking of 36 out of 42 former presidents—in the bottom 10. Ronald Reagan was rated 10th best, up from 11th in a similar survey taken in 2000; Bill Clinton was rated 15, up from 21 in 2000. George H.W. Bush went to 18 from 20. The five best presidents, according to the historians, were Abraham Lincoln, George Washington, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Theodore Roosevelt, and Harry Truman, in that order. Rounding out the top 10 were John F. Kennedy at six, Thomas Jefferson, Dwight Eisenhower, Woodrow Wilson, and Reagan. (more) Edit: Supervising the survey were historians Douglas Brinkley of Rice University, Edna Medford of Howard University, and Richard Norton Smith of George Mason University.
I'm not afraid of Deckard's wrath and I definitely don't think JFK deserves to be in the top 10 especially ahead of Jefferson and Wilson. I don't think JFK is in the bottom half of Presidents but if you look at his list of accomplishments they are paltry compared to many presidents. Even considering that he didn't complete his term many other presidents got more accomplished in the same amount of time.
The legacies of Kennedy's words and deeds from the time he was a candidate up to and unfortunately including his death created the political framework and public desire for Civil Rights and ensuing social gains for women, immigrants and the poor, when six years prior no successful or incumbent Presidential or even viable Senatorial candidate could honestly and publicly support them. Firstly when he popularized and legitimized them as an ultimately victorious candidate, secondarily when he exerted Administrative power to protect, validate and cultivate growing protest movements in the face of brutal and corrupt local and state obstruction, and thirdly when resulting cultural and societal evolution made it impossible for successors to reverse or ultimately even question the gains in suffrage or the underlying concept of social and even genetic and biological equality among the races.
So he was an inspiring figure who gave great speeches but didn't really do that much substance wise. As far as the six years prior to JFK it wasn't like no politicians were supporting civil rights. Remember it was Eisenhower who sent Federal troops to integrate Little Rock schools. Eisenhower also signed the Civil Rights Acts of 1957 and 1960 while not as powerful as the Civil Rights of 1964 were still very important pieces of legislation. Going even further it was Truman who integrated the US military. The Civil Rights didn't begin with JFK and all that you describe was already happening when he came to office. A few other things should give people pause in regard to JFK's dedication to civil rights. JFK at was resistant to the idea of the March on Washington and RFK during the JFK Admin. authorized wiretaps of the NAACP.
I don't think you should be putting Jefferson and Wilson in the same sentence. Jefferson did much for this country. Wilson at his very best is 20th to 30th.
Sure you can. Wilson shepherded in the Federal Reserve system (whether you like it or not, that's a big deal), he was the modern architect of business regulation, and last but not least, he created the foundation of the modern system of international relations with the Fourteen Points. Can't name many presidents (and that includes all of the Cold War presidents) who had a bigger impact on foreign policy than Wilson. Designing what became the UN is as big a foreign policy achievement as anything anyone else has done.
A brief glimpse through the mists of history reveals a stubborn heroic scholar who truly believed that Democracy was the best sort of government for every nation on Earth. Closer inspection paints a harsher image. Wilson was an autocratic type, he bullied Congress, building up resentment & anger that eventually led to Congress repudiating the League of Nations. Wilson gave orders yet resented being expected to answer to the will of anyone. Even Wilson's kindest biographers viewed Wilson as being cold, unfriendly, harsh and petty. Now this will shock the pro-slavery types on Yahoo Answers, but I'll say knowing I will get a negative rating, Wilson was a Southerner, he viewed 'The Birth of a Nation' as accurate history and applauded when the KKK came racing to the rescue. Wilson disliked blacks, approved of harsh regulations against Negroes, refused to meet with Negro leaders.
Unproven, undocumented and irrelevant, considering how popular the film was across the country and not at all unique to any legislator or executive anywhere before the 1950s.
1. 911 2. Housing market collapse. 3. Iraq war and false evidence on Saddam's WMD. 4. Mcgrady injury.
