Poll 5 of 5: Greatest U. S. President (1961-Present)?

[elperromagico]

Poll question: Poll 5 of 5: Greatest U. S. President (1961-Present)?

This is one of a series of polls designed to determine which President of the United States was the greatest of all time in the opinion of DUers. The Presidents are placed chronologically in groups of eight or nine.

Here are the links to each poll:
Poll 1 of 5: Greatest U. S. President (1789-1841)?
Poll 2 of 5: Greatest U. S. President (1841-1869)?
Poll 3 of 5: Greatest U. S. President (1869-1909)?
Poll 4 of 5: Greatest U. S. President (1909-1961)?
Poll 5 of 5: Greatest U. S. President (1961-Present)?

Tomorrow, I will post a "runoff" poll listing the winners from each of these five polls. Any President who receives over 50% in his poll will be included. In instances where no President receives over 50%, the top two votegetters will advance to the runoff. This runoff poll will be used to determine which President was the greatest of all time.

As always, Happy Voting! :hi:

[jpgray]

1. This one is very difficult (nt)

[ronnykmarshall]

3. Very difficult indeed!

[LTR]

2. ALRIGHT! Who voted for Reagan?

Always a comedian in the bunch.

This poll is tough, but I'll take JFK, who was a strong leader and gave the US a lot of optimism. Clinton is a close second.

Then LBJ, for being a tough SOB and giving us the Great Society.

[ronnykmarshall]

5. Tee Hee!

I voted for Ford.

:silly:

[Trailrider1951]

4. Not too difficult if you are as old as I am ;' )

Having lived long enough to remember both JFK and LBJ, I remember that all that Johnson Civil Rights Legislation was originally Kennedy's ideas, and Johnson could have ended the Vietnam war, but didn't. Also remember the Cuban Missile Crisis, and wondering if I would live to see my 11th birthday. :-( Bill Clinton is a close second, however. Gee, I miss his leadership!

[leyton]

11. JFK as well.

Because of the Cuban Missile Crisis. I wasn't alive, but reading about it makes me shudder. And he was so darn optimistic.

Clinton comes in second for me too, but I don't know. He really screwed up with the 1994 elections, drawing attention to the Contract with American and all, and then he gave the Republicans Monicagate. However, he did balance the budget.

[AntiCoup2K4]

14. Just imagine Junior in the Cuban Missile Crisis

:scared:

[Ironpost]

18. Mushroom Cloud

[WI_DEM]

6. LBJ

I know--Vietnam, but what about Civil rights Act of 1964, Voting Rights Act of 1965, Medicare, War on Poverty, Primary and Secondary Education Acts--the legislative advances go on and on--plus he had just as good an economy as Clinton as far as advances in GNP and jobs.

[Piperay]

26. My pick too

I love Clinton and JFK but I think that LBJ made a more permanent change for the better on American society. I know there is Viet Nam and that can't be overlooked but neither can things like the Great Society and civil rights.

[demnan]

7. I had to pick JFK too

Just the way he spoke about one's civic duty and all. I was 6 when he died, but a lot of who I am is because of JFK.

[playahata1]

8. THE BIG DOG is my choice, warts and all.

I can comment much more about this bunch, because all but one of these guys served during my lifetime. (I was born in 1967.)

JFK -- What could have been....

LBJ -- He was righteous in many ways, but Vietnam did him in.

Although he was a Republican, I have always felt that Nixon had all the tools to be a great President. Of course, he used those gifts in all the wrong ways, and for all the wrong reasons.

Jerry was a care-taker Prez, pretty much along for the ride.

Carter never had the opportunity to show America what he could really do. Too bad he had to leave office in order to make his most significant and enduring (hopefully) contibutions to American and world citizenship.

Don't get me started about the other three Republicans in this set.

[bullimiami]

9. jfk hands down

carter had the best intentions.

clinton was decent but just too close to being a republican on economic issues for me.

lbj was ok.

nixon, reagan, bushes puke puke puke

ford was a place-holder not too offensive not too effective.

I remember crawling under my elementary school desk to be safe from the nukes too. ha ha ha. And I grew up in miami with cuba just a raft ride away.

[Blayde Starrfyre]

10. Wow

This is hard. It's a pretty uninspiring bunch really.

[genius]

12. That was easy. JFK

LBJ was the best domestically but pretty bad with foreign policy. Kennedy was the second best domestically but much better in foreign policy than LBJ. He was about to pull us out of Vietnam when he was killed. Clinton was nice and I like him but he used depleted uranium in the Balkans (probably through ignorance) and destroyed the lives of kids whose parents couldn't find good decent jobs near home(welfare to work) and pretty much ended freedom of the press (the Telecommunications Act of 1996). The Republicans are beneath mentioning.

[Jeff in Cincinnati]

13. None of the above

Close, but no cigar:

Kennedy: A promising, but foreshortened presidency (and he waded straight into Vietnam).

Nixon: A brilliant politician, and quite possibly the most psychologically twisted individual to ever occupy the White House.

Reagan: He changed America. A truly great president is that one who can change it back.

Clinton: He meant well, but the road to hell is paved with good intentions. No Health Care, but plenty of NAFTA.

[genius]

15. Kennedy was about to pull us out of Vietnam in 1963 when he was killed.

He also refused to invade Cuba, despite the CIA's Bay of Pigs, which was designed to coerce him into going after Castro. I was impressed that he took the fall rather than invade.

[libhill]

19. Probably the two main reasons

why he was whacked. Oswald my ass.

[Jeff in Cincinnati]

30. As I said, a foreshortened presidency...

Had he lived and actually pulled troops out of Vietnam, he probably could lay claim to the greatest president of the modern era. His presidency leaves us with a tantalizing series of "What If?" questions.

[Delano]

16. Definitely Kennedy

While he was far from perfect, and Clinton my have been better in terms of sheer competence, Kennedy set the right tone for the new decade, one of goal-oriented optimism and progress with the ideal of a better life for all Americans.

With Clinton, it was more like a brief respite from the Reagan-Bush nightmare of destroying the middle class. Just holding back the tide of RW garbage is not as inspiring as moving forward in a meaningful way.

It's too bad that his vision was cut off prematurely...

[genius]

17. 10 votes for Reagan. We've got Freepers

[LTR]

28. Must have reopened registrations

:shrug:

[hughee99]

31. Raygun

was an effective president, it's just too bad he had the wrong goals and poor means to achieve them. I think if he were a democrat, pushing democratic goals, he would have been an excellent president. I don't know how you can seperate the polician from his politics, though. I voted for JFK.

[Generic Other]

20. And who on DU voted for Nixon?

Where's Bev and the BBV crew to come monitor this electronic count?

[genius]

21. 4 votes for Ford from the klutz section of the DU

[ronnykmarshall]

23. HEY!

I voted for Ford !

I'm not a klutz ....... just a smart ass!

[elperromagico]

22. Kick

[Zynx]

24. Ugh. The worst period for presidents since the Gilded Age.

I guess Johnson and Clinton. If it wasn't for his stupid action in Vietnam, Johnson would be one of the top ten presidents of all time.

Also, Gerry Ford didn't do that bad considering what he needed to do.

[Darranar]

25. Carter. n/t

[Sterling]

27. I wonder if Skinner can track the posters who voted for

The stiff and the dumbass and ban them?

[wirenut]

29. why?

did they offend you?,, how could they? who cares??