A run of mediocre Presidents since LBJ?

[quinnox]

Does anyone else think that ever since Johnson, the United States has had a run of mediocre Presidents overall?

I was thinking about this recently, and there were several heavyweights back then. LBJ, Kennedy, Truman, FDR. These men were real leaders and had something special.

What have we had since - Nixon (ugh) Carter (unsuccessful) Reagan (ugh, I grew up under him), Clinton (just OK), Bush (no words), Obama (so disappointing). Even Clinton was not all that great in my opinion, he is a brilliant man, but could have done so much more than what he did I think.

How long will this bad run last I wonder.

[GreenPartyVoter]

1. It'll last until the corporations and media are in check.

[Dappleganger]

2. Exactly.

[tjwash]

3. They are one and the same.

[GreenPartyVoter]

6. Very true.

[WilliamPitt]

4. "Obama (so disappointing)"

(facepalm)

I'm no Kool-Aid drinker.

But Jesus, we are an instant-gratification culture.

Ugh.

[zipplewrath]

5. Yes, I do agree

It may be that familarity breeds contempt. But I tend to agree, we haven't had a real visionary in some time. We'll at least one that actually accomplished a vision. They are all a collection of incrementalists lately.

[countingbluecars]

7. I don't agree. n/t

[ProSense]

8. Obama

mediocre

[Pirate Smile]

9. You probably would of hated them all if you were around when they were actually President

and had to make the deals and compromises they had to to get things done.

[Selatius]

11. LBJ was a greasy bastard, and he had to crush a lot of senators to get Medicare passed.

Even then, he had to break the AMA because they opposed any and all government intervention in the medical industry. Despite that, the good that Medicare has done for the country is, I would say, outweighing the evils LBJ had to do to get it done, but if we're going to get into a discussion about the full ramifications of LBJ, we can't avoid the disaster called Vietnam either.

[HughMoran]

10. Since we went heavy television age, Presidents are destroyed regulary and easily

It's our society that has changed. Not sure if the lack of reverence for the office of President is a good thing or a bad thing - overall I think it's a good thing. What do you think?

[spanone]

12. i guess you're leaving vietnam out of the equation?

[provis99]

13. we've had a run of mostly mediocre presidents since Andrew Johnson.

Americans appreciate mediocrity in their Presidents.

[independentpiney]

14. Hey Hey LBJ How many kids did you kill today?

You definitely weren't there.