George Washington, FDR and Reagan
A happy 273rd George Washington birthday to everytone. I'm always amazed that lists of our greatest presidents don't place him first. On my list, 2nd place is vacant to show how far everyone else trails him.
Other than Washington, the most underrated president is Ronald Reagan. The most overrated is FDR. FDR enjoyed huge majorities in Congress, but he used them to enact massive changes which, for the most part, made the depression much deeper and longer than it should have been. Economically he gets an F. As for his leadership in WWII, the nation was totally united behind the war effort and it is hard to imagine how the outcome would have been much different regardless of who was president.
Reagan, however, gets an A for unleashing the greatest economic boom in American history and accomplishing it despite significant opposition from Democratic majorities in both houses and strident opposition from the mainstream media and cultural and academic elites. Further, he won the Cold War despite the opposition of these groups. It is hard to imagine any other potential leader of his era even making the effort, much less commanding us to victory. Reagan took on the entrenched conventional wisdom of his day on both economics and foreign policy and used his incredible talent to steer the nation in completely new directions -- with spectacular success. In the process, he created a new majority party.
Other than Washington, the most underrated president is Ronald Reagan. The most overrated is FDR. FDR enjoyed huge majorities in Congress, but he used them to enact massive changes which, for the most part, made the depression much deeper and longer than it should have been. Economically he gets an F. As for his leadership in WWII, the nation was totally united behind the war effort and it is hard to imagine how the outcome would have been much different regardless of who was president.
Reagan, however, gets an A for unleashing the greatest economic boom in American history and accomplishing it despite significant opposition from Democratic majorities in both houses and strident opposition from the mainstream media and cultural and academic elites. Further, he won the Cold War despite the opposition of these groups. It is hard to imagine any other potential leader of his era even making the effort, much less commanding us to victory. Reagan took on the entrenched conventional wisdom of his day on both economics and foreign policy and used his incredible talent to steer the nation in completely new directions -- with spectacular success. In the process, he created a new majority party.
posted by Stan at 2:44 PM
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