have we seen him? To be honest I'm not exactly sure who I'd call the last 'great' president. Admitedly I need to educate myself better on the topic, but I doubt there will ever be a leader of our nation again that not only the people of our republic, but the people of the world will say, you know, he was a great man who did a lot of possibly things for the world. But in my lifetime: Carter - I know very little about considering it was during my infant years and I've read nothing that has has led me to have any interest in learning more about him. Reagan - sure the economy thrived at times, but we all know what it resulted in... George I - riding on the cottails of Reagen and had no real lasting impact. Though on a personal note - the bike path in Stowe, Vermont was one of his 1000 points of light and considering that I call Stowe home he scores 1 point for that Clinton - I give the man props for the Monika Lewinsky deal, led me to try my first cigar. Yes the economy thrived, but that was circumstantial, well maybe not, as Al gore did invent the internet right? Dubya - oh dubya, why on earth does he even stand a chance of being re-elected???? Because there is no legitimate contender. How is this possible? We're supposed to be the most 'powerful' country in the world. We are the land of the free home of the brave and led by a person who claims, 'God wanted me to be president'. So, does anyone think there will ever be another 'Great' president or are we too Hollywood to ever have one again?
He was president long before I was born, but from my studies, I would have to say the last great president was Franklin Delano Roosevelt. I think many people would say Truman or Kennedy, however. During my lifetime? I can't think of one. They are all crooks in one way or another. Really, I would say the problems this country is facing today started with Reagan. Conservatives still worship his name today, but he really got the ball in motion that has lead to the decline the country is facing today, economically and otherwise.
There is no qustion that it is kennedy and here is why. " So it is not surprising that some would have us stay where we are a little longer to rest, to wait. But this city of Houston, this State of Texas, this country of the United States was not built by those who waited and rested and wished to look behind them. This country was conquered by those who moved forward-and so will space. William Bradford, speaking in 1630 of the founding of the Plymouth Bay Colony, said that all great and honorable actions are accompanied with great difficulties, and both must be enterprised and overcome with answerable courage. If this capsule history of our progress teaches us anything, it is that man, in his quest for knowledge and progress, is determined and cannot be deterred. The exploration of space will go ahead, whether we join in it or not, and it is one of the great adventures of all time, and no nation which expects to be the leader of other nations can expect to stay behind in this race for space. Those who came before us made certain that this country rode the first waves of the industrial revolutions, the first waves of modern invention, and the first wave of nuclear power, and this generation does not intend to founder in the backwash of the coming age of space. We mean to be a part of it - we mean to lead it. For the eyes of the world now look into space, to the moon and to the planets beyond, and we have vowed that we shall not see it governed by a hostile flag of conquest, but by a banner of freedom and peace. We have vowed that we shall not see space filled with weapons of mass destruction, but with instruments of knowledge and understanding. Yet the vows of this Nation can only be fulfilled if we in this Nation are first, and, therefore, we intend to be first. In short, our leadership in science and in industry, our hopes for peace and security, our obligations to ourselves as well as others, all require us to make this effort, to solve these mysteries, to solve them for the good of all men, and to become the world's leading space-faring nation. We set sail on this new sea because there is new knowledge to be gained, and new rights to be won, and they must be won and used for the progress of all people. For space science, like nuclear science and all technology, has no conscience of its own. Whether it will become a force for good or ill depends on man, and only if the United States occupies a position of pre-eminence can we help decide whether this new ocean will be a sea of peace or a new terrifying theater of war. I do not say that we should or will go unprotected against the hostile misuse of space any more than we go unprotected against the hostile use of land or sea, but I do say that space can be explored and mastered without feeding the fires of war, without repeating the mistakes that man has made in extending his writ around this globe of ours. There is no strife, no prejudice, no national conflict in outer space as yet. Its hazards are hostile to us all. Its conquest deserves the best of all mankind, and its opportunity for peaceful cooperation may never come again. But why, some say, the moon? Why choose this as our goal? And they may well ask why climb the highest mountain. Why, 35 years ago, fly the Atlantic? Why does Rice play Texas? We choose to go to the moon. We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard, because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills, because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone, and one which we intend to win, and the others, too. .... Many years ago the great British explorer George Mallory, who was to die on Mount Everest, was asked why did he want to climb it. He said, "Because it is there." Well, space is there, and we're going to climb it, and the moon and the planets are there, and new hopes for knowledge and peace are there. And, therefore, as we set sail we ask God's blessing on the most hazardous and dangerous and greatest adventure on which man has ever embarked." If only we had a similiar task like that today.
my vote goes to Franklin D. Roosevelt. not only did he pull the country out of the depression and got us through WWII, but he did more to help people and served more terms than any other president.
First off, WWII actually helped us out quite a bit getting out of depression. FDR.....humph. We can thank him for alot of the problems with our current welfare state we live in and how big the federal government's powers are now. Besides, Kennedy is the only Catholic president in American history
In terms of character, I'll have to go with Truman. I think he has to be one of the most, uh, incorruptible men to become President. He had connections with corrupt political boss Pendergast, but his record is still pretty damn clean for any politician. J. Edgar Hoover despised Truman because there weren't any dirty secrets on Truman he could use to exploit as he did with the other presidents.
I'll stay out of the "great president" thing, because I have a fair bit of trouble describing any american president as "great". However, I have a fair bit to add on the space discussion. Space is a very important hurdle for a civilization, but I'm not so sure that ours is ready for it - as Martin Luther King Jr put it, "we've learned to fly the air like birds, we've learned to swim the sea like fish, but we haven't learned to walk the earth like brother and sister". We have more than enough problems on the ground right now and the resources that it takes to explore space (often hundreds of billions per mission) would go a long fucking way to fixing them. Additionally, we're seriously risking bringing many of our earthly problems up there with us, the US has been working on weaponizing space with the "Missile defense" programs for years now - how long until we're strip-mining other planets? The great challenge of our time, really the great challenge of all time, is to find a better way to live.
LuciferSam, Truman may have been squeaky clean up till the release of the Pentagon Papers in 1971, after that, the truth that he was directly behind the lies that first entrenched us in Vietnam brought an end to that mythical integrity. So too with Kennedy, Johnson, and 'ol Tricky Dick.
Having said that though, it is interesting to note that Truman himself lied during his public address following the destruction of Hiroshima. Misleading the public was just as prevalent then as now...
hehehehe.... How about Abe Lincoln...he was pretty ok...he kept the nation together rather than split it
Good point. I just wasn't a fan of his imperialism...it just somehow ignited all these future messes...
