Originally Posted By Mr X I don't know why, but I was thinking just now about presidents of the past and future (and in-between as the case might be), and I was trying to sum up "the man" in a word or two. I was going to just go with that, but as I was running through them in my head I noticed that I was probably being too unfair by going with just ONE, rather than a positive and a negative (in other words, some presidents just ring negative in my mind..others not so much). So, here's a few of mine (just the ones I know a little about..feel free to call out all 44 if that's something you're knowledgeable about). In fairness, if you want to name a guy, you should come up with both a positive and a negative if you can. If you want to skip a guy, that's all good. Working backwards... Obama positive - inspirational, negative - cocky Bush positive - self deprecating, negative - inflexible Clinton positive - confident, negative - horny Bush (elder) positive - consensus builder, negative - milquetoast Reagan positive - optimistic, negative - dumb Carter positive - pragmatic, negative - pessimistic (here's where it gets muddy, as Carter was the first president I can really remember..so I'm delving into conjecture at this point) Ford positive - honest, negative - clumsy Nixon positive - intriguing, negative - dishonest JFK positive - inspirational, negative - naive FDR positive - confident, negative - bad dresser Okay, that last one was a stretch . Anyway, interesting thing to think about (it's funny how the presidents that didn't effect me in my lifetime are much less "real" in a way (I was born during the Nixon administration actually, but I don't remember much lol). Thoughts?
Originally Posted By vbdad55 Working backwards... Obama positive - inspirational, negative - over-confident Bush positive - aggressive, negative - stubborn Clinton positive - intelligent, negative - liar Bush (elder) positive - leader, negative - angry Reagan positive - optimistic, negative - overly optimistic at times Carter positive - nice, negative - ineffective Ford positive - honest, negative - lacked leadership Nixon positive - risk taker, negative - dishonest JFK positive - inspirational, negative - lack of grasp of some issues IKE positive - strong image, negative - not a politician FDR positive - confident, negative - manipulative
Originally Posted By RoadTrip I'm not going to list good and bad traits... just my overall impression (fair or not) of the presidents. Obama Rock Star Bush Cowboy Clinton Horndog Bush I Silver Spoon Reagan Cowboy Carter Preacher Ford Buffoon Nixon Crook Johnson Cowboy Kennedy Movie Star Eisenhower War Hero
Originally Posted By DAR I'm just going to do the one's since I was able to vote. Obama-Unproven, but promising Bush-Well intentioned Clinton-Smooth
Originally Posted By dshyates vb, I like how Clinton gets a full blown "liar" and Nixon gets a greatly softened, "dishonest". I do really believe that most Republicans think that a Democrat lying about a knob job is more egregious than a Republican lying about breaking into an opposing party's national headquarters. Fascinating.
Originally Posted By Mr X Aren't they the same? I suppose "liar" is more harsh, but an untruth by any other name... Anyway, I went with "horny" for Clinton anyway, and I suppose I could've gone either way for Nixon (liar/dishonest).
Originally Posted By vbdad55 <vb, I like how Clinton gets a full blown "liar" and Nixon gets a greatly softened, "dishonest". I do really believe that most Republicans think that a Democrat lying about a knob job is more egregious than a Republican lying about breaking into an opposing party's national headquarters. Fascinating.< well of course you'd read something into it that is partisan -- I'm stunned --man you really got to move past that crap Clinton was a habitual liar- he lied about more women involvement than just Monica my friend until hewas caught on each - then he lied to the American people and some how tried to justify he wasn't really lying - that was the amazing part. However I do not think he was dishonest overall as a person,in other aspects of his life- whereas I think Nixon was. Nixon wasout for Nixon which I view as worse - but of course you' find anything to defend someone who has a D next to their name and not n R. really- get over it
Originally Posted By vbdad55 <Aren't they the same? I suppose "liar" is more harsh, but an untruth by any other name... Anyway, I went with "horny" for Clinton anyway, and I suppose I could've gone either way for Nixon (liar/dishonest).< as I explained above I view dishonest as worse than a liar. Clinton lied more thana few times and yet tried to justify in his mind he really wasn't lying. Nixon - for allthe postive kudos for re opening China - was out for Nixon - I think hewas a dishonest person.I wouldn't trust him to run a carnival ride and not pocket the money. It's just some people here cannot be non partisan about anything -
Originally Posted By markymouse A long time ago I came up with this idea to sum up George W. Bush - National Guard cargo pilot DP once said Bush's problem is that he's a pilot. Pilots, like doctors, are trained to believe they are better than mere mortals, something almost godlike. They have to be because they have the lives of others in their hands. Fighter pilots and surgeons, especially, are stereotyped as being, shall we say, confident. But Bush was only just a pilot. He wasn't a fighter pilot in Vietnam. He was a cargo pilot in the states. So that pilot arrogance gets linked up with a "sort of" inferiority complex of being "sort of" a military pilot. So he has to prove that he's just as good as "a real military pilot" "a real veteran" "a real baseball exec" "a real Bush" or "a real President." I don't know if this isn't going too far. But I think growing up a Bush, and seeing President Reagan and President Bush 1 up close while he was accomplishing very little set up a need to prove himself. So that's what I think sums George W. Bush up - the need to prove himself as just as good as Bush 1 or Jeb or whatever. As for Clinton - lawyer. If you can't prove it, I didn't do it. Reagan - western actor. He started the tradition of living in the city until becoming or running for President and then buying a ranch. I saw a documentary on John Wayne once in which some European academic rapsodied about the life John Wayne lived. All the time there were images of John Wayne the cowboy, John Wayne the tough cop. Not a single image of John Wayne smoking a cigarette at a Hollywood party. John Wayne having a drink with various B stars in some LA restaurant. The whole premise of the show was that John Wayne was the character he played in movies, not the real person. Reagan took that same thing to the political level. "I'm not a world leader, but I play one on t.v." is going too far, but it gets the point across. I also think he was very well intentioned, and very, very pleasant to be around personally. To paraphrase somebody, Ronald Reagan could say "no" to everything you asked for but you'd walk away thinking he was your best friend. Carter could say "yes" to everything and you'd walk away feeling lectured and frustrated. Carter's secret service code name was "Deacon" and I think it was perfect. He came across as so preachy. But he was clean and wholesome, the anti-Nixon. He was also honest. It now seems like leaders have to say we can solve the energy crisis with new technology, or drilling or whatever. It's unimaginable that the answer could be to drive slower, to turn the heat down and wear a sweater indoors. Carter was honest, but we didn't want to hear it. We're the greatest country on earth. There's no way we need to accept limitations. Ford was the first President I remember first hand, though he was the third in my lifetime. I remember being very confused. There hadn't been an election. Who was this guy? A president? A vice president? A general? Yes, to my young ears, I heard "Gerald Ford" as "General Ford". I was never very clear on him. And I think that might have been true for America in general. He never got a chance to define himself independently of Nixon, Watergate, and the early 70s in general.
