Democratic Presidents

APSA Presidential Greatness Poll 2024: Significant Rises In Rankings

admin 2 Comments

The American Political Science Association 2024 Presidential Greatness Survey reveals dramatic rises in rankings for a few Presidents, from earlier APSA surveys in 2015 and 2018.
‘
The most dramatic rise is Barack Obama, up 9 in rankings to number 7 since 2015; and an equal rise up 9 of Ulysses S. Grant to number 17 over the same period.

The next most dramatic rise is up 4 in rankings for John F. Kennedy from 14 to 10; and an equal rise up 4 for Jimmy Carter from 26 to 22.

Also, up 3 in rankings is Lyndon B. Johnson from 12 to 9.

Note that all of these 5 Presidents mentioned, except for Grant, are Democrats!

APSA Presidential Greatness Poll: Top 10 Presidents In 2024 Survey

admin Leave a comment

The American Political Science Association Presidential Greatness project has published its findings, just in time for Presidents’ Day today.

This is the first in a number of days of discussion of the results.

The top 10 Presidents in the Survey demonstrates the rise of Democratic Presidents, who now number five of the group—with Franklin D. Roosevelt as number 2, behind Abraham Lincoln, surpassing George Washington who is now number 3; Harry Truman remaining number 6; Barack Obama amazingly rising to number 7, the highest he has been on any Presidential scholarly survey; and Lyndon B. Johnson surpassing John F. Kennedy, with Johnson number 9 and Kennedy number 10.

Additionally in the top ten is Truman successor Dwight D. Eisenhower as number 8, making five presidents in a row from FDR through LBJ part of the top ten.

Theodore Roosevelt as number 4 and Thomas Jefferson as number 5 remain consistently in their positions in the top 10.

So besides five Democrats in the top 10, there are three Republicans (Lincoln, TR, Ike), along with Federalist George Washington and Democratic-Republican Jefferson.

Major Opportunity For Advancement Of Biden Initiatives Through “Reconciliation”!

Ronald 1 Comment

The US Senate Parliamentarian has ruled that “Reconciliation”, the idea that the Senate can pass legislation by a 51 vote margin, is allowable, already for the COVID 19 legislation that was passed in March, but also now other Joe Biden initiatives, including the infrastructure legislation, and hopefully, other important Biden administration initiatives.

This is a true blessing, and might mean that the idea of ending the filibuster might not need to occur on much important legislation.

This makes it possible for Joe Biden to be more “liberal” and “progressive” a President than any Democrat since Lyndon B. Johnson six decades ago.

For all the good that Democratic Presidents Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton, and Barack Obama did while in office, Joe Biden MIGHT indeed surpass them in accomplishments!

The future looks very exciting, but there is a long way to go, but the hope is there!

Presidential Egomania Led To Disaster Under Woodrow Wilson, Herbert Hoover, Lyndon B. Johnson, Richard Nixon, And Now Donald Trump

Ronald 3 Comments

The problem of Presidential egomania has led to disaster under a number of Presidents.

It caused Woodrow Wilson to promote civil liberties violations during World War I, and to refuse to negotiate with the US Senate over the Versailles Treaty and League of Nations. It also led to his paralytic stroke in the fall of 1919, which undermined the rest of his term, and his refusal to step aside for Vice President Thomas Marshall at a time of tumultuous internal events in the last 17 months of his term, including the infamous Palmer Raids (Red Scare) in 1919-1920.

It caused Herbert Hoover to refuse to adjust his view on laissez faire, causing the Great Depression to become much worse, and lead to his massive defeat by Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1932. That economic disaster was made even worse by Hoover’s refusal of cooperation with the President Elect, adding another million people to the unemployment rolls before the 1933 inauguration of his successor.

It caused Lyndon B. Johnson to damage his domestic Great Society legacy by his insistence on continuing the war in Vietnam, and then finally being pushed out of the race for reelection in the spring of 1968, leading to the election of Richard Nixon.

It caused Richard Nixon, who had some real accomplishments in domestic and foreign affairs, to destroy his own Presidency by his own insecurities and desire to get his “enemies”, leading to the Watergate Scandal and his downfall less than two years after an overwhelming reelection victory in 1972.

So two Democratic and two Republican Presidents, all of whom had ability and intelligence, threw away their Presidencies due to egomania!

And now, we have Donald Trump, who is allowing the nation to be decimated by the COVID 19 Pandemic, politicizing face masks and social distancing, and therefore, responsible for the greatest loss of life in a short time in American history, and facing almost certain repudiation by the American people in ten days!

The difference is that Trump’s egomania and narcissism is far more dangerous than that of Wilson, Hoover, Johnson and Nixon, as he is the first one to indicate he will refuse to accept the election results and to leave office peacefully.

Trump is creating a massive political and social crisis as we have voter intimidation and threats already occurring.

The Republican Party is working to delegitimize the election count, already occurring in California, a state that the Republicans are insured of losing, but are brazenly taking illegal actions!

Typical For A Democratic President To Select A Republican Secretary Of Defense

Ronald 9 Comments

History demonstrates that it is typical for a Democratic President to select a Republican for his cabinet, with the Defense Department the usual position awarded to a member of the opposition party.

This was true with Robert McNamara, who was Secretary of Defense under John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson.

The same scenario occurred with William Cohen serving under Bill Clinton in his second term.

And under Barack Obama, we saw carryover Robert Gates and later Chuck Hagel head the Pentagon.

If we go back to before the Defense Department was created in 1947, it was known as the War Department, and Republican Henry Stimson served as Secretary of War for Franklin D. Roosevelt, and Republican Robert Lovett served for two years in that position under Harry Truman.

Only Jimmy Carter among Democratic Presidents never had a Republican serve as Secretary of Defense, but he did have James Schlesinger as the first Secretary of Energy.

So it seems likely that Joe Biden will pick a Republican for the Cabinet, and the most likely choice would be former Congressman and Ohio Governor John Kasich, who will deliver a speech of endorsement at the Democratic National Convention on Monday night.

46 Years Since Richard Nixon Resigned, And Nation Would Benefit If Donald Trump Did The Same, But He Is No Richard Nixon!

Ronald 2 Comments

In 1974, on this day, August 9, the 37th President of the United States resigned from office, succeeded by Gerald Ford.

That was a great day, as a lawless, corrupt President, Richard Nixon, pressured by Republican leaders in both houses of Congress, willingly left, still a believer that he had been wronged, but ending a constitutional crisis, and giving us a President, Gerald Ford, who was certainly not without faults. But Ford was far better than the horror if Vice President Spiro Agnew had not been discovered for his corruption and forced to resign in October 1973, as Agnew would have been even worse than Nixon, so America was saved.

Now we have a President, even more lawless and corrupt than Richard Nixon, a willing accomplice of Russian leader Vladimir Putin, a scenario that never would have crossed the mind of Richard Nixon. Donald Trump is working to destroy our whole constitutional system of government, and manipulates and distorts and lies, willing to do anything to gain absolute power by being reelected this November.

Richard Nixon had real accomplishments, despite his evil nature, and some of his greatest accomplishments are being destroyed by Donald Trump, who wishes to undo all good done under both Democratic and Republican Presidents in the ninety years since Franklin D. Roosevelt came to the Presidency during the First Great Depression.

Now, Donald Trump is presiding over a Second Great Depression, even more heartless and lacking in empathy or concern than Herbert Hoover.

And his Vice President, Mike Pence, is a religious extremist, with no principles, and hoping to impose his and his wife’s evil, narrow minded views about women’s rights and gay rights upon the nation in the future. He wishes to promote the extreme right wing views of disgraceful hypocrites, such as Franklin Graham, Jerry Falwell, Jr, Ralph Reed, Tony Perkins, and others who want a theocracy in America.

So on the 46th anniversary of Richard Nixon’s resignation, the nation is faced with a crisis that may become worse, with the US Postal Service being politically manipulated to attempt to undermine mail voting. This is occurring in a time of a massive CoronaVirus Pandemic that the government on the national level and in many Republican states, including my resident state of Florida, are failing to deal with. This is creating an even greater health crisis that makes America the embarrassment of the entire world community!

Three Longest Economic Expansions Since World War II Took Place Under Democratic Presidents

Ronald 7 Comments

When one realizes that all economic recessions since 1953, except one brief one in 1980 under Jimmy Carter, occurred under Republican Presidents, it makes it an important issue for the upcoming Presidential Election of 2020.

It turns out that the three longest economic expansions since World War II took place under Democratic Presidents as follows:

128 months–from June 2009 to February 2020—occurring under Barack Obama, and President Donald Trump benefiting from it for three years as a carryover.

120 months–from March 1991 to March 2001–ironically not helping Republican President George H. W. Bush, and with Bill Clinton presiding over every month of his Presidency seeing economic expansion.

106 months–February 1961 to December 1969–under John F. Kennedy after first month all the way through Lyndon B . Johnson, and carrying over for 11 months for Republican President Richard Nixon.

So four of the last five Democratic Presidents had superb records of economic expansion, with Bill Clinton and Lyndon B. Johnson having such conditions throughout their Presidencies, and John F. Kennedy all but the first month, and Barack Obama all but five months.

But even under Jimmy Carter, expansion went on from his inauguration in January 1977 until January 1980, as part of economic growth that began under Republican President Gerald Ford in March 1975. Had the economy not gone downhill in 1980, it is likely that Carter might have defeated Ronald Reagan!

Quite a record for Democrats to brag about on the campaign trail!

Corruption Levels Of Democratic And Republican Presidencies Since 1963

Ronald 3 Comments

Fifty six years have passed since Lyndon B. Johnson became President, and in that period, we have had six Republican Presidents and four Democratic Presidents.

Republicans have held the Presidency thirty plus years since 1969, and Democrats have been in the White House for 25 years in that half century plus.

The record shows that Democrats have had a total of three executive branch officials indicted, with one conviction and one prison sentence.

Meanwhile, Republicans have had a total of 120 executive branch officials indicted, with 89 criminal convictions and 33 prison sentences.

To be fair, Gerald Ford and George H. W. Bush each had one indictment, one conviction, and one prison sentence each.

But Richard Nixon had 76 criminal indictments, 55 convictions, and 15 prison sentences, while Ronald Reagan had 26 criminal indictments, 16 convictions, and 8 prison sentences, and George W. Bush had 16 criminal indictments, 16 convictions, and 8 prison sentences.

Meanwhile, Bill Clinton had, after all the investigations and publicity by Republicans in Congress, a total of 2 criminal indictments, one conviction, and one prison sentence. Jimmy Carter had one indictment, and no convictions and no prison sentences, while Barack Obama had ZERO indictments, convictions, and prison sentences.

And then, there is Donald Trump, who already, in less than three years, has seen 6 major figures indicted and convicted and having prison sentences, including Michael Cohen, Michael Flynn, Paul Manafort, Rick Gates, George Papadopoulos, and now, Roger Stone, and many others Russian connected also facing criminal charges that may not lead to convictions because they are in Russia.

And this does not include the many past and present cabinet members and other significant figures who have been caught in corruption, and will, in many cases, face indictments, convictions, and prison sentences in the future, as this administration is likely to surpass all previous Republican Presidents in levels of criminality!

The Facts: Net Job Creation From George H. W. Bush To Donald Trump, Democrats Dominating!

Ronald 2 Comments

If one looks at net job creation in America since 1989, the facts are as follows:

George H. W. Bush—2.64 million (1989-1993)

Bill Clinton—22.91 million (1993-2001)

George W. Bush–1.36 million (2001-2009)

Barack Obama–11.62 million (2009-2017)

Donald Trump—5.74 million (2017-2019)

This is a total of 34.5 million net jobs created over thirty years.

The Republican Presidents controlled the government for 14.5 years, while the Democrats controlled for 16 years.

The two Democratic Presidents presided over net gain of 34.5 million, to the three Republican Presidents presiding over net gain of 9.7 million.

So Democratic Presidents were responsible for nearly three and a half times net job creation as Republicans were, a massive lead

Barack Obama has greater job creation in his last 30 months, more than Donald Trump in his first 30 months.

And now, a recession is coming, after more than ten years, an all time record for economic expansion, and therefore, the Trump total will probably, by the end of his term, be much smaller, maybe less than George W. Bush, who brought us the worst economic times since Herbert Hoover!

Domestic Terrorist Bomb Threats Against News Media, Democratic Presidents And Others Caused By Donald Trump Rhetoric

Ronald 15 Comments

Donald Trump is guilty of promoting domestic terrorism against the News Media, past Democratic Presidents, and others, through his reckless use of incendiary rhetoric, which encourages unstable followers to commit violence.

We are under danger as a nation from a person or persons who wish to commit political assassination.

And last night, Trump continued to attack the news media and his critics, making fun of the need to be careful in his rhetoric, and then unleashing more of his condemnation of his critics. And this morning, Trump is calling the reports of threats as “Fake News”.

All law enforcement agencies are on alert and doing the work needed to uncover who the culprit is in the domestic bomb threats against George Soros, Bill and Hillary Clinton, Barack and Michelle Obama, Joe Biden, John Brennan, Eric Holder, Maxine Waters, Robert DeNiro, and CNN, with fear that more such bomb threats are to be found, and hoping that no one will be a victim of these bomb threats.

When Americans have to face this threat, and realize that our President makes light of it, and that most Republicans and conservative talk radio and Fox News nighttime hosts make it out that the Left is as dangerous as the Right, one perceives that our division is indeed the greatest since the Civil War.

The nightmare we are living through must somehow come out with a calm and a determination that those of us on the Left will not provoke violence, and that somehow, this crisis will pass.

But with the midterm elections now 12 days away, and hints that Trump will claim fraud if the Democrats make major strides toward a majority, at least in the House of Representatives, one has to wonder what the days after November 6 will be like.

Will law enforcement and the intelligence agencies make Donald Trump and his followers accountable and intervene if needed to keep our democracy alive, if Trump decides to assert martial law and suspend the Constitution?

This is a very scary time to live in America, but we cannot allow the destruction of our democracy!