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This might be more like history but it's bound to get political so I'm going to put it here.
Who in your opinion is the most overrated president and why? It could be any of the 44 (counting Cleveland once).
IMHO, Ronald Reagan. His policies led directly to the income inequality we are seeing today. He recongnized that his massive tax cuts bloated the deficit to unprecedented levels and tried to make up for it by stealing $3 TRILLION from the Social Security Trust Fund (and it was never put back). He ignored the AIDS crisis and was complicit, though not directly responsible, for the selling of arms tio Iran and the Taliban. He does get points for helping end the Cold War, but as we are beginning to see it never really ended, and Russia probably only backed down because they thought Reagan was crazy. The fact that he wanted to put giant laser beams in space to shoot down nukes means they were probably correct. He also gets way too much credit (that being any at all) for the release of the American hostages in Iran. Jimmy Carter didn't sleep for the last two days of his presidency as he was in constant contact with the Iranians to ensure the hostages' release. The only reason Reagan gets credit is because they waited until the precise moment he was president to leave Iranian air space so as to embarrass Jimmy Carter.
Told you it would get political...
I read through all the responses and I don't think many people understand the question. I doubt that many people have much understanding of how presidents have been ranked by historians. I think you need to start this discussion with a ranking and ask based on the ranking, who is overrated. For example, most presidential rankings have Lincoln anywhere from 1st to 3rd. Some posters pointed out some excellent reasons why he may be overrated.
Roosevelt rankings usually range anywhere from 1st to 5th. His ranking is probably mostly due to his leadership during WWII and not his handling of the Great Depression.
Historians tend to rank Reagan anywhere from 9th to 18th. I would have to agree that I think he has been highly overrated especially by the Republican Party, which would like to grant him sainthood.
Truman is a president who had abysmal ratings while he was president and could not have been reelected in 1952 similar to Johnson in 1968. I agree with his ending the war against Japan but he made some serious errors immediately after the war due to his inexperience. Many rankings now put him in the top 10 and I think that might be overrated.
LBJ's rankings are usually between 9th and 16th. He was responsible for over 60,000 Americans killed in Vietnam. He accomplished a lot on the domestic front but does it overcome his legacy with Vietnam?
I've seen George Washington ranked from 1st to 4th. I think he is a strong contender for number one and I can't imagine how someone could say he is overrated.
Teddy Roosevelt is usually ranked from 2nd to 4th. He is on Mt. Rushmore but remember he was his own best publicist and he lost the election in 1912.
I don't think it is easy to say who is overrated or to rank the presidents. They had different situations that are hard to compare. Lincoln and FDR easily had the most difficult times to serve. Dopes that mean they should be ranked in the top 5? I don't know. I do know who is dead last.
This might be more like history but it's bound to get political so I'm going to put it here.
Who in your opinion is the most overrated president and why? It could be any of the 44 (counting Cleveland once).
IMHO, Ronald Reagan. His policies led directly to the income inequality we are seeing today. He recongnized that his massive tax cuts bloated the deficit to unprecedented levels and tried to make up for it by stealing $3 TRILLION from the Social Security Trust Fund (and it was never put back). He ignored the AIDS crisis and was complicit, though not directly responsible, for the selling of arms tio Iran and the Taliban. He does get points for helping end the Cold War, but as we are beginning to see it never really ended, and Russia probably only backed down because they thought Reagan was crazy. The fact that he wanted to put giant laser beams in space to shoot down nukes means they were probably correct. He also gets way too much credit (that being any at all) for the release of the American hostages in Iran. Jimmy Carter didn't sleep for the last two days of his presidency as he was in constant contact with the Iranians to ensure the hostages' release. The only reason Reagan gets credit is because they waited until the precise moment he was president to leave Iranian air space so as to embarrass Jimmy Carter.
Told you it would get political...
I also agree that Reagan is terrifically over-rated. Many Republicans still idolize him, but if questioned about his actual policy positions, they would say they are too liberal. He also put many people on the street by closing facilities caring for people with mental illness. He really bumped up the problem of homelessness.
This might be more like history but it's bound to get political so I'm going to put it here.
Who in your opinion is the most overrated president and why? It could be any of the 44 (counting Cleveland once).
IMHO, Ronald Reagan. His policies led directly to the income inequality we are seeing today. He recongnized that his massive tax cuts bloated the deficit to unprecedented levels and tried to make up for it by stealing $3 TRILLION from the Social Security Trust Fund (and it was never put back). He ignored the AIDS crisis and was complicit, though not directly responsible, for the selling of arms tio Iran and the Taliban. He does get points for helping end the Cold War, but as we are beginning to see it never really ended, and Russia probably only backed down because they thought Reagan was crazy. The fact that he wanted to put giant laser beams in space to shoot down nukes means they were probably correct. He also gets way too much credit (that being any at all) for the release of the American hostages in Iran. Jimmy Carter didn't sleep for the last two days of his presidency as he was in constant contact with the Iranians to ensure the hostages' release. The only reason Reagan gets credit is because they waited until the precise moment he was president to leave Iranian air space so as to embarrass Jimmy Carter.
Told you it would get political...
I agree. He made a dirty Iranian deal for the election, sold weapons to terrorists, put everything on a credit card; and created an economy based on building weapons that crashed after he left Bush holding the bag and the defense industry collapsed. Helped create the homeless population, ignored the AIDs crisis, took money away from education and let criminals run an enterprise out of the WH.
I agree. He made a dirty Iranian deal for the election, sold weapons to terrorists, put everything on a credit card; and created an economy based on building weapons that crashed after he left Bush holding the bag and the defense industry collapsed. Helped create the homeless population, ignored the AIDs crisis, took money away from education and let criminals run an enterprise out of the WH.
Pulled the rug out from under collective bargaining for working Americans.
This might be more like history but it's bound to get political so I'm going to put it here.
Who in your opinion is the most overrated president and why? It could be any of the 44 (counting Cleveland once).
IMHO, Ronald Reagan. His policies led directly to the income inequality we are seeing today. He recongnized that his massive tax cuts bloated the deficit to unprecedented levels and tried to make up for it by stealing $3 TRILLION from the Social Security Trust Fund (and it was never put back). He ignored the AIDS crisis and was complicit, though not directly responsible, for the selling of arms tio Iran and the Taliban. He does get points for helping end the Cold War, but as we are beginning to see it never really ended, and Russia probably only backed down because they thought Reagan was crazy. The fact that he wanted to put giant laser beams in space to shoot down nukes means they were probably correct. He also gets way too much credit (that being any at all) for the release of the American hostages in Iran. Jimmy Carter didn't sleep for the last two days of his presidency as he was in constant contact with the Iranians to ensure the hostages' release. The only reason Reagan gets credit is because they waited until the precise moment he was president to leave Iranian air space so as to embarrass Jimmy Carter.
This might be more like history but it's bound to get political so I'm going to put it here.
Who in your opinion is the most overrated president and why? It could be any of the 44 (counting Cleveland once).
...
JFK - Most overrated. Just because he was likeable, doesn't mean he was a good president. I would only choose from presidents who served when I was alive because the news media is full of c**p.
I also agree that Reagan is terrifically over-rated. Many Republicans still idolize him, but if questioned about his actual policy positions, they would say they are too liberal. He also put many people on the street by closing facilities caring for people with mental illness. He really bumped up the problem of homelessness.
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