Favorite Politician EVER

Politics 35 replies 1,358 views
C
cbus4life
Posts: 2,849
Mar 8, 2010 4:46pm
Please keep it clean, could be fun just to share our thoughts on who we admire, study, etc. Try not to bash others choices, please. Discussion on them would be great, but the "Obama sucks" and "Reagan sucks" comments should be avoided. Would be nice to have a pleasant thread, with some interesting choices.

And, you can only mention TWO.

My choices...

Clement Attlee, former prime minister of Great Britain. Did an admirable job of steering Great Britain through post-World War II madness, and i align closely with his political ideology, in many regards.

John Adams...been fascinated with him since i was 10 years old.
LJ's avatar
LJ
Posts: 16,351
Mar 8, 2010 4:53pm
but the "Obama sucks" and "Reagan sucks" comments should be avoided
This request will be enforced.

As for me, it's definitely Winston Churchill. I know a decent amount about his politics, but it's Winston Churchill the man that makes him my favorite. The story goes that he was a POW in South Africa and decided he didn't want to be there anymore so he killed some guards and escaped
gibby08's avatar
gibby08
Posts: 1,581
Mar 8, 2010 4:54pm
1.


2.
F
Footwedge
Posts: 9,265
Mar 8, 2010 4:56pm
Ron Paul.
ptown_trojans_1's avatar
ptown_trojans_1
Posts: 7,632
Mar 8, 2010 5:07pm
Putting aside personal faults, I’ll list 3.
1. JFK: His vision for leading the country through the 1960s as well as his vision to stop nuclear proliferation and his calm and collection during the Cuban Missile Crisis is the reason why he is my favorite.
2. Reagan, post 1984: What? Why Reagan had his many faults, including poor organization skills and awful delegation and oversight skills (see Iran-contra and the many National Security Advisors he had) his vision of a nuclear free world, easing Cold War tensions, bring the INF Treaty and starting the START Treaty to lower and eliminate nuclear weapons gets my vote for number 2. It is remarkable to read the speeches of Reagan and 1983 during the highest tensions of the Cold War, and 1987 when he really toned down the whole evil empire talk.
3. Chuck Hagel: Vietnam vet, R moderate, and an expert in foreign policy. Also, when elected Senator he said he would only serve 2 terms, and he did. Now, I hope he can find a place in a future administration where he can take his knowledge of foreign policy and pragmatism and put them to use.


I'll also add three policy makers, or advisers:
1. Brent Scrowcroft: The ultimate moderate, he was the National Security Adviser for George HW Bush and is one of the most pragmatic thinkers when it comes to foreign policy.
2. Thomas Schelling: The father of arms control, as well as one of the great minds in strategic theory, and Cold War thinking. He advised many Presidents going back to Kennedy.
3. Herman Kahn: While I disagree with much of his writings, his 1960 manifesto, "On Theromonuclear War" asks provocative questions and dove deep into nuclear strategy, arms control and winning a nuclear war with the Soviet Union. Was the main influence for Dr. Strangelove.
CenterBHSFan's avatar
CenterBHSFan
Posts: 6,115
Mar 8, 2010 5:31pm
1. Winston Churchill - for the same reasons Ptown mentioned above. The man had true grit!
I had relatives, never met them and their dead now, who actually had him to their place for dinner a few times. Hopefully this summer I can visit with their children. :)



2. And probably The Gipper

*most of the politicians today make me laugh, and not in a total cynical way either. Their antics are just funny
I
I Wear Pants
Posts: 16,223
Mar 8, 2010 5:48pm
I too was/am fascinated with John Adams. That HBO mini series helped rekindle that.
believer's avatar
believer
Posts: 8,153
Mar 8, 2010 6:43pm
1. Ronald Reagan: After Watergate, Viet Nam, and Carter economic & foreign policy Reagan inspired a sense of American greatness and confidence once again. We need someone like Reagan to lead us out of our current malaise.
2. Winston Churchill: Great leadership for a nation facing possible Nazi domination and an eloquent statesman encouraging American involvement in the face of the Nazi threat.
3. Thomas Jefferson: Understood the wisdom of states rights balanced by cooperative federal powers.
4. Margaret Thatcher: Staunch conservative and true ally.
Mr. 300's avatar
Mr. 300
Posts: 3,090
Mar 8, 2010 6:49pm
#1) Ronald Reagan. One of the greatest leaders of this country.

#2) Churchill. How he lead his country through the German onslaught was amazing.
G
Gobuckeyes1
Posts: 497
Mar 8, 2010 8:28pm
1) Churchill
2) Truman
3) FDR
4) Teddy Roosevelt
Devils Advocate's avatar
Devils Advocate
Posts: 4,539
Mar 8, 2010 9:25pm
majorspark's avatar
majorspark
Posts: 5,122
Mar 8, 2010 9:48pm
Thomas Jefferson - Same reasons believer stated.
Churchill - One of the greatest war time civilian leaders in modern history.
Belly35's avatar
Belly35
Posts: 9,716
Mar 8, 2010 9:53pm
Nlxon
Bush (Both)
goosebumps's avatar
goosebumps
Posts: 1,058
Mar 8, 2010 10:08pm
Andrew Jackson... He was against the government being involved in the banking industry and he was right!!!

Ronald Reagan- Told striking union workers to kiss his ass and kept our economy going :)
E
eersandbeers
Posts: 1,071
Mar 8, 2010 10:20pm
I really have three...

1. Thomas Jefferson - the obvious reasons
2. George Mason - likely wouldn't have been a Bill of Rights without him. One of the most overlooked Founding Fathers because he pissed of Washington in the process.
3. Cicero - sort of the wildcard, but his writings were extremely important
killdeer's avatar
killdeer
Posts: 1,538
Mar 8, 2010 10:25pm
1. Sen. Howard Baker; TN...strong proponent of a citizen legislature, and an aisle-crossing bipartisan bridge builder when those words really meant something.

2. Ronald Reagan; the exact right president at the exact right time.
LJ's avatar
LJ
Posts: 16,351
Mar 8, 2010 10:40pm
The TS asked for your top 2. I deleted posts that were irrelevant to the discussion.
CenterBHSFan's avatar
CenterBHSFan
Posts: 6,115
Mar 8, 2010 10:58pm
I asked a question (to another poster from this thread) directly related to the thread and it was deleted.
It wasn't confrontational at all, and I thought I might have nailed it down in some of the examples I provided but asked if there were any other reasons to be sure.
Not sure why it was deleted...?
LJ's avatar
LJ
Posts: 16,351
Mar 8, 2010 11:01pm
CenterBHSFan wrote: I asked a question (to another poster from this thread) directly related to the thread and it was deleted.
It wasn't confrontational at all, and I thought I might have nailed it down in some of the examples I provided but asked if there were any other reasons to be sure.
Not sure why it was deleted...?
The question was deleted because it was in reference to what I was deleting.
jhay78's avatar
jhay78
Posts: 1,917
Mar 8, 2010 11:09pm
Reagan- carried 44 states and 49 states in two elections (1980 and 1984). After libs were crying that he was going to start World War III, the Cold War ended and the Berlin Wall came down. After the market crash of '87, Reagan stood pat while libs were crying that he would lead us into another Great Depression. The market corrected itself and he never wavered from his avoidance of unnecessary government intervention into a free market system.

Margaret Thatcher- refreshing voice against socialism in Great Britain
3reppom's avatar
3reppom
Posts: 765
Mar 8, 2010 11:15pm
I can't assign a definitive rank to any of them but my top 5 would be John Fitzgerald Kennedy, David Lloyd George, Jawaharlal Nehru, Woodrow Wilson and Winston Churchill
dwccrew's avatar
dwccrew
Posts: 7,817
Mar 8, 2010 11:21pm
There is so many great politicians in our country's history (sadly most have been dead for a long time). I think our nation's greatest political minds (and there was an abundance of them) was in the beginning. IMO, the best ideas are always in the beginning which is why the founders of the country are the greatest politicians we've had. Too many now are progressing away from the initial concept of this country.

1. George Washington- Father of our country. He lead the "Revolutionary" army to victory. He stated that the formation of political parties would be the downfall of the country (and he was right, way ahead of his time). He set a precedent of only holding office for 2 terms. When people wanted him to run for a 3rd term, he declined. Washington didn't want to get involved with the French and their war (even though some felt we owed it to the French). He was the first US non-intervenionalist). He truly had the nation's best interest at heart and not his own personal interests, something that is VERY uncommon amongst politicians these days.

2. Ron Paul- This may, to some, seem like an odd pick. But to me, Dr. Paul is a true American patriot and is the Champion of the Constitution. He ideology is that of the founding fathers. He is not afraid to be the one true voice of the people in a Congress full of people trying to further their own self interest.

Dr. Paul has voted consistently throught-out his nearly 30 year political career. He is not a "flip-flopper". He has voted against congressional pay raises. His motives as a politician is to serve is constitutents to the best of his ability and their interests come first. This can't be said for many congressmen and women.
CenterBHSFan's avatar
CenterBHSFan
Posts: 6,115
Mar 9, 2010 7:16am
LJ wrote:
CenterBHSFan wrote: I asked a question (to another poster from this thread) directly related to the thread and it was deleted.
It wasn't confrontational at all, and I thought I might have nailed it down in some of the examples I provided but asked if there were any other reasons to be sure.
Not sure why it was deleted...?
The question was deleted because it was in reference to what I was deleting.
Oh. I guess that I thought that I was sticking to the original requests of Cbus
Try not to bash others choices, please. Discussion on them would be great, but the "Obama sucks" and "Reagan sucks" comments should be avoided.
But, I don't know what you originally deleted so questions are out?
fish82's avatar
fish82
Posts: 4,111
Mar 9, 2010 7:50am
Tough to go wrong with Churchill & Reagan.
LJ's avatar
LJ
Posts: 16,351
Mar 9, 2010 10:26am
CenterBHSFan wrote:
LJ wrote:
CenterBHSFan wrote: I asked a question (to another poster from this thread) directly related to the thread and it was deleted.
It wasn't confrontational at all, and I thought I might have nailed it down in some of the examples I provided but asked if there were any other reasons to be sure.
Not sure why it was deleted...?
The question was deleted because it was in reference to what I was deleting.
Oh. I guess that I thought that I was sticking to the original requests of Cbus
Try not to bash others choices, please. Discussion on them would be great, but the "Obama sucks" and "Reagan sucks" comments should be avoided.
But, I don't know what you originally deleted so questions are out?

Quit trying to argue with me. Your question was deleted because it pertained to the other item I deleted which went against the TS request. I deleted it because I was deleting everything that had to do with it. Now either participate or PM me.