What makes a great president?
How would you describe your ideal President of the United States?
Not who, but what are they like? What makes a president great?
I was born in ‘92. Have no memories of Clinton. Only George W, Obama, Trump, and Biden. At most, people say Obama was okay/fine.
What would it take for you to say a president was great? Besides saving the Union, I guess? I always see people consistently mention that the President does not have the power most people seem to think he has, especially when it comes to the state of the economy, and I mostly agree with this statement. A lot of people seem to judge a President's merits based on how well the economy is doing, the price of gas, etc. under their tenure. What do you think makes someone a good President, and what can we look at to determine the quality of their leadership. Employment rates and GDP growth don't seem to be accurate measurements of their input. Also, how do people come to the consensus of what Presidents were great (Washington, Lincoln) and which were awful (George W. Bush, Carter). What are the characteristics of a good president for the people of his/her country? Impartial behaviour and apolitical action. A good President interferes with the actions of the government only if it fails to protect the national interest and vetos laws only if it's clear that said laws are not well written. Conflict between the President and the government is a sign for crisis, so a good President will not hesitate to enter in conflict with the government if it's not doing a good job.
For context, the last decent president we had was Bush 41, in my opinion. Clinton through Trump were an increasing slide of terrible. Biden seems to be a slight up-tick but he hasn't even completed a year in office, yet. We'll see how he pans out.
The correct question would be "Is Ronald Reagan considered a great President, and if yes, why?". Or if you are sure he is, at least by some, it would be great if you provided a source, i.e. who considers him a great President, have you read it somewhere? Saw on some TV Show? Because the answer may depend on your source a lot, i.e. if some astrology journal considers him a great President it may be because he used astrology in real life. And this may be the very same reason why others don't consider him a great President at all.
I suppose one way to examine this question is to look at presidents who are more unanimously considered great and look at why they are considered great. Lincoln presided during a time of great strife and won a war. FDR also presided during a time of great strife and won a war. The early presidents are considered great due to their status as founding fathers and for shaping the country into what it would become today. Jefferson is probably considered great due to his intellect and his authorship of the Declaration of Independence, while Washington is considered great because he was the first president and a war hero. When historians look back at the Reagan presidency I believe they will ask if Reagan oversaw a time of great strife in America and was he responsible for winning the Cold War? I personally believe the answer to both of these questions is 'no' but we will see what opinion the future holds. In the meantime Reagan is given his current cult status among conservatives because he rescued and transformed the conservative 'brand' after it was completely decimated by Nixon and Watergate. Well, he's vilified by a lot of people as well, and for good reason in many cases (Iran-Contra, handling of early HIV/AIDS policy, and policy regarding social services, and willful disregard of the evidence when it came to the science behind climate change). He was certainly very good at connecting with the electorate, and the fact that he was president during the beginning of the dismantling of the Berlin Wall and the fall of the Soviet Union helped (although this is mostly a post hoc ergo propter hoc). A lot of it is still simply political—so many people remember him as a the "Great Communicator" and champion of conservatism.
Not who, but what are they like? What makes a president great?
I was born in ‘92. Have no memories of Clinton. Only George W, Obama, Trump, and Biden. At most, people say Obama was okay/fine.
What would it take for you to say a president was great? Besides saving the Union, I guess? I always see people consistently mention that the President does not have the power most people seem to think he has, especially when it comes to the state of the economy, and I mostly agree with this statement. A lot of people seem to judge a President's merits based on how well the economy is doing, the price of gas, etc. under their tenure. What do you think makes someone a good President, and what can we look at to determine the quality of their leadership. Employment rates and GDP growth don't seem to be accurate measurements of their input. Also, how do people come to the consensus of what Presidents were great (Washington, Lincoln) and which were awful (George W. Bush, Carter). What are the characteristics of a good president for the people of his/her country? Impartial behaviour and apolitical action. A good President interferes with the actions of the government only if it fails to protect the national interest and vetos laws only if it's clear that said laws are not well written. Conflict between the President and the government is a sign for crisis, so a good President will not hesitate to enter in conflict with the government if it's not doing a good job.
For context, the last decent president we had was Bush 41, in my opinion. Clinton through Trump were an increasing slide of terrible. Biden seems to be a slight up-tick but he hasn't even completed a year in office, yet. We'll see how he pans out.
The correct question would be "Is Ronald Reagan considered a great President, and if yes, why?". Or if you are sure he is, at least by some, it would be great if you provided a source, i.e. who considers him a great President, have you read it somewhere? Saw on some TV Show? Because the answer may depend on your source a lot, i.e. if some astrology journal considers him a great President it may be because he used astrology in real life. And this may be the very same reason why others don't consider him a great President at all.
I suppose one way to examine this question is to look at presidents who are more unanimously considered great and look at why they are considered great. Lincoln presided during a time of great strife and won a war. FDR also presided during a time of great strife and won a war. The early presidents are considered great due to their status as founding fathers and for shaping the country into what it would become today. Jefferson is probably considered great due to his intellect and his authorship of the Declaration of Independence, while Washington is considered great because he was the first president and a war hero. When historians look back at the Reagan presidency I believe they will ask if Reagan oversaw a time of great strife in America and was he responsible for winning the Cold War? I personally believe the answer to both of these questions is 'no' but we will see what opinion the future holds. In the meantime Reagan is given his current cult status among conservatives because he rescued and transformed the conservative 'brand' after it was completely decimated by Nixon and Watergate. Well, he's vilified by a lot of people as well, and for good reason in many cases (Iran-Contra, handling of early HIV/AIDS policy, and policy regarding social services, and willful disregard of the evidence when it came to the science behind climate change). He was certainly very good at connecting with the electorate, and the fact that he was president during the beginning of the dismantling of the Berlin Wall and the fall of the Soviet Union helped (although this is mostly a post hoc ergo propter hoc). A lot of it is still simply political—so many people remember him as a the "Great Communicator" and champion of conservatism.
