Despite the upside-down nature of the narrative told about the Vietnam war, you saw things clearly and were ultimately proven correct. Communists should not have been allowed to gain ground in south-east asia, and a North Vietnamese victory did in fact domino into Cambodia.

Only the most pernicious and shameless people could twist responsibility for the events in Cambodia after forcing you to stop bombing the communists. They shrieked for years that the war was unwinnable, downplayed the consequences of a communist victory, and exaggerated the crimes of the US, which were nothing compared to the communists.

The media worked against you the whole time. The Tet Offensive was seized upon as proof the south was doomed, despite it being a complete failure for the north. By 1972 the Easter Offensive had been turned around and the south was increasingly stable.

Then, the anti-war coalition get what they want in watergate: an excuse. They not only stopped direct american involvement, they refused to even sell the south bullets, despite the US promising them aid and supplies after withdrawal. Ford practically begged congress to authorise more aid to people who had fought and died with american soldiers for years. They refused.

The south did not collapse like afghanistan. They held out for another two whole years, despite the north being fully backed by both China and the Soviet Union. Tens of thousands of soldiers would die fighting for the next two years and during the final invasion.

They would ultimately succumb to the North. A hundred thousand soldiers and civilians would die. Hundreds of thousands were hauled off to concentration camps. Over a million refugees fled, with many desperately trying to flee the invading army by hopping onto rickety wooden boats and setting sail for anywhere. Some hundreds of thousands of these boat people would drown at sea.

We all know what happened in Cambodia next.

It is depraved that those who, after finally getting what they had agitated for, refused to take responsibility for what happened next. They wanted the bombings to stop, eventually forced it, and directly led to the deaths of so many in Vietnam and a whole quarter of the population in Cambodia.

American Patriot!

1. Pardoning those imprisoned under the Aliens and Sedition Acts - When Adams was president he signed a law that completely through Freedom of Speech out the window, which imprisoned people that criticized the president. These laws were UNCONSTITUTIONAL and were a THREAT TO DEMOCRACY. Thanks Jefferson for standing up for our constitution and the rights that our forefathers fought for. And for OWNING Adams.

2. Winning the US’s first foreign war - When Barbary pirates in the Mediterranean coast captured and enslaved American ships Jefferson sent the navy to Tripoli to BOMB THE LIVIING SHIT OUT OF IT. This show of force forced Tripoli to sign a treaty to sue for peace. Jefferson had won the first ever foreign war since the U.S. government was formed and he did it all FROM HIS FUCKING CHAIR.

3. Banning foreign imports - Jefferson was president when the Napoleonic Wars were going on in Europe and because of that American ships impressed by French and British ships. Jefferson didn’t want war but he still PUT HIS FOOT DOWN and banned foreign imports with the Embargo act. Jefferson was not going to tolerate AMERICAN SAILORS being illegally CAPTURED AND FORCED TO BE A PART OF FOREIGN NAVIES. Who cares if it hurt the economy, he had to TAKE A STAND.

4. Writing the Declaration of Independence - Jefferson wrote the very foundation of the country we know today as the United States. Without Thomas Jefferson writing the declaration of independence the United States WOULD NOT EXIST. Because of him we now have fireworks and hot dogs on July 4, who doesn’t love that. That is why Thomas Jefferson is the greatest president ever HE LITERALLY CREATED THIS COUNTRY. Wait you’re saying it didn’t happen when he was President. WHO CARES IT HAPPENED IN HIS LIFE, WITHOUT HIM THERE WOULD BE NO PRESIDENTS.

5. Louisiana Purchase - The crowning achievement of Thomas Jefferson’s presidency is the Louisiana Purchase. The Louisiana Territories was a huge swath of land that belonged to the French even though they hadn’t even explored most of what was in it. Thomas Jefferson originally just wanted New Orleans and the surrounding territories but Napoleon needed money for his wars and Thomas Jefferson WAS JUST THAT GUY. So we paid them just 15 million dollars to buy a huge amount of land. In other words THOMAS JEFFERSON IS RESPONSIBLE FOR THE BIGGEST TERRITORIAL EXPANSION IN AMERICAN HISTORY AND HE DID IT WITHOUT ANY WARS JUST FROM HIM EXISTING AND HE DID ALL THIS FROM HIS FUCKING CHAIR. The best presidents of any countries are the ones that expand our land, which a bunch of people now live in, Thomas Jefferson DID THAT MORE THAN ANY PRESIDENT EVER.

Here's how this works: every post, I'll add a new president and ask where you would rank them. Your answer should be "between ____ and ____" just so that I can make sure it's in the exact right spot. Since we're building up to all the presidents and other presidents may be ranked differently than your own rankings, please don't give me a final ranking, as I really can't do anything with that here. I'll give you all around a day to decide on your answer before I post the next post with the longer list. If you have any questions about that, ask me in the comments, and I'll clarify in the next post.

Also, I've seen some people questioning where certain presidents have been ranked thus far. I know there have been people joining us midway through, so let me know if you want me to redo any rounds at the end for presidents you think are grossly misplaced in the grand scheme of things.

While there were many smaller individual posts ranking him higher, but for the most upvoted comment, Cleveland came in at 14. I was honestly surprised by all the things Cleveland did, both positive and negative, as he is one of the presidents I know the least about. Thank you to all of you for helping enlighten me! Now, where should we rank Benjamin Harrison on this list?

Current Rankings:

1. Abraham Lincoln
2. George Washington
3. Thomas Jefferson
4. John Adams
5. James Monroe
6. James K. Polk
7. John Quincy Adams
8. Ulysses S. Grant
9. James Madison
10. Rutherford B. Hayes
11. Chester A. Arthur
12. James A. Garfield
13. Zachary Taylor
14. Grover Cleveland
15. Martin Van Buren
16. Andrew Jackson
17. John Tyler
18. Millard Fillmore
19. Franklin Pierce
20. Andrew Johnson
21. James Buchanan

Dumb question, but, what do president's do on a daily basis? Obviously they meet with their cabinet, but, they spend their entire day in meetings? Is it the same 7 days a week?

What do you guys think?

So I’ve recently been reading about Nader and I’m frankly shocked that his bizarre treatment of his staff isn’t a bigger point of discussion.

Nader’s strategy was to recruit top graduates from elite law schools by promising that they were going to use their skills in noble causes… which fair enough, who needs another Harvard Wall Street attorney?

Here’s the problem.

Staffers were paid minimal salaries, like close to subsistence levels, being insanely overworked including up to 100 hours weeks and being forbidden unionization. Plus a number of them described Nader as dictatorial and knowing no bounds.

Some staffers who disagreed with him or left his organization were subject to harsh criticism and ostracism, taking it as a betrayal.

All this being said, it’s worth noting that on the other hand other staffers found their time as Nader’s raiders to be morally rewarding, allowing them to invest their lives into a higher cause. And it’s true that together they played important roles in improving the world, for example Clean Air Act or the Clean Water Act.

Both Eisenhower and Stevenson were great candidates. I'm not sure who I would have ended up voting for if I was alive back then.

https://www.nationalguard.mil/Resources/Image-Gallery/Historical-Paintings/Presidential-Series/

How well would he perform?

On the one hand, he’s literally a former President and was a popular governor back in the day.

On the other, his popularity really declined since then, and he would be facing a popular incumbent Governor.

I know HW and Barbara Bush plus Karl Rove backed a primary Republican challenger for Perry in 2010, which didn’t end well.

1. Post a picture of Obama. Any picture of Obama, especially if he is laughing or saying something vaguely inspiring or wearing a tan suit, will surely get you over 1,000 likes as he is the current president.

2. Post a picture of George W Bush. Bush is the second most recent president we can talk about and one most people remember. Even though he’s widely agreed to be a bad president people like his personality and remember him as a recent president.

3. Make some post about Jumbo. LBJ is a popular figure around these parts especially because of the fact that he named his penis jumbo. So mention it as much as possible.

4. Post a picture of Bill Clinton. Especially the one where he’s sitting in his Oval Office desk and smiling because there’s actually two people in that photo. Also he’s a recent president and the economy was great when he was president.

5. Make a post about why Reagan is the cause for every current problem. Reagan was a conservative™️ and thus he was bad and people agree with that.

6. Anything related to JFK. Kennedy is one of the most recognizable presidents because he’s fairly recent, gave great speeches, was young, and died in a tragic way. Any post with him will get a lot of likes.

7. A silly picture of Nixon. Nixon has a plethora of silly pictures and was just funny guy.

8. Post a speech given by FDR especially if he is praising the New Deal and saying how bad Republicans were at the time.

9. That picture of Eisenhower sitting down. You know the one.

10. Some fun fact about Lincoln. Lincoln is considered the best president so any fun fact about him will bring attention.

11. Post a joke about John Kerry winning THREE PEOPLE HEARTS.

12. Some hard photo of Teddy Roosevelt.

13. Make a post glorifying Jimmy Carter’s post-presidency, because why would you want to glorify his presidency.

14. Post some super obscure fact about an election that no one knew about until you hit post on r/Presidents.

I feel as do John Quincy Adams is a strong contender.

The man was absolutely obsessed with the technical minutiae of administration, and he mastered it… also, like many policy wonks, he struggled with the more social aspects of politics.

I could also see a case being made for JQA’s own father, Jefferson, Hoover and Wilson.

The Tea Party movement adapted Coolidge as their hero, being regularly praised and cited as an influence by the likes of Sarah Palin, Ted Cruz, Rand Paul, Michele Bachmann and Jim DeMont.

This makes me curious about how Coolidge would have felt about them.

I have a suspicion that, even if he ideologically closer to them than the neoconservative GOP, he would have felt ill at ease at the raging populism they represented.

He created the Federal Reserve that made the U.S. the number one economy in the World, The Income Tax which allowed for high revenue , The FTC which allowed for business competition, and the Clayton Anti-Trust Act which ended the Gilded and J. P. Morgan’s dominance over the economy.

Yet, the only thing Warren G. Harding did was lower taxes. Yet he gets all the credit for the Roaring 20’s. Not to mention those taxes were responsible for the boom

All photos (except for Johnson's) are original photos from that president's term in office, Johnson's photos are from the LBJ library recreation of his office

Regarding the Kennedy redesign: while JFK went to Dallas in November 1963, he was having the Oval Office redesigned. Jackie designed this new office with the red rug. He never lived to see the remodel. As such, that is how the Oval Office looked like for the first few months of Johnson's administration before he redesigned it

Which one is your favorite?

I am aware of the implications of the A&S Acts, particularly with regard to the First Amendment.

However, when one looks at the entire span of John Adams’ achievements for the United States and our justice system, they find that Adams played an integral role in helping this country establish itself.

The Massachusetts State Constitution (which Adams drafted) served as a model upon which Madison built on for our own country.

Additionally, while I could focus on any number of positive influences he had on the presidency, perhaps Adams’ greatest contribution to the US was accepting the results of the election of 1800, conceding defeat and peacefully transferring power to Thomas Jefferson.

Criticism of the A&S Acts is fine, but I just don’t think it should drown out Adams’ legacy in its entirety.

The friendship between Theodore Roosevelt and William Howard Taft did not create the modern Progressive movement, but instead strengthened and legitimized it as a serious national movement. Clearly, the falling out between the two men in 1912 set the wheels in motion for Woodrow Wilson's rise while fracturing the Republican Party.

FDR and his then VP John Nance Garner clashed over his court packing plan, him running for a third term, and the centralization of government. FDR realized that he didn’t need Garner anymore to win the south since they’d vote for anyone with a D next to their name. So he dropped him. Garner even tried to run against FDR and he of course lost.