5 Underrated Presidents to Celebrate on President’s Day

[웃 910]

5 Underrated Presidents to Celebrate on President's Day

As I've mentioned before, I'm not just an ordinary history nerd; I'm a presidential history nerd. I memorized them all at 6, and have been obsessed ever since. So, on this holiday celebrating presidents, I offer five men to serve the office whom we don't honor as much as we should.

1. James Madison: Of the Founding Father presidents, George Washington and Thomas Jefferson get the lion's share of attention. After getting the David McCullough biography treatment and an HBO miniseries, John Adams is enjoying a resurgence as well. But James Madison, in my opinion, is our greatest Founder-president. He was one of the main authors of the Federalist papers, which helped shape the Constitution, and the main author of the Bill of Rights. Though Lincoln is fondly remembered for how staunchly he sought to preserve our Union, Madison shared those sentiments much earlier. The brilliant presidential historian Gary Wills has said of Madison:

As a framer and defender of the Constitution he had no peer … The finest part of Madison's performance as president was his concern for the preserving of the Constitution … No man could do everything for the country – not even Washington. Madison did more than most, and did some things better than any. That was quite enough.

2. James Knox Polk: Though he is little remembered to most Americans, James Polk profoundly shaped both the office of the presidency, and the nation itself. Before Polk, the power to declare war was almost expressly left to members of Congress; since Polk, the authorization of Congress is mostly a formality once the president seeks it. Under Polk, the nation grew extraordinarily. Texas was annexed; and after a war with Mexico, the U.S. acquired the territories of California and New Mexico. Finally, Polk insisted on going after Oregon, also, despite the threat of war with Great Britain. Even more, he did all this in only one term – and accomplished his other goals of reducing the tariff and creating an independent national Treasury.

3. Dwight David Eisenhower: Though Eisenhower sought out the middle of the road in many respects, he continued many New Deal programs and oversaw the desegregation of the U.S. military, and of the school system. Despite the tensions of the Cold War, his tenure as president was peaceful and prosperous, and he emphasized a balanced budget and world diplomacy. We also have Eisenhower to thank for the interstate highway system.

4. William Howard Taft: True, Taft was not a skilled politician – and even failed to win re-election after Progressives unhappy with his performance split the vote between the incumbent Taft, and Teddy Roosevelt. But I'm putting Taft on the list because his predecessor, Roosevelt, is generally known as the "trust buster" – someone who fought against corporate monopolies, when in fact, Taft did far more to bring down monopolies. He signed twice as much trust-busting legislation as Roosevelt, and brought to end more than 90 trusts in one term. Taft is the only president to also serve on the Supreme Court – in fact, he was chief justice.

5. Grover Cleveland: Cleveland, the only president to win non-consecutive terms, also tried to crack down on special interests in order to boost the economy. He fiercely pursued laws barring special favors to any economic group, and signed the Interstate Commerce Act, the first piece of legislation granting federal oversight of the railroads.

Edited February 15, 2010 by Lord Infamous

[_Simpson_ 250]

Im surprised Carter didnt make the list, a lot of people act like he was the best thing since sliced bread and if only he wasnt at the wrong place at the wrong time, I know otherwise, he was just a horrible president.

Edited February 15, 2010 by _Simpson_

[Wyatt's Torch 45]

What about Zachary Taylor?

[Saddle Bronc 124]

Im surprised Carter didnt make the list, a lot of people act like he was the best thing since sliced bread and if only he wasnt at the wrong place at the wrong time, I know otherwise, he was just a horrible president.

(btw, you do know about "apostrophe" aka "single-quote", that key beside ";/:"?) Probably because they know that there are lots of Canucks (both current and erstwhile) on VJ who can easily point out that Carter made contemporaneous PM Joe "Who" Clark seem a competent leader (Clark was rated as awful after his rather short term by members of HIS OWN party, who later removed him as leader^{1, 2}).

1. he was non-confidenced in 1980, with many of those who voted against him being from his own party
   
2. the little fact that Clark (as approver-of-approver, rather than anywhere near active participation) managed to actually rescue some Americans from Iran (actual deed was planned/executed by Calgarian Ken Taylor, but it WAS on Clark's watch) where Carter managed to leave the hostages in Iran until Reagan's inauguration
   

[one...two...tree 2,762]

Im surprised Carter didnt make the list, a lot of people act like he was the best thing since sliced bread and if only he wasnt at the wrong place at the wrong time, I know otherwise, he was just a horrible president.

Would you put tricky ####### above Carter? How 'bout Dubya?

[Brother Hesekiel 2,236]

Let's celebrate Presidents' Day by writing it correctly, shall we? A President's Day, which doesn't exist, would be the celebration of one President only. Sine we are celebrating more than one President, the apostrophe goes after the word Presidents which is a plural form and the apostrophe indicates the possessive to it.

Presidents' Day. Learn it.

[Saddle Bronc 124]

Would you put tricky ####### above Carter? How 'bout Dubya?

Jorge Jr (aka W) would rate at equivalent to "Joe Who" (see my earlier post) where Nixon would rate about "Chief Dief" (John George Diefenbaker, who was a less-bad leader than Clark--admittedly somewhat inapt comparison given Chief Dief's honesty/integrity and Nixon's utter lack thereof). Edited February 15, 2010 by Saddle Bronc

[one...two...tree 2,762]

Jorge Jr (aka W) would rate at equivalent to "Joe Who" (see my earlier post) where Nixon would rate about "Chief Dief" (John George Diefenbaker, who was a less-bad leader than Clark--admittedly somewhat inapt comparison given Chief Dief's honesty/integrity and Nixon's utter lack thereof).

Those are too many Canadians to look up so I'll take your word for it. How long did you live in Canada, Sriniv?

Edited February 15, 2010 by Galt's gallstones

[scandal 951]

Jorge Jr (aka W) would rate at equivalent to "Joe Who" (see my earlier post) where Nixon would rate about "Chief Dief" (John George Diefenbaker, who was a less-bad leader than Clark--admittedly somewhat inapt comparison given Chief Dief's honesty/integrity and Nixon's utter lack thereof).

Then, there's always William Lyon Mackenzie King. Who got political advice in seances from the spirits of his dead mother and Leonardo da Vinci.

[scandal 951]

Let's celebrate Presidents' Day by writing it correctly, shall we? A President's Day, which doesn't exist, would be the celebration of one President only. Sine we are celebrating more than one President, the apostrophe goes after the word Presidents which is a plural form and the apostrophe indicates the possessive to it.

Presidents' Day. Learn it.

It's Presidence Day. Got it?

[Ali G. 37]

Andrew Jackson was a great president.

[natty bumppo 297]

Andrew Jackson was a great president.

William Harrison is another ....

[Saddle Bronc 124]

Those are too many Canadians to look up so I'll take your word for it. How long did you live in Canada, Sriniv?

roughly 22 years.

[Saddle Bronc 124]

Then, there's always William Lyon Mackenzie King. Who got political advice in seances from the spirits of his dead mother and Leonardo da Vinci.

You forgot another of his advisors (the 4-legged one) scandal. Good question of which POTUS would equate to him though.