Ok. A serious political thread from me. No jokes or baiting here. I promise.
I'm just wondering what past pres would you guys vote back in. Let's keep it to, say, the past 100 years. I'm just curious. It seems that no matter who's in office at any given time, when election time comes around they're dirt. With all the emphasis in getting Bush out and Kerry in right now, what's it going to be like 4 years from now? I'll bet there'll be just as much "Kerry hating" as there is Bush hating right now.
So has there ever been a "perfect" pres? Reagen seems to have become pretty popular, but I remember alot of mud slinging at him in the 80's. Does time smooth over bad press? What's it take to make a man popular by both sides? (can't ever happen I know)

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past MB rides:
'68 220D
'68 220D(another one)
'67 230
'84 SD
Current rides:
'06 Lexus RX330
'93 Ford F-250
'96 Corvette
'99 Polaris 700 RMK sled
2011 Polaris Assault
'86 Yamaha TT350(good 'ol thumper)

Theodore Roosevelt

I think I would take Carter.

He was not the greatest leader, and happened to be running in a period of social unrest from Vietnam and inflation/employment problems.

However, he was the only president to make good progress towards peace and understanding in the Middle East. He took human rights more seriously than any president before or since. He won a Nobel Peace prize.

The Iranian hostage takers even liked him.

On second thought, a Clinton/Carter ticket would kick ass. Clinton's charisma and domestic policy with Carters foreign policy and understanding of the common man's suffering (here and over there).

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Cassidy
1982 MB 300DT - Running Great @ 104K!

1972 MB 220D - RIP @ ~200K (Dropped prechamber)
1992 MB 190E 2.6 - SOLD @ 145K

Weird MedMech. I say Teddy Roosevelt as well.... or George Washington (especially with his anti political party message!).

Truman. If there was ever was a time we needed a guy who said the buck-stops-here, it is now. He was an accidental president, a common man who just happened to end up president, and was one hell of a banty rooster.

James Polk or James Garfield......they don't get enough attention

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Jennifer
90 350sdl

Rickg,

I think death has a way of wiping out petty differences and even granting some forgiveness that was not likely in the heat of battle. Reagan was not my favorite guy, but, he suffered long in the end and out of respect for his family and their dedication to his care, I think he was granted a "pass" from those who opposed him in his day.

I actually liked Carter as an ex-President most. He set a standard I think few will measure up to. I am inclined to give him some slack for how poorly he addressed the Washington culture, but that was ultimately his failure. He could see all kinds of ways to help others, but couldn't learn to deal with Congress and the Washington social structure.

In spite of all that, I think Carter would be my choice - he was another "the buck stops here" guy, more so than any other President in recent history. He was also about as straight an arrow as you could hope for, maybe even a little too straight at times. Those other guys mentioned were in office when I was still an unripe egg, so I have no personal perspective to base selecting them on - their actual performance may be distorted at the detail level in the history books, much like the recent recollections of Reagan.

Given another chance, I think Carter could have learned to handle Congress better. Jim

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Own:
1986 Euro 190E 2.3-16 (291,000 miles),
1998 E300D TurboDiesel, 231,000 miles -purchased with 45,000,
1988 300E 5-speed 252,000 miles,
1983 240D 4-speed, purchased w/136,000, now with 222,000 miles.
2009 ML320CDI Bluetec, 89,000 miles

Owned:
1971 220D (250,000 miles plus, sold to father-in-law),
1975 240D (245,000 miles - died of body rot),
1991 350SD (176,560 miles, weakest Benz I have owned),
1999 C230 Sport (45,400 miles),
1982 240D (321,000 miles, put to sleep)

Boy I really have to disagree.
He was a good man but a lousy President.

Good freind was at desert 1 during the hostage rescue attempt. He was the C130 Aircraft Commander that was not hit by the helicopter. He told his wife that he had to go on a classified mission,She new she could not know any of the details, She aske a simple question, "How confident are you in the plan." He said it was the most screwed up military plan he had ever seen.
They could not move a switch in the Aircraft without permission from the White House. The mission was micromanaged to death. Actually the death of us servicemen.

I like Jimmy Carter, He is a good man, But NOT as a President.

He was ineffective on the economy, The Mideast was not better off, just placated,

Personally I would take Reagan again. He DID a lot for world peace by carrying a big stick. The Iron Curtain fell. The USSR could not hold together under his military pressure. The economy took off. Etc.

Dave

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1970 220D, owned 1980-1990
1980 240D, owned 1990-1992
1982 300TD, owned 1992-1993
1986 300SDL, owned 1993-2004
1999 E300, owned 1999-2003
1982 300TD, 213,880mi, owned since Nov 18, 1991- Aug 4, 2010 SOLD
1988 560SL, 100,000mi, owned since 1995
1965 Mustang Fastback Mileage Unknown(My sons)
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2007 Honda Accord EX-L I4 auto, the new daily driver
1985 300D 264,000mi Son's new daily driver.(sold)
2008 Hyundai Tiberon. Daughters new car

Jerry Ford, he was a hoot!
I still think he got ripped off because the press always referred to him as "Gerald" when he was running in '76, where "James Carter" was always referred to as "Jimmy", people liked voting for a "Jimmy"(friendly home-town name) vs "Gerald" WHY couldn't it be Jerry against Jimmy?
Plus I liked Fords (semi) famous line "I'm a Ford, not a Lincoln".
But yeah, ol' Jerry, he sure did get bumped and tripped alot! Every week it was something.......

Gilly

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Interesting choices. Historically, I've always liked Roosevelt...both of them. Franklin was definately the right man for the times, despite his depression era work projects that get so much flak. I'd be very interested to hear what he would have done with the whole Iraq thing, from 1990 till now.
Ford is another one I'm very up on. Seemed a decent pres, but I don't recall any real conflicts he had top face. Suppose it's hard to be a bad pres when the world is coasting along fairly well.
Carter didn't impress me too much, but then I didn't pay that much attention to politics then. But seems a "good guy"other than that.
Trueman....hmm...kind of a non-entity in history almost. I'll read up on him more.
Reagan was a real mixed bag IMHO. Did alot of things right, but then had a few far out ideas. Star wars anyone?
I won't comment on Clinton.

__________________
past MB rides:
'68 220D
'68 220D(another one)
'67 230
'84 SD
Current rides:
'06 Lexus RX330
'93 Ford F-250
'96 Corvette
'99 Polaris 700 RMK sled
2011 Polaris Assault
'86 Yamaha TT350(good 'ol thumper)

Hey! he said the past 100 yrs. If we go all the way back, I'm changing my vote to Lincoln.

Gosh Rick, Truman was one of the most important presidents we've ever had.

The policies he set in motion vis a vis the communist threat, shaped American foreign policy to this day. He decided that the USA would not turn inward (the direction sought by contemporaneous Republicans), that we would, post WWII, remain a global power and use our economic and military might to spread and protect democracy. His programs developed world-killing ballistic missles tipped with thermonuclear bombs. No president in American history, no human in world history has made such momentous decisions on behalf of humanity.

But was he right?

Botnst

Right? I would say so. The decisions he made eventually led to the fall of communism. I am sure he made some bad ones. But when it came to sheer brass cajones, he was cajoniest.

So, borned and raised in the South, I see.

Guess I'd better brush up my history. I'm kind of a WWII arm-chair historian, and all you ever hear/read about is Roosevelt. As Kirk says, Truman was an accidental pres, kind of overlooked in the books so to speak.

"But was he right?"
That's questions we ask about all our pres's. I try not to judge any of them too harshly. Except for a few specific instances(Watergate anyone?), I feel they all have just tried to do the best job they can, with what and who they have to work with. It has to be an overwhelming job, who ever you are. It boggles my mind that anyone would actually want the job. Requires an extreme level of self confidence that I can't fathom. Johnson was a good example of that. Egotistical to the last. A hard man. seems people either liked him or they didn't. He either liked you, or he didn't.

__________________
past MB rides:
'68 220D
'68 220D(another one)
'67 230
'84 SD
Current rides:
'06 Lexus RX330
'93 Ford F-250
'96 Corvette
'99 Polaris 700 RMK sled
2011 Polaris Assault
'86 Yamaha TT350(good 'ol thumper)