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Health & Fitness

My Favorite Presidents

I spend a lot of time criticising and poking general fun at Republicans. Actually, for clarification, I criticize bigots and human rights violators who always happen to be Republicans. A Romney-loving friend of mine asked me to suggest presidents that I thought did a good job, instead of being so "negative all the time". I came up with the five presidents that I think did the best job, men who I admire and respect, with adorable little paragraphs mentioning just a couple things that I like about each. Why five? Because lists are fun!

#5: LBJ
Lyndon's passage of the Civil Rights Act alone puts him on this list, but he also put into law the Voting Rights Act, The Elementary and Secondary Education act, the Higher Education Act, and his big Great Society Package, which founded Head Start, food stamps, medicare, and medicaid. He wrote the Economic Opportunity Act. He also wrote the biggest gun bill in federal history, The Gun Control Act of 1968. Johnson was the first liberal to really use the power of the presidency to drive home that strong Democratic belief that the government should strive to improve the quality of life for it's citizens. 24% of Americans lived at or below the poverty line when LBJ took office. It was 12% when he left. Our lives are all better, and a little more secure because of LBJ.

#4: IKE
Eisenhower is the lone Republican in my top five, but honestly, it wasn't the same party back then. Dwight gets my applause because unlike most liberals, I believe we do have a responsibility to protect and safeguard those countries that can't stand up for themselves. Ike really personified this. Dwight Eisenhower ended the war between China and Korea. He forced England, France and Israel to cease their invasion of Egypt. He made it a US policy to defend Taiwan. He stopped Lebanon from becoming a communist country. Eisenhower achieved all of this positive foreign change through diplomacy, not armed conflict. Yes, Ike did build a crazy amount of nukes, but he lamented this on his way out, warning future presidents about the dangers of massive military spending. He signed desegregation legislation for public schools, and civil rights voter protection. He also gave us our super-useful Interstate Highway System, kind of a big deal.

#3: Jimmy Carter
Jimmy Carter added two brand new cabinets-level departments, the Department of Energy, and the Department of Education. He's the reason we have price-controlled energy. He gave Panama their canal back. Before Carter, there was no option for life without parole for a capital crime conviction. He heads Habitat for Humanity (to this day) and won the Nobel Peace Prize for his humanitarianism. Also, do you like craft beer? Carter made that legal too.

#2: Bill Clinton
I was born in 87. Growing up, I remember always liking Clinton, but it wasn't until college that I started feeling inspired by him. What Bill managed to accomplish sandwiched between two Republican warhawk administrations is remarkable. I have lots and lots of philosophical reasons that I like Bill, and many moral/ethical reasons too, but I've found that listing the legislation that has had the most positive effect on America is argument enough.
The North American Free Trade Agreement, Welfare Reform, Family and Medical Leave Act, The Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act, he expanded the Earned Income Tax Credit, State Children's Health Insurance, Adoption and Safe Families Act, and The Foster Care Independence Act. 
His changes to how our poor are treated by their own government is what I like most about Bill. 

#1: Barack Obama
Barack Obama is, in my opinion, the greatest leader the free world has ever known. American politics are my greatest interest, and I have yet to come across another leader with as much empathy as Obama. Forty-seven million Americans live at or below the poverty line, and all are one medical bill away from losing everything. Barack knows that this isn't sustainable, and that striving to improve the lives of your citizens is not an example of "entitlement", but of love. He has mixed kindness with governance, and I am enthusiastic about the legacy he will leave behind. When my son enters his early school years, I can't wait to toss aside those slave owning rapist founding fathers, and show him five examples of real American role models.

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