>>>>
>>>>Putting someone in the lost cause voter category - well, about all I can say is that pretty much sums up the HRC attitude, and is part of the reason why HRC lost. Enough people were tired of her attitude.
>>>
>>>As I said, I've pulled the R lever twice during my life.
>>>
>>>The first time I pulled it for Ike when he ran against Stevenson the second the time.
>>>I was in college then and the reaction from my D friends on the campus - who had convinced themselves that Adlai, the darling of the intellectual left, couldn't lose - was even more heated than Victor's response here.
>>>
>>>I'm certainly not comparing Trump to Ike - they're not even from the same planet - but on the other hand when I compare HRC to someone as classy as Adlai Stevenson- who against anyone but Ike would have had my enthusiastic support- I'm reminded again of how far both parties have veered off course.
>>>
>>>Responses like Victor's are common. My dear friend Mike still can't accept the fact that people could be so stupid as to elect Obama twice.
>>>It took me almost a year to accept the fact that Bush had been re-elected.
>>>If Victor is as smart as I think he is, he'll eventually start looking at why so many people disagreed with him.
>>>
>>>That works.
>>>Back in 1960, after losing badly twice to Ike, the party got its act together and nominated JFK.
>>>Now - well, let's just say that was a great moment for me and my fellow D's.
>>
>>I was too young to vote in Florida in 1960 ( but not in Georgia) but I was a mild Nixon supporter mainly because of Ike. Ike was CIC when I was sworn into the Army and Clinton was CIC when I did my last active duty. My roommate in 1960 was a 100% JFK supporter and might have convinced me to vote for JFK if I had been old enough. I believe JFK would have been one of the great presidents if he had lived - he had a vision for the future of this country. To me he would have been a right of center republican in today's environment. On the 1960 election, JFK won by about 100 K votes out of 68 million but I'm sure you can remember the fraud charges even J. E. Hoover referring the FBI case to the AG - Robert Kennedy where it died. What most people don't remember is that the courts stopped many the recounts just like they did with Gore/Bush. The only state to have it's original electoral college vote count changed was HI from JFK to Nixon.
>>The biggest problem with JFK and Nixon relate to the same principle - abandonment of promises made to friends - JFK to Cubans in the Bay of Pigs and Nixon to Vietnamese if DRV invaded RVN.
>>Since we are probably the 2 oldest people on this site I would be interested in how and why you would rate the presidents in your lifetime.
>
>Hmmm
>Good question.
>Have to rate FDR, Ike, Truman and Reagan as 1,2,3,4
>FDR needs no explanation.


I don't remember much about FDR except he was very popular with my family and I remember when he died.

>Ike because of how he ended the war in Korea and built the interstates,

To me Ike created a great time to be growing up in America.

>Truman because of the Marshall plan and his handling of postwar Japan. (selfishly, I also liked the GI bill he gave us.)

I would give Truman an A+ on both the Marshall Plan and postwar Japan.
I believe the GI Bill whether you were a veteran or not was one of the best ROI's this country ever made. A lot of the progress made under Ike were the results of education provided under the GI Bill. I never used mine but the first house my parents bought was on a VA loan.
A personal plus for Truman is the fact that my father was in Manila in 1945 when Truman ordered the atomic bomb dropped on Japan. It saved a lot of lives on both sides.

>Reagan because of how he ended the cold war. His domestic policies were awful, but his work with Gorbachev was historic.
My number one. Would you tell me what domestic policies you disagreed with? For me in 1980 with interest rates and inflation things weren't looking so good. Because of usury laws I had to form a corporation to borrow money and I'd get a 8% raise in pay and lose 10% in buying power.

>Emotionally, I want to put JFK on the list because of how he inspired my generation, but intellectually, I have to keep him off because he never had a chance to accomplish much,
>
Me too.

>The rest are a mish mash
>The worst - that's easy.
>GW Bush and Clinton.

I would have to say Carter and I voted for him based mostly on his job as governor of Georgia. He made a big impression on me when he was governor and the state had a budget surplus. While the politicians where deciding how to spend the surplus he suggested "give it back to the people who paid it". And they did- only about $20 for my wife who paid GA taxes but as they say "It's the thought that counts". He was probably one of the most sincere presidents we ever had but caught up in a den of thieves. I give him poor grades on effectively giving China control of the Panama Canal and his intervention in Iran which led to the current problems we have there.