rubber soul

Okay, I'm going to take a page from Trollheart here and start a journal that has absolutely nothing to do with music.

I also have to give him credit for this inspiration. Being a bit of an amateur Presidential historian, I was intrigued by Troll's question on what would have made a President great or not so great.

So, I'm going to do a painstaking review of each of the 45 men who have occupied the oval office (46 if you include Grover Cleveland's two non-consecutive terms). I'll do a summary of each man's political history (no woman has ever been President officially, though if they ever succeed in proving Biden is just a senile old fart...), and give my own personal thoughts on his administration. I may rate some of the lesser known Presidents higher than others while some that are considered great, I may not agree with.

Anyway, we'll see how it goes. Will I stick with it? Will anyone care? especially since I'll be doing this chronologically.

And I promise not to slam you with fifty journals like someone else we know.

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Trollheart

Woo-hoo! I'm looking forward to this, and will come back with a crowbar and a large sack in due course to carry off what I can for my American history journal!

Seriously (I am being serious, what do you mean?) your knowledge of the occupants of the Oval Office seems pretty encyclopaedic, so I'll be interested in your take on them.

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Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018

music_collector

Surprising (to me, anyway), U.S. presidents didn't get much attention in my history classes in school. I'd like to hear a more historically accurate explanation, rather than the overly romanticized version from Hollywood.

Speaking of presidents, I wish we would adopt a two year term limit across all levels of government - federal, provincial, municipal. That policy would have saved Canadians from a world of hurt.

rubber soul

There are at least a couple of changes I'd like to see made with our system. For starters I don't think our politicians should be able to choose our judges nor should they be elected. They should be independent of partisan politics and decide based on the Constitution and their own conscience.

I also don't like the idea of political parties. Anyone should be able to run for office without having to follow some sort of party line. Again, they should be able to vote based on the needs of their constituents and, again, of their own conscience.

And term limits are fine, if they stick to it. The Republicans pushed an amendment to limit the President to two four year terms because they didn't want another FDR. Just forty years later, they wanted to repeal that amendment. Why? Because they wanted another four years of Ronald Reagan. American hypocrisy in action.

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Trollheart

I agree, and also disagree. Look at the situation in Colombia in the 1980s (yes, I've been watching Narcos, what of it?) - even the president couldn't order the attorney general not to do something; he was totally independent of executive power. If you have officials not under the president's control, you have a potential recipe for anarchy, or at the least a sort of "shadow government" that works either despite, or even in opposition to, the president.

I personally feel any candidate should have to have served some sort of political post. The idea of, say, Elon Musk, or even Kanye, being able to stand is, to me, nonsense, though it's the same here. Mind you, the post of president here is nothing but a well-paid cushy job, with a few appearances, speeches and being woken first thing the afternoon to sign something, then nodding back off. But when you're going for the job which is essentially that of the most powerful person in the world, I think a few qualifications should be mandatory, and they should not include how rich you are, or how well-connected, or what incriminating photographs you have.

It's always amazed me that, as long as you have the money and get the backing, anyone can run. I know this is "government for the people by the people etc" but surely the man, or woman, or small blue furry thing from Alpha Centauri who is going to run the country should, you know, know a thing or two about running the country?

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Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018

SGR

I'm excited for your review of the contentious 1876 election that resulted in Rutherford B. Hayes becoming president. And also your view on the gilded age presidents in general. It's a period of American history that for some reason is largely forgotten in the public consciousness. It's the awkward teenage years, past the heralded glories of our childhood but before we become an international adult powerhouse.

Don't forget to tell the story of Taft getting stuck in a bathtub, or Teddy Roosevelt relaying the sasquatch story told to him by a trapper in one of his books.

I am excited for this journal.

The Batlord

Getting my gun loaded for if this libtard whitewashes Woodrow Wilson.

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SGR

I'm sure he'll mention that WW watched a White House screening of The Birth of a Nation.

The Batlord

And he helped to popularize Confederate lost cause bull****. And he segregated federal government jobs. And he was Dubbya invading poor countries for imperialism before Dubbya. I mean just **** Woodrow Wilson.

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Exo

Trump is a bastard and was a terrible president but people really don't fully grasp just how terrible guys like Woodrow Wilson and Andrew Jackson were. People think that sh*t was like a thousdand years ago. It wasn't. It was yesterday in historical sense.

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LastFM

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