Posted on 12/07/2018 7:56:53 AM PST by Kaslin
YES!!!
. . . and also negotiated our settled border with Canada.And he didn’t run for reelection in 1848 . . .
So I suppose that Polk is actually in a different category, in the sense that he was not a one-term POTUS because of electoral defeat.
That’s about where my frequent bouts of hindsight generally gets me to. That Iran/Iraq war could have gone on another couple of decades and I wouldn’t have been disappointed.
The hagiography continues.
Independent treasury as well.
Worse than simply being wrong, he broke a pledge in doing so - and passing that tax increase was a Catch-22. If the tax increase helped the economy, the great plank of the Reagan legacy which had the Democrats on their heels was destroyed - and that’s if he was right (economically) in doing so. But if it failed - and it certainly didn’t leave him with a roaring economy - he lost the election.Either way, the Republic would have lost. And look what it bought us.
“toughest one-term competitor was President James K. Polk”
LOL! This was exactly my reaction when I heard James Baker!
Of course, let’s cut him some slack. He was speaking at a funeral, not giving a history lecture.
Just the Oregon Country and the Mexican Cession together are very nearly the same amount of territory as the Louisiana Purchase.
John Adams would also have a claim to being a more significant President than GHWB, by avoiding getting us into a war with France. He had a very difficult task, following the greatest President of them all, with inherited Cabinet officers who were more loyal to Hamilton than to himself.
He raised taxes and that caused a recession and put a far-left wing judge, David Souter, on SCOTUS. His Presidency was failure as a result.
News Flash!!! He didn’t raise taxes. The rats are the ones who raised, not the president. His first term was a success just like the author said
I wasn’t either. As a matter of fact I wished I could have voted for Barbara but we don’t vote for the First Lady
Yes he did, thanks to Ross Perot
I voted for Melania. Schwing!
Regardless of who the “most successful one term POTUS” was, Trump will beat him by a mile.
100% correct, it’s no contest, Polk. He did what he said he would and then retired, almost unimaginable. Though Harding was an excellent President who would have been reelected if he had lived. Honorable mention also for John Adams. In 20/20 hindsight thought I wish we could give Cali back to Mexico.
Most other 1 termers have been a failure to varying degrees (hence their defeats or choice to not run again) or insignificant, including Bush 41, America’s John Major. Tough act to follow but...fail.
No conservative should consider Bush 41 anything but a failure if for no other reason than the fact he put a far-left wing justice on SCOTUS. That was inexcusable.
He couldn't have vetoed the tax increase? Of course, he could have.
The only reason that Clinton, who had promised the people of Arkansas that he would finish his term as governor, won the primary is because some A list Dems did not run due to Bush41's (short-lived) popularity. The only good thing about this is that the Clinton's had to rush with shredding all the documents that proved their corruption.
Bush could have still won if he had pushed back about the tax increase, exposing the Dems for lying about cutting spending $3 to every $1 in tax increases. Of course being the "gentleman" (read: pushover) that he was, he just took the arrows.
Top five single-termers:
Polk no. 1 (engineered the contiguous continental USA, damn!)
Bush no. 2 (gotta give credit for management of the Soviet collapse; hard to stomach domestic policy)
Taft no. 3 (created the modern Republican party, saving it from becoming the progressives; also launched modern auto industry and saved the Rule of Law)
J Adams no. 4 (hard to excuse him but he did follow Washington and ceded power to Jefferson, so there)
Arthur no. 5 (he just managed things well!)
Bottom dwellers, from worst to less bad — list is a work in progress:
- Buchanan
- A. Johnson
- Jimbo
- Hoover
- Clevend’s 2nd non-consecutive term
- JQ Adams
- Pierce
- Tyler
- Fillmore
- Clevend’s 1st non-consecutive term
- Van Buren
Jeez, this is hard to do! Easier is to name the six worst presidents in general:
Barack
FDR
Wilson
Carter
Buchanan
Clintoon
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