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My review of Noah Andre Trudeau’s book Southern Storm: Sherman’s March to the Sea is available at Amazon.com here.
This volume is very much worth reading. The only reason I can think of for not buying it at Amazon is that I found a copy in the bargain bins at my local Barnes and Noble for $5. How a book this good ended up in that bin is beyond me.
Had a long discussion about my ranking of presidents with a reader today. It got me thinking that plenty of people might have their own opinions so I’m going to give you a chance to express them here.
I invite any reader to e-mail me a paragraph on who should be higher and why and who should be lower and why. I’ll publish the paragraphs as guest posts under your byline.
Not a bad thing for a July 4th weekend.
…one about the past and one about the present.
Nasty Thought #1: All this draft nonsense:
Do you get the feeling that MSNBC and the left are pushing and talking draft right now because they are afraid of Gen Petraeus? Not afraid of him politically but afraid of him as a general. I have the horrible and uncharitable feeling that they are afraid he will actually win this war.
Success in the war would mean a more powerful US. One more likely to act rather than talk. The concept of the US military as a force never to be used is even more sacred to the left than the first black president. They aren’t in a position to attack Petraeus so the only way to counter him is to get the country talking draft. With a high unemployment rate and college so expensive it is a tempting solution to several social/economic problems but it would scare the britches off of many in the ME generation.
The left has never lost their love of 60’s radicalism, it was their greatest moment, it is their dream to bring it back in living color.
Such an appraisal is not very fair to most of the left and is as I said a nasty thought, but right now it is stuck in my head and won’t come out.
Nasty Thought #2 Al Gore
For years I’ve wondered why Al Gore didn’t assert himself during the Clinton Impeachment stuff. It would have been up to Gore to talk to the president and say it was time for him to go. If he had conventional wisdom says he would have easily won election in 2000 and maybe even in 2004. Not only did he not assert himself but he after the impeachment vote made that ludicrous speech calling Mr. Bill “One of our greatest presidents” (talk about grading on a curve)! In my mind the question has always been: Why did he play along?
I have the nasty feeling that question has now been answered. Does anyone believe for one moment that if the Clintons knew Gore had some ahem “interesting diversions” they wouldn’t have held that over him? Al understood that people judge a Rogue differently than a “strait arrow”. It’s the expectations game. People were not surprised that Clinton was messing around and judged him accordingly, but Gore? He would be judged by his strait arrow image.
Again this is a nasty thought and assumes Gore’s guilt but I can’t get it out of my head.
Are these thoughts a sign I am becoming paranoid or am I just becoming more street savvy? What do you think?
If your goal is to make a political point then ranking a sitting president all time is useful, but frankly any group that ranks President Obama over Reagan is idiotic and not to be trusted.
In terms of ranking he also has the unfair disadvantage of the expectations game, if you compare him to expectations he would rank near Hoover except that he didn’t have you know anything near the actual accomplishments of Hoover before the presidency.
My own rankings of presidents is here but they are not numerical they are by group. I still think he has to potential to end up almost anywhere in the list because of the major crisis that he has to deal with. The trick is the results of many of them aren’t going to be apparent for a while, maybe even not until years after he is out of office.
I don’t care for this president, but it’s just not fair to try and rank his place in history right now. I’m too close to it and there are too many variables.
For example regardless of the reason for it the appointment of Petraeus could dramatically change things, if congress changes sides as is likely how he manages to work with such a congress can make a difference. We are still not even half way into his first term.
Do I expect positive changes? Frankly no, but that doesn’t mean the can’t or won’t happen. He is the president of my country and I want the best for my country, I don’t think he will bring it but I’d be very happy if he did.
When those historians rank this president where they do they once again create a set expectations that have great potential to be unmet. They serve him and the country very poorly.
Update: Smitty makes the same point I did
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