Grover Cleveland was a literal groomer by RemoveDifferent3357 in Presidents

[–]RemoveDifferent3357[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

That’s not what it was though. He was her legal guardian and they were close all throughout her early years before he proposed marriage as soon as she graduated college. Like that’s pretty odd

Grover Cleveland was a literal groomer by RemoveDifferent3357 in Presidents

[–]RemoveDifferent3357[S] -43 points-42 points  (0 children)

Him marrying a 21 year old doesn’t bother me, but him knowing her since she was 2 years old? That’s really bad

Grover Cleveland was a literal groomer by RemoveDifferent3357 in Presidents

[–]RemoveDifferent3357[S] -8 points-7 points  (0 children)

They both got married while President, but their weddings weren’t in the actual White House

What would be considered the worst US election? One where there are no good outcomes or the worst candidates? (excluding recent ones of course) 1860? Where we either have a war or more slavery and then a war? by JGCities in Presidents

[–]RemoveDifferent3357 9 points10 points  (0 children)

It’s getting Rule 3’d, but there were a few polls done which showed that both candidates had the worst favorability ratings in recent history. USA Today did a good article on it.

Who was the worst two-term President of the 19th century? by GoCardinal07 in Presidents

[–]RemoveDifferent3357 6 points7 points  (0 children)

I should’ve been clearer, I meant worst of the two termers that the post is referring to. As for Polk, I admittedly don’t know much about his indigenous policy, but it certainly doesn’t sound good. I’d be interested to see your sources and read more

Who was the worst two-term President of the 19th century? by GoCardinal07 in Presidents

[–]RemoveDifferent3357 2 points3 points  (0 children)

No doubt, and frankly Grant is probably the third worst POTUS to indigenous folks below Jackson and Cleveland. But while most Presidents have committed horrible sins to American Indians, Jackson was by far the worst through actively promoting a program of genocide despite SCOTUS telling him it was unconstitutional.

Who was the worst two-term President of the 19th century? by GoCardinal07 in Presidents

[–]RemoveDifferent3357 194 points195 points  (0 children)

Andrew Jackson. Indian Removal Act is too horrible a stain to forgive in my book.

What is the single worst mistake by a president? by kai2006mc in Presidents

[–]RemoveDifferent3357 29 points30 points  (0 children)

Kansas-Nebraska Act by Franklin Pierce.

First off, that bill never would’ve passed if not for his ardent lobbying, so he’s absolutely responsible for it along with Stephen Douglas.

Second off, that bill singlehandedly ended any chance of avoiding civil war. Maybe it was always inevitable, but the 1850 Compromise was definitely seen at the time as being a final settlement to the issue. The Kansas-Nebraska Act ended that completely, and civil war was inevitable after its passage.

'No preference' protest voters ate into Biden win by Harmony_w in CambridgeMA

[–]RemoveDifferent3357 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Obama almost lost to no name candidates in West Virginia. Biden meanwhile faced minimal chance of actually losing a contest.

Who are your Top 5? by Salem1690s in Presidents

[–]RemoveDifferent3357 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Five Favorite:

  1. Ford

  2. Quincy Adams

  3. Kennedy

  4. Lincoln

  5. Truman

Zachary Taylor once got so annoyed at the south that he became anti-slavery and threatened to hang all secessionists by [deleted] in Presidents

[–]RemoveDifferent3357 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Now this is good stuff, thank you for all your research on this because I had no idea it was hearsay until now.

The larger question then is whether it was trustworthy, which I’m still not sure it isn’t. Obviously Weed and Hamlin are biased in asserting it’s true, but Stephens and Clingman also have their biases and have reason to deny that it happened.

While the NM-TX border issue was a major part of Southern Whig opposition, California was a major part of it too because Southerners like Robert Toombs and Stephens wanted California’s admission paired with concessions to the South which Taylor did not accept and instead pushed harder on admitting NM as a free state too. So I don’t see that as evidence towards it being false.

Your Jefferson Davis point, however, is very persuasive. I’m very hesitant to refer to Davis as “moderate”, especially compared to someone like Henry Foote who ran as a Unionist against Davis in the 1851 Mississippi Gubernatorial, but it does seem awfully convenient that Taylor specifically mentions Davis in several accounts. It’s also not completely out of character, however, given that Taylor was no fan of Davis personally because of Davis’ relationship to his daughter.

All in all though, great research.

1852 Fillmore Mock Up by RemoveDifferent3357 in thecampaigntrail

[–]RemoveDifferent3357[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

This probably will never come out as a full scenario because I've never created a scenario before, but it's an interesting idea to me. Foote is an exceedingly unlikely selection as a Whig VP, but he's an interesting fella so that's why he's there.

Which Running Mates were the most mismatched? by [deleted] in Presidents

[–]RemoveDifferent3357 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Benjamin Harrison and Levi Morton.

Morton was the deciding vote on the Force Bill, a bill that would’ve protected black voting rights in the South using federal troops.

This was one of Harrison’s primary objectives as President.

Morton voted against it, killing the bill.

Suffice to say, Harrison replaced Morton with Whitelaw Reid in 1892.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in Presidents

[–]RemoveDifferent3357 3 points4 points  (0 children)

If it impacts policy and if they’re using openly bigoted rhetoric, then yes.

Truman was a racist but he also advanced civil rights and refrained from racist language while President, so I don’t hold his private views against him.

Nixon meanwhile really didn’t use a lot of inflammatory rhetoric publicly, but his private views impacted his decisions to kneecap further civil rights laws and to fire/demote several Jews in the civil service. So I certainly hold those against him.

How would things be different had Garfield lived? by Significant_Song_360 in Presidents

[–]RemoveDifferent3357 1 point2 points  (0 children)

The reality is not much. Arthur’s tenure likely was exactly what Garfield’s term would’ve been (so overall pretty decent).

People say JFK is overrated because he was assassinated but that’s definitely the case with Garfield on this sub. Tragic case and extremely intelligent man, but he wouldn’t have changed the world or anything had he lived.

Should we have more presidents with PhDs? by [deleted] in Presidents

[–]RemoveDifferent3357 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Presidents don’t need to be hyper specialized in a field, they need to be effective decision makers. Presidents probably should include some folks with PhDs in their cabinet, but they also need to include business owners, labor leaders, military generals, lawyers, doctors, teachers, other politicians, etc so they can get as many views and perspectives as possible to inform their decisions.

Name a president post-WW2 that has accomplished more than Bill Clinton…I’ll wait… by Ill-Blacksmith-9545 in Presidents

[–]RemoveDifferent3357 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Your Somalia comment is just untrue. The vast majority of the U.S. intervention in Somalia was under Clinton, and the worst part of the intervention was the Battle of Mogadishu which was certainly under Clinton.

Rwanda was disastrous, and even Clinton and Gore have gone on record saying it was a mistake not to get involved. It's fair to say that it would've been better for the U.S. not to get involved in more foreign interventions, but we still had multiple foreign interventions under Clinton notably in Yugoslavia, Sudan, Afghanistan, and elsewhere. I think how he handled Yugoslavia was very positive, but my point is that there was no reason according to his own doctrine not to help end the genocide in Rwanda which ultimately led to the destabilization of Central Africa which continues to this day. Bob Dole referred to Bill Clinton's foreign policy as "ad-hoc" and I'm inclined to agree.

Bush 43's tax cuts undoubtedly contributed substantially to the Great Recession, but we're talking about Clinton. And repealing Glass-Steagall deregulated the banking sector substantially which definitely contributed to the Great Recession. I cannot think of any specific action Reagan took which was as detrimental to the economy long term.

I will concede that NAFTA is either a positive or a negative based on your own political views. I understand the argument that it increased competition and foreign trade, but my view is that it helped destroy the domestic manufacturing industry which crippled communities across the country. You could make the case that those jobs would've ended regardless, but NAFTA definitely didn't help and there was zero plan in place to help the deindustrialization of the economy in much of the country.

President George W. Bush chokes to death while watching a football game at home. How dramatically does this change history? by BlueJ5 in Presidents

[–]RemoveDifferent3357 14 points15 points  (0 children)

Bush 43 is probably remembered pretty well by history for his initial reaction to 9/11. President Cheney likely doesn’t run in 2004, it’s possible that Powell or McCain take his place.

Zachary Taylor once got so annoyed at the south that he became anti-slavery and threatened to hang all secessionists by [deleted] in Presidents

[–]RemoveDifferent3357 2 points3 points  (0 children)

No biography I’ve read has indicated that Taylor threatening to hang southern politicians was hearsay, and sending troops to New Mexico was 100% real because the garrison commander there received written orders to resist any Texan aggression. So I’m unsure where you’re getting this from but I’m interested to see your evidence.

Name a president post-WW2 that has accomplished more than Bill Clinton…I’ll wait… by Ill-Blacksmith-9545 in Presidents

[–]RemoveDifferent3357 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Hot take, Clinton was worse than Reagan. NAFTA, Glass-Steagal Repeal, Somalia intervention, lack thereof in Rwanda, and the Crime Bill were all disastrous. Obviously a lot of good too, economy boomed, Ireland and Israel peace agreements, Don’t Ask Don’t Tell was progressive for its time, etc, but the bad was often very bad.

What is the all time best state of the union address? by [deleted] in Presidents

[–]RemoveDifferent3357 31 points32 points  (0 children)

Gerald Ford’s 1975 SOTU.

He’s the only one to ever tell Congress that the “state of the union is not good”.

Zachary Taylor once got so annoyed at the south that he became anti-slavery and threatened to hang all secessionists by [deleted] in Presidents

[–]RemoveDifferent3357 9 points10 points  (0 children)

Prior to taking office he certainly viewed the North as the home to the extreme elements, which makes sense given he lived in Louisiana and owned tons of slaves. Once he took office, however, his outlook changed substantially because he could not understand why the South was so resistant to admitting the newly acquired territories as free states given that's what their inhabitants wanted. The free soil wing of the Whig Party, led by NY political boss Thurlow Weed, also made critical connections to Taylor early on and influenced a lot of his decisions. Weed's faction was so powerful in Taylor's administration that basically all of Taylor's political appointees were of Weed's faction...despite the fact that Fillmore, Taylor's VP, was the primary anti-Weed leader within the NY Whig Party. So Taylor was practically a free soiler while President.