IMO, I would say someone like Bob Dole…when conceding the 1996 U.S. presidential election to Bill Clinton, he famously said “he is my opponent, not my enemy” (which, very unfortunately, would be quite surprising to hear said nowadays).
What are you opinions? Not necessarily referring to how anyone feels about their political positions, but mainly character and professionalism.
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Not since the 1800s.
I think a lot of people are turning on Lincoln now even. Apparently not executing everyone south of the Mason-Dixon after the Civil War was a tacit endorsement racism. Probably 25 years ago most people would have said they admired the founding fathers.
At various times there would have been. Not anymore.
No, not ever.
Abraham Lincoln, maybe.
If we’re not talking opinions, just professionalism, I always liked McCain.
There are a few like Lincoln, Washington, to a lesser extent Kennedy and the Roosevelts who are pretty widely liked. But all of those guys either had demons in their closets that color their presidency, like Washington owning slaves, Kennedy’s constant cheating, and Teddy’s war mongering or they have modern opponents like FDR and Lincoln. Lincoln’s being southerners who associate with the CSA and FDR is hated by a fair bit of conservatives. In terms of smaller offices, there are a few guys like Harvey Milk, MLK, or Leo Ryan who are generally pretty well liked. MLK being the most famous of them.
isn’t there some town in Alaska whose mayor is a dog?
I’d vote for him tbh don’t even care what party he’s from
Abraham Lincoln. 16th President of the United States.
President Dwayne Elizondo Mountain Dew Herbert Camacho.
I think most people would agree that John McCain was a very respectable man, regardless of how they felt about his individual political stances on things. He was always respectful of opponents, and I think he genuinely had the country’s best interest at heart. In fact, I’ll go as far as saying that when I meet someone who claims he was a terrible person, I pretty much immediately lose respect for them, because it says to me that the only thing they’re concerned with is team politics.
The 2008 election was the election they all should be. Two perfectly decent and respectable people, with some disagreements, making their case for why their way is a little better.
Contrast that to 2020. Two incompetent morons whose entire political appeal is “I’m not the other guy”.
If “having decorum and professionalism” is the bar for *admiration* we’re starting from a bad place.
Not really, other than maybe Abe Lincoln, but a bunch of people in the south aren’t fond of him.
JFK
The only people that wouldn’t admire him are commies
This thread is where you can see just how young Reddit skews and how different the political world is today.
I would say MOST people respected MOST politicians until it started changing around when Nixon fucked up then it ramped up as mass media became more massive.
Respect and lock step agreement were not always tied together so much.
I think Washington is universally admired even if it’s not popular to admit it because he was a slave owner. He was the founding president, it’s not too high a bar to say he made possible everything else this country has accomplished.
30 years ago there were plenty of them. Now things are so polarized I’d say probably very few. Lincoln. Washington. Maybe Eisenhower.
When George H Bush passed recently, you could tell he was a well respected ex president from both sides of the aisle and media.
Because he was a respectable gentleman. Smart, measured, successful, has class and manners, but not taking any guff from anybody either.
I see Obama in much the same way. Though maybe not as tough as Bush Sr.
Reagan and Lincoln
Roosevelts and Kennedys, John McCain
I would say Washington, Lincoln and both Roosevelts.
Jimmy Carter, but as a humanitarian.
You know you were a good president when the opposite party argues that you would have been in their party if you were still alive. According to conservatives JFK would be a conservative if he was still alive today, so we know he was good
Washington, Teddy Roosevelt, Jefferson, Lincoln (maybe) & Eisenhower probably.
Eisenhower is probably the most recent. I would say Washington, Jefferson, Madison, Lincoln, Roosevelt 1, Roosevelt 2, and Truman are all up there. Benjamin Franklin and Alexander Hamilton were never president, but are very well regarded as well.
Recently, I would say John McCain. It’s important to note that Trumpists are only a segment of Republicans out there, and that “not a Trump supporter” and “Democrat” are not necessarily synonymous. So I figure that most Democrats, and a good number of Republicans, together comprising a majority of the population, still respect and even admire John McCain, not just for what he endured during the war, but also for his activities as a politician and a presidential candidate. His concession speech in 2008 was impressive. His correcting of a woman in one of his town hall meetings derisively calling Obama a “Muslim” stands out to me. And I for one enjoyed whenever he did something to piss the Cheeto Satan off…even after McCain’s death, when he invited Joe Biden and the living ex-Presidents to his memorial, but not Mr. Covfefe.