Who was the best and worst US president to your memory; why?

I've lived through 10 presidential administrations, Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson, Nixon, Ford, Carter, Reagan, Bush Sr, Clinton, Bush Jr. It's actually asking two different questions to ask which is the best one "in memory", and which is the best one in historical retrospect. For example, when I was growing up, Eisenhower seemed like a nice grandfatherly leader. In fact, he proved to be one of the most formidable and capable presidents in all US history, a still underrated president because much of what he did was largely behind the scenes. He'd be among the best in the past 10 presidents, if not the top one. Now, when Reagan was elected in 1980, it was like the beginning a new chapter in American history and the future never seemed so bright. So, "in memory", he would be the best, even though there were some problems in the way he handled his job. He's definitely the most likeable president for me. As for the worst, it's the current one, Bush Jr, without question. He has brought to the Oval Office an ugly, "my way or the highway" attitude towards not only the rest of the world, but to many Americans as well. He is openly contemptous of the Supreme Court, Constitution, science, envrionment, Europeans, American "heathens", in his bullying way, always absolutely positive that he is right and everyone else wrong, and too ready to pre-emptively strike out at anyone else in the world that smells like a threat to him. He lives on fear. he wants everyone else to believe in fear. He will finally be gone in a couple of months, and good riddance.

The best is undoubtedly Abraham Lincoln for having abolished slavery in the United States and the worst being the current president who has dared tarnish the image of the United States in the world!

Carter.

I was just a kid, but I remember the inflation and the Iran hostage crisis.

The price of a soda pop doubled in one year,, gas prices went crazy.. my parents and grand parents were always fighting about money.

I had always been told we were the most powerful nation in the world, and here was someplace I'd never heard of,. where they all had beards and wore funny hats, and they were taunting us and winning.

The news always opened with Hostage Crisis day (blank),, and it just went on and on for over a year.

Carter was supposed to be a great change after Nixon and he just fizzled.

and when he fizzled it seemed to take the whole world with him.

All the grown-ups were annoyed by the speed limit dropping to 55, and they started trying to teach us the metric system in school.

All kids hated the metric system. We were told we had to learn it because it was the what the japanese used and they were beating us economically.

The factories were my grandparents had worked closed..

American made things.. (we used to make T.V.s and things in this nation.) were all crap.

Over all there was the sense of the Nation declining, that America wasn't great anymore. My World War 2 grandparents were really bummed about that.

the worst as Nixon, he was a total scumbag that thought he was above the law.

The best may have been Reagan, but I liked Bush 41 more. He knew how to manage foreign policy like no one else and was more honorable (imho) than Reagan. Reagan did some shady deals, but Bush41 was an honorable man and a good president. Timing was not on his side though. When the Savings and Loan crisis happened and the economy tanked because the Cold War ended, he got the blame. Very much like what is happening today.

the worst would have to be FDR and or Bill Clinton. FDR honestly caused so much disaster and put our nation in a real distress while he was in office. Not to mention he basically started The Great Depression! and Clinton, did you know he had the chance to stop and capture Osama Bin laden, but he was too busy playing golf! they caused are country to have to go through alot of hard times. But, our best president would most definitely have to be Ronald Reagan. He made are nation so much safer, and made it such a better place to live in. He really reformed our nation from some of its hardships in the past.

Reagan was the best. He was the best economist, the best statesman and the best at handling the media ever.

Carter was the worst. Listen, if W haters think the economy is bad now, they either weren't around to see or don't remember the double-digit interest rates, the double-digit unemployment figures or the double-digit inflation when Carter got out of office. And yeah, gas prices may be high now, but in 1979, the gas station was only open on Tuesdays and Fridays.

Johnson was the most corrupt, but Carter was the worst for the country.

Things seemed pretty good under Clinton... I was a teenager then... so take that with a grain of salt.

But the thing is, just because I was a teenager doesn't mean that I had a warped perception - I was also very smart as far as teens go...

And my family was all employed, we moved into a bigger house and my education was far better than what kids are recieving now!

On the flip-side... during Reagan I was even younger, but I remember that my parents almost got a divorce and everyone was having financial problems but they couldn't stop buying things... hmmm....

Also during Reagan, two family friends had children who committed suicide... Of course, Reagan can't be blamed for those things, but I'm talking about the general climate as I remember it...

To the best of my memory Jimmy Carter was the worst. I believe he was a good guy but a very weak leader. He did nothing to motivate the people and he, along with his advisers, congress, stc produced horrendous inflation. During this time I recall a friend having an 18% mortgage interest rate!

I remember a lot of them, back to Truman actually. The worst is George W. Bush in my opinion. The war, the economy, the loss of civil rights, the torture issue, the refusal to admit any mistakes or make changes, the nomination of his personal lawyer to the Supreme Court, the Valerie Plame case, and in general lying to the public. Also our standing in Overseas opinion has dropped dramatically.

The best might be Truman, and Kennedy. Clinton also did a good job, though.

Best - William Jefferson Clinton

Worst - George Walker Bush

I've only lived through a few presidents, most of them were "meh", but I loved Clinton and hated Dubya. I think George W. Bush is the worst president in American history. Reagan was just a whacko, and he wasn't a terrible president but he wasn't very good either. Bush 41 was the same way.