First of all, my apologies for the length of this post. As we approach the upcoming election, and given that I and many others have made statements to the effect that this is the most important election of our lifetimes, I decided to do a” look back” at all of the presidents who have served during my lifetime. I was born in 1951 so the president at the time was Harry Truman.
Harry S. Truman (1945 – 1953): Ordered the atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki after the Japanese refused to surrender. Subsequently, he “presented to Congress a 21-point program, proposing the expansion of Social Security, a full-employment program, a permanent Fair Employment Practices Act, and public housing and slum clearance. The program came to know as the ‘Fair Deal.’1 He presided over the “Marshall Plan, named for his secretary of state, stimulated spectacular economic recovery in war-torn western Europe”1.
Dwight Eisenhower (1953 – 1961): Commanding General of the WWII European Theater of Operations forces. The armed truce along the Korean border was signed in 1953. Eisenhower tried to reduce some of the Cold War tensions and even tried to negotiate the first ‘Open Skies’ treaty with the Soviet Union – which they rejected. He carried on much of the ‘New Deal’ and ‘Fair Deal’ policies started under Roosevelt and Truman, respectively. He also presided over the initial school desegregation efforts after the ruling the Brown vs. Board of Education case, although not as aggressively as some Civil Rights leaders had wanted.
John F. Kennedy (1961 – 1963): WWII Navy hero. Famous for the line, “Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country.” Author of the Pulitzer Prize winning book, “Profiles in Courage.” Presided over the disastrous Bay of Pigs invasion of Cuba. Took a courageous stand against the Soviet Union when they secretly placed missiles in Cuba, ultimately leading to the withdrawal of the missiles and the signing of a partial nuclear test ban treaty. Assassinated in 1963.
Lyndon B. Johnson (1963 – 1969): Completed things pushed by Kennedy which included Civil Rights legislation and a major tax cut. Also passed a number of programs as part of his vision for a ‘Great Society.’ These included, “bills for aid to education, attack on disease, Medicare, urban renewal, conservation, development of depressed regions, a wide-scale fight against poverty, control and prevention of crime and delinquency, and removal of obstacles to the right to vote especially for African Americans”.1 He undertook secret efforts to broker a peace settlement in Vietnam but those efforts failed and the war escalated which overshadowed much of what he accomplished in other areas.
Richard Nixon (1969 – 1974): “During his presidency, Nixon succeeded in ending American fighting in Vietnam, improving relations with the Soviet Union, and ending America’s estrangement from China.”1 In addition, “Nixon’s accomplishments while in office included revenue sharing, the end of the draft, new anticrime laws, and a broad environmental program. As he had promised, he appointed justices of conservative philosophy to the Supreme Court. In 1969, he welcomed back the astronauts who had made the first moon landing.” Unfortunately, almost all of Nixon’s accomplishments are overshadowed by the Watergate scandal which ultimately led to his resignation.
Gerald R. Ford (1974 – 1977): Ford is probably most famous for granting his predecessor, Richard Nixon, a pardon after the Watergate scandal. However, he did provide aid to both Egypt and Israel which resulted in an interim truce. Détente continued with the Soviet Union. He also was in office during a time of significant inflation and used his veto 39 times on non-military appropriations to try to reign in spending under a Democratic Congress.
Jimmy Carter (1977 – 1981): Carter inherited a government racked by inflation and unemployment. Eight million jobs were created under his administration and the deficit declined as a percentage of Gross National Product but coupled with the energy crisis it wasn’t enough to keep the economy from going into a recession. He enacted civil service reform, a national energy policy, created the Department of Education, and appointed record numbers of women, African- Americans and Hispanics to government jobs. Ongoing inflation and unemployment coupled with the Iran hostage crisis resulted in Carter’s defeat to Ronald Reagan after his one term in office.
Ronald Reagan (1981 – 1989): Reagan presided over the end to the Cold War with the famous line, “Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!” and a treaty banning intermediate-range nuclear missiles. He pushed an income tax reform bill through Congress but instead of reducing the deficit with ‘Reaganomics’, the national debt ballooned. However, the economy did recover from the previous administration’s era of high inflation and high unemployment. The Iran-Contra Affair did cloud his administration a bit but not enough to prevent a second term in office.
George Bush (1989-1993): Presided over the breakup to the Soviet Union and the founding of a new post Cold War era with Mikhail Gorbachev. He sent troops to Panama to oust the corrupt regime of Manuel Noriega. In 1990, Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait and threatened Saudi Arabia. Bush built a coalition of international partners and launched ‘Desert Storm’ to oust Saddam from Kuwait. [ I remember it well – I was in Abu Dhabi at the time!] The campaign to oust Saddam was successful but after 12 years of Republican political leaders, the populace wanted a change and Bush lost to Clinton after one term
William (Bill) Clinton (1993 – 2001): His administration saw an economic expansion and the first budget surplus in decades. The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) was negotiated during his administration. “He championed NATO bombing to stop ethnic cleansing in Kosovo, approved bombing of Iraq to “deny” Saddam Hussein the “capacity” to use weapons of mass destruction, and worked hard to broker peace between Israel and the Palestinians”1 However, Clinton was also impeached for lying about his fling with Monica Lewinsky. He was not found guilty and removed from office and served two full terms.
George H.W. Bush (2001 – 2009): Bush lost the popular vote to Al Gore but won through the electoral college when the Supreme Court stepped in. Bush saw the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center which killed over 3,000 Americans. He launched the ‘war on terrorism’ in both Afghanistan and then went after Saddam Hussein in Iraq on faulty intelligence involving Weapons of Mass Destruction. He was criticized for his slow response to Hurricane Katrina which struck the Gulf Coast and then in 2008, the Wall Street collapse ushered a major recession.
Barak Obama (2009 – 2017): The first African-American president. “During his first term he signed three signature bills; an omnibus bill to stimulate the economy, legislation making health care more accessible and affordable, and legislation reforming the nation’s financial institutions. Obama also pressed for a fair pay act for women, financial reform legislation, and efforts for consumer protection. In 2009, Obama became the fourth president to receive the Nobel Peace Prize”.1 Ordered the killing of Osama bin Laden. Oversaw an economic recovery following the Wall Street collapse.
Donald J. Trump (2017 -?): Draw your own conclusions by looking through the lens of the accomplishments of past presidents.
If there is one common thread among all of the presidents prior to Trump listed above is the fact that they were all enacting legislation and policies and building international alliances as part of a national vision. Trump’s administration is known more for tearing things down, undoing work that has been done before and alienating strategic allies. There is no vision for the country – only actions which Trump views as beneficial to Trump and his family.
When I look at what Trump has done in his first term as president ( particularly in light of the current pandemic) compared to what every other president in my lifetime has done, it is clear to me that he is clearly out of his league. He doesn’t hold a candle to even the worst of these people. At least everyone in the above list was willing to put the country first, whether or not you agreed with their policies. Trump only cares about Trump. We need someone who will work for ‘we the people’. This is, in fact, the most important election of my lifetime.
- https://www.whitehousehistory.org/the-presidents-timeline