My Favorite Presidents on President's Day

I'm not a historian, (or an historian as we'd say in Greentown) but these are my FAVORITES:

1) George Washington... He had bad teeth which is probably why he never smiled in his pictures. Great leader... a man of prayer... Just what we needed at the time.

2) Ronald Reagan... Best president of the 20th century. Saved us from a second term with Jimmy Carter... made the word "Conservative" respectable again and forever linked it with common sense and a strong defense... saved the economy with his tax cuts... and he won the Cold War.

3) Andrew Jackson... He married Susan Hayward in "The President's Lady" and teamed up with Yul Brynner in "The Buccaneer" (and he looked a lot like Moses who coincidentally also starred with Yul Brynner in the Ten Commandments)
The real Jackson was a warrior and a man's man... and he stood up to the Supreme Court when he said, "John Marshall has made his decision; now let him enforce it!" (Dang! I love this guy!)

Abraham Lincoln... He freed the slaves and led the nation through its darkest hours... and was so kind when he shared his apple with Shirley Temple in "The Littlest Rebel."

5) Theodore Roosevelt... He was a great leader and a great and colorful (and hugely popular) 20th century president... though I always thought he looked Japanese in those glasses in the old news reels. But whenever I hear his name I think of "Arsenic and Old Lace." Charge!

HONORABLE MENTION:

George "W" Bush... Not a true conservative, but he does seem to get the big issues right. And he defeated, and thus saved us from, two of the poorest war-time candidates for the presidency that have ever stood behind a lectern.

MOST OVERRATED:

Franklin Delano Roosevelt... Father of the welfare state. At Yalta he gave away half of Europe to Stalin, which paved the way for so much suffering. He is mistakenly given credit for leading us out of the Great Depression when actually that was accomplished by pilots from Japan.

John Kennedy... Twiddled his fingers as the Berlin Wall went up... ("Ich bin ein Berliner..." Yeah right)... Failed to support the freedom fighters in "The Bay of Pigs" slaughter... Then when his past weakness precipitated the missile crisis... and his spine finally stiffened...he almost stumbled into World War III.

WORST:

James Earl Carter... America didn't know what malaise was until Carter. Panama Canal give-away... Hostages in Iran... Double-digit interest rates and double-digit inflation... High taxes... and not a clue... Gloom. I'm sure there is more but I've no doubt blocked it out.

Bill Clinton... And just where do you begin with this national embarrassment?

Note: All the movies listed above are great movies which you must see... my favorite being "The President's Lady."