10 Best Republicans

[jayem]

My list of the the 10 best Republicans.(Actually 11, since there's a tie.) In order of significance:

1. Abraham Lincoln.
2. Teddy Roosevelt.
3) Tie: Sens. Everett Dirksen and Jacob Javitz. (Both crucial in getting the Civil Rights and Voting Rights Acts passed.)
4. Dwight Eisenhower.
5. Ronald Reagan.
6. Earl Warren. (The most influential SCOTUS Chief Justice of the 20th century.)
7. Nelson Rockefeller. (The model of a modern progressive Republican.)
8. John Danforth. (My former Senator. The model of a modern conservative Republican.)
9. Olympia Snowe. (The model of a modern pragmatic Republican.)
10. John McCain. (The model of a heroic Republican.)

I'm working on a list of the 10 best Democrats.

 

[majj27]

My list of the the 10 best Republicans.(Actually 11, since there's a tie.) In order of significance:

1. Abraham Lincoln.
2. Teddy Roosevelt.
3) Tie: Sens. Everett Dirksen and Jacob Javitz. (Both crucial in getting the Civil Rights and Voting Rights Acts passed.)
4. Dwight Eisenhower.
5. Ronald Reagan.
6. Earl Warren. (The most influential SCOTUS Chief Justice of the 20th century.)
7. Nelson Rockefeller. (The model of a modern progressive Republican.)
8. John Danforth. (My former Senator. The model of a modern conservative Republican.)
9. Olympia Snowe. (The model of a modern pragmatic Republican.)
10. John McCain. (The model of a heroic Republican.)

I'm working on a list of the 10 best Democrats.

McCain is an interesting choice. He had some really good moments throughout his career, and you can't really question his devotion to country (combat pilot during wartime and all), but he sometimes seemed to just stuck in "Angry McCain" mode and just be obstinate - Hence my nickname of "Anger Golem" for him.

Reagan is another choice that could be questioned with some accuracy, I think. While remembered fondly for his charismatic speeches and leadership style, he did have some black marks which were pretty serious. Between the scandals of his administration (Iran-Contra, The HUD kickbacks, the S&L crisis) and his poor choices on the emerging AIDS Crisis, he had his share of problematic decisions. And then there was his embrace of supply-side economics, which doesn't actually, you know, work.

But I'm nitpicking, honestly.

 

[Fantine]

Interesting that only one is still politically active. Republicans have gone downhill recently...

 

[Babe Ruth]

My opinion, Eisenhower is greatest Republican to date..

 

[HereIStand]

My top five best would be as follows:
1. Lincoln
2. Trump
3. Scalia
4. Eisenhower
5. Giuliani

 

[jayem]

Interesting that only one is still politically active. Republicans have gone downhill recently...

Sad, but true. All but the last 3 on my list are dead.

 

[Ringo84]

I'm not sure I can list any modern Republican in my personal list of 'best Republican'. I'm hard pressed to think of one in Congress - McCain included - that isn't enabling garbage.

But I do agree with the historical ones you listed. Ironically, Nixon - even with his insecurity, greed, and criminal behavior - was probably the last great Republican president we've had. He did a lot of bad things, and made a lot of mistakes, but if I'm not mistaken, he tried to help the poor.
Ringo

 

[Rion]

Rather vague reasons for the most part. Care to elaborate?

 

[Nithavela]

Today, a good republican is one who votes along party lines and doesn't make a fool of himself during interviews.

 

[ThatRobGuy]

Not sure why Lincoln makes the list for so many...if you read some of his writings and stances, he would actually be considered a pretty terrible person and his attitudes toward women and minorities would even be enough to scare off a number of far-right republicans in present day.

He gets this label of being being this quasi-"father of equality" type of person due to his stances during the civil war, but make no mistake about it, he didn't think highly of minorities.

People seem to have this nostalgic view of a lot of people from our nation's history. I don't think they realize that most of them would be considered terrible people by today's standards.

 

[bhsmte]

My list of the the 10 best Republicans.(Actually 11, since there's a tie.) In order of significance:

1. Abraham Lincoln.
2. Teddy Roosevelt.
3) Tie: Sens. Everett Dirksen and Jacob Javitz. (Both crucial in getting the Civil Rights and Voting Rights Acts passed.)
4. Dwight Eisenhower.
5. Ronald Reagan.
6. Earl Warren. (The most influential SCOTUS Chief Justice of the 20th century.)
7. Nelson Rockefeller. (The model of a modern progressive Republican.)
8. John Danforth. (My former Senator. The model of a modern conservative Republican.)
9. Olympia Snowe. (The model of a modern pragmatic Republican.)
10. John McCain. (The model of a heroic Republican.)

I'm working on a list of the 10 best Democrats.

What was your criteria?

 

[hislegacy]

Reagan is definitely at the top of the list.

Strong military stance, historic tax cuts, a economic turnaround. Dictators hated him, the left still hates him.

The press tolerated him at best.

I remember are reporter asking him a question and his response was “nothing you would like or agree to”. With his big toothy grin.

Can you imagine

 

[Rubiks]

Reagan is definitely at the top of the list.

Strong military stance, historic tax cuts, a economic turnaround. Dictators hated him, the left still hates him.

That counts as a reason?

 

[hislegacy]

That counts as a reason?

Nope, it counts only as an opinion.

 

[PloverWing]

Unless there's some new scandal (ya never know!), I'd include Senator Mark Hatfield on my list of Republicans. I like the way he was able to bring Christian ethics into his political views, especially regarding war.

I've also seen a lot of qualities I like in Senator Susan Collins.

 

[wing2000]

Not sure why Lincoln makes the list for so many...if you read some of his writings and stances, he would actually be considered a pretty terrible person and his attitudes toward women and minorities would even be enough to scare off a number of far-right republicans in present day.

He gets this label of being being this quasi-"father of equality" type of person due to his stances during the civil war, but make no mistake about it, he didn't think highly of minorities.

People seem to have this nostalgic view of a lot of people from our nation's history. I don't think they realize that most of them would be considered terrible people by today's standards.

...which is why we need to judge them by the standards of their time.

 

[citizenthom]

Most of the best and most principled Republicans are people you have never heard of: they're the ones who voted against the wars of the early 20th century against a crushing tide of public sentiment, out of a principled stance against war.

My personal favorite is Jeannette Rankin, the first woman ever to serve in the House of Representatives and the ONLY Congressperson to vote against declaring war on Japan. Her rationale was simple: because she was a woman was not even allowed to VOLUNTEER to go to war, she refused to vote to send other women's sons and husbands to war. The backlash was so severe that she required a police escort off the Capitol floor, with some of the threats of violence coming from her own (male) colleagues.

 

[ThatRobGuy]

...which is why we need to judge them by the standards of their time.

I disagree...

We progress as a society by knowing which ways our predecessors were out of line, and improving on it.

Judging people by the standards of their own time runs the risk turning a blind eye to some poor behavior.


But that's a moot point when it comes to Lincoln...there were people in his time in the north actually fighting for true equality for blacks, meanwhile, he was making statements expressing how he felt they were inferior and could never be equal to whites. So he was unethical even by the standards of his time. He spoke of them the same way someone may speak when referring to a mentally handicapped person (as that's how he viewed them in many ways)

 

[Aryeh Jay]

Reagan is definitely at the top of the list.

Strong military stance, historic tax cuts, a economic turnaround. Dictators hated him, the left still hates him.

The press tolerated him at best.

I remember are reporter asking him a question and his response was “nothing you would like or agree to”. With his big toothy grin.

Can you imagine

Running from Lebanon is not a very strong military stance.

It is funny; he did have historic tax cuts, as well as historic tax increases.

Dictators hated and loved him. Manuel Noriega, Saddam Hussein, Hosni Mubarak, and Augusto Pinochet loved him.

 

[Rubiks]

I disagree...

We progress as a society by knowing which ways our predecessors were out of line, and improving on it.

Judging people by the standards of their own time runs the risk turning a blind eye to some poor behavior.


But that's a moot point when it comes to Lincoln...there were people in his time in the north actually fighting for true equality for blacks, meanwhile, he was making statements expressing how he felt they were inferior and could never be equal to whites. So he was unethical even by the standards of his time. He spoke of them the same way someone may speak when referring to a mentally handicapped person (as that's how he viewed them in many ways)

I think the reason some people held to abhorrent beliefs can SOMETIMES be better explained by ignorance than malice (e.g. not everyone was aware of what actually happened in American slave plantations. The south tried to portray slavery in a positive light)