Dead Presidents
By Anthony Bergen
E-Mail: bergen.anthony@gmail.com
hummels-andersons Asks:
So, I'm Australian and I know little to nothing about the way the government works in the US. I just have a few questions, if you could clear them up. Take your time, this isn't for any assignment or anything. :)
1) I get that the US president is the most powerful man in the world and eveything, but what makes him that way?
2) Have there been any gay presidents?
3) JFK, FDR or LBJ. Rank them. Why?
4) Which of the presidents had the best educated wife and which of these wives contributed most during their husband's presidency?
5) What are your personal views on Obama?
6) How long do you think it will be before we get a female president?
deadpresidents Said:
Hello Australia!
1. The President is considered the most powerful man in the world because he’s the guy with the little card that contains the launch codes for our nuclear weapons, and the President’s the most influential world leader. Sure, other leaders have access to nuclear weapons but the difference is that we used them.
2. Not officially, but a lot of historians and people believe that our only lifelong bachelor President, James Buchanan, may have been homosexual. I’ve written about why some think Buchanan was gay in the past, so check that out.
3. FDR, LBJ, JFK. FDR is one of the greatest Presidents in history because of what he steered the country through with the Great Depression and World War II. He was an amazing leader. LBJ is next because of his domestic accomplishments, particularly Civil Rights, which Johnson did more for than any other President, including Lincoln. JFK was inspirational, but his Presidency was brief, cut short by his assassination, and coming up with a vision doesn’t make you a great President — you have to follow through on it.
4. I haven’t studied the First Ladies that well, so I’m not 100% positive, but I would imagine that the best educated First Ladies were probably recent ones such as Michelle Obama, Hillary Clinton, and Laura Bush. Lady Bird Johnson was also very educated (I think she had history and journalism degrees from the University of Texas). Which of those First Ladies contributed most to her husband’s Presidency? Probably either Hillary or Lady Bird (who was VERY influential both publicly and privately).
5. I’m disappointed President Obama hasn’t done more, but I am an Obama supporter who worked on his campaign from February 2007 until the 2008 DNC, am happy he is my President, and will vote for him in 2012.
6. I don’t think there’s anything holding us back from having a female candidate other than the electoral cycle. It won’t be 2012 because there’s not a solid female candidate on the GOP side that can challenge Obama. We might see one in 2016.
