A few days ago, in Ap Government, our class read a passage from Lord Bryce, called "Why Great Men are Never Chosen as President"
http://hnn.us/articles/448.html
(This isn't the full passage, but it gets the main points across)
I thought it was pretty interesting the points he made, and this was written back in the nineteenth century. One of the major points that stood out, was that safe men (or women) are preferred over those that may actually turn out to be "great." Parties are not concerned with who will do the best job, but who can beat out the other side.
"The safest candidate may not draw in quite so many votes from the moderate men of the other side as the brilliant one would, but he will not lose nearly so many from his own ranks. Even those who admit his mediocrity will vote straight when the moment for voting comes."
Reading farther just strengthens the point that politics is more or less a game. It's about strategies, about who can win, not for the good of the country, but so that the other side cannot win, and "destroy" the country.
According to the passage, the only "great" presidents we've had have been in the early stages of our country: George Washington, John Adams, etc. Those men were "great" because they had something to prove; they had a brand new country, that needed to make it's place in the world.
Today, what do the candidates actually care about? Is it really the good of the country? Or has it just become about beating out the other side? Are there any presidents that could be considered "great" in this day and age?
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I think to some extent Ronald Reagan was the closest to "great" we've had. He took some big chances with "Reaganomics." The result of this ideology was a massive national debt, 20 million new jobs for Americans, an expansion of States' responsibilities, and some pretty significant tax reforms. He also ended the Cold War.
In my opinion, our greatest lost opportunity was Colin Powell. He would have made a fantastic President. What a waste of a good man.
"Today, what do the candidates actually care about? Is it really the good of the country? Or has it just become about beating out the other side? Are there any presidents that could be considered "great" in this day and age?"
Candidates are just politicians, they will say anything to get into office, some more so then others. I mean how can you blame them, they're people too. I think the whole thing about thinking these presidents are squeaky clean is an ignorant idealist statement. Any president can be considered 'great', but this is a mere fact of opinion and your definition of 'great'.
+mspin