Jimmie Humphrey, 74, and former owner of Sea Pines Cemetery, challenged me to say something good about Democrats. Knowing how conservative I am, he figured this would be an impossible task. To Jimmie's surprise, I responded: "Sure, I can say something good about each of the Democratic presidents since I was born.”
Franklin Roosevelt was a great war-time leader on a level comparable to Winston Churchill.
Harry Truman was a truly gutsy guy faced with big decisions. History indicates that he got the big ones right. Among the decisions he got right was the dropping of the atom bomb, going into Korea, the formation of the CIA and NSA and starting the rebuilding of our military strength. He also very wisely got rid of rationing and price controls after the war. Although his popularity was low at the end of his term in office his reputation grows and grows as we are able to see things in better perspective.
John Kennedy’s reputation continues to grow as we have time to examine history from a distance. His handling of the Cuban missile crisis appears more and more brilliant as time goes by. In economic matters, his supply-side ideas and actions in the matters of taxation look extremely good.
The civil rights bills passed during Lyndon Johnson’s presidency were good for the country.
Jimmy Carter contributed to Arab Israeli peace and was a decant man who was good to his wife.
A number of good things happened during the Clinton presidency that substantially helped the country. The welfare reform bill has been a big success. The capital gains tax rates were cut during his tenure from 28 percent to 20 percent. This gave a substantial boost to the economy. (The conservatives don’t want to give him credit for this good move and the liberals don’t want to admit that it helped the country.) Several beneficial trade bills were passed during his tenure. I also believe that anyone who knows Bill personally likes him, except maybe Hillary.
Our newest Democratic president has demonstrated political brilliance, charisma and the ability to speak effectively. With the bad economy he has a great opportunity to show greatness. However, he will have to resort to means that are in harmony with the laws of economics.
Of the Democratic presidents, I think that JFK was the best. Today he would get strong support from both sides. It is a truly a national tragedy that his life was cut short.
To complete the picture something bad should be said about Republicans. The main complaint against Republicans is that they all too often become wobbly on their principals and that they all too often act like liberals.