George W. Bush -- Greatest Conservative President
Pending U.S. Supreme Court appointments, I think George W. Bush may become the greatest conservative President we have ever had. First of all, there have been few Presidents that could be thought of as conservative in the modern sense. The 20th Century culture wars did not start until the 1960's. Since then, we have had only liberals and probably two conservatives: Reagan and George W. Both are great by any conservative's standards. But, if George W. hits home runs with his U.S. Supreme Court appointments this term, I think it will be tough not to give him the title "greatest." Reagan had a great first term; but, he appeared tired in his second term. Also, recall, Reagan appointed the two "moderates" on the bench: O'Connor and Kennedy. The best of George W. is yet to come. If he appoints another Scalia or Thomas or two or three of them, he will be the Greatest in my book.
posted by ssc | 2/22/2005 10:49:00 PM
Well said. However, there could be other clues that may come to light in the near future. For example, although many conservatives have their problems with Bush, it is clear that Bush has rejected leftism and the who European movement of appeasment and Socialism. Bush is recarving out a space for American conservative ideology in the world. He is making it clear to the citizens of the world that there are other alternatives to Chinese tyranny and European leftism.
If we measure greatest conservative president by how much better off the movement is after he leaves office relative to where it was when he entered office, then the answer is easy. William Jefferson Clinton is the greatest conservative president.
Under Chris's test, Jefferson Davis, a Democrat and the first and only American President of the Confederacy, may also be a candidate for leaving office with Republicans and conservatives on top.
Jefferson Davis or perhaps Andrew Johnson. However, I would argue that the Congress tends to lag behind movements because of redistricting etc... Perhaps it takes about 10 years for the congress to catch up to where the country is going. (Will we see republican Senators from the state of Mass?)!!!!!
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