Mike McClure

James Madison

Shinobu Sensui

Forget about just Lincoln! I should make a big post in a new thread about all these presidents and pointless conflicts all in one thread!





Oh, is Martin Van Buren obscure enough! I like that guy! Alot look down on him for his failure to solve the financial crisis, but other than that he was a pretty good president! He was able avoid two unnecessary wars with Mexico and Britain!

Rongo

Just curious why you would want to do that. A Lincoln thread alone can go to several pages. If you throw all of the evidence from all of those separate topics into a single thread the whole thing becomes a jumbled mess. Seems to me the best threads are the ones that clarify the issues, not muddy them up. Each war and each President were different, so wouldn't it work best if each were analyzed in depth and debated on their own merits?

Alaric

Van Buren was also the first president to be born an American citizen, and paradoxically, he's also the only president so far to not speak English as his first language.

It's hard to say who is most obscure, but I think the presidents in between Lincoln and Teddy Roosevelt are all good candidates for the title.

tjadams

You're right. It is one of those actions that is hard to acknowledge as
'the right thing' to do, when it was nothing but a pure land stealing
of another nation's territory.

The US was bent on going from coast to
coast and any excuse it needed to make, be it God, country or patriotism,
it was going to shimmy that up the pole. Just like the war between the
states was bound to happen if not 1861, then later, the Mex-Amer. War
was going to happen eventually.

Shinobu Sensui

I was actually kidding, but it was a thought. But, your right! Actually, straying away from wars...one thing that actually always gets me about threads here and when it comes to historians in general is presidential rankings. I don't know how many "professional" historians determine how they grade presents by judging their "greatness". Which is another thread, I guess that could be made by itself.


Sorry, I'm just filled with ideas, and don't know where to start! I like this site!

Rongo

It's a good site, ain't it! Well, keep the ideas coming and don't be bashful about starting threads. The American History section of this forum can use all the new threads it can get!

dafiske

Andrew Johnson. But Lincoln would have overshadowed anybody who followed him.

A. Lincoln

The names Millard Fillmore and Franklin Pierce usually draw blank looks.

Viperlord

John Tyler or Benjamin Harrison as well.