Who was the best US President, Constitutionally

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   AJReissigposted 12 years ago

   
   We have all seen howsome of the recent Presidents have ignored the Constitution (AKA George Bush) or showed total contemp for it (AKA Barack Obama).  IN your opinion, who was the best President from a COnstitutional perspective?  In other words, which President did the best job of upholding his oath to defend the Constitution?

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      Paul Wingertposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      Presidents have been ignoring or showing contempt for the constitution since Washington's day. Hard to say who was the best president who respected the Constitution.

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      Jason Marovichposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      William Howard Taft.  He was an appeals court judge who sort of got pushed into politics.  His real goal was to be a Supreme Court Justice (he achieved his dream eight years after serving his one term as President).
      
      Taft was against American Imperialism, pro-free market economy, and believed firmly that the states be governed by a powerful central government.
      
      The 27th President of the United States gained infamy for alienating even member of his own party (Republican) when he deemed their wants unlawful or unconstitutional.

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         Old Empresarioposted 12 years agoin reply to this

         Good call on that one. I agree on Taft.

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            AJReissigposted 12 years agoin reply to this

            I agree about Taft.  I would also say that for the most part, the all of the Presidents before Lincoln did a pretty good job of it; at the very least, they seem to make an effort to follow the Constitution.  Lincoln was the first to show total disregard for the Constitution.  There are even a few Presidents who have gone down in history as "bad Presidents" because they DID follow the Constitution.  For example, Buchanan (Lincoln’s predecessor) refused military action when South Carolina seceded from the Union; he said the Constitution did not give him the authority to force South Carolina to remain in the Union.  Grover Cleveland was the last Democrat to follow the Constitution.  Like Taft, he regularly ticked off members of both parties by vetoing bills that were unconstitutional.  James Madison disapproved a $15,000 appropriation for French refugees, not because he was being stingy or cruel but because he could find nothing in the Constitution that allowed Congress to spend the public’s money for something charitable, no matter how well-meaning it was.

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   Old Empresarioposted 12 years ago

   Probably George Washington, John Quincy Adams, William Harrison (died too soon), and Grover Cleveland. No president since Woodrow Wilson has submitted accurate annual reports to Congress on the State of the Union. So that rules out nearly every 20th Century president. The worst offenders prior to that were Abraham Lincoln, Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, Andrew Jackson, and Ulysses Grant.

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   rickyliceaposted 12 years ago

   If you like Ron Paul you might consider Grover Cleveland.

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