As a young boy, the first president I remember was Gerald Ford. (Yes I know, I am aging myself. I just turned 51.)
His predecessor Richard Nixon was a great leader and protector of America. Obviously he was indelibly marred by the Watergate scandal, which sealed his fate, and resulted in Nixon becoming the only American president to have resigned his office.
But following his resignation, America went into a forty year slump, as far as presidents go.
Gerald Ford had no chance to succeed. His entire 2½ years in the White House were devoted to mending the American people, and recovering from Nixon’s stains. One cannot push forward any agenda under such circumstances.
In 1980 Ford was defeated by Jimmy Carter.
What can I say? Although he was the governor of Georgia before becoming president, but a career peanut farmer isn’t exactly the right man for the nation’s highest office.
Carter’s mishandling of the Iranian hostage crisis will not find him favor with presidential historians. (444 days, amounting to nearly ⅓ of his presidency.) The Israeli-Egyptian peace he brokered was very positive (it has lasted virtually unharmed till today), but retroactively, we know how much of a sonei Yisroel Jimmy Carter really is.
Next came Ronald Reagan. Many Republican candidates in the the 2016 election advertised to voters that they will be the next Ronald Reagan. Reagan was indeed a “cheerleader” for American, having bolstered the American nuclear arsenal against the Soviet Union, and creating a positive economy.
But we must not forget that Ronald Reagan was a movie star. They called him “Ronald MacDonald” at first. There is a clip on YouTube, that shows each president taking the Oath of Office. Have a look at Reagan taking the oath, and note his facial gestures. It clearly sends us a message that he’s on stage, receiving acting instructions from a director. Again, I’m not taking anything away from Ronald Reagan’s accomplishments, but at the end of the day, he was an actor, which diminishes that sanctity of the office.
Ronald Reagan’s vice president was George H.W. Bush, who defeated Mike Dukakis in the 1988 presidential election. In one of the debates, Dukakis (who was against capital punishment) was famously asked if he would favor the death penalty if his own wife would be raped and killed. He answered, “no”. Is it that difficult to defeat such a candidate who has very little regard for humanity?
But George H.W. Bush was leveled by Saddam Hussein. The Iraqi leader completely ignored the president, and launched the Gulf War against Israel. President Bush did not allow Israel to retaliate! Can you imagine? I don’t regard him as a good president.
Now we enter the Bill Clinton era. He may have done something to boost the economy – but any president that gets impeached, especially for what he was impeached for – is not a good president in my eyes.
In the 2016 election, candidate Jeb Bush was asked how he would act differently, since the American people are tired of dynasty politicians. His brother George W. Bush solidified that dynasty by defeating Clinton’s vice president Al Gore in the 2000 election.
In Israel, both Bushes were called “boosha” (disgrace) by many rabbonim. Weak presidents don’t fare well in politics. When president-elect George W. Bush was still the governor of Texas, the media reported on how the Bushes like to go to sleep at 9:00 PM. A president cannot go to sleep at 9:00 PM.
Bush was definitely pro Israel during his two terms in office. But his facial reaction upon hearing about the September 11 attacks said it all. It’s possible that he knew about it beforehand, or wasn’t that phased by the tragedy.
Next came Barack Obama. I’d rather not discuss his presidency, but I’ll make one reference, which sums it all up.
Secretary of State John Kerry flew to Moscow to meet with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. The latter put the former on hold for seven hours before meeting him! Is it a wonder why the next president’s slogan was “Make America Great Again”?
Enter Donald J. Trump.
Many frum people were intrigued by his campaign, while many other Americans were disgusted by it.
But on November 8, 2016, the American people spoke, and suddenly America changed course.
Starting to work for America well before his inauguration (a rarity for president-elects), Trump brokered the deal with the Carrier factory in Indiana, which was soon to close done, and the jobs were to be sent to Mexico.
I lived in Detroit for many years, and wrote software for the automotive industry. How pained I was to learn that the assembly plant that I frequently visited was being shut down, and the jobs were shipped south of the border. But President Trump pulled through again, as only the author of “The Art of the Deal” can. He negotiated with the relevant parties, and revived the otherwise dead plant.
His list of achievements continued with the Foxconn $7 Billion contract to build the Taiwanese factory near Milwaukee. And even white-collar workers will benefit from his presidency, with the huge Japanese investment in Palo Alto.
True, there is a significant amount of in-fighting in the Trump White House, and nobody’s proud of that.
True, his demeanor, and choice of words, don’t necessarily reflect that of a frum Yid.
But for all of his accomplishments, including standing strong and firm against the North Korean threat, I will always support President Donald J. Trump, through thick and thin.
Signed – an American living in Ramat Beit Shemesh
NOTE: The views expressed here are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent or reflect the views of YWN.
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6 Responses
First of all, telling us the first US president you remember is Gerald Ford does not “age” you, it “dates” you.
Second of all, Jimmy Carter did not defeat Gerald Ford for president in 1980. It was 1976.
Third of all, President Ford held the country together following the outrage and disgrace and lawlessness of Watergate. That’s a serious accomplishment. I did not like his other policies, or his pardon of Nixon, but in hindsight, I see that the pardon of Nixon was probably a good idea.
As for your mishigoss about “President” Trump, please explain how you can support him when he clearly has inspired neo-Nazis to crawl out from under their respective rocks and march in support of the “white race”?
For the record, Clinton’s economic accomplishments that you speak of were done while the republicans controlled both houses of congress.
A democratic house NEVER would have impeached His Royal Highness Majesty Clinton.
Why are you supporting the president at a time when he said something inexcusable? Your comment would be appropriate voting time. Right now we should say that right wing neo nazis/white supremacists are evil. Our condolences go the victims family. Trump said something dumb and doesnt know how to apologize and say it was wrong.
What, pray tell is your name, oh magnanimous author of this poorly written, ill timed hogwash?
BTW I remember Ike, I am older, since I even remember Harry Truman too….
Of all presidents mentioned, Regan was probably the best. Nixon was also good but messed himself up with Watergate. Regan’s greatness was since he was an actor with an ideal, he chose good and proper people for the various posts and let them do the work properly. Those were America’s best years.
Trump, on the other hand, can not stop his stupid meddling in everything and also has to deal with a hostile press that is looking to burn him. (Regan was liked by the press)
Amercia basically had a bad choice: Clinton or Trump, two lousy candidates; but perhaps it is from Heaven that the US was given this?
I was not pleased at all with this presentation.
To put down Reagan because of his facial appearance,and that he is an actor?!What?!Mention the Iran Contra scandal if you want to put down Reagan.For besides that Reagan was a strong leader that oversaw the USA defeat the USSR and the cold war threat.He won in his 2nd election every state except for Minnesota,where his challenger Mondale hailed from.That shows how popular Reagan was.Things were good and positive in the 80’s under his tenure,which also saw communism disappear from Europe,and even the Berlin Wall fell.
Did you actually forget that at the end of the day George H.W. Bush won that war against Saddam Hussein in a very short war that was extremely short???Bush would get politically rocked by the economy,and by Clinton’s slickly tongue
Clinton knew how to get things done,but that awful scandal at the end of his tenure really did make him look bad forever.
Now,you are going to deduce from the famous picture of George Busk with the young kids on that horrible day,that he knew about it??How??!!!If anything the quiet Bush has to have credit for his heroic visit to the terrorist site,and how he fulfilled his quest to punish the terrorists.While the war in Iraq will always be debated about the need for it,and the truth behind the motives,nevertheless i cannot believe anyone misses Saddam Hussein,and his cruel and evil behavior or,and killings that was done by him.Bush restored the American prestige,and got Libya to give up their nuclear arms.I even read at the time that Iran was scared of the USA at times.And who cares if he went to bed early.On the contrary,that means he is not partying until late at night,and will be ready to work early in the next morning prompt.
Obama is too easy to dismiss.Obama wanted to be the anti-Bush,and be nice to everybody,and show how the USA is like everyone else.But in his zeal to score brownie points with the world,he turned the USA into a doormat,and let anyone step on us with glee.He was extremely hesitant in declaring radical Islam as the enemy,and there were terrorist attacks on the USA soil during his tenure.He did help with the economy,got Bin Landon and other terrorists,knew how to smile and make you feel .like a million bucks.But by lowering the USA prestige,and not letting the USA be the powerful nation like it should be,that caused problems everywhere from the Russians laughing at us to the Iranians taking American sailors,and treating them horribly.Obama also refused to interfere with the racial problems of the day,and even when policemen were getting shot,one did not see Obama raise to the occasion.
As for President Trump,it is way too early to determine what type of President he will be.Personally,I wanted Rubio,and was horrified how Trump just verbally destroyed him.I ended up voting for Trump,as I did not want Clinton there,and I wanted to see the Supreme court under the Republican power,so they would not keep on destroy any morality the USA has left.I cannot believe that Trump actually won,as almost all the media was saying that he had no chance.,and I fully understand the ire that Trump has for the press that wrote him off.
In his short time,he has made the USA back into feeling good about themselves again.Russia and Iran both know that we are for real under Trump.Trump handled the North Korea crisis very well,and even the Europeans know that those days of weakness under Obama is over with,and American interests will come first.I like how Trump surrounds himself with generals,as it shows where he will get his information and advice from.
Trump threw himself head-first into the unfortunate incident of last week.But remember folks,that this rally was initiated by Jason Kessler,a right wing blogger to protest the removal of the statue of Robert Lee.It is beyond sickening to see the media twist the facts and make this rally out to be some hate fest.The KKK joined in,and did cause some trouble,but that was not the point of the rally.On the counter protester side were the Antifa, that enjoy engaging in violent acts to get their point across ,and are no sweet innocent people.This is precisely why Trump called on both sides to order.Trump did not not want anymore of this type of behavior,and was right to do so.And Trump clearly gave condolences to the victim.It is amazing how Trump is getting so many people involved in politics,and how people treat the words that come out of his mouth.