Re: C-SPAN's 2021 Presidential Leadership Survey
Posted: Wed Jul 07, 2021 12:33 pm
Thank you. Very interesting. When you say that Cleveland was imperialist, do you mean in terms of foreign affairs or putting manifest destiny ideology into action?dws1982 wrote
Re, Cleveland: He appeals to my belief that whoever is in the White House needs to be kept on a short leash; he seemed to not just understand it but welcome it. I think his Native American policies were good for their day, he was an anti-imperialist in a time when that was not natural stance (McKinley certainly took a different approach), he continued the (correct) reforms that Arthur had begun to implement when he could've easily reversed them. Greg's point about the Panic of 1893 is a valid one, and it's definitely the low point of his presidencies (I wouldn't rank him top ten or anything like that), although my counterpoints would be a) I don't think his non-response is out of step with what other presidents of that would've done (I am not excusing it); and b) he was seriously ill for quite awhile during 1893. I don't know that I could make a brilliant case for him in practice, but in theory he embodies a lot of the things I would like to see in a President.