How would you define "Legacy?"
I bring this up because legacy SCREAMS the kind of partisan idealism I want to avoid. We can look at "good" and "bad" Presidents and point to legacy, but what REAL legacy remains of Richard Nixon? Or Jimmy Carter? Or John Kennedy? Each ignites flash point responses in a variety of different historical and political circles, but viewing the American landscape today, what ACTUALLY remains of their presidency? What footprint did they leave on our national history?
I think we can scratch legacy from the criteria and still do every President justice. And even so, Presidents BEFORE Woodrow Wilson will have a very tainted legacy due to who is CREATING the written legacy... John Quincy Adams, was he the turd Jacksonian historians paint him to be? Titus brought up Madison, another excellent example.
Cabinet, Foreign Policy, Domestic Policy, Political Landmarks within the Administration and how the President performed... (Wars, economic crises, transplantation of indigenous peoples to reservations, you get the idea) and the overall summary... Was the Country better AFTER the Administration or worse?
Good? Not Good?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment