One-Term vs Two-Term Presidents, My G.O.P. Friend and Thoughts about Beer

                                                

One-Term vs Two-Term Presidents

Presidents who serve more than one term, either by being elected twice or via the Vice Presidential succession route, usually have a greater record of accomplishment than Presidents who serve only one term.  There are a couple of exceptions which I will point out.  There are people out there who advocate a six-year one term limit for the Presidency. The following information would seem to counter the arguments of some that the Presidency should be limited to one six year term.  Such a change would have limited the tenure of the achievers and have left us with two more years of some of the lemons listed below.  Take a look at them and take note of the starred (*) comments.

*       Died in Office 

**     Succeeded a President who Died in Office 

***    Succeeded a President who left  Office

****   Resigned from Office

***** Elected to two non-consecutive and non-productive terms          

Here are the “one-termers” and those who served even less.  It cannot be denied that while a few of them were noteworthy, particularly John Adams and JFK, most did not leave a significant historic mark on the Presidency.  

Franklin Pierce

John Adams                        John Quincy Adams            Martin Van Buren

William Henry Harrison*    John Tyler**                           James Polk     

Zachary Taylor*                   Millard Fillmore**                  Franklin Pierce          

James Buchanan                Andrew Johnson**              Rutherford B.Hayes

James Garfield*                  Chester Arthur**                  Benjamin Harrison    

William Howard Taft            Warren G. Harding*              Herbert Hoover         

John F. Kennedy*                 Gerald Ford***                      Jimmy Carter 

George W.H. Bush               

Now let’s look at the Presidents who served more than a single four year term.

Dwight Eisenhower

George Washington             Thomas Jefferson                            James Madison

James Monroe                      Andrew Jackson                               Abraham Lincoln*

Ulysses Grant                        Grover Cleveland*****                       William McKinley*

Theodore Roosevelt**          Woodrow Wilson                              Calvin Coolidge**

Franklin D. Roosevelt*          Harry S. Truman**                              Dwight Eisenhower

Lyndon B. Johnson**            Richard M. Nixon****                          Ronald Reagan

William Clinton                      George W. Bush                                 Barack Obama

Washington, Jefferson, Madison and Monroe were among the “founding fathers” and ran for the Presidency unopposed, although there were battles in the Electoral College, which was not then popularly elected but still selected by the various State legislatures. The Electoral College gradually became popularly elected during the early nineteenth century.  Jackson was the first populist President, invited working men to the White House and opposed the states right approach of most of  his predecessors.  Lincoln held the Union together, abolished slavery and advocated “government for the people.”  Grant rebuilt the nation after the Civil War. Theodore Roosevelt was our first true Progressive President, opposing business’ role in controlling the country. Wilson and FDR were wartime Presidents; FDR also battled the Great Depression and instituted vast social programs.  Truman rebuilt Europe after World War II. Eisenhower continued this work, returning the country to a peacetime footing and initiated our highway system.  Lyndon Johnson brought social reform to the country.  Both Bill Clinton and Barack Obama strengthened the economy after significant downturns. Obama also brought about change in regard to sexual equality and increased goverment involvement in health care.

McKinley, Coolidge, Nixon, Reagan and George W. Bush, all Republicans, used their tenure to attempt to bring about business growth which they believed would improve the economy. Nixon opened up China to the West.  Otherwise, despite reputations both bad (Nixon) and good (Reagan), the multiple terms of these five Presidents are not marked by great accomplishments.  This is understandable because their view of the Presidency was not an aggressive one but rather one of minimizing the role of the White House’s occupant.  It should be noted that George W. Bush’s misguided nation-building efforts in the Middle East have left us with problems with which we still are dealing. 


Historically, “one-termer” James Buchanan has been known as our worst President, failing to do anything to lessen the sectional tension which led to the Civil War.  “Two–termer” George W. Bush challenges Buchanan for that title in view of his costly and bloody military ventures in the Middle East and his permitting the domestic economy to collapse due to unregulated investing.  So perhaps the number of terms a President serves is not so important.  All in all, however, I feel that our “more than one term” Presidents outshine those who served only one term or less.  It is likely that it takes more than four years to initiate and carry through whatever programs a President has on his (or her) agenda.

Jack Lippman

                                             

My Republican Friend

I have a friend who is a registered Republican.  I inquired as to whom he voted for in 2012.  “Obama,” he replied, “I couldn’t stand the way Romney was knuckling under to the Tea Party people, reversing positions he had formerly held.”   

I then asked about 2008. “I voted for Obama then too,” was the answer. I liked McCain, but with Sarah Palin on the ticket, I voted Democratic.”  When I asked about 2000 and 2004, I found that my Republican friend, recognizing George W. Bush’s shortcomings, had voted for Al Gore and John Kerry.  And I also found that he voted for Bill Clinton in 1992 and 1996, finding him preferable to George H. W. Bush who had gotten us into Operation Desert Storm in Iraq and Bob Dole, who was totally unimpressive to him.   

“Hey,” I asked, “Mr. Registered Republican, when did you last vote for a Republican for President anyway?”  The answer was “Ronald Reagan twice and George H. W. Bush once.” 

My Friend's last Republican Presidential vote ...George H. W. Bush

How many Republicans like this do you think are out there, and how many do you think will really vote for Donald Trump or Ted Cruz if they come out of the G.O.P. convention as the nominee?   

And how many Democrats would vote for Bernie Sanders if he were the nominee?  That is why neither Trump, Cruz nor Sanders will be running for President in November.  It will be Hillary Clinton vs. Marco Rubio. 

  
And if Rubio is not the Party's nominee, he will be a third party nominee as explained in recent blog postings.  
 JL

 
                                               

The Disillusioned Beer Drinker

Bud, Miller and Coors are okay, but they are just beer.  They're fine if you're drinking them along with eating something.  But the real test of a beer is whether it is satisfying when drunk all by itself, without pretzels, peanuts or a hearty sandwich.  None of the "big three" meet that test.  Usually, in restaurants, I end up with Amstel Light ... which is my choice among the beers generally found on menus.

The “craft beers” which have sprung up in the past decade, mostly local operations with a limited capacity, are different.  They have their own individuality.  Of all of them, I have settled on Leinenkugel’s, a beer from a family brewery in Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin, and primarily distributed in

the upper Midwest.   
They do include, among their several varieties, a few seasonal beers which are distributed more widely.  In fact, I have found them in my local supermarket and really enjoy them.  Last fall, they had a pumpkin flavored brew and right now, I am enjoying a six-pack of their winter specialty, a cranberry-ginger beer.  Tastes great, with or without food!  I even joined their “club,” becoming a “Leinie,” in the hope of getting some discount coupons from them occasionally in addition to the hats, tee shirts and mugs the club peddles. 

But lo and behold, once I got on the internet and looked further into Leinenkugel’s, I was disappointed.  The family sold the Chippewa Falls brewery to Miller in 1988, and is still operated under the family name by them, but it really is just another Miller subsidiary now. 

Milwaukee, home of Miller Beer, is the brewing capital of the country.  Their National League baseball team is called the “Brewers,” but Miller wasn’t the only brewery there for that city to brag about.  Schlitz, known as “the beer that made Milwaukee famous” isn’t around any longer, but I remember when Schlitz was “big time” and Miller just another label.  There also was another famous brewery in Milwaukee, the Blatz brewery which happened to be on 10^th Street in that city.  Blatz, like Schlitz, is now long gone, but the 10^th Street brewery, now owned by Miller, is still operating, and guess what, that is where most of Chippewa Falls’ famous craft beer, Leinenkugel’s, is brewed.  Boy, am I disillusioned.

Incidentally, I was born and raised in Newark, N.J., which was the home of the Ballantine (they sponsored the Yankee broadcasts for years), Pabst, Hensler, Krueger and Feigenspan P.O.N. (Pride of Newark) breweries.  They are long gone, but some of the labels are still around.  Right now, the big brewery in Newark is the gigantic Budweiser operation on U.S. 1 just west of the airport, which you can see when taking off or landing at EWR.  That brewery supplies most of the Northeast with Bud.  I suppose it’s because the water in Newark, like that in Milwaukee and Chippewa Falls is great for brewing beer.  

 
Newark Budweiser Brewery with EWR Airtrain in forground

(Warning:  If you are into craft beers, be aware that the craft beer brewed by Tenacity Brewery in Flint, Michigan, uses Flint water, but claims that its water has always been, and continues to be, lead-free.)

JL

 
                                           
A Letter You Should Read
Today's (Feb. 2) Palm Beach Post's  Letters column carried an extremely well-thought out letter answering a recent column by conservative columnist Charles Krauthammer.  In it, the writer debunks many of the charges made against the President and gives the reader some facts  which should be digested by anyone wondering whom our enemies in the Middle East really are.  Check out this letter among the others appearing in today's Post by clicking on this link.  It's the fourth letter down.
JL 
                                         
                                             
                                                   

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