How would you rank the Presidents in guiding the country through wartime?

Of course there's no official metric to determine if a President was excellent, good, average, bad, or extremely poor and the wars all have their own quirks/idiosyncrasies but they have common ground with the President's roll in assuring the public, making political and military decisions prior to and during the conflict, keeping the economy in good shape, resolving the conflict (if appropriate), and generally being a good leader for the country.

There's a bunch. Try to answer with groupings with 1 being excellent and 5 being extremely poor. Call out individual men if you'd like.

James Madison - War of 1812 1812 -1815
James Polk - Mexican- American War 1844-1848
Abraham Lincoln - Civil War 1861-1865
William McKinley - Spanish American War 1898
Woodrow Wilson - World War I 1917-1918
Franklin Roosevelt - World War II 1941-1945
Harry Truman - World War II - 1945 / Korean War 1950-1952 / Vietnam 1947 - 1952
Dwight Eisenhower - Korean War 1952-53 / Vietnam War 1952-1960
John F. Kennedy - Vietnam War 1961-62
Lyndon Johnson - Vietnam War 1962 - 1968
Richard Nixon - Vietnam War 1968-1973
(here's a link for the timeline of the Vietnam War. I'm sure there will be debate over it... https://www.history.com/news/us-presidents-vietnam-war-escalation )
George H.W. Bush - Persian Gulf War 1990-1991
Bill Clinton - Yugoslavia/Bosnia/Kosovo - 1999
George W. Bush - Afghan War 2001-2008 / Iraq War 2003-2008 / War on Terror 2001-2008
Barack Obama - Afghan War 2008-2016 / WOT 2008-2016 / Kinetic Military Action in Libya 2011
Donald Trump - Afghan War 2016 - 2020 / WOT 2016 - 2020
Joe Biden - Afghan War Jan - Aug 2021 / WOT 2021 - ongoing / Proxy War with Russia (2022-ongoing)


Just for fun, throw in how you think Kamala Harris will do, just in case Joe doesn't complete his term.

It's kind of a strange question since, unlike the other presidents, Joe Biden is on the other side and is kicking America's ass

For McKinley

you left out the CIVIL WAR as he began the war as a Private with the 23rd Ohio Infantry and ended the war as a Major on the staff of General Phil Sheridan.

no George Washington?

I would think he was pretty much the "leader" during the Revolutionary War!

LMCane said:

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For McKinley

you left out the CIVIL WAR as he began the war as a Private with the 23rd Ohio Infantry and ended the war as a Major on the staff of General Phil Sheridan.

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What does that have to do with being a wartime president

FJB screwed up Afghanistan.
And he's a rudderless ship in both dealing with China and Ukraine.

As bad as he is, Kamala will be worse.

Other presidents weren't worried about pronouns.

He was elected president in the first U.S. presidential election in 1789. War ended in 1783.

there is no presidential list that joe biden isn't at the very bottom of except who is the worst president of all time. that list he would be first.

Washington >> everyone else. However, as for Presidents to prosecute a war as President, the only 1s I'm giving are for Polk and McKinley. They were pretty much about just winning decisively and quickly.

I'd give HW a 2 for Desert Shield/Storm, but leaving saddam in power was a major mistake.

Not sure about rankings but if Biden had been president in WW2, the East Coast would be speaking German and the West Coast Japanese.

An L of an Ag said:

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Washington >> everyone else. However, as for Presidents to prosecute a war as President, the only 1s I'm giving are for Polk and McKinley. They were pretty much about just winning decisively and quickly.

I'd give HW a 2 for Desert Shield/Storm, but leaving saddam in power was a major mistake.

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I think most are going to be in the 3 range. W started as a 1 the months after 9/11 and during initial stages of WOT then quickly fell off after the fighting was done in Iraq. Final grade a solid (3).

LBJ was a disaster (5) at least Nixon ended the war (4).

Trump gets a solid (3) didn't do anything to screw things up.

FDR was a mixed bag for me. Rallying the country after Pearl Harbor was the easy part and lead the war effort well, but he did have some responsibility in instigating the fight w Japan. Plus the whole interment camp thing was pretty harsh. Id give him a (2) for putting the country on a path for the win.

Quote:

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On July 26, 1941, President Franklin Roosevelt seizes all Japanese assets in the United States in retaliation for the Japanese occupation of French Indo-China.

President Roosevelt swung into action by freezing all Japanese assets in America. Britain and the Dutch East Indies followed suit. The result: Japan lost access to three-fourths of its overseas trade and 88 percent of its imported oil. Japan's oil reserves were only sufficient to last three years, and only half that time if it went to war and consumed fuel at a more frenzied pace. Japan's immediate response was to occupy Saigon.

https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/united-states-freezes-japanese-assets

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When was the declaration of war?

The only war Joe knows about are the fight against those pesky airstair steps or the flush handle on his tolet... Am I right

Any comparison of other war time presidents to Joe Biden would be: Bullets (other war time presidents) to Oranges (Joe Biden).

and just for the record-

in the months that Joe Biden was President before he surrendered in Afghanistan-

there were ZERO American combat deaths.

there have also been ZERO American combat deaths in Ukraine (of US armed forces)

what a tough wartime leader!

Isn't the Korean War the only one that's pseudo declared at this time?

So what war are we talking about here?
- The botched Afghanistan withdrawal?
- The proxy war Biden* is recklessly escalating with the world's largest nuclear power?
- The war on the middle class and the American dream?
- The war on oil, carbon, and humanity?
- The war with the cartels that we're pretending isn't going on?
- The war on women, biology, and rational thought?
- The war against patriotism and patriots?
- Covid?

The premise of Biden* as a wartime president is weird. He's been dealt an incredibly easy hand (historically speaking) and is still reminding us all that Obama was correct in cautioning against underestimating his ability to f* it up.

You're right, discussing our countries future is always a bad idea. Especially when civilian control over our military actions has been the hallmark of the Republic since its founding.

Hate to break it to you but Biden is our Commander in Chief. He is the country's representative on the world stage to a lesser extent those in Congress. They are are servants, not our masters.

We need to hold them to account and provide our input into their actions.

It's a really simple question.

Do you think Biden is capable of effectively leading this country in a war?

No. Of course not. He can't lead his way to changing his own diapers.

Great he gets an A for effort for no combat deaths.

Let's pull up the Afghan withdraw thread and see how F16 thought about his leadership in Aug 2021. You know the one where everyone was discussing leaving billions in military equipment on the ground. Or pull up any other thread that details how weak he's seen on the international stage.

Then by looking at the big picture we can get a balanced score for him.

No Korea was a UN action because the Soviets stupidly left the Security Council. Last declaration was done by FDR.

Bump.

After seeing him lie repeatedly and stumble over words and phrases last night, I'd love to get everyone's thoughts on how he'll do as he stumbles us into WW3….

Joe Biden is not actually serving as president. For a few minutes a day he might think so, but it remains a mystery as to who is actually the present president. The SOTU address only re-confirmed this.