• acargitz@lemmy.ca
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    4 days ago

    I dunno Barack Obama and Jimmy Carter, seem to have been personally good people. That’s two recent US presidents. Then I guess I would add some super low hanging fruit like Nelson Mandela, Frederick the Great, John II Komnenos, any of the Five Good Emperors, Cyrus the Great, Ashoka, and one could keep going.

    EDIT: To all those pestering me about how US presidents presided over criminal imperialist policies, here is my answer from down below:

    OP talked about “glaring character defects”.

    These are policy failures and state crimes, arguably attributed to the American state as a whole, and the long term US imperialist policies, rather to the singular person of the president.

    You might have noticed that I added Frederick the Great in the list, which tells you exactly what my understanding of the challenge was.

    I’m not here to defend US imperialism, don’t @ me.

      • Zerush@lemmy.ml
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        4 days ago

        Without the US, the world would be much more peaceful today, most of the current wars and terrorisms are caused by US interventions, directly and indirectly.

        • RowRowRowYourBot@sh.itjust.works
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          4 days ago

          That’s a claim I would LOVE for you to attempt to back up.

          Just off the top of my head I would suspect UK, French, and Soviet imperialism to have been as big if not a bigger factor than the USA.

    • Cowbee [he/they]@lemmy.ml
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      4 days ago

      Carter supported Pol Pot and Obama was a monster to people in the Middle East, neither can be considered to be “good people.”

    • Packet@lemmy.ml
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      4 days ago

      Obama?? Obama??? The Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya Obama? You must be joking, right?

      • acargitz@lemmy.ca
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        4 days ago

        OP talked about “glaring character defects”.

        These are policy failures and state crimes, arguably attributed to the American state as a whole, and the long term US imperialist policies, rather to the singular person of the president.

        You might have noticed that I added Frederick the Great in the list, which tells you exactly what my understanding of the challenge was.

    • AbsoluteChicagoDog@lemm.ee
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      4 days ago

      Obama lied to the left to gain power, that’s enough to disqualify him right there.

      Also Washington was the greatest president in our history because he willingly let go of his power. He could have been a king but he chose to step down instead to set future precedent.

      • Wilco@lemm.ee
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        4 days ago

        Yes! Buying dentures made from slave teeth is overshadowed by the fact this man did what very few would have done by setting power aside.

        Would we get labeled by history as evil because we might have bought a product from China made in a work camp?