Quote:
Originally Posted by Zen653
Who was the least consequential two-term president?
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I've spoken in the past about my reaction to questions calling for a superlative response. I'm always wondering about the defintions that I am supposed to be employing. Is the least consequential two term president the one who had the least number of consequential things take place during his administration? Is it the president who did the least himself despite all sorts of consequential things taking place? Is it the one who tried hard but accomplished the least? The one who made the least amount of effort? The one who left behind the hardest to identify legacy? The one for whom the nation changed the least during his eight years?
If we were able to reduce all that to just one criteria element, then we could turn to agreeing upon a definition of events as consequential or not consequential.
But....I always fear covering myself with a reputation for ducking questions if I explain my concerns and then abdicate.
So....
Not all that much outside of normal progress took place during the Washington and Monroe administrations. Both enjoyed presidencies during which there was no true opposition party and thus neither was truly challenged in the area of political manipulation in order to get things done. Washington's presidency is best remembered for setting precedents...he invented the cabinet, he scorned imperial trappings etc. He did put down the Whiskey Rebellion, but that actually sort of self destructed before the Feds really put the arm on anyone.
Monroe didn't even get to be a precedent setter, and the one thing most closely associated with him, The Monroe Doctrine, was in fact the idea of, and authored by, John Quincy Adams. And the Monroe Doctrine didn't amount to much, did it? The War of 1812 had clearly demonstrated that the US did not have the military might to keep the Royal Navy from going anywhere it wanted and doing whatever it felt like in the western hemisphere. And what exactly were we preserving with our championing of the independent new democracies in Latin America? Mexico's government of the month club throughout the 1820's?
We did pick up Florida during the Monroe administration, but that was also largely the product of Andrew Jackson ignoring orders and pursuing Indians into the place despite it not being our territory at the time.
Nobody croaked off the Supreme Court during Monroe's eight years, so he had zero impact on the justice system. The Missouri Compromise was formed during this administration, but that was more Congressional than executive business.
That historical time period has come to be known as "The Era of Good Feeling" and that is the product of nothing really bad happening during those years.
So....that's my answer...James Monroe presided over the least consequential two term presidency.