7 important PRESIDENTS explained in 33 minutes
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- Опубликовано: 31 май 2024
- JFK, Johnson, Nixon, Carter, Ford, Reagan, and HW Bush, all quickly explained in terms of their cultural and historical significance to the United States. With fun caricatures! Take your personal data back with Incogni! Use code JJMCC at the link below and get 60% off an annual plan: incogni.com/jjmcc?...
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Hey, J.J. Little sugestion of vídeo idea. What about a video where you rank all countries in the world, based of ur opinions.
Why isnt Calvin Coolidge on this list?
You said that when Reagan became president he was the oldest president in American history. Alright, I know what you mean, but ACK-SHOO-ALLY, Reagan at that time was third on the list. 5 days later he passed Andrew Jackson, and 109 days after that Reagan did become the oldest president by passing Dwight Eisenhower. This is because Reagan was at the time the oldest person to be BEGIN a presidency. Until Trump and then Biden of course.
@@KorintheCat no, it was because of the musical. You should look it up.
@JJMcCullough my family is related to l.b.j not something we are proud of and even hate. If you're wondering how his wife had our last name primrose before she married him. My mother says she remembers her dad tell her not to ever say anything bad about him in front of her great grandmother. Related to a president and still poor. ;)
Depicting Carter without his grin in the thumbnail is almost startling because he is always depicted with a too-big of a grin in political cartoons.
He's pouty Carter
Not true, about halfway through his presidency people stopped drawing him smiling
@@JJMcCulloughSad
@@JJMcCulloughwould love a series on presidential caricatures like the video you did on Nixon!!
@@JJMcCullough his smile always seemed forced
Kennedy was really the last bipartisan president, not in the sense that he was actually admired by people on both sides while he was president (he wasn't), but in the sense that he's the last president both parties remember favourably, mostly because his presidency was cut so tragically short, which has allowed everyone to project their own beliefs onto him. It's gotten to the point that if you listen to conservatives and liberals talking about JFK you could get the impression they were talking about completely different presidents.
Yes, it’s interesting that even a hard-right cult like QAnon views him as a hero. He and Reagan are the only canonically “good” presidents in QAnon lore.
QAnon lore lmao
@@JJMcCullough excluding Trump, right? Unless something has changed since he left office
I think the perception of Kennedy's private life got much worse as he was shown to be a womanizer.
@@rodrigogirao8344I don’t think so? Not shocking that a rich powerful man had affairs.
One thing I find interesting about this political era was how every single state switched party support at least once. The US has had such strong regional political loyalties since 2000 that the elections are somewhat predictable now, and are mainly fought in states that straddle those regional boundaries.
Good point
From what I’ve read, the ideological shift of the parties wasn’t complete until around then.
Throughout the 80s and 90s, there were still a few leftover Dixiecrats and liberal Republicans, especially at the state level.
Yeah even Minnesota voted for Nixon.
@@Fe22234 Huh? Which election are you speaking of? In 1968, when the Democrats nominated Hubert Humphrey, a Minnesotan, Nixon did _not_ carry Minnesota, Humphrey did. Yes, he carried Minnesota in 1972, but he carried 49 states that year (Massachusetts being the only exception). What was exceptional and embarrassing in 1972 was the the Dems' nominee, George McGovern, failed to carry his home state of South Dakota. I guess I'm not sure what your point was.
California voted Republican every single election from 1968 to 1988. West Virginia voted Democrat in 2 of those 6 elections.
What’s interesting is presidents that people don’t talk about as much. Calvin Coolidge had a different mentality where he believed that killing a bad bill was more important than passing a good one. I think because of that mentality, he was uneventful and not discussed enough.
Conservatives have been trying to make liking Calvin Coolidge a thing for a while now. They basically portray him as a sort of proto conservative, even though of course in his time they didn’t think of politics in those sort of terms.
That sounds like a good president in my book. He's not going to buy you that fast car you want, but he's also not going to require you to go watch a drag show every week. Sometimes, the absence of pain is better than pleasure.
He's not discussed that much because not much notable happened during his presidency. There weren't economic crises or foreign policy achievements or failures. The most notable pieces of legislation that occurred during his presidency were a restrictive immigration bill and Native American citizenship. The former of which is viewed of as racist and the latter of which very few people actually care about.
@@JJMcCullough I just remember in high school, my high school teacher mentioned the forgettable presidents and we moved on from really discussing much about them (apparently Ulysses S. Grant, Rutherford B. Hayes, James Garfield, Chester A. Arthur, Benjamin Harrison and Grover Cleveland). I just chose Calvin Coolidge because he’s been getting more recognition these days but was previously not as known.
@@JJMcCullough _Conservatives have been trying to make liking Calvin Coolidge a thing for a while now_ . J.J. , by chance are you familiar with a 1981 best selling book titled "Presidential Anecdotes"? The anecdotes were 99% humorous, and were moments from each President's life and/or administration. The two longest sections were on Abraham Lincoln and Calvin Coolidge, and I think Reagan grabbed ahold of some of those Coolidge stories from the book to begin a (failed) attempt to enhance Coolidge's legacy. J.J. as someone who enjoys American cultural history, you really *must* read this book, if you have not already done so.
It’s not something I’ve considered much until your video but it’s amazing how relatively rare it was for a President to serve a full 8 years in that period
Indeed. It was a chaotic time.
As a Brit, I've always been slightly ashamed of my lackluster knowledge on U.S presidents. This video is just what I needed; another award-winner I'd say.
Tbh, as a US student, I'm shit at US president. Idek all of them, I just know IKEY MIKEYY
Hi JJ, I am an older Gen Z (born early 2000s) and I think it is interesting to look at which of these seven presidents Gen Z has chosen to idolize. When I was in high school and early college it really was not uncommon to see young conservatives (usually young conservative men) with shirts, bumper stickers, and posters that were replicas of Reagan/Bush campaign signs. When I was in elementary school, I even had a friend named Reagan who was apparently named after the president. On the left, young people have really taken to idolizing Jimmy Carter (though I have never seen anyone sport his campaign materials). I think Jimmy Carter really resonates with young liberals due to how much they care about the morality of public figures, and also because of his commitment to federally protecting wilderness. When I was in high school I had a friend who wrote to him and was literally in tears when he wrote back. The main thing she wrote to him about was his efforts to protect land in Alaska, and when he wrote back to her he said that one thing he would've wanted to accomplish was to protect even more land in northern AK. In this same vein, I think the president that young liberals hate the most is Reagan. There are so many memes about meeting Reagan in hell. I haven't heard any similar anti-Carter hatred from the young right, but my conservative grandparents usually talk about Carter as the worst president of the 20th century. I will be interested to see how these idolized presidents influence Gen Z voters as they come of age and also start to run for office.
My Boomer father hates Carter and also thinks he was one of the worst presidents ever for the 20th century along with FDR, Truman, JFK, LBJ and preety much any president who was a Democrat in the 20th century. He praises Regan like he is Jesus and thinks Trump has been the best thing since Regan.
I’m also Gen Z (born 2001), and I also knew a Reagan who was named after the president. I think there’s a negativity many young progressives feel about the George W Bush Era, despite it not being something any of us really remember. I think part of that is the reality of early Gen Z growing up in the aftermath of 9/11, and seeing the war drag on for our entire lives, essentially. We were also fed a lot of pro-America/military propaganda growing up, which in my opinion sours many people’s view of Bush.
There also seems to be a nostalgia for Obama amongst many people in this group, and I can only assume it’s because of Obama’s public persona being so different from Trump.
And I’m from Massachusetts, where many Gen Z will talk positively about JFK, Jackie, and RFK. The family had such an idyllic life, and represent affluence in the “old money” Irish-American way. There’s a sort of class to them that some people find charming
@@hydrogen3266 Born in 2000 here. I think the nostalgia for Obama is an extension of his high likability among people in general during his presidency. His public image being so different from Trump's is just icing on the cake.
Your point about being fed a lot of pro-American, pro-military propaganda is true. Personally I have nostalgia for Bush but that's because of the funny Bushisms ("fool me once, shame on you, fool me... you can't get fooled again", "...now watch this drive", etc.) giving him a sort of "innocent fool" image which in my opinion is almost like a middle ground between Trump's "crazy scheming crackhead fool" and Biden's "inept, bumbling fool".
Thats an interesting anecdote. I am also an older Gen Z (2002), I am libral thinking, but I am not an american. Carter isnt really brought up a lot in my experience outside of the US. I would guess Carter is more celebrated for his post-presidency than his presidency. But I agree that we dont look fondly at Reagan.
Interesting to get some Gen Z perspectives on this. I'm a Millennial born in '89 myself. I didn't pay any attention to politics before 2016, but I'll confirm that the pro-America and pro-military propaganda was a powerful force in the 2000s. I bought into it myself, and thought about joining the military when I was around 18. I didn't, which was probably a good thing. I'm not cut out for it at all, haha. But yeah, the pressure to be blindly patriotic was definitely real.
Gerald Ford would be considered by most to be a difficult figure to draw in caricature, but I think you nailed him perfectly---bravo!
for me, at least, H.W. Bush represents the last flowering of a certain kind of moderate, orthodox conservatism untainted by things like the Iraq War or the 2016/2020 US elections. The idea of a staunchly "normal" figure has a lot of appeal these days.
Interesting that JJ didn’t mention the first Gulf War at all, considering that it not only led ti many political repercussions for Bush’s successors, but also the stark shift from his 90% approval numbers after the war to his eventual defeat to Clinton plays well into JJ’s through line about how the American voting public increasingly turned their back to the WW2 era political consensus.
Hmm the Republicans ran a figure like that in 2008 and 2012, and the liberal media tore them to shreds, lied through their teeth to attack them.
Trump is the result. You reap what you sow
I mean if orthodox conservatives you mean a neoconservative then maybe. I’m almost the opposite kind of conservative in that I tend toward being very socially conservative but I’m fairly moderate on economics and much more leery of foreign intervention. My position would have been considered orthodox conservatism 100 years ago if not for Buckley popularizing neoconservatism in the middle part of the century. I think what is orthodox conservatism just depends on the era.
The last great Republican president. Handled the end of the Cold War like a champ
He was our last truly competent executive IMO
18:45 for anyone wondering if JJ got that political cartoon he asked for
that'd be me lol
As an older American who has lived through all of these president's tenures, I have to compliment you on your extremely accurate depiction of these presidents. Among your many talents, you have a well-informed view of history. Keep up the good work.
I think one point that should have been mentioned is that, in the 1970s, both major parties phased out conventions in favor of Presidential primaries, which promoted candidates with populist and/or maverick tendencies candidates like Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, and Bill Clinton. No previous era of American politics to that point was nearly so accommodating of "outsider" candidates.
Yeah, this is a pretty important and somewhat complicated issue. It was less of a phase-out than it was a light switch flipped in 1972. And of course, conventions still exist, but you can pre-script them because of the primaries. Hey, J.J., if it's not too obscure for a Canadian, I think this would be a great topic for you . . . how we moved from all-powerful nominating conventions to irrelevant conventions. Just covering the changes in the 20th century should do it.
Thanks for the shoutout JJ! I had a lot of misconceptions about Carter before I learned more about him. His Presidency is so unique and there’s a lot we can learn from it. Great video btw!!!
Cool to see you here dude, I've recently discovered your videos
The Simpsons episode "Two Bad Neighbors" delved into the perceived personalities of both Ford and Bush, depicting Ford as a down-to-earth football and nacho-loving everyman (who got along well with, and looked like, Homer), while George Bush was depicted as the Mr. Wilson to Bart's Dennis The Menace (complete with Barbara as a kindly Mrs. Wilson stand-in) while also being seen as out-of-touch (such as trying to order stew at the Krusty Burger drive-through).
JJ you’re too good to us feeding us all this presidential trivia, it’s all I’ve been watching all week
17:13 Ford was appointed as Agnew's (VP) successor, not Nixon's. When Nixon resigned, Ford, as VP, took his place.
Yeah a lot of people seem to get that mixed up
Stunk, you write, _Ford was appointed as Agnew's (VP) successor, not Nixon's_ . But you misunderstand what J.J. was saying. He didn't say Ford was appointed _President_ , by saying Ford "was appointed Nixon's successor", he's saying he was appointed to the position which is the official designated *successor* to the President in the event he doesn't finish his term. Who, right now, is Biden's successor, should he die today? We all know his designated successor is Kamala Harris, the VP. Your comment implies that J.J. thinks that Ford became President in '73, but many other times it is manifest that J.J. understands that Nixon served until 1974.
I think this is a confusion of phrasing. Yes, Ford replaced Agnew as VP, but ultimately succeeded Nixon to the office of president. I think that's what JJ meant.
I think it’s pretty clear in the context I was describing the process through which Ford was chosen to be the designated successor to Nixon. Obviously Congress didn’t convene at the moment Nixon resigned to make that decision. It is important to note, however, that at the time Ford was appointed VP it was pretty widely assumed that he was likely to become president, given the worsening Watergate situation.
@@JJMcCullough "at the time Ford was appointed VP it was pretty widely assumed that he was likely to become president, given the worsening Watergate situation." That is quite true. And indeed, the timing of Agnew's resignation was influenced by events, for two reasons.
A) For his part, Nixon (most believed) welcomed the distraction from Watergate that Agnew's gubernatorial scandal brought on. It may be hard to believe, but Agnew's resignation came like a thunderclap out of nowhere. Most of us had *_zero_* clue that Agnew was under serious investigation, let alone that his job was imperiled; Nixon almost certainly pushed him out the door quickly.
B) But members of Congress from both parties also were happy to see Agnew go. Looking ahead to the (still then fairly remote) possibility of Nixon's removal by impeachment, many wanted Agnew out. Why? For reasons strangely similar to the Democrats' current dilemma with Kamala Harris. Many of today's Dem leaders would love to see Kamala replaced at the convention this summer because they know there's a good chance Biden won't finish his second term, and she's just not seen as someone they want heading their ticket in 2028. Agnew's reputation was sullied for different reasons; he was an anti-Semite, for one thing, and for another, Washington insiders were whispering about Agnew's corruption. If Agnew's liabilities became public, it could have served to protect Nixon because removing him would make Agnew President, a distinctly unsavory idea.
And all of this would have played out very different had the 25th Amendment not been ratified less than 10 years beforehand. Without squeaky clean Gerald Ford as Vice President, Nixon would probably not have resigned, Agnew might have held on, and the long national nightmare would have likely been extended into 1975 or later. Or perhaps Agnew would have been impeached before Nison (unlikely, IMO) and the 38th President of the United States would have been Carl Albert.
You should have mentioned that - as of the time of recording - Jimmy Carter is the only one of this bunch still alive!
Somehow, he’s had brain cancer for like a decade now
People sometimes say that my videos have a tendency to kill people off, because often when I acknowledge a still-living political leader, like Gorby or Queen Elizabeth, they die shorty after the video goes up, quickly dating it. So let’s hope President Carter isn’t another example!
Also the only one that was an ally of Hezbollah, Hamas, the regime in Iran, Mugabe, Hugo Chavez, and on and on...
Jimmy Carter seems to be the last major American Cold War figure after Henry Kissinger's death. His death will have closed out the Cold War aftereffect in American History (though now we seem to be in a much more hard-to-define Cold War 2.0).
@@AgtsmirnoffNo he hasn't, he had melanoma in the brain and liver but beat it. Right now he's been in hospice care since February of last year.
The graphic description of Kennedys assassination really caught me off guard.
I always enjoy how you start a video with "Hello friends". It is a very good thing to say. Based on your onscreen presence, you seem like a kind person.
Gee I really hope Millard Fillmore is here
Sorry, dude, but that would have been the *_Kaei_* Era. J.J. is doing the *Showa* Era here.
I hope he does Meiwa era presidents.
You missed the Iran hostage crisis. This is what made Carter lose. This and the bunny.
There were also stagflation and gas shotages that made Americans wait in lines for an opportunity to fuel up at the pump. That also did not help Carter in his reelection bidm
Yup that with the fact that Carter was an outsider as JJ said leaving him with no base to fall back on played an important part as well. Regan's meddling in the hostage crisis (deal to not release the hostages) probably didn't help for sure.
There was plenty more Carter took the fall for though like inflation which had more to do with the previous bad monetary policy more so than who was president.
@@Xsetsu and the fact that the hostages were released the day reagan got inaugurated really didn't help at all.
@@XsetsuThere was no such deal. Get over it.
Wait, the bunny thing hurt him? Or is this a joke?
Great video as usual!
One thing, JFK served in the Navy and was a Sailor. Soldiers are in the Army. He was a the Captain of a PT boat, and hurt his back while in the service
Additionally, if you want a service-agnostic term for someone in the military, generally people use "servicemember."
@@mattcelder So sterile and bureaucratic. Who goes to war? A warrior.
Did you ever Google the story and picture of the coconut that saved his life in WW2? It's definitely worth a read. 👍
Isn’t because he swam like 3.5 miles while he dragged one of his injured friends to safety after being sunk.
@@snapdragon6601he kept it as a paper weight
I think Jackie Kennedy might be the most famous first lady for older generations (except maybe for Hillary Clinton, but that’s probably cheating at this point since she’s more known for other things), but I expect that Michelle Obama probably has her beat for younger generations. She was SO active and visible during my childhood (and she was mostly working on children’s issues). She’s who I think of as what a first lady should be. I wouldn’t be surprised if she takes on that role even more in the coming decades. She definitely has that more than any other 21st century first ladies.
Though if anything, I think I heard more about Eleanor Roosevelt than Jackie Kennedy as a kid…
Lol Big Mike as the most famous first lady, how about that 😂
The Mount Rushmore of First Ladies is def Eleanor, Jackie, Hillary and Michelle
@@pir2251I would probably replace Hilary with Nancy Reagan . . .
@@pir2251what an awful list
Michelle Obama was astroturfed so hard
27:44 Unless I am unaware of new info, this has been debunked . Reagan was diagnosed with Alzheimers in 1994 and died in 2004. The average life expectations for the disease is 8-10 which checks out with his 10 years of disease. While there has been cases going beyond this, it's very unlikely particularly considering his age; the fact that he lived for ten years after being diagnosed in his 80s is already unlikely. He clearly started slowing down at the end of his tenure (like biden and trump) but he even spoke at the 1992 republican convention
(For a person diagnosed with Alzheimers in their 70s can generally only expect to live 7 more years. Reagan was in his late 70s when he was president and even if you say it was only his last year he was suffering from Alzheimers (1988) he would have have to live for 16 more years, breaking records)
Kind of checks out with the theory that he really wasn't all that bright to begin with
@@mr.kenthappyface746And what is your reasoning for this?
@@adamheuer8502 Reagan was the man who thought we could use lasers in space to take out nuclear missiles in the 1980's. The same man who would regurgitate anything he read in a reader's digest magazine to anyone in earshot. The same man who armed the Mujahideen because he thought they would be a stable ally that the US could rely on in the Middle East. To me, these things don't sound too smart.
@@adamheuer8502 Reagan famously disclosed his Alzheimer’s in a letter released in 1994. Actually he wrote the letter in 1980 but forgot to send it! 😂
I mean comparing someone to Joe Biden when making the argument that they _don't_ have Alzheimer's is an interesting choice but ok 😂
This is the first time it has struck me that no Canadian Prime Minister served abroad during WWII.
The most memorable thing about Bush Sr. is this quote:
“America needs to be a lot more like the Waltons and a lot less like The Simpsons.”
And The Simpsons shot back with Bart saying, "Hey, we're just like the Waltons. We're prayin' for an end to the Depression, too."
I’m remember that episode. Bush Sr. Who fit right in with Flanders and NOT Homer. The president that did however fit in with Homer and not Flanders was Herald Ford?
Really? Cause the quotes I remember most are
“Read my lips”
And
“This will not stand”
A main reason LBJ and JFK are remembered so differently is JFK is our crush and we want presidents to be like him, while LBJ was the rough reality of how presidents really are
We want misogynist womanizers? Hmm you may be right looking at this current cult leader running.
And LBJ actually knew how to get things done.
so Presidents are all extremely effective in passing legislation, have great domestic policies with terrible foreign policies? I think you need to do more research on LBJ
@@user-tw5ro3xx2v LBJ is how a brutally effective one is
@@eyuin5716 he was rough but he got shit done, like it or not
30:13 - Jeb!
Please clap. . .
In the alternate timeline where Harambe didn’t die we got President Jeb! and he’s in his 2nd term.
@@Matt-xc6sp And maybe his son George P. would be two presidents after him. (Similar to how Dubya was two Presidents after HW and Jeb would have been two after his brother.)
What is funny "jeb" in Polish means "You go fuck", although it is pronounced "yeb". :P
Glad that Gus was able to find the comic for you! After seeing it, your hunt was definitely worth it!
thank you for covering this! I always needed more info on the US politics of the late 1900ś and Early 2000s.
Interesting perspectives.
For Jimmy Carter, I would have added more about his diverse experiences, including as a preacher, professor, parole officer, engineer, Naval Officer on a nuclear sub, and -- from a Canadian perspective -- his part in helping address the reactor accident at Chalk River in 1952. Plus, of course, his post-Presidency humanitarian work. All on top of thr peanut farmer part.
Regardless of his performance as President, he certainly led an interesting and accomplisjed life filled with activity.
I'd really suggest people take a look at NPR's Landslide podcast, it's about the exact time between the Nixon registration and Reagan's election. It put into perspective the feelings of the politicians and the decisions they made (which usually had something to do with the opposition party at the time which isn't mentioned in this video). It really tells us how politics shaped into what it is today.
Excellent video as always. JJ, your videos and assessments are thoughtful, balanced and focused.
I hereby grant you a special award for Excellence in the Field of Excellence.
J.J. McCullough, You're amazing! I hit the like button as soon as I saw it!
Really enjoyable video! Ive been taking US History this past school year and have a new fascination for these presidents. I really liked seeing your more cultural approach to analyzing their presidents.
I love Andre Dutra's videos and glad he got a shoutout from a bigger youtuber since hes so underrated!
I... Well, now, I... Am I under oath when I take the oath?
I remember my body; flabby, pastey-skinned, riddled with phlebitis. A good Republican body! God, I loved it.
“Uh, well, I, uh ... the question is-is vague. You don't say what kind of candy, whether anyone is watching or, uh... At any rate, I certainly wouldn't harm the child.”
And
“You're all going to jail and don't expect me to grant a pardon like that sissy Ford.”
Those are my favorites.
Neat video! I like you asking if it's getting too esoteric at the beginning after you call them the Showa Seven while looking too excited. More esoteric = more JJ smiles
Great video! Would love to see a “Showa” video like this for Canadian PMs!
14:53 - In the early 90's, I (an elementary school kid) asked my grandfather (a WW2 marine who was born & died in Mississippi) who his favorite president was. He said Nixon.
I think a topic that would fit your taste perfectly is the Freedom Train of 1947. It was an attempt by the Truman administration, through a private organization that included movie heads and industry giants, to galvanize a single American cultural identity through a traveling museum exhibit. Bing Crosby cut a promotional song about it and Rosa Parks saw one of her first major civil rights victories when she (along with others on the committee) convinced her city to desegregate the train station so everyone could enjoy the exhibit together.
I appreciate you describing the gravity of the JFK assassination and how brutal it was especially considering the position of glamour and fairy-tale wealth they were portrayed as in the media. Since it happened so long ago it can begin to seem like a trivial thing because of how often it's talked about and even joked about to an extent
Just wanted you to know that your consistent flow of quality content is really, really appreciated J.J.
love your videos. thanks
One thing that I like about them is that they were all pragmatic in some way. For example, Reagan, a Republican, working with Tip O'Neal, a Democrat, on Social Security.
Trump worked with Pelosi too you know. That’s just politics. Especially when at that point republicans hadn’t controlled the house since 1947 under Dyes
Well done! That's a nice binning of generational presidents, starting with Kennedy and ending with Bush and alluding to Clinton. Clinton actually met Kennedy as a student in 1963, and he cites this as a major motivator to enter politics, starting with becoming class president of Georgetown University in 1964 and 1965.
On a side note I enjoyed you mentions of presidential cabinets and advisors. You touched on Kennedy's and Reagan's, though Nixon's was incredibly influential during and after his term as well. Perhaps too nuanced and niche, a deeper dive into some of the notable various administrative leadership could be a fun ride :)
This is exactly the sorta video I needed thanks jj
Another slam dunk JJ! Didn't expect a Canadian to explain American history way better than any American I know
Great video JJ! I was astonished when I first found out that Nixon, a Republican and known to me only as a vague villain, passed the EPA, Clean Air Act, and Clean Water Act. I later found out he actually vetoed the Clean Water Act but it was overridden, which only astonished me more, as there was such bipartisan consensus on environmental issues at the time.
He also passed the wild and free roaming horses and burros act (wild horses were at real risk of being whiped out at that time) and he was working on an act to protect soil prior to essentially becoming political persona non grata. Dems and environmental authors love to downplay him for doing it for cynical reasons, but he did way more than any pres with supposedly 'genuine' intentions. Dude was a real one.
Probably why some people now like to say that Nixon, a longtime demonized figure, would supposedly be considered moderate or even left leaning today
@@thirdtooth4069 It might have something to do with the fact that Nixon disparaged domestic policy as "building outhouses in Peoria." Nixon had gone into office partly on a conservative domestic platform, but found the process of actually trying to flesh out these stances into policy to be frustrating and simply just not as important to him as foreign policy (save for wiretapping everyone on his enemies list) while his foreign policy angered both hawks and doves. It goes a long way to explaining why there was no real wave of sentimentality toward his presidency.
The people who voted for Nixon to be a metaphorical cold glass of water poured on a tumultuous '60s saw little concrete action but were fine to initially credit Nixon with the burnout of the New Left, but in terms of concrete policy achievements there was very little. The more moderate conservatives who had backed Nixon were focusing their backlash on the Great Society which Nixon initially appealed to as part of his platform with a moderate opposition that was supposed to scale it back but proved mercurial and uninterested in actually acting on it since, again he metaphorically compared domestic policy to unglamorous, uninteresting dirty work of questionable importance and thus checked-out the moment it became clear there it was going to require more effort than a veto. The moderate liberals and later the moderate conservatives turned against him over the Watergate scandal. The liberals who may have been pleasantly surprised by how hands-off on domestic policy Nixon proved to be may have been fine were fine with voting for him in again '72, but they had ears and could hear Nixon reminding everyone of that one relative everyone has to tolerate at Thanksgiving except you can't call your Congressmen and tell them to to vote to kick your uncle out but they sure could for Nixon. His domestic policy achievements were, for the most part, effectively rubber-stamping domestic policy that a Democratic-controlled Congress sent to his desk, which unsurprisingly did not go over well with the more market-focused conservatives who expected him to oppose that sort of thing. It would be fair to say that the various domestic policy achievements of the Nixon-era were mostly achieved not in-spite or because of Nixon but rather regardless of Nixon.
There is one bold progressive policy proposal of the Nixon administration, and it was largely memory-holed because it was effectively a flailing gesture of the Nixon administration deep into the Watergate crisis that by this point had Congressional hearings on it being shown on all the television networks. However, the reason it doesn't get much attention in retrospect is that everyone involved hated how it went so most discussion of it is largely from liberals who have an axe to grind against Ted Kennedy. I am talking about Nixon's healthcare reform proposal, which to boil it down into it's basics would have subsidized employer-provided healthcare plans and expanded Medicaid into a public option that anyone could enroll in. The conservatives of the Nixon administration didn't want to be associated with conceding to the Democrats a major win on healthcare reform and were angling to ride the Reagan wave which was decidedly hostile to that sort of policy. The liberals didn't like that Ted Kennedy used his position as the youngest ever Senate majority whip to oppose the bill to try to attach a quite unpopular payroll tax increase and pressure the administration to concede a single payer healthcare system rather than just take the win. It was really just a wild plan to just have any reason for the administration to be in the news that wasn't Watergate. and Ted Kennedy somehow thought Nixon, which I will repeat was the President who described domestic policy as "building outhouses in Peoria," was so desperate for a win that he'd hand everything Ted Kennedy demanded on a silver platter rather than see a domestic policy issue becoming too complicated to get an easy win and give-up on doing anything as he did on every other domestic policy issue. This was a wild miscalculation which resulted in the opportunity for healthcare reform in the 1974 withering on the vine and dying the moment Nixon resigned and Gerald Ford took office who proved to be the inverse of Nixon, prioritizing domestic policy over foreign policy.
As for foreign policy, the people who voted for Nixon for peace in Vietnam were frustrated when he decided to go about that by escalating the war, first by dumber ideas such as invading Cambodia and later better ideas such as restarting strategic bombing without the quite disastrous concept of "strategic persuasion" that still escalated the war and so angered them and the scant few more principled of those were frustrated by the cease fire that was ultimately secured following that being frequently violated and formally ending less than a year later and ending in territorial conquest. The people who may have been surprisingly pleased by this aggressive foreign turn in Nixon were frustrated by failure to stop the Case-Church Amendment which ended American support for South Vietnam which set up how the war would end the moment any President who North Vietnamese leadership thought wasn't crazy enough to get involved for a second round came into office. There was also giving the PRC a Security Council seat at the expense of Taiwan. Because of that, the small portion of voters who are foreign policy voters, dove and hawk alike, both had serious issues. The only notable group of people that tends to think fondly of Nixon are people of Hungarian descent since Nixon visited Hungarian refugees during his time as Vice President to Eisenhower, which is not a Nixon administration accomplishment. The only group of foreign policy people who loved his presidency's foreign policy were typically a group of IR theorists who call themselves "realists" who, though a major fixture in foreign policy analysis and policy-making, are not an actual voting block whose votes will swing any election.
Similar to LBJ, some British academics believe that Tony Blair would be remembered as one of the greatest Prime Ministers in history if it weren't for his involvement in Iraq
The assassination attempt on Reagan ('The Great Communicator', iirc) was the first time a living president being newsworthy in my home (in a way I understood--the Iranian hostage situation and the yellow ribbons bit was a little beyond me at the time). My favorite TV show of the time, Greatest American Hero, had to change the main character's name and even overdub dialogue because it was the same as the foiled assassin's. It's funny now to remember political cartoons showing Bush v. Dukakis as the most mud-slinging ever because Bush said Dukakis looked like Snoopy when he drove a tank. I remember Bush as the 'anti-flag-burning President' and Dana Carvey's impression of him more than his presidency, apart from the decision to roll into Iraq. Great video, JJ, you have the best commenters on RUclips, as exemplified the search for that Gerald Ford cartoon.
Love the videos on political history JJ
I know it’s unlikely that you could go to all of them but I’d highly recommend visiting the presidential library for these men.
Having been to the ones of Carter, Johnson and Kennedy, the way each speaks about the events of their respective presidencies is honestly fascinating.
Additionally, the way Johnson and Kennedy are revered by NASA at the Kennedy Space Center is something only comparable to the way Teddy Roosevelt is revered by the National Park Service.
Kennedy’s library in Boston is also interesting because the city and Cape Cod still speak very highly of him.
I saw a wild turkey outside the Kennedy library just chilling, not relevant I just felt the need to share idk
@@raulpetrascu2696Boston has a LOT of wild turkeys. Some of them are aggressive and will attack. We also have traffic jams caused by them and/or geese
I always love the president videos
That's an easily shared video. JJ outdoing himself on every turn.
Love the way your video essay style has developed over the last couple of years, keep it up bro.
Thanks man. What do you like about it?
@@JJMcCullough Easy answer.
Your cadence and sentence structure have become much more refined and digestable. Right, the pauses and inflections in your speech make your content not only understandable but engaging. As well, your subtle self references make being a regular consumer feel like we are peers.
The topics you've been covering over the last few years have shown your transition from contemporary politics. As a long time viewer, I feel gratified to see that you've made your decision to move away from the news last so long. It shows a healthy level of growth in your character. Now it seems you are much more interested in the topics you're discussing, which brings an added level of charisma to your prose.
And finally, you just look better. Your face has become brighter, your hair looks fantastic, and your body language suggests that you are more comfortable, which makes sitting through long format content more enjoyable.
Overall you've increasingly become my favourite youtuber. I missed you at the last meet up in Ottawa but I'd be one of the first to arrive at your next engagement.
There thats good enough as an answer, cheers bro.
Loved that crisis of confidence video too, respect for that shoutout
"With his handsome skull exploding all over Jackie's pink channel suit." Utter poetry.
A line worthy of Capote or John Waters.
Cringe.
JJ, you should initial your illustrations.
They're really good, and i don't think most people realize that you do them.
lol at JJ reading.... the Express!? highbrow stuff!
Thanks for the video JJ McCullough. What an era of US politics
Really wish you would have mentioned Johnson’s “Great Society.” This was huge at the time, and perfectly represented his War on Poverty, the Civil Rights act, etc, and is something that we are still living in the shadow of today. Gay rights, women’s rights, and the ongoing push for diversity and inclusion are directly tied to this. It’s forgotten that there didn’t used to be a singular American society. Johnson went about designing that society, something people care about the inclusion of minorities within more and more. It’s kind of mind boggling how this speech is brushed over and forgotten today.
I did mention it
@@JJMcCulloughyou mentioned it in his section? Or somewhere else? I just rewatched and still didn’t see it. I guess to me, it feels like the biggest deal of his presidency (as does the ending of Breton-Woods with Nixon, tbh). But apologies if you did!
Yeah the great society act and the push for homosexual and feminism movements
JFK had the advantage that Jacqueline was an order of magnitude better looking and stylish than Mamie Eisenhower, who was egregiously dowdy.
I don’t want to be too superficial about this, but first ladies in general were not exactly known for being babes.
@@JJMcCullough I am just old enough to remember the Kennedys, and Jackie got a fair amount of press coverage on her own. The typical First Lady before and since was a specialist at looking adoring as Hubby spoke, saying nothing of import. Michelle Obama tried to play an independent role, but did not really succeed.
@@tomhalla426 I think the big exception is obviously Hillary. And Betty Ford was an activist too, especially when it came to feminism.
@@guillemedina7908 Hillary Clinton was more channeling Eleanor
Roosevelt as an activist. She was hardly the sort of lifestyle/fashion icon Jackie Kennedy was.
@@tomhalla426you had Wilson’s wife who acted as de facto president when he suffered a stroke
Its also crazy to think that 4 of the 5 last presidents have been born in near enough the same birthyear.
Bill Clinton, GW Bush and Donald Trump all being born in 1946 and more worryingly, Joe Biden being born in 1942.
Its crazy to think that we could have had other Presidents, like Hillary Clinton, Bernie Sanders, Mitt Romney, McCain, John Kerry and Al Gore as well born essentially close to the same decade.
JJ I love your vids❤
Heyyyy was not expecting Carter do be depicted with a Georgia Tech sweatshirt (since he didn’t graduate from there and only went there for like a year) but we like to claim him anyway 😅
33:06 yay you're welcome J.J.!
The hero of our story!
J.J., you have the ability to make something I never thought I would be interested in, interesting. God bless you, friend.
Great video
The only "high culture" champions were the Kennedys, primarily Jackie Kennedy, who established a committee of historical advisors and supporters to acquire antiques and art for the White House, to make it more like a European palace. The Kennedy's famously entertained in the WH with musicians like Pablo Casals for entertainment. (JFK though known his pleasure in the James Bond novels, helping boost them in the US.) Most subsequent presidents haven't been or havent wanted to appear so high culture--LBJ, Reagan, and the Bushes all presenting themselves as cowboys (even GHW Bush).
A video I would like to see is a video over the American Hat Canon, I think things like the cowboy hat and baseball cap could have some neat history
There is actually a channel about the history of hats!
@@gerardacronin334 What would it be called?
@@mr.televison9201 HatHistorian
DUDE! You have a Mischief Frog Plushie? That's awesome!
I hope you do a vid like this for Canada
I remember thing that LBJ was "so old." I find that ironic looking back, in that his age at death was several years younger than I am now!
He looked way older than his age. His hectic lifestyle combined with a not so healthy diet and heavy smoking contributed to his early demise. I believe he already had a massive heart attack before becoming president during his senate tenure.
I've been subscribed to you for a litle over 5 years now but it's only today that I realize you always upload on Sunday. Upon seeing this in my reccomended I thought to myself, "I remember watching a video of his last Sunday..." and so on and so on.
His schedule has varied. His videos used to be on Saturdays.
Incogni might be the only youtube ad i ever buy lol. Sound's helpful
I literally had just watched Andre's video last night!
Loved the structure of this one!
Exploring the 4 Boomer presidents would be interesting as well.
Technically Obama is also a Boomer although on the other end of that generation 1946-64
And neither Trump nor Biden are boomers
Ok, sorry to be that guy, but JFK was in the Navy. A soldier is army. This a culturally important distinction in the US. He was very proud of his naval service, as naval service.
I would LOVE for you to do a similar type of analysis of the decades as cultural elements... I feel like your insight would be first-rate.
Can you explain? I don’t quite understand what you mean.
content aside those caricatures are really spot on!
GHW Bush lost when Perot ran to his right, and split the conservative vote. Aside from violating a pledge to not raise taxes, Bush also offended conservatives with his gun control executive orders. Appealing to a movement that will never vote for Republicans was an example of his tone deafness.
Reagan should’ve pushed Buchanan to be president and endorsed him
@@night6724 Pat Buchanan would have been the Republican McGovern.
@@tomhalla426 no he wouldn’t. Dukakis was awful. Even if Buchanan lost it wouldn’t be a 49 state lost
Once again, another award winning video
Your mention of Jimmy Carter immediately brings me back to the Simpsons statue of Jimmy Carter. History's Greatest Monster
Never thought I’d see JJ reading the express lol 🇬🇧
JJ can you please do a video on Irish Taoiseachs
14:02
I'm going to quibble a bit here. The vast majority of the 60s-70s youth counterculture - people like James Bevel, Abbie Hoffman, the students at SDS, Hunter S. Thompson, John Lennon, Gloria Steinem, the Fondas, Muhammad Ali, etc. - they were all born as part of the late Silent Generation. The only major anti-war figures who were actually born in the post-war "boom" I can think of offhand were Neil Young (December '45) and Fred Hampton (1948).
This isn't to downplay the contributions of the Boomers who *were* involved, they certainly played a big part especially in ground-level activism at universities, but most of them were still just too young at that time.
I literally made a whole video about this
@@JJMcCullough Yeah IK (I'm subscribed to you on my main account), I just felt it necessary to reiterate the point from that video since you seemed to kind of gloss it over in this one.
Regan I have nostalgia for despite not likeing him he was the president when I moved here form South Africa. I might had only been 3 but I remember so much for me leaving Capetown to landing in Rhode Island and seeing Regan on the Tv is such a clear memory
21:30 You sure Carter wasn't talking about today because its a spot on description of both the USA and Canada and other western democracies today.
Calvin Coolidge best president
real
🤡
I am surprised you didn’t talk about how polarizing a figure Reagan is as a former president today. Not one mention of his role or lack theirof during the AIDS epidemic.
Not enough time in the world to talk about the bad Reagan did
The only bad thing he did regarding AIDS was take it seriously. We have wasted way too much money and time on it
Yeah, this was a very generous and sanitized portrait of Reagan. I deliberately watch JJ to get a more conservative opinion than my usual bubble, but I was surprised at how uncritical this was.
Reagan is regarded by pretty much everyone on the left as the most damaging president of all time (AIDS crisis, war on drugs, austerity/neoliberalism/trickle-down economics, Operation Condor, Apartheid Act veto, firing all the ATCs, etc), and I think any 6-minute overview would be remiss not to at least touch on a few of those, even if the author doesn't agree with the criticism.
It would be like doing an overview of Trump without mentioning all the racism, or how despised he is by liberals and leftists (and even lots of moderates).
@@nabby101 what "racism" did Trump exhibit? Is having borders racist? When I go to America, I just show them my passport, and then after a week or two I go home like a good foreigner.
What did Reagan do to cause AIDS? Did he grab guys and say "now kiss!"?
@@nabby101Maybe because the only people who scream about Ronald Reagan being the worst president ever are 20 year olds who know nothing about his presidency except conspiracy theories from Reddit saying he was the antichrist
Thanks, always wanted to learn more about the canadian presidentes!
Its interesting to see this distinguished as an era of presidents, because I am used to seeing presidential eras being defined by the dominant ideology (which usually has FDR to Carter in one era, while Reagan and everyone who follows is put in another era) rather than generation. I think putting both of these lenses together does a good job at showcasing the complex relationship between generations and ideologies. People's ideologies are informed by their generations, with the young often taking on opposing ideological characters. However this effect can often obscure how generations both come to respect their elder's worldview simply by living in their world, while older generations come to respect the worldviews of younger generations once those generations prove themselves to be productive members of society.
Hes not in this vid but Theodore Roosevelt was a huge W of a prez.
BULLY!🫎
@@zacfuller7574 BULLY!!!!!
TR led a fascinating life too
Seems to me these days that Carter gets too much blame as president and Regan really doesn't suffer enough criticism.
Also the comment about Carter being one of the most decent human beings to hold office has to be one of the most backhanded comments ever and it is repeated over and over.
That’s exactly what one would expect a liberal to say, while a conservative would say the opposite.
Make, most can't shut up about how Reagan is practically Hitler.
The only thing I'm curious about is what you said about a president in their late fifties/early 60s getting elected into office was seen as unusual. Because Truman was 60 during his inauguration, Eisenhower 62, FDR 51, Hoover 58, Coolidge 56 and Harding 57. All of whom predated the presidents you went over. And the median average age the president-elect has been on inauguration day is 56.72 years old.
Great vid as always. Love this subject matter so so much and I love it being analyzed through a cultural lens which you always do so well.
I like Chuck Klosterman's description of Reagan as a presidential Mr. Rogers. Reagan's allure comes from the grand moral vision he projected for the nation and the way he projected it.
Jimmy Carter was the type of president we needed to move forward to progress out of the post WW2 gold era. Regan made some pretty good jokes and gave the country a credit card to pay off later.
Booooooooo Carter wasn’t a bad president but he was an establishment president that didn’t have a plan to fix new issues other than keep doing the same thing they had always done. Ronald Reagan wasn’t perfect but he was willing to try and create progress. He also did a lot very necessary reforms that uneducated loud mouths like you take for granted.
I would argue reagan did the most to ending the cold war and is the biggest reason Russia has an economy the size of Italy nowadays rather than a superpower force.
Russia/USSR’s economy was never strong
@@REDDAWNprojectThe USSR was imploding and anyone in office could have taken the credit. And a few historical events have happened to Russian since Regan. You've got some history to catch up on!
Carter was a bad president and I honestly hate the revisionism around him. Neither he nor Reagan were particularly effective Presidents.
Eisenhower might have been born in 1890 but he was the first president who served as soldier in WW2. JFK doesn't even qualify as he was famously a sailor, not a soldier, which is a term exclusive to the Army.
Eisenhower never served in combat in his entire career
@@JJMcCullough Seeing combat isn't what defines a Soldier. A Soldier is someone who has served in the Army, just as every member of the Air Force is an Airman, everyone in the Navy is a Sailor, and the Marine Corps are all Marines. This is a pretty fundamental fact of being a Servicemember. You're normally a lot better than this.
@@JJMcCullough Reagan didn't serve in combat either due to extreme near sightedness. He was attached to the entertainment wing of the Army Air Force and produced over 400 training films as well as organizing War Bond Drives with his Hollywood friends and associates.
@JJMcCullough he might not have been in combat, I feel like saying that the Supreme allied commander of ww2 wasn't a soldier is ridiculous.
It's good to see J.J, and Harry Gold upload their new videos at the same time.