Best/Worst Presidents

[Kasz216]

Mr Khan said:

Kasz216 said:

Mr Khan said:


4- Theodore Roosevelt: certain racist tendencies, though not overt support for the KKK (which hadn't been revived yet). However, he helped lead the cause of progressivism in the early 20th century for pushing America into modernity.

I'm confused by this.  Roosevelets biggest political challenge throught pretty much his whole presidency was that racists hated him because he was generally way ahead of the curve and more progressive racially then any president before... and many after.  To the point of where he coordinated extremely close with Booker T Washington to do as much as could be done without causing a negative backlash.  In general his opinion on african americans mirrored that of Booker T Washington's.

As a president and person, Roosevelt was decades ahead on the race front.

But i had heard he was in favor of Eugenics? Unless that was just about not letting the differently abled breed, and he wasn't in to the more specifically racial components of Eugenics.

Roosevelt's belief on race was that every man deserved to be treated as an individual, and promoted or demoted based soley on his own personal abilties.  He did think Blacks were behind on average, but that's because at the time they were, due to all the slavery.  Even Booker T Washington thought this was the case, which is why he cared more about Education then he did integration.

Though yeah.  Roosevelt's exact quote on Eugenics was "I wish very much that the wrong people could be prevented entirely from breeding; and when the evil nature of these people is sufficiently flagrant, this should be done. Criminals should be sterilized and feebleminded persons forbidden to leave offspring behind them... The emphasis should be laid on getting desirable people to breed..."

 

Not sure how you don't give Roosevelt a pass on that, yet give Jackson a pass on outright genocide.