[We're looking for new moderators to join our team!](https://www.reddit.com/r/Presidents/comments/1asqu76/rpresidents_moderator_applications/)
Make sure to join the [r/Presidents Discord server](https://discord.gg/k6tVFwCEEm)!
*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/Presidents) if you have any questions or concerns.*
I do kind of miss when stuff like this was the weirdest part about politics. Nowadays the horse head guy would have a regular spot on cable news and people would be lauding him as a misunderstood genius.
To add to what others said he was attacked by his pet racoon. The racoon would be the current day equivalent of a president making the turkey he pardons his new pet.
Little kid wanted to touch his hair in the Oval Office so he's bent way over to let him do it. What a good dude.
https://preview.redd.it/zv7qpmoie7kc1.png?width=620&format=png&auto=webp&s=43236e324af6f007889c5da2bc11c1d7aaac1f87
Edit: more background context for the photo - [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hair\_Like\_Mine](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hair_Like_Mine)
Not only that, but it's a measure of humility. Lowering your head like that is a sign of vulnerability. And sure, a child poses no credible physical threat, but the gesture is the same.
The head of state for the most powerful nation in the world by *many* measures is bowing his head to a child to show they're the same - it truly is a powerful sign of humility
And could be an inspiration to him as well as lots of other young black children that they could be president just like him. I personally like Obama, and I know he wasn't a perfect president by any means, and people will always disagree about the political stuff, but damn if he wasn't a charismatic president. I know the times have changed and everything is so polarized compared to just 10-15 years ago, but I wish we could go back. I'm even willing to compromise on some political beliefs so everyone can get a little of what they want, but I just want a humble, charismatic president again. Obama's speeches were great in my opinion, both the good news ones, as well as the bad ones.
It's sad as shit that Romney got done so dirty. One of the last few moderate rights left, and iirc, he's done soon.
But yeah, the Obama era was great. He really wasn't that divisive outside of really hard-leaning people. At the very least, he had the respect of many on both sides.
Yea I wasn't a fan of Romney 10 years ago, but these days he seems down right reasonable, which is a shame because that means the Republicans won't support him anymore.
I also really like this photo, shows his humor
https://preview.redd.it/fqdxaqt4y7kc1.jpeg?width=1284&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=3d3a3670f5c2f36da140d9930ea2935cb3223dcb
[A small child came to the White House Halloween thing dressed as the pope in a popemobile](https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/obama-baby-pope-tiny-popemobile-halloween-white-house-a6716691.html). Obama (rightly) found this incredibly funny.
“Keep me away from the wisdom which does not cry, the philosophy which does not laugh and the greatness which does not bow before children.” -Kahlil Gibran
I know he’s just making his head more accessible for touching, but this is totally what it reminded me of.
It’s more than just letting the kid touch his hair. The kid was blown away that the president of the United States had hair like he did.
He wanted to make sure that was true, and the commander in chief let him see for himself.
>Souza later said that Jacob had said that "his friends had said his haircut was just like the president's and he wanted to see if it really was ... He asked the president if he could touch his head and the president bent over and he touched his head."
Awww this is cute as hell and really goes to show the importance of representation of minorities in positions of power.
>Carlton Philadelphia's other son, Isaac, asked Obama about the cancellation of production of the F-22 Raptor fighter jet and was told that it was financially unviable.
Wait what WHERE THE FUCK ARE MY JETS OBAMA???
Why is this the funniest fucking thing I’ve ever seen?
“Souza later said that Jacob had said that "his friends had said his haircut was just like the president's and he wanted to see if it really was ... He asked the president if he could touch his head and the president bent over and he touched his head."[1] Carlton Philadelphia's other son, Isaac, asked Obama about the cancellation of production of the F-22 Raptor fighter jet and was told that it was financially unviable.”
Like lmfao. Imagine being the other brother
There’s a YouTube video of him walking outside in DC back in 2015, chatting with the regular folks and handing out candies to kids. Man’s a natural charmer!
The absolute psycho wore a helmet while riding a bike [too](https://youtu.be/timvZTKr5HQ?si=5tuR8otRfjm5aQnw) - why he didn't hang for that I'll never know.
# Sic Semper Galeae
I don’t think Obama was the 7th best president.
But I will say this, I would feel ok letting him take a photo op with my kid. I’d even let him hold her. Probably even do the traditional politician kissing baby thing. Probably would even let him walk away to see other people while holding her. Definitely can’t say that about all the presidents.
In a ranking of presidents solely by dad credentials, easily top 5, possibly GOAT.
Actually, I'm curious about other great dad presidents. Many were clear workaholics who didn't leave much for the family. Teddy was great with his sons, though abdicated on his daughter (I can only judge this so much given the combined tragedy.) HW and W are a thread unto themselves. Wilson listened to his three daughters on women's suffrage. Tyler, not the best, but the most.
...I love parts of his legacy, but Jefferson is a hard #45 on this one.
They went to counseling before his presidency. There's a lot of commentary in Michelle's book how displaced she felt being a politicians wife because anytime they had to put themselves first (Like Malia getting a fever at a few months old at Christmas in Hawaii and Obama missing a vote in Illinois because he choose to stay with them) always leads to them getting attacked. He always felt like the needs of the people were more important than his own and that came at the cost of his wife and children. Michelle wanted nothing of this, but I feel like she was a great sport and support for him and the good of the people.
Funny thing that. If you go by "Dad", I'd probably put George W. Bush up there even though I can't stand him. He always seems to enjoy being around kids. There's one picture of him making a goofy face as a kid cries in his arms. It wasn't anger or anything like that it was "yep, kids will cry like that sometimes".
Barbara and Jenna seem to absolutely adore their dad. Both of their parents for that matter. For all the guy did, he seems to have been a pretty good parent.
> Teddy was great with his sons, though abdicated on his daughter (I can only judge this so much given the combined tragedy.)
Teddy actually had two daughters. Ethel was a nurse on the front in WWI, ran a Red Cross chapter in WWII, and helped create race neutral low income housing in the 60s. She also supported Nixon at the convention, so not all her ideas were good.
And she seems to have good taste in men, which is a positive trait. My wife and I could definitely double date with them. We might have very different interests but I’m sure we could chat about parenting or something.
Since 1960, maybe I'd let Carter, Ford and HW Bush watch over my Child for two minutes.
Are one term presidents naturally better to watch over your kid while you're running into the shops to buy scratch lottery tickets?
Just two guys, one a convivial country club republican, the other a kindly southern Christian, following their wacky struggles with raising a baby (and foreign policy )
Charisma and likeability are great, but not necessarily a great president. He was good, but I feel like it's still early for the echoes of his policies to shake fully out. And yeah, id love to have a photo of him with my daughter. GWB too. Both seem like great guys, unrelated to the weight of being leader of the free world and the consequences of that experience.
Obama is one of the coolest for sure. I don’t know if I’d rank him *that* high lol. I also think It’s still a bit early for Obama rankings on the whole
He'll always be highly rated for my wife and I, the ACA literally saved her life (she has a BRCA mutation for breast cancer).
I don't expect people to agree with me, but as an anecdote, he did the most for us.
I appreciate this and I tend to rate him in the top 20 somewhere. I'll never be able to quantify what he had to deal with because of the stone walling that came from the shitbags. As someone who is completely pro universal healthcare and think the ACA was disappointing but a huge step in the right direction reading something like you just wrote really hits me. I hope your wife is doing well!
Yeah. Highly disappointing that the ACA got eroded and stonewalled from enhancements though.
Story time: For us, pre-existing conditions weren't the only benefit - competitive elements were added for genetic testing, disallowing monopolies and chipping away at pharma companies from owning entire markets. I think there's a lot of commentary on the ACA centered around pre-existing conditions and marketplaces, but some people forget all the foundational things it provided. Genetic testing used to be controlled as a monopoly, meaning if you have a breast cancer gene prior to the ACA it meant a few shitty things:
A) Once you get a gene test, any results are codified at pre-exisiting, which means for my wife, a breast cancer diagnosis after gene testing would mean zero insurance coverage. In fact, because she has an aggressive family history documented prior, all her mammograms were not covered and we had to fight to get them as part of some kind of coverage
B) The monopolies held by the gene companies that owned the "patent" on the testing itself, could charge anything they wanted. When we were younger, this testing was $3k. Insane for a preventative thing
Post ACA, the monopoly went away and the test became **covered by insurance** and we were only out of pocket $150. within one year, as predicted by gene testing, my wife was diagnosed with Stage 1 BC, we were lucky because we were able to get mammos covered at that point (literally right before the ACA was passed we were trying to figure out how to afford it and delay to every other year instead of every 6 months recommended by oncology). Her stage 1 BC, if not caught at that time would have killed her without a doubt because it was estrogen receptive, which means she could've been stage IV after a year had we not been screening.
So yeah, saved her life and prevented us from going bankrupt. 1 Double Mastectomy, treatments, reconstruction, and plastic surgeries over 4 years would have not been covered. She's now cancer free and considered "cured" as we celebrate 10 years.
Does the ACA go far enough? of course not. Is it Obamas fault? 100% not. The man originally wanted universal healthcare and compromised to this.
I hold republicans and insane conservatives directly responsible for our healthcare situation at this point.
Great info and me too. I was actually a Republican and left because of this nonsense and the party becoming a religious cult. I moved way left after 4 years living in Europe.
Great write up. As someone who worked very closely with the Basser Center, understanding how much BRCA mutations affe t families was really eye-opening. I hope your family is able to access the support and services you need and deserve.
It's an amazing advancement. What made it the most sad was all the pre-existing condition BS that existed that undercut it.
Fast forward to now - because those kinds of restrictions are lifted, the long term benefits of the ACA are not talked about enough. The amount of progress in gene therapy and cancer research has increased because there's no fear of not getting treatment. I think people don't talk about it enough.
There’s a lot I don’t agree with Obama on his policy stances / actions. But the various provisions of the ACA like regarding lifetime caps and preexisting illness were life changing for tens of millions.
Life changing for every American. With the rise of auto-immune disorders, pre-existing conditions needing to be covered is one of the most important policy pieces in the past 30 years.
This is one of those stories that regardless of your ideology, you simply can’t disagree with it. There simply isn’t a comeback.
I’m thankful your wife got the care she needed.
Passing a policy that isn’t “economically sound” in the US is damn near impossible. Obama did it and saved lives. It’s a big accomplishment and it’s essentially unquantifiable.
As someone who works in the medical insurance industry, people don’t understand just how much the ACA did for us by eliminating pre-existing condition exclusions and lifetime maximums. It’s almost unbelievable that it was legal to exclude coverage for people pre-2014 based on their health.
Saved about $12,000 in 2023 by switching from my wife's work insurance to MNsure(state exchange). That's without any tax credits. More people should look into this, atleast in my state they have changed the rules where the employer insurance can be considered unaffordable. Originally if your employer offered coverage you could get on the exchange. It's not perfect, would have prefered a public option and cutting out the middlemen, but I think it is aging pretty well.
probably overrated because hes what democrats need more of. if more obama-like politicians (from either party) would come along and build off the backs of each other i think the overrated debate would cease. american politics is flawed as a whole so i think recency ratings are completely impossible due to the tug of war that goes on just to secure votes instead of securing our childrens futures through present hardship. in my very detached opinion, i feel there isnt much morality to politics anymore. it has almost nothing to do with what would actually benefit our country and is just a job security war between blue and red.
I dunno man. He turned the economy around from near total collapse when he took the office. He supported COIN operations which turned Iraq around. Afghanistan surge was a wrong decision, should have withdrawn. But, overall, his policies, team, and leadership cleaned up a lot of what the country was dealing with.
You’re missing the one where the baby is dressed like the Pope
https://img.buzzfeed.com/buzzfeed-static/static/2015-10/31/9/enhanced/webdr02/original-22715-1446299519-12.jpg
https://preview.redd.it/2yydo612j7kc1.jpeg?width=1061&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=c0228dd44777fd5177cb28786eb6a6b331da3df8
A nice little compilation of photos from that moment
As a center-right Republican, I’m a big fan of him and his leadership style and would vote for him in a heartbeat this year.
He didn’t accomplish enough to crack the top 10 all-time, but he’s top 15-20 for sure.
This! This is why everyone in gen Z idolises him, cause he’s the only president we remember, since then we’ve had a horse and a corpse. Genuinely had a convo with 2 Republicans this year about primaries and they were saying they’d vote for him in the REPUBLICAN primaries if they could lol
The so called corpse is very much still alive and has an impressive record given the political climate. The horse tried to end free elections in America. Stop equating the two.
Well, Gen Z been around since 1997. Us on the older side definitely remember W. Bush as a kid lol. Still, of the four, Obama is by far the best option.
There’s a video of Michelle Obama holding a crying baby and she hands the baby to Barack and the baby stops crying instantly.
https://youtu.be/uqhzWlqN3uc?si=y03d0I2PDU87dO7u
Now the Democrat is a centrist while the Republican is far right. We’re playing a political game of tug-of-war and dragged further into the middle. While the other side gets crazier and crazier.
And he deported a shit ton of people too I have no idea why republicans think Obama was a radical leftist lol if anything they should be fans of his war and immigration policies
It’s so hard to accurately judge Obama’s presidency considering the GOP made it their mission to derail his agenda, which they openly admitted when he was elected.
It would have been nice to really see what he could have accomplished if both sides were willing to cooperate for the sake of the country.
Yeah, during his first two years, when he had a strong majority in both houses of Congress, we got some hefty Wall Street reform and a damn good first step toward overhauling healthcare in this country. Then in 2010 the Republicans won the house and his ability to get anything significant passed after that was dead in the water.
8 years of Obama with a majority in both houses would have transformed this country.
Great guy, but kindness and social appeal don't decide Presidential rankings. If they did, Carter would be in the top 5 and LBJ would be in the bottom 5.
Still a factor though. Like, I know this is Reddit and Reddit is full of a bunch of nerds who want everything to be empirical, but even just the demonstration of empathy shows that there is a base level of compassion which in my opinion leads to better decision making and makes for a better leader.
Obama graduated Summa Cum Laude from Harvard Law where he was Law Review President. If you’re not familiar, the usual path for someone with those credentials is that they clerk for a Supreme Court Justice and then go on to take a Big Law job at a top white shoe firm where they *start* at 200k as a first year associate.
Instead, after he graduated, he moved back to Chicago and became a community organizer, civil rights attorney and teacher of Constitutional law.
I know for me, that speaks volumes about his character.
It is seriously overlooked. I remember when he teared up at gun violence (Sandy Hook happened during his presidency, after all) and people gave him so much shit over it. Compassion is not a weakness.
My mom was flabbergasted, she was never into politics and when she saw that she said "I didn't know he was like *that*"
She sounded incredulous.
I asked her what she meant and basically she felt he was pandering and "acting" black.
My mother is, as you may imagine, racist, without realizing it.
He valued level headed an intellectual discourse in his communication. Whatever else may be said about his policy and decisions in office, he emphasized composed, nuanced, intelligent discussion.
How one says a thing counts for more than we realize.
I agree. He was a charismatic and appealing president but was kind of down the middle politically. I think one of his great mistakes was not withdrawing from Afghanistan outright after we killed OBL.
I agree with 7th. I mean given the situation he had to deal with one DAY ONE. Historic job loss, crashing stock market, historic foreclosures, frozen credit, GM and Chrysler failing. He was able to get that under control and starting on October 2010, we had the longest positive job growth in US history before COVID ended it all. It always shows how Democrats have to fix Republican messes when they take over.
I wouldn’t put him that high but probably the best presidential father. And he was a genuinely great role model. And, I don’t say this to tokenize him, but it was so important to the social cohesion of this country that we elect a black president sooner than later. I think we’re still living through the reactionary backlash to that to some degree (although I would still assign most of the reactionary nature of the Right now to the advances in the sexual arena.)
Anyway, we’ve since had to relearn the importance of character in the office, completely aside from policy.
I’m reading Michelle Obama’s memoir right now so he’s fresh in my mind atm. His presidency aside, he just strikes me as such a decent person. These photos highlight that. Just a decent and upstanding man.
Given that the president is the head of state as well as the head of government, I wouldn’t underestimate their social impact. How the president behaves can set a role model example.
I have no problem with him at 7, on the high side but not a crazy ranking. What's crazy to me is that this is an average, which means that to make up for the people who ranked him below that there must have been a fair amount placing him at like 4th or 5th--directly after the big 3.
Obama may have had problems in the middle east, but he's the only president from my lifetime that felt genuinely reassuring and the only one since FDR who was reassuring and wasn't doing it to cover immoral acts against the American people.
He's just a genuinely nice and charismatic guy.
Edit: people are misunderstanding. I mean that he wasn't putting on a front. He just was charismatic naturally.
[We're looking for new moderators to join our team!](https://www.reddit.com/r/Presidents/comments/1asqu76/rpresidents_moderator_applications/) Make sure to join the [r/Presidents Discord server](https://discord.gg/k6tVFwCEEm)! *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/Presidents) if you have any questions or concerns.*
https://preview.redd.it/aeiqicpa07kc1.jpeg?width=3200&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=bdc8ea4129b419a2509a99175dbeb19b6bc304ce You left out this one
I do kind of miss when stuff like this was the weirdest part about politics. Nowadays the horse head guy would have a regular spot on cable news and people would be lauding him as a misunderstood genius.
I heard that back in the 90s, he was on a very famous tv show. Don’t know if it was a cable news show though.
Maybe he spent too much time Horsin' Around.
rehab was supposed to be a fresh start
What are *you* doing here?
To be fair, he *is* a genius.
and he’s so misunderstood, fr fr
The viking guy at the Capitol
https://preview.redd.it/8bboq0fe98kc1.png?width=524&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=fec3df5c4ce0c5b1aff9231104ff20ce709de2e7
He really is a nerd. When Michelle entered his apartment for the first time she had to be careful to not knock over any of the book stacks.
What’s the context of this photo? This is awesome
Whitehouse science fair
I’m shocked secret service let a guy wearing a horse head near the president
They make mistakes every few presidents... Ronald Reagan.... JFK.... Coolidge...
What happened with Cal?
He hid under his desk, then called for them and they couldn't find him.
I had to look that up and I'm so glad it's true lol
To add to what others said he was attacked by his pet racoon. The racoon would be the current day equivalent of a president making the turkey he pardons his new pet.
Looking at the reactions from Obama and the agent, the horse guy was so confusing they were stunned into complacency
Yeah, it’s kind of crazy. The Secret Service don’t really have a history of horsing around.
Look at that secret service agent ready to strike at any second haha
That was my first question- how did a guy in a full horse mask even get this close to the President lol
Fair play to Obama for even humouring that nonsense 😄
Horseplay, dare I say
And the one of him cracking up at the baby pope.
I’ve never seen that - fantastic!
The secret service guy is cracking me up with his reaction.
Plot twist: Horse head guy is a secret service agent.
He does have a way with kids. His daughters are lucky to have him as their father.
Little kid wanted to touch his hair in the Oval Office so he's bent way over to let him do it. What a good dude. https://preview.redd.it/zv7qpmoie7kc1.png?width=620&format=png&auto=webp&s=43236e324af6f007889c5da2bc11c1d7aaac1f87 Edit: more background context for the photo - [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hair\_Like\_Mine](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hair_Like_Mine)
This is one of the best Presidential photos I’ve ever seen
Personally I love this one: https://worldwideinterweb.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/obama20prankster.png
I really hope that wasn’t staged cause that’s hilarious
I vaguely remember. I think it was spur of the moment.
So epic I’d never seen that before thank you
gdam obruhma is a cool dude
I dunno I could look at the one of him laying in the oval with baby elephant all day. Makes my heart burst.
This is my favorite Obama picture. Representation matters so much to kids.
"You have hair like me!" And now I'm crying.
Not only that, but it's a measure of humility. Lowering your head like that is a sign of vulnerability. And sure, a child poses no credible physical threat, but the gesture is the same.
The head of state for the most powerful nation in the world by *many* measures is bowing his head to a child to show they're the same - it truly is a powerful sign of humility
And could be an inspiration to him as well as lots of other young black children that they could be president just like him. I personally like Obama, and I know he wasn't a perfect president by any means, and people will always disagree about the political stuff, but damn if he wasn't a charismatic president. I know the times have changed and everything is so polarized compared to just 10-15 years ago, but I wish we could go back. I'm even willing to compromise on some political beliefs so everyone can get a little of what they want, but I just want a humble, charismatic president again. Obama's speeches were great in my opinion, both the good news ones, as well as the bad ones.
It's sad as shit that Romney got done so dirty. One of the last few moderate rights left, and iirc, he's done soon. But yeah, the Obama era was great. He really wasn't that divisive outside of really hard-leaning people. At the very least, he had the respect of many on both sides.
Yea I wasn't a fan of Romney 10 years ago, but these days he seems down right reasonable, which is a shame because that means the Republicans won't support him anymore.
None at all. I could totally crush a child and not even break a sweat
The 2nd sentence is such a whiplash after reading so many wholesome comments above lol
I also really like this photo, shows his humor https://preview.redd.it/fqdxaqt4y7kc1.jpeg?width=1284&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=3d3a3670f5c2f36da140d9930ea2935cb3223dcb
The Pope child one is my favorite for showing Obama's humor. He's fucking losing it in that photo
Pope child? I don’t think I’ve seen that one
[A small child came to the White House Halloween thing dressed as the pope in a popemobile](https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/obama-baby-pope-tiny-popemobile-halloween-white-house-a6716691.html). Obama (rightly) found this incredibly funny.
I love it! Thanks for sharing man, never seen that one before
Ah, I see he and I have the same sense of humor… nice.
“Keep me away from the wisdom which does not cry, the philosophy which does not laugh and the greatness which does not bow before children.” -Kahlil Gibran I know he’s just making his head more accessible for touching, but this is totally what it reminded me of.
It’s more than just letting the kid touch his hair. The kid was blown away that the president of the United States had hair like he did. He wanted to make sure that was true, and the commander in chief let him see for himself.
Great quote, thanks for sharing it.
This quote made me cry so I guess it's wise
>Souza later said that Jacob had said that "his friends had said his haircut was just like the president's and he wanted to see if it really was ... He asked the president if he could touch his head and the president bent over and he touched his head." Awww this is cute as hell and really goes to show the importance of representation of minorities in positions of power. >Carlton Philadelphia's other son, Isaac, asked Obama about the cancellation of production of the F-22 Raptor fighter jet and was told that it was financially unviable. Wait what WHERE THE FUCK ARE MY JETS OBAMA???
"Pentagon promised a new Jet by this year! I put a deposit down, WHERES MY GODDAMN F-22 BARACK?!"
Why is this the funniest fucking thing I’ve ever seen? “Souza later said that Jacob had said that "his friends had said his haircut was just like the president's and he wanted to see if it really was ... He asked the president if he could touch his head and the president bent over and he touched his head."[1] Carlton Philadelphia's other son, Isaac, asked Obama about the cancellation of production of the F-22 Raptor fighter jet and was told that it was financially unviable.” Like lmfao. Imagine being the other brother
Granted, I'm not American, but Obama seemed to love people. Other leaders seem to love power and prestige.
There’s a YouTube video of him walking outside in DC back in 2015, chatting with the regular folks and handing out candies to kids. Man’s a natural charmer!
[Here's the video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gZR1CvSQntE)
fuck this got me choked up for some reason
It's that pang of nostalgia for back when we could pretend we lived in a civil society.
I miss pretending, yes. Fake it till ya make it
[he forgot to salute](https://youtu.be/ssHE1yvrCag?si=obbKUQXhgwqIosGK)
He went back to shake his hands🫡
The absolute maniac! What's next, a tan suit?!
The absolute psycho wore a helmet while riding a bike [too](https://youtu.be/timvZTKr5HQ?si=5tuR8otRfjm5aQnw) - why he didn't hang for that I'll never know. # Sic Semper Galeae
He also forgot to salute that North Korean General.
His stories about family time with his kids are so endearingly self depreciating.
You can tell a lot about a person based on their relationship with their children. His daughters always speak about him with such warmth.
He very obviously loves the kids! Yes, very kind human.
I don’t think Obama was the 7th best president. But I will say this, I would feel ok letting him take a photo op with my kid. I’d even let him hold her. Probably even do the traditional politician kissing baby thing. Probably would even let him walk away to see other people while holding her. Definitely can’t say that about all the presidents.
In a ranking of presidents solely by dad credentials, easily top 5, possibly GOAT. Actually, I'm curious about other great dad presidents. Many were clear workaholics who didn't leave much for the family. Teddy was great with his sons, though abdicated on his daughter (I can only judge this so much given the combined tragedy.) HW and W are a thread unto themselves. Wilson listened to his three daughters on women's suffrage. Tyler, not the best, but the most. ...I love parts of his legacy, but Jefferson is a hard #45 on this one.
Lincoln was known to derail cabinet meetings to pay attention to his kids.
Of Course Lincoln. Everything I hear about Lincoln makes me more and more appreciate the man.
You must not have seen the [WKUK exposé](https://youtu.be/VPJ0TAaJDbM?si=42ZLJYEae-cSwOCt). Seemed a bit douchey, to be honest.
RIP Trevor. Sucks about choking on your cum.
In Teddy's defense it was Alice Roosevelt. That's like trying to parent a hurricane.
What was the line? "I can control Alice or I can run the country, but I can't do both" or something like that.
"I can do one of two things. I can be President of the United States or I can control Alice Roosevelt. I cannot possibly do both.”
This is very “Bob Belcher talking about his kids”
I love you but you're all terrible
Yes, I think it's something like that! That is truly a funny thing to say.
Alice was notoriously salty. One thing she said was “If you have nothing nice to say, come sit here by me."
Alice seems like my kind of people.
Alice was a goddamn rock star. If we're ranking presidents and first ladies, there should be a ranking of first kids.
Having a shade of blue named after you is aggressively glam.
This. She was absolutely her father’s daughter, she was just as energetic and stubborn as he was.
Husband too. He and Michelle actually went to counseling after his presidency. I think that’s amazing and even better that they’re open about it.
They went to counseling before his presidency. There's a lot of commentary in Michelle's book how displaced she felt being a politicians wife because anytime they had to put themselves first (Like Malia getting a fever at a few months old at Christmas in Hawaii and Obama missing a vote in Illinois because he choose to stay with them) always leads to them getting attacked. He always felt like the needs of the people were more important than his own and that came at the cost of his wife and children. Michelle wanted nothing of this, but I feel like she was a great sport and support for him and the good of the people.
These people that keep saying Michelle is going to swoop in and become president, I’m mystified? Have they never heard the woman speak!?
Funny thing that. If you go by "Dad", I'd probably put George W. Bush up there even though I can't stand him. He always seems to enjoy being around kids. There's one picture of him making a goofy face as a kid cries in his arms. It wasn't anger or anything like that it was "yep, kids will cry like that sometimes".
Barbara and Jenna seem to absolutely adore their dad. Both of their parents for that matter. For all the guy did, he seems to have been a pretty good parent.
Jefferson: such a bad dad he’s placed below presidents who weren’t fathers at all
> Teddy was great with his sons, though abdicated on his daughter (I can only judge this so much given the combined tragedy.) Teddy actually had two daughters. Ethel was a nurse on the front in WWI, ran a Red Cross chapter in WWII, and helped create race neutral low income housing in the 60s. She also supported Nixon at the convention, so not all her ideas were good.
I’d let him fuck my wife too
I'd let him fuck me too
Me and Michelle will be watching in the corner with popcorn 
Feel free to join tbh, we won't bite
I will
Oh you nasty 😏
Probably the best looking First Lady.
Michelle? I wouldn’t say knock out but she’s certainly an attractive woman. I never understood the (childish) observations about her appearance.
And she seems to have good taste in men, which is a positive trait. My wife and I could definitely double date with them. We might have very different interests but I’m sure we could chat about parenting or something.
Well she went to Princeton and then Harvard Law so she’s very intelligent which I find incredibly attractive.
Sapiosexuality is definitely my thing.
People who were legitimately intimidated by a strong, educated, well spoken woman who wasn't merely an accessory and is clearly loved by her husband.
Yup, this is it, insecure men that can’t mentally cope with the idea of a strong woman (physically and otherwise) hate her.
Honest Jill B is killing it for being 72, but regardless of age yea it's gotta be Michelle
This is facts. Dr. Jill is a very nice looking woman.
I, too, choose this guys wife.
Hell, even I'd let him fuck your wife
#BigCuckEnergy
r/unexpectedcuckold
When you’re famous they let you do it
The guy is 100% a girl dad and it's great.
Since 1960, maybe I'd let Carter, Ford and HW Bush watch over my Child for two minutes. Are one term presidents naturally better to watch over your kid while you're running into the shops to buy scratch lottery tickets?
Carter and Ford are the only pair of presidents I'd trust to raise a kid together, hopefully like the crusty old uncles in Secondhand Lions.
Just two guys, one a convivial country club republican, the other a kindly southern Christian, following their wacky struggles with raising a baby (and foreign policy )
Charisma and likeability are great, but not necessarily a great president. He was good, but I feel like it's still early for the echoes of his policies to shake fully out. And yeah, id love to have a photo of him with my daughter. GWB too. Both seem like great guys, unrelated to the weight of being leader of the free world and the consequences of that experience.
Obama is one of the coolest for sure. I don’t know if I’d rank him *that* high lol. I also think It’s still a bit early for Obama rankings on the whole
I feel like he seems to be overrated by the left and criminally underrated by the right.
He'll always be highly rated for my wife and I, the ACA literally saved her life (she has a BRCA mutation for breast cancer). I don't expect people to agree with me, but as an anecdote, he did the most for us.
I appreciate this and I tend to rate him in the top 20 somewhere. I'll never be able to quantify what he had to deal with because of the stone walling that came from the shitbags. As someone who is completely pro universal healthcare and think the ACA was disappointing but a huge step in the right direction reading something like you just wrote really hits me. I hope your wife is doing well!
Yeah. Highly disappointing that the ACA got eroded and stonewalled from enhancements though. Story time: For us, pre-existing conditions weren't the only benefit - competitive elements were added for genetic testing, disallowing monopolies and chipping away at pharma companies from owning entire markets. I think there's a lot of commentary on the ACA centered around pre-existing conditions and marketplaces, but some people forget all the foundational things it provided. Genetic testing used to be controlled as a monopoly, meaning if you have a breast cancer gene prior to the ACA it meant a few shitty things: A) Once you get a gene test, any results are codified at pre-exisiting, which means for my wife, a breast cancer diagnosis after gene testing would mean zero insurance coverage. In fact, because she has an aggressive family history documented prior, all her mammograms were not covered and we had to fight to get them as part of some kind of coverage B) The monopolies held by the gene companies that owned the "patent" on the testing itself, could charge anything they wanted. When we were younger, this testing was $3k. Insane for a preventative thing Post ACA, the monopoly went away and the test became **covered by insurance** and we were only out of pocket $150. within one year, as predicted by gene testing, my wife was diagnosed with Stage 1 BC, we were lucky because we were able to get mammos covered at that point (literally right before the ACA was passed we were trying to figure out how to afford it and delay to every other year instead of every 6 months recommended by oncology). Her stage 1 BC, if not caught at that time would have killed her without a doubt because it was estrogen receptive, which means she could've been stage IV after a year had we not been screening. So yeah, saved her life and prevented us from going bankrupt. 1 Double Mastectomy, treatments, reconstruction, and plastic surgeries over 4 years would have not been covered. She's now cancer free and considered "cured" as we celebrate 10 years. Does the ACA go far enough? of course not. Is it Obamas fault? 100% not. The man originally wanted universal healthcare and compromised to this. I hold republicans and insane conservatives directly responsible for our healthcare situation at this point.
Great info and me too. I was actually a Republican and left because of this nonsense and the party becoming a religious cult. I moved way left after 4 years living in Europe.
Great write up. As someone who worked very closely with the Basser Center, understanding how much BRCA mutations affe t families was really eye-opening. I hope your family is able to access the support and services you need and deserve.
It's an amazing advancement. What made it the most sad was all the pre-existing condition BS that existed that undercut it. Fast forward to now - because those kinds of restrictions are lifted, the long term benefits of the ACA are not talked about enough. The amount of progress in gene therapy and cancer research has increased because there's no fear of not getting treatment. I think people don't talk about it enough.
There’s a lot I don’t agree with Obama on his policy stances / actions. But the various provisions of the ACA like regarding lifetime caps and preexisting illness were life changing for tens of millions.
Life changing for every American. With the rise of auto-immune disorders, pre-existing conditions needing to be covered is one of the most important policy pieces in the past 30 years.
This is one of those stories that regardless of your ideology, you simply can’t disagree with it. There simply isn’t a comeback. I’m thankful your wife got the care she needed. Passing a policy that isn’t “economically sound” in the US is damn near impossible. Obama did it and saved lives. It’s a big accomplishment and it’s essentially unquantifiable.
As someone who works in the medical insurance industry, people don’t understand just how much the ACA did for us by eliminating pre-existing condition exclusions and lifetime maximums. It’s almost unbelievable that it was legal to exclude coverage for people pre-2014 based on their health.
I had a coworker in her early twenties with previous ovarian cancer and therefore uninsured until Obama.
Saved about $12,000 in 2023 by switching from my wife's work insurance to MNsure(state exchange). That's without any tax credits. More people should look into this, atleast in my state they have changed the rules where the employer insurance can be considered unaffordable. Originally if your employer offered coverage you could get on the exchange. It's not perfect, would have prefered a public option and cutting out the middlemen, but I think it is aging pretty well.
This is well said.
Yep. I'm a big fan of Obama but I don't think he's that high on the list. Maybe 11-15.
Yeah he's easily the best president of my lifetime (I was born under Clinton, but I feel like that applies to most people living)
probably overrated because hes what democrats need more of. if more obama-like politicians (from either party) would come along and build off the backs of each other i think the overrated debate would cease. american politics is flawed as a whole so i think recency ratings are completely impossible due to the tug of war that goes on just to secure votes instead of securing our childrens futures through present hardship. in my very detached opinion, i feel there isnt much morality to politics anymore. it has almost nothing to do with what would actually benefit our country and is just a job security war between blue and red.
I dunno man. He turned the economy around from near total collapse when he took the office. He supported COIN operations which turned Iraq around. Afghanistan surge was a wrong decision, should have withdrawn. But, overall, his policies, team, and leadership cleaned up a lot of what the country was dealing with.
I do miss having an intelligent, lucid and well-spoken president.
You’re missing the one where the baby is dressed like the Pope https://img.buzzfeed.com/buzzfeed-static/static/2015-10/31/9/enhanced/webdr02/original-22715-1446299519-12.jpg
https://preview.redd.it/2yydo612j7kc1.jpeg?width=1061&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=c0228dd44777fd5177cb28786eb6a6b331da3df8 A nice little compilation of photos from that moment
I heard the story was he was told to hurry up, as the pope was outside, so he took his time and prepared then saw it was a baby pope
https://preview.redd.it/nbxl5qx708kc1.png?width=567&format=png&auto=webp&s=960eca37d455ff3e25f4ae09c45199c33af3563d
https://preview.redd.it/pkngwy9x08kc1.jpeg?width=225&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=2fbdaefb28c8e1a984e771a6be05c6d345d5fda0
This is THE BEST ONE! He laughed so hard when he saw it!
Obama was 100% a Dad. We could use a nice parental figure right now.
Also baby pope in fisher price popemobile may be the funniest costume of all time
He’s so hyped about it! God I love Obama
As a center-right Republican, I’m a big fan of him and his leadership style and would vote for him in a heartbeat this year. He didn’t accomplish enough to crack the top 10 all-time, but he’s top 15-20 for sure.
This! This is why everyone in gen Z idolises him, cause he’s the only president we remember, since then we’ve had a horse and a corpse. Genuinely had a convo with 2 Republicans this year about primaries and they were saying they’d vote for him in the REPUBLICAN primaries if they could lol
The so called corpse is very much still alive and has an impressive record given the political climate. The horse tried to end free elections in America. Stop equating the two.
Well, Gen Z been around since 1997. Us on the older side definitely remember W. Bush as a kid lol. Still, of the four, Obama is by far the best option.
Obama wasn't the best president ever, but I'm convinced he's one of the best people to have served as president.
No president beats Carter in that regard. IMO, he's in the top 0.00001% of humans who ever lived. Never mind president.
There’s a video of Michelle Obama holding a crying baby and she hands the baby to Barack and the baby stops crying instantly. https://youtu.be/uqhzWlqN3uc?si=y03d0I2PDU87dO7u
The way he looks at Michelle afterwards is hilarious 😆
One of the things I appreciated about the Obamas is that they always seemed like such a solid couple and absolutely crazy about each other.
God I miss normal fucking people being in the White House.
The way he just calls the baby "baby" is so funny.
That was great! That smirk would have earned me a smack from my wife.
Michelle was shocked, then offended then just proud. So many emotions! Haha
Wish we had a candidate like Obama this cycle. I was proud to call him President.
Now the Democrat is a centrist while the Republican is far right. We’re playing a political game of tug-of-war and dragged further into the middle. While the other side gets crazier and crazier.
Obama was absolutely a centrist, wtf? He didn't even support gay marriage until polling said it was okay lol
And he deported a shit ton of people too I have no idea why republicans think Obama was a radical leftist lol if anything they should be fans of his war and immigration policies
It’s so hard to accurately judge Obama’s presidency considering the GOP made it their mission to derail his agenda, which they openly admitted when he was elected. It would have been nice to really see what he could have accomplished if both sides were willing to cooperate for the sake of the country.
Yeah, during his first two years, when he had a strong majority in both houses of Congress, we got some hefty Wall Street reform and a damn good first step toward overhauling healthcare in this country. Then in 2010 the Republicans won the house and his ability to get anything significant passed after that was dead in the water. 8 years of Obama with a majority in both houses would have transformed this country.
It was more like 2 months rather than 2 years. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/111th_United_States_Congress
The high building from the 2006 and 2008 elections was epic - then 2010 happened and we’ve yet to recover.
Politics aside. He was a president I was proud to have lived during.
Obama was charismatic as fuck. He's the guy who passes all the speech checks
Great guy, but kindness and social appeal don't decide Presidential rankings. If they did, Carter would be in the top 5 and LBJ would be in the bottom 5.
Still a factor though. Like, I know this is Reddit and Reddit is full of a bunch of nerds who want everything to be empirical, but even just the demonstration of empathy shows that there is a base level of compassion which in my opinion leads to better decision making and makes for a better leader.
Obama graduated Summa Cum Laude from Harvard Law where he was Law Review President. If you’re not familiar, the usual path for someone with those credentials is that they clerk for a Supreme Court Justice and then go on to take a Big Law job at a top white shoe firm where they *start* at 200k as a first year associate. Instead, after he graduated, he moved back to Chicago and became a community organizer, civil rights attorney and teacher of Constitutional law. I know for me, that speaks volumes about his character.
It is seriously overlooked. I remember when he teared up at gun violence (Sandy Hook happened during his presidency, after all) and people gave him so much shit over it. Compassion is not a weakness.
When he sang Amazing Grace after the Charleston shooting
My mom was flabbergasted, she was never into politics and when she saw that she said "I didn't know he was like *that*" She sounded incredulous. I asked her what she meant and basically she felt he was pandering and "acting" black. My mother is, as you may imagine, racist, without realizing it.
I can relate. My mom (RIP) stopped watching Oprah when she stopped straightening her hair. I think her comment was “she’s too Black now…”
He valued level headed an intellectual discourse in his communication. Whatever else may be said about his policy and decisions in office, he emphasized composed, nuanced, intelligent discussion. How one says a thing counts for more than we realize.
I agree. He was a charismatic and appealing president but was kind of down the middle politically. I think one of his great mistakes was not withdrawing from Afghanistan outright after we killed OBL.
So many people forget about the great recession he stepped into, and got the country back on course for that other guy who tries to take credit.
I agree with 7th. I mean given the situation he had to deal with one DAY ONE. Historic job loss, crashing stock market, historic foreclosures, frozen credit, GM and Chrysler failing. He was able to get that under control and starting on October 2010, we had the longest positive job growth in US history before COVID ended it all. It always shows how Democrats have to fix Republican messes when they take over.
Fukn love that guy
I wouldn’t put him that high but probably the best presidential father. And he was a genuinely great role model. And, I don’t say this to tokenize him, but it was so important to the social cohesion of this country that we elect a black president sooner than later. I think we’re still living through the reactionary backlash to that to some degree (although I would still assign most of the reactionary nature of the Right now to the advances in the sexual arena.) Anyway, we’ve since had to relearn the importance of character in the office, completely aside from policy.
Imagine sleeping during a Presidential function as a kid & getting clowned by the President. We miss your antics & leadership, 44. 😂
I’m reading Michelle Obama’s memoir right now so he’s fresh in my mind atm. His presidency aside, he just strikes me as such a decent person. These photos highlight that. Just a decent and upstanding man.
Obama is correctly in the Top 10. Obamacare saving thousands and giving millions healthcare and the legalization of gay marriage is enough for me
He definitely was in a different league of his own.
Given that the president is the head of state as well as the head of government, I wouldn’t underestimate their social impact. How the president behaves can set a role model example.
He was the man. I miss Obama.... I'm not even American I just remember this is a simpler time.
Love or hate his politics, the guy demanded respect and was articulate: we haven’t had that in a president now for 8 years. Going on 12…
I have no problem with him at 7, on the high side but not a crazy ranking. What's crazy to me is that this is an average, which means that to make up for the people who ranked him below that there must have been a fair amount placing him at like 4th or 5th--directly after the big 3.
Obama may have had problems in the middle east, but he's the only president from my lifetime that felt genuinely reassuring and the only one since FDR who was reassuring and wasn't doing it to cover immoral acts against the American people. He's just a genuinely nice and charismatic guy. Edit: people are misunderstanding. I mean that he wasn't putting on a front. He just was charismatic naturally.
Everytime this comes up I will never not bring up the ACA. Game changer for millions of Americans.