Dr Gottfried on the ‘greatest presidents’

As noted in a recent article, the US media and academia continues to attack the legacy of US presidents such as James Buchanan who did not pursue an aggressive expansion of the size and power of the Federal Government in general and the executive office in particular. Such presidents, unheard of in recent history, never make the lists of ‘greatest presidents'; those lists are reserved for those who restricted basic freedoms and got vast numbers of people killed. Dr Paul Gottfried discussed this subject in his book War and Democracy (click here for SNN’s review of this book): The presidents whom educators, popular historians, and journalists place in their pantheon have combined strong economic control with grand military crusades for globalist, egalitarian ideals. Elsewhere Dr Gottfried writes: Presidential bureaucracy has reached the density of a middle-sized municipality; presidents initiate war basically at will; and a national media and its academic adjunct advocate even further extensions of presidential prerogative, providing they fit progressive models of social reconstruction. Also see: War and democracy: A review and US media & academia continue attack on James Buchanan’s legacy