Who Really Was "The Greatest President We Never Had?"

We get alot of talk on this forum about Alternate US President's, some of whom would have no doubt been better than others. My question is, of all the people who might have been President's, which on of them would have made the greatest President?

Also, I know this is the post 1900 chat, but feel free to talk about people from before 100 if you wish.
 
While I love Wallace's domestic and social outlook, from a foreign policy standpoint, he'd have been an absolute disaster, looking on as the Soviets had their way with South Korea, Japan, etc.

Personally, I cast my ballot for Adlai Stevenson. He was a very smart man, a New Deal Democrat, and generally an amiable fellow. Shame he had the misfortune of running against a war hero twice.
 
I think Williams Bryan Jennings does not get enough credit. Given the right PoD, you can have every other president after him look pretty bad.
 
How improbable are we drawing the line, here? If we're allowing ones that require some near-battery to actually get in, I have soft spots for Mo Udall and Malcolm Forbes...


Otherwise, Probably RFK, to be honest, but the 1988 and 1992 models of Al Gore would also have had potential.
 
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I rest my case.
 
Mo Udall

Loathed his politics, but he was genuinely funny. I remember his quote during the run-up to the 1980 race (when he had NO interest in running):

"If nominated, I will leave the country, if elected, I will fight extradition"
 
Patricia Schroeder would have been interesting. It would be intersting to have a military that did not get all the expensive toys they wanted
 
Henry Clay maybe?
This. I've always thought he was a great senator who would have been a greater president. His policies focused on uniting America as a whole rather then supporting northern or southern interests. So maybe a later at worst or even a complete avoidance at best of the Civil War?
 
Loathed his politics, but he was genuinely funny. I remember his quote during the run-up to the 1980 race (when he had NO interest in running):

"If nominated, I will leave the country, if elected, I will fight extradition"

Udall used to tell a story about being out on the campaign trail in 1976. He went somewhere to do the usual handshaking and, as he told it, went up to some group and said "Hi, I'm Mo Udall and I'm running for President." The response was, "Yes, we know. We were laughing about that the other day."

On the original topic, probably RFK. I think he was uniquely positioned to cut through a lot of the division in the nation that came out of the 1960s and saved the party a lot of grief. I also think he was one of the few figures that could have moved the nation in a genuinely progressive direction, as I think his social conservatism would have, like his brother Ted, moderated over time. He was a changed man after JFK's death and was really only beginning to reach his potential when he was killed. He took on a few causes -- farmworkers, American Indians, Appalachia, the Mississippi Delta -- that really did nothing for him politically, something that's hard to picture many politicians of today doing.
 
Adlai Stevenson (he's pretty much the last governor of Illinois who didn't go to jail) and Al Gore would be my picks.

Stevenson was very, very smart, and would probably have dealt with the leadup to Vietnam War better than Eisenhower or Kennedy (remember he ran in 1960 as well). He might have begun some version of LBJ's Great Society programs earlier as well.
 
Fortunately I wrote an RFK Presidency (not the last either ;)) for the Board, so take a gander at The Impossible Dream if you're interested. But if you want a shortcut rather than slogging through 20+ pages, look no further than here.
 
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