Well, silent Cal certainly governed least of all the presidents, with the possible exceptions of Harding and Jefferson himself. My favorite Coolidge story (forgive me if you've heard it) was about the reporter who told Coolidge at the start of an interview that another journalist had bet him (the reporter) five dollars that he wouldn't get three words out of Coolidge. Coolidge replied: "You lose." That was the end of the interview.
The interesting thing about your point of view is that it is so rarely shared, even by people who dislike Clinton. One of the criticisms I hear most about BC is that he hasn't done anything. Coming from conservatives, it should be a compliment, but it isn't meant that way.
One of the things I've liked about Clinton's presidency is that, with the exception of his health care initiative, he has not pushed a massive agenda such as Roosevelt, Johnson, and Reagan did at the beginning of their terms. That's why he is often criticized for lacking vision and cohesion in his policies. The same was said about Lincoln.
As Jerry Brown once said, sometimes the best thing to do is to do nothing. I've tried to follow that philosophy from time to time in my professional life, often with disastrous results. |
