Yes, it was democracy and the will of the American people, but three US Army Commanding Generals became US presidents. It happens every 80 years in American history.
George Washington 1789, then after 80 years, Ulysses Grant 1869, then after 84 years Dwight Eisenhower 1953. What do you expect in 2033 or before, surely sooner because history will repeat itself faster as life and technology are faster, and time is flying? That means it might happen in 2024 or 2028.
https://www.usmessageboard.com/threads/what-lessons-africa-and-the-third-world-should-learn-from-the-presidential-elections-of-washington-ulysses-and-eisenhower-by-mekki-elmograbi.991438/#post-30397623

Does this mean that the attitude of any large group of people ebbs and flows in a predictable manner?
And that this happens over a few generations of time?
I think it probably does.
Fashions seem to return from the past, to gladden or frustrate?
So nothing is new under the sun?
Oh well. Life is still interesting.

America is a military state. One mentioned, Dwight Eisenhower in his farewell speech, warned of the military-industrial complex sweeping America. Eisenhower's warning went unheeded, and the result can been seen today in world conflict.

"In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military-industrial complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist. We must never let the weight of this combination endanger our liberties or democratic processes." - Dwight Eisenhower.

Welcome to the forum Mr Mekki Elmogabi from Sudan.
I read your article on the US Message Board with
interest. Thank you for raising this topic for
discussion.

There certainly are troublesome times ahead in the
US - especially if Trump decides to run for re-election.
The military may support him this time. We've already
seen the insurrection at the US Capitol as a warning.
Now 3 retired US generals have warned another insurrection
could happen after the 2024 presidential election and that
the military could support it.

"In short, we're chilled to the bones at the thought of a
coup succeeding next time," they wrote.

Lets hope tha criminal charges are filed against Trump
sooner than later.

Anyhow - there's more at the following link:

http://npr.org/2021/12/31/1068930675/us-election-coup-january-6-military-constitution

The three Generals who became Presidents were exceptional leaders with stellar résumés and reputations as not only great leaders of men but also sober and far-sighted policies.

Following two decades of abject failures for the US military no such military men exist at the moment and none are on the horizon.

History doesn't repeat but does sometimes rhyme. Three data points aren't a pattern. If a great military leader were to arise, s/he could accede to the presidency. But the nature of the current US military would obviate against such a person rising to anywhere near the rank of general.

Ulysses S Grant was an alcoholic, and generally rates in the top 10 worse Presidents of all time. A number of US Presidents avoided military service only to sends others to their deaths.

Grant was a Republican so of course he gets marked down by the usual suspects.

He was instrumental in dismantling the Confederacy and its surviving power structures which were all run by Democrats. So of course he gets marked down by the usual suspects.

Even after the Civil War, blacks were held under the thumb of their old masters who were primarily Democrat, and were terrorised by the KKK which was primarily Democrat. Grant opposed this and fought for civil rights for the newly freed blacks from the Democrat masters. So of course he gets marked down by the usual suspects.

"Lets hope tha[t] criminal charges are filed against Trump sooner than later."

It's rather cute the way the TDS crowd continue in their beliefs that 'we've got Trump now'. All the way back to the time when they were convinced that nice Mr Mueller was gunna get Trump, through two attempted impeachments, various leaks about Trump's taxes all of which turned out to be nothing-burgers, 'proof' that Trump colluded with Wikileaks which turned out to simply be an inability by the 'authorities' to read dates....through this and so much more, the TDS crowd remained convinced that their gurus weren't just making it up and tht this time we've got 'im.

It's funny, sad and instructive all at once. Funny that they'd continue to fall for it. Sad that they'd continue to fall for it. And instructive how many people fall for this type of thing and how easily they are manipulated.

And on it goes.

Trump has managed to stay out of jail thus far by
hiring many lawyers, manipulating and bullying
people and having the right connections. Without
the help of the Russians he'd never have won his
election. He deserves to feel the might of justice
just for Jan. 6th alone. I won't talk the entire
list of grievances. He's being treated exceptionally
because he is an ex-President. He should be treated
as any other citizen before the law.

However, the system is always tilted for the rich, and
its a slippery steep slope for the less fortunate.
I hope that this weasel, sleazy, fraudster, gets
what he deserves before he becomes another Hitler
(or Putin) and pulls off another putsch.

Justice would be served if his legacy would be not only
as the first US President to be impeached twice, but the
first US President to die in prison.

Paul and mhaze,
Although President Grant had a bad reputation in the 20th century, nowadays he tends to be regarded as above average.

And blaming the bad reputation he had on his being a Republican is laughable as Lincoln (shorty before him) was also a Republican and was often rated top. More likely he was marked down due to poor financial management and failure to hold his nerve while in office: initially he was willing to send in Federal troops to intervene in conflicts between former slave owners and their ex-slaves, but in the later stages of his presidency he wasn't.

Aidan,

I said he was "marked down by the usual suspects" ie those who reflexively oppose Republicans. It's always possible to get a bunch of such people to provide a list of best/worst presidents to suit the ideology rather than the history.

Incidentally, Lincoln is also "marked down by the usual suspects" these days...http://www.forbes.com/sites/evangerstmann/2020/10/14/abe-lincoln-is-next-on-the-cancel-culture-chopping-block/?sh=59696be66224

Finally, speaking of great presidents and apropos a discussion around Gorbachev.... http://fee.org/articles/the-myth-that-mikhail-gorbachev-ended-the-cold-war/

Hang in there Foxy.

"Without the help of the Russians he'd never have won his election."

A two year, $32 million inquiry by the Democrats failed to find a skerrick of evidence for that assertion, but mere facts won't stop some from believing it. Like I said, funny and concurrently sad.

En passant, anyone who saw the Biden Independence Hall speech and thinks Trump is the one who is most likely to become the US Hitler is in severe need of a history lesson.

mhaze,

Give it a rest.

Your denials and continuously posting nonsense on
this forum is no longer entertaining. It's
getting to be silly.

mhaze,

I honestly didn't know Grant was a member of the Republican faction of American politics, you tell me he was, so what. For me all US Presidents are simply functionaries of US Capitalism. Trump the idiot, or Biden the fool, makes for little difference. You seem to believe there is some great political shift when one faction wrestles control from the other, the reality is there is no fundamental change at all, Capitalism remains the dictator throughout.

I'm pretty sure that this section of the forum is for discussion on AUSTRALIAN elections, and not for some foreigner to rabbit on about foreign elections. The usual rabitters-about-nothing can't help themselves, of course.

ttbn,

Just some friendly advice:
Read the title of this discussion and the opening post
which the editor of this forum allowed. It may give you
a clue as to what this discussion is about.

Paul writes: "I honestly didn't know Grant was a member of the Republican faction of American politics...."

Given your historic knowledge, it never occurred to me that you did know. But you said Grant was rated as a bad president and I was explaining why those of a certain learning would think that.

Foxy accuses me of "continuously posting nonsense" after I'd reminded her that there isn't a skerrick of evidence for her claim that Putin got Trump elected. I can see how constantly being reminded that your fantasies are, ahem....fantasies, must be annoying.

mhaze,

You should keep that in mind.