Who’s your favorite president? Decades after his death, everyone loves Kennedy

Between President’s Day and the primaries, the presidency is in the air. As candidates bicker back and forth about abortion rights, tax breaks and welfare reform, and pundits struggle to discern which politician is the alpha male of the week, we thought we would look back to simpler times – or maybe not. The Kennedy craze continues Last week Don Amidon, who works at Paine Webber in Weehawken, said his favorite President is John F. Kennedy. “Kennedy was vital,” said Amidon. “He was a strong leader and he had a lot of charisma.” Amidon said his least favorite President is Lyndon Johnson. When asked why, he simply said, “I just didn’t like him.” Robert Hale, also a Paine Webber employee, had a more specific reason for disliking Johnson. “Johnson just kept bombing,” Hale said, referring to the Vietnam War. Hale is not fond of Ronald Reagan either. “Reagan didn’t do anything that I thought stood out,” he said. Like Amidon, Hale’s favorite president was Kennedy. When asked why, he simply responded, “because he beat Nixon.” And then added, “And he started the space program.” David Gibbons, a Swatch employee in Weehawken, had more specific thoughts about Reagan. “Reagan is my least favorite president,” said Gibbons. “I felt his policies were divisive. He gets credit for ending the Cold War, but he just happened to be in office at the time. It was really the Soviet Union’s economic spending, on weapons, that caused the country’s fall. Had Russia not gone bankrupt, we would have. Reagan’s military policies led us into a recession.” Gibbons was also more specific than Hale as to why he likes Kennedy. “Of course, he was before my time,” he said. “But he’s basically considered the best president. And he was snuffed out before his time. Although he didn’t do much in office, because he wasn’t there that long.” While Kennedy wasn’t even president for three years, Gibbons remains impressed with the Kennedy image, and the way the country collectively mourned his death. Christina Jones, also of Paine Webber, had other opinions. Her favorite president is George Bush. “I liked his background,” said Jones. “He was a war hero, and his values represent what America should be.” Jones’ least favorite president was Jimmy Carter. “He didn’t handle the hostage crisis well at all,” said Jones.