How Would Past Presidents Handle the Obama-Congress Bickering? (ContributorNetwork)

ANALYSIS | The historic level of political strife between this Congress and the president has created a level of public distrust for the federal government unseen in modern history. In light of such dissension, it is unlikely that any president -- Democrat or Republican -- would have much luck with this Congress; but, with Presidents Day on the horizon, it's interesting to see how other presidents would handle 2012. Here's a look at three previous presidents who faced somewhat similar situations to President Barack Obama's, although the details, of course, are different.

Harry S. Truman: Following World War II, a belligerent Republican-controlled Congress -- scornful from Roosevelt's New Deal -- was determined to rollback many of the progressive changes the new laws created. President Truman faced steep obstacles: the end of a painful war, the offer of critical foreign aid in time to avoid the expansion of the Soviet sphere of influence, and the recovery from a recession automatically triggered upon the conversion from a wartime economy to a peacetime economy and the industrial slowdown that went along with it. This was compounded by a pro-business Congress that aggressively campaigned against Truman's Fair Deal. Truman fought back, contesting that the 80^th Congress was a "do-nothing, good-for-nothing" Congress; he campaigned cross-country on a break-neck 31,000 miles tour by train for re-election. The results of the general election shook the world; the fact that he won shocked most newspapers. (Some accidentally printed that Thomas Dewey won in early editions.) More amazingly, Truman brought both the Senate and the House under Democrat control at the same time.

Lyndon B. Johnson: Johnson had the dubious task of succeeding a popular president and running an unpopular war during times of great turmoil. A church-loving, farm-raised Southerner, Johnson's sensitivity to the disenfranchised and his "man of the soil" demeanor set him apart. It was his "Great Society," however, that enshroud him to history. Even though he was a conservative-voting senator, his open support for public broadcasting, public grants for higher education, equal access, equal opportunity, environmental protection, Medicare, Medicaid, and poverty relief makes him one of the greatest progressive presidents of all time. His policies uplifted generations, so much so that since their introduction, they have been a favorite target of the conservatives. He would be considered one of our greatest presidents; however, his escalation of American troops in Vietnam soured him to many.

Bill Clinton: Bill Clinton faced an openly belligerent Congress after the 1994 midterm elections. Newt Gingrich's "Contract with America" marked the centerpiece of the "Republican Revolution," in which the Republicans won the House after 40 years of Democratic control. President Clinton openly challenged much of the proposed legislation of the "contract," which led (directly or not) to a government shutdown, several House investigations, and only the second impeachment trial in the federal government's history. Despite this, under his administration, the federal budget was balanced for the first time since World War II, and the government was actually producing a surplus toward paying down the national debt. (It was $236.2 billion in 2000, according to the Annenberg Public Policy Center.) His tenacity -- especially during the government shutdown -- is among his qualities most admired today.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/obama/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ac/20120216/pl_ac/10973822_how_would_past_presidents_handle_the_obamacongress_bickering

pierre thomas beyonce gives birth portlandia detroit lions kelly clarkson playoffs empty nest