The Worst President in History?

[Phenom]

George W. Bush's presidency appears headed for colossal historical disgrace. Barring a cataclysmic event on the order of the terrorist attacks of September 11th, after which the public might rally around the White House once again, there seems to be little the administration can do to avoid being ranked on the lowest tier of U.S. presidents. And that may be the best-case scenario. Many historians are now wondering whether Bush, in fact, will be remembered as the very worst president in all of American history.

Read more here (http://www.rollingstone.com/news/profile/story/9961300/the_worst_president_in_history)

[USMC the Almighty]

Oh give me a break. His presidency isn't even over yet and you're calling it the worst ever. That's just comical.

How can you possibly analyze whether Bush's presidency has been successful or not while it's still going on. President Bush's confrontation of terrorism cannot be judged objectively during his term and cannot be accurately measured until we know how his Iraq War and War on Terror turn out -- and the affects it has on this country's long term prosperity.

His presidency won't be judged objectively until the generation of historians about 50 years from now go back and look. If we are a Muslim nation or are undergoing terrorist attacks monthly, then you could say he failed.

But if we are a safe, secure, prospering nation free from the terrorist threat -- then you have to say his presidency was a success as he was the first president to confront terrorism and the threat it poses to this country.

Quite simply, you cannot make an informed opinion of the success of a president until you see the lasting affects of his policy.

[TVoffBrainOn]

Oh give me a break. His presidency isn't even over yet and you're calling it the worst ever. That's just comical.

Actually it's pretty much over. He's a lame duck president without control of Congress any longer. But atleast he's got that nice new Budget Plan that call for 1.5 Billion in cuts to Education while giving 9.7 billion in tax breaks to Cox Cable. 826 MIllion in tax breaks for Nordstrom, while cutting 630 million from Community Service Block Grants. Or my favorite, 32 billion in tax breaks ove the next 10 years for Walmart. and how is that balanced? by cutting 28 billion from Medicaid

[OldSchool Politician]

Bush is indeed getting closer and closer to being deep fried. He has earned his place in history as being the first Commanding Thief, and he is labeled as a War criminal. I can just picture the Lame Duck justifying his actions when its his time to meet the Creator. The United States have losted many members in our arm forces, and as long as Bush can give the okay..more will be losted.

[T3sting]

Actually it's pretty much over. He's a lame duck president without control of Congress any longer. But atleast he's got that nice new Budget Plan that call for 1.5 Billion in cuts to Education while giving 9.7 billion in tax breaks to Cox Cable. 826 MIllion in tax breaks for Nordstrom, while cutting 630 million from Community Service Block Grants. Or my favorite, 32 billion in tax breaks ove the next 10 years for Walmart. and how is that balanced? by cutting 28 billion from Medicaid

I would have to agree about Bush being a lame duck president, although I'm not sure about him being the worst president ever.

[TVoffBrainOn]

I would have to agree about Bush being a lame duck president, although I'm not sure about him being the worst president ever.

no, Woodrow "I have unknowingly ruined my country" Wilson still holds that distinction in my eyes. However, Bush's arrogant power grab, his signing statements and policy of removing the checks and balances of our form of gov't, and his attempts to subvert and destroy that "god damn piece of paper" known as the Constitution make him one of the most dangerous presidents in history and probably the worst president since Harding and Hoover.

Bush has already punched his ticket to the bottom, no matter the outcome of his foreign policy in 100 years.

[USMC the Almighty]

Right now, I'd say: James Buchanan, Andrew Johnson, or Jimmy Carter

[Archangelwolf]

If we are a Muslim nation or are undergoing terrorist attacks monthly, then you could say he failed.

If we are a Muslim nation in 50 years, then historians will view him as a success. After all, he would have started the whole process with his little war.

It all depends on perspective.

Arch.

[Archangelwolf]

Well, since we can't judge Bush just yet, I am going to say......

Harry Truman.

Not because he bombed Japan. I have heard the arguments on both sides; and I tend to agree with Truman's assessment.

Where Truman suffered is in foreign relations. FDR was amazing in regards to foreign relations. Even Stalin respected him. Truman was too polarizing; and our relationship with Russia completely deteriorated after Truman took office.

I believe that Truman's anxiety and lack of experience in foreign affairs may have been a major catalyst in producing the Cold War.

Arch.

[Abe Bird]

Jimmy Carter

I totally agree with Steven F. Hayward (Although I'm not American at all).
http://www.amazon.com/Real-Jimmy-Carter-Ex-President-Undermines/dp/0895260905

[southside]

i don't know much about other american presidents, but George W. Bush is doing pretty bad. His war on Iraq is not very successful if not a total failure.

[Everylyric]

I don't think it's a total failure.

It had some successes.

[Dave]

It is far too soon to judge this President's historical signifigance while he is still in office. If any of you remember anything about the American Civil War, Lincoln had approval ratings hovering pretty close to what Bush's are right now. Lincoln was hugely unpopular at the time, but now he is viewed as a hero. For all we know, in 100 years George W. Bush might be looked at as the man who liberated 2 nations. My point is simply that if you think he is the worst President in the history of this country, then you are either filled with so much hatred that you can't see past your own ideals, or you skipped class when they taught the Reconstruction period of American history. My vote for worst President goes to U.S. Grant.

[vyo476]

My vote goes to Mr. Franklin Pierce, who was so detested by all of America by the end of his four years that his own party used to the slogan "Anybody But Pierce" in the election in which he should have been incumbent. As low as President Bush's approval ratings have gotten he hasn't reached the point where his entire party ditches him like that.

And my vote for least effective President would have to go to William Henry Harrison for reasons far too obvious to enumerate here.

[USMC the Almighty]

My vote goes to Mr. Franklin Pierce, who was so detested by all of America by the end of his four years that his own party used to the slogan "Anybody But Pierce" in the election in which he should have been incumbent. As low as President Bush's approval ratings have gotten he hasn't reached the point where his entire party ditches him like that.

And my vote for least effective President would have to go to William Henry Harrison for reasons far too obvious to enumerate here.

Harrison was in office for like a month. He had barely moved into the White House.

And I disagree with you on Pierce. While he may have been an ineffective president, he didn't have the lasting long term effect on America like Buchanan and Johnson did. I'm sticking with those two.

[vyo476]

Harrison was in office for like a month. He had barely moved into the White House.

And I disagree with you on Pierce. While he may have been an ineffective president, he didn't have the lasting long term effect on America like Buchanan and Johnson did. I'm sticking with those two.

Good point.

[Rokerijdude11]

G.W.Bush/Jimmy carter

[Truth-Bringer]

My vote is for Woodrow Wilson - He gave us the Unholy Trinity of the Income Tax, the Federal Reserve, and an worldwide interventionist foreign policy.

[USMC the Almighty]

My vote is for Woodrow Wilson - He gave us the Unholy Trinity of the Income Tax, the Federal Reserve, and an worldwide interventionist foreign policy.

But we reverted to a form of isolationism after WW1, so I think it's unfair to blame the interventionist policy on him.

And also, Lincoln used the income tax during the Civil War, but you're right, it didn't become an amendment until Wilson.

[Truth-Bringer]

But we reverted to a form of isolationism after WW1, so I think it's unfair to blame the interventionist policy on him.

True, but I was mainly referring to the precedent he set for future presidents.


And also, Lincoln used the income tax during the Civil War, but you're right, it didn't become an amendment until Wilson.

Well, Lincoln is definitely on my "worst 3" list. I covered him earlier:

http://houseofpolitics.com/forum/showthread.php?t=639

I'd say Wilson is the worst, then FDR, then Lincoln. All three were authoritarians and collectivists who led us into unnecessary wars.

But Wilson's term was the most damaging because it laid the foundation for FDR's worst usurpations:

Wilson's War

How Woodrow Wilson's Great Blunder Led to Hitler, Lenin, Stalin, and World War II

Written by Jim Powell

History - United States - 20th Century Hardcover | March 2005
$ 27.50 | 1-4000-8236-6

About This Book

The fateful blunder that radically altered the course of the twentieth century—and led to some of the most murderous dictators in history

President Woodrow Wilson famously rallied the United States to enter World War I by saying the nation had a duty to make “the world safe for democracy.” But as historian Jim Powell demonstrates in this shocking reappraisal, Wilson actually made a horrible blunder by committing the United States to fight. Far from making the world safe for democracy, America’s entry into the war opened the door to murderous tyrants and Communist rulers. No other president has had a hand—however unintentional—in so much destruction. That’s why, Powell declares, “Wilson surely ranks as the worst president in American history.”

Wilson’s War reveals the horrifying consequences of our twenty-eighth president’s fateful decision to enter the fray in Europe. It led to millions of additional casualties in a war that had ground to a stalemate. And even more disturbing were the long-term consequences—consequences that played out well after Wilson’s death. Powell convincingly demonstrates that America’s armed forces enabled the Allies to win a decisive victory they would not otherwise have won—thus enabling them to impose the draconian surrender terms on Germany that paved the way for Adolf Hitler’s rise to power.

Powell also shows how Wilson’s naiveté and poor strategy allowed the Bolsheviks to seize power in Russia. Given a boost by Woodrow Wilson, Lenin embarked on a reign of terror that continued under Joseph Stalin. The result of Wilson’s blunder was seventy years of Soviet Communism, during which time the Communist government murdered some sixty million people.

Just as Powell’s FDR’s Folly exploded the myths about Franklin Roosevelt and the New Deal, Wilson’s War destroys the conventional image of Woodrow Wilson as a great “progressive” who showed how the United States can do good by intervening in the affairs of other nations. Jim Powell delivers a stunning reminder that we should focus less on a president’s high-minded ideals and good intentions than on the consequences of his actions.

http://www.randomhouse.com/crown/catalog/display.pperl?isbn=1400082366

[USMC the Almighty]

True, but I was mainly referring to the precedent he set for future presidents.

Fair enough...


Well, Lincoln is definitely on my "worst 3" list. I covered him earlier:

http://houseofpolitics.com/forum/showthread.php?t=639

I'd say Wilson is the worst, then FDR, then Lincoln. All three were authoritarians and collectivists who led us into unnecessary wars.

You could definitely make a pretty good argument for that. I'm no fan of Wilson or FDR, but despite Lincoln's horrific record on civil rights, I still support many of the decisions that Lincoln made for the preservation of the Union.

But Wilson's term was the most damaging because it laid the foundation for FDR's worst usurpations:


Absolutely agree.

[StatesRights]

Lincoln, FDR, Wilson would be my top three, in that order. Truman definately would be in the top 5 for firing the general who won him the Korean war.

[invest07]

Worst Prez in US history?
No question in my mind that it was the peanut farmer. Under his leadership we experienced double digit inflation and double digit unemployment.
And the big Slick has #2 all wrapped up.

[vyo476]

Worst Prez in US history?
No question in my mind that it was the peanut farmer. Under his leadership we experienced double digit inflation and double digit unemployment.
And the big Slick has #2 all wrapped up.

Jimmy was pretty bad. He tried something and it didn't work. Not only did it not work it it didn't work in a way that seriously hurt our economy. No complaints there.

But what about Bill Clinton? I mean, heaven forbid that the man got a little head on the side. But really, stop and ask yourself about that - if you were married to Hillary Clinton wouldn't you be looking for "a little something on the side?"

[USMC the Almighty]

Lincoln, FDR, Wilson would be my top three, in that order. Truman definately would be in the top 5 for firing the general who won him the Korean war.

It's interesting that someone named States Rights would chose FDR, Wilson, and especially Lincoln as their top three.

[Coyote]

I would place among the worst presidents James Buchanon, Andrew Johnson, and George W. Bush. However we need more time to pass before really evaluating Bush.

[vyo476]

It's interesting that someone named States Rights would chose FDR, Wilson, and especially Lincoln as their top three.

Makes sense to me. Especially the "especially Lincoln" part.

[endtyranny]

It may be too early to fully evaluate the Bush presidency, so I'll say Andrew Johnson.

[zerorelations]

It may be too early to fully evaluate the Bush presidency, so I'll say Andrew Johnson.

Why Andrew Johnson?

[USMC the Almighty]

Why Andrew Johnson?

Have you ever heard of a little thing called Reconstruction?

[vyo476]

Have you ever heard of a little thing called Reconstruction?

You know the stereotyped vision of "playground politics?" You have the bullies and the kids who continuously get wedgies (amongst others). Andrew Jackson was the latter and wealthy southern slave owners were the former. Once he became President he did what he could to get to revenge - and subsequently circumvented any responsibility for the country's well-being.

[The Founders Intent]

Actually it's pretty much over. He's a lame duck president without control of Congress any longer. But atleast he's got that nice new Budget Plan that call for 1.5 Billion in cuts to Education while giving 9.7 billion in tax breaks to Cox Cable. 826 MIllion in tax breaks for Nordstrom, while cutting 630 million from Community Service Block Grants. Or my favorite, 32 billion in tax breaks ove the next 10 years for Walmart. and how is that balanced? by cutting 28 billion from Medicaid

Most all of it is a waste of tax dollars, but for you to sit there defending the wasting of money on education is textbook pathetic. Education and social programs are not the duty of the federal government, it is in the purview of the States. I guess all that education didn't do you any good, since you don't know the simplest information about the functions of government. The Federal government was established for the common defense and to maintain the union, and that is all it is for. Just because it's been bastardized over the course of 200+ years doesn't change the truth.

[endtyranny]

Why Andrew Johnson?

For me it's mainly his handling of Reconstruction. He vetoed civil rights and gave amnesty to all Confederates while pretty much ignoring the South despite the urgent need for actual reconstruction.

[Sock Puppet]

A toss up between Clinton and Carter... slight edge going to Carter.

[ArmChair General]

A toss up between Clinton and Carter... slight edge going to Carter.

I have a theory about Carter. wanna hear it?

[Sock Puppet]

I have a theory about Carter. wanna hear it?
Yeah... me wanna hear it! :p

[endtyranny]

Most all of it is a waste of tax dollars, but for you to sit there defending the wasting of money on education is textbook pathetic. Education and social programs are not the duty of the federal government, it is in the purview of the States. I guess all that education didn't do you any good, since you don't know the simplest information about the functions of government. The Federal government was established for the common defense and to maintain the union, and that is all it is for. Just because it's been bastardized over the course of 200+ years doesn't change the truth.

I'd pick "wasting" our money on education and social programs than corporate welfare anyday. Unfortunately, we didn't get the choice to distribute that money properly on education or otherwise because it's already going to giant corporations. $32 billion dollars is better spent preparing our children for the future or immigration reform or tax reform, etc. than making sure Wal Mart has the edge on their competition.

[Castle]

Jimmy Carter

I totally agree with Steven F. Hayward (Although I'm not American at all).
http://www.amazon.com/Real-Jimmy-Carter-Ex-President-Undermines/dp/0895260905

Without a doubt.
Carter holds first place in my book.

-Castle

[ArmChair General]

Yeah... me wanna hear it! :p

Allright, I understand why America is bizarro world, I understand where we whent wrong. I know how America turned crazy. Jimmy Carter's big wimpout in the hostage crisis is what did it.

That's what drove America crazy.

We had the bad luck to have as president during the hostage crisis, this freak, Jimmy Carter. What a piece of work he was. Americans knew he was a Christian, but they didn't know he was the kind of pacifist Christian that actually believed in turning the other cheek when you're hit. All our presidents were churchgoers, but I don't think we've ever had a president who actually bought that nonsense, and I hope that we never do again. Nixon, for example, was a Quaker but he wasn't exactly what you'd call a "pacifist."

Now its real easy to just blame the Democrats, but but before Carter our Democrat presidents had been damn fine war leaders. Wilson, FDR, Truman, when it was time to fight they went in with both fists flying. Even LBJ can't be faulted for squeamishness. He may not have fought smart in Nam, but he was no peacenik, turn-the-other-cheek freak.

Carter was a whole different animal from those guys. He didn't threaten the hostage takers, he "negotiated." Meaning, he begged. "Please, Mister Khomeini, can we have our hostages back?"

It must have been the lowest point in American history.

And Carter settled for embargoing oil from Iran. Meaning my parents had to pay double for gas. Oh, and he froze some of their assets. Which must've really hurt, because now that oil prices shot up, the mullahs were rolling in rials.

Americans didn't know it then, but Carter was some sort of sick Gandhi mutant version of a Southern Baptist. The most expensive armed forces in history were just dying to make those bearded bastards pay, (Ask Roker), and Carter sat back and tried talking to them nicely. We could have done things that would make our name feared throughout history. We could have made them forget Genghis Khan, who was responsible for turning Eastern Iran into the moonscape it still is today.

Imagine if Carter had just announced that we were going to nuke Khomeini's "holy city," Qum, if the hostages weren't released. And do it. Then announce we were going to nuke another, bigger city-and do it. And keep doing it, going from smaller to bigger Iranian cities until Tehran was the only one left. Then, if the idiots didn't let the hostages go, sadly announce that all the hostages were brutally butchered, and seal Tehran underneath hot, radioactive glass.

I guarantee you we wouldn't be having our current problems if we'd done that 25 years ago.

Ever since then, America has been so scared of sounding weak that we keep falling for the chickenhawks who woof the loudest, even when it's obvious they don't have a clue about war or national power.

Just compare the two Bushes: Bush Senior engineered our greatest victory since 1945 in Gulf War One, and he was voted out. He was a real vet, a pilot who'd been shot down in WW II, but he didn't know how to strut, how to woof. People didn't take to him, and didn't care that he brought us a glorious victory. He couldn't woof, so we got rid of him.

Whereas people still love his worthless son, even though that fool has led us into our most disastrous military failure in history. They'd rather have a noisy chickenhawk than a quiet hero, they'd rather have Dubya than his dad.

The trouble is that guys who are good at woofing generally believe their own noise. So Dubya actually believes all that "bring it on!" crap. His dad, the real hero, warned him not to occupy Iraq. Dad was an old style paleocon; he was thinking about keeping America strong and safe during and after the war. Dubya and his handlers don't give a damn about America, never did. They're in love with their own noise. And we're in love with it too, following it right down the toilet.

It didn't have to be this way. If any other president we ever had had been in the Oval Office when the hostage crisis went down, we'd have had the Mullahs begging us to take back our diplomats and Khomeini's "holy city" of Qum would be a lake of molten glass, or at the very least a bombed out rubble. But we had Jimmy Carter, a man who once got attacked by a rabbit. And that's what drove us into the arms of sleazy neo conmen like Cheney and Dubya, who know too much about how to fool the suckers back home and not a damn thing about the big, bad world.

And who suckered us into invading Iraq? You guessed it: Iran, by sending double agents like Chalabi to tell the Neocons it was going to be a "cakewalk." Meanwhile, our forces are so bogged down by an Iranian influenced insurgency that we really can't threaten Iran anymore. They're still ****ing with America, and ****ing us hard.

Now all Iran has to do is wait a few years and stroll into the oil fields of Basra. Without firing a shot, Iran gets all of Shi'ite Iraq, 60% of the Iraqi population and two thirds of the oil reserves. And America will be stuck with even more shrill chickenhawks pissing the nation's power and might away.

The result: Game, set and match to the Mullahs.

[The Founders Intent]

I'd pick "wasting" our money on education and social programs than corporate welfare anyday. Unfortunately, we didn't get the choice to distribute that money properly on education or otherwise because it's already going to giant corporations. $32 billion dollars is better spent preparing our children for the future or immigration reform or tax reform, etc. than making sure Wal Mart has the edge on their competition.

I'd pick lowering taxes and eliminating departments.

[The Founders Intent]

Allright, I understand why America is bizarro world, I understand where we whent wrong. I know how America turned crazy. Jimmy Carter's big wimpout in the hostage crisis is what did it.

That's what drove America crazy.

We had the bad luck to have as president during the hostage crisis, this freak, Jimmy Carter. What a piece of work he was. Americans knew he was a Christian, but they didn't know he was the kind of pacifist Christian that actually believed in turning the other cheek when you're hit. All our presidents were churchgoers, but I don't think we've ever had a president who actually bought that nonsense, and I hope that we never do again. Nixon, for example, was a Quaker but he wasn't exactly what you'd call a "pacifist."

Now its real easy to just blame the Democrats, but but before Carter our Democrat presidents had been damn fine war leaders. Wilson, FDR, Truman, when it was time to fight they went in with both fists flying. Even LBJ can't be faulted for squeamishness. He may not have fought smart in Nam, but he was no peacenik, turn-the-other-cheek freak.

Carter was a whole different animal from those guys. He didn't threaten the hostage takers, he "negotiated." Meaning, he begged. "Please, Mister Khomeini, can we have our hostages back?"

It must have been the lowest point in American history.

And Carter settled for embargoing oil from Iran. Meaning my parents had to pay double for gas. Oh, and he froze some of their assets. Which must've really hurt, because now that oil prices shot up, the mullahs were rolling in rials.

Americans didn't know it then, but Carter was some sort of sick Gandhi mutant version of a Southern Baptist. The most expensive armed forces in history were just dying to make those bearded bastards pay, (Ask Roker), and Carter sat back and tried talking to them nicely. We could have done things that would make our name feared throughout history. We could have made them forget Genghis Khan, who was responsible for turning Eastern Iran into the moonscape it still is today.

Imagine if Carter had just announced that we were going to nuke Khomeini's "holy city," Qum, if the hostages weren't released. And do it. Then announce we were going to nuke another, bigger city-and do it. And keep doing it, going from smaller to bigger Iranian cities until Tehran was the only one left. Then, if the idiots didn't let the hostages go, sadly announce that all the hostages were brutally butchered, and seal Tehran underneath hot, radioactive glass.

I guarantee you we wouldn't be having our current problems if we'd done that 25 years ago.

Ever since then, America has been so scared of sounding weak that we keep falling for the chickenhawks who woof the loudest, even when it's obvious they don't have a clue about war or national power.

Just compare the two Bushes: Bush Senior engineered our greatest victory since 1945 in Gulf War One, and he was voted out. He was a real vet, a pilot who'd been shot down in WW II, but he didn't know how to strut, how to woof. People didn't take to him, and didn't care that he brought us a glorious victory. He couldn't woof, so we got rid of him.

Whereas people still love his worthless son, even though that fool has led us into our most disastrous military failure in history. They'd rather have a noisy chickenhawk than a quiet hero, they'd rather have Dubya than his dad.

The trouble is that guys who are good at woofing generally believe their own noise. So Dubya actually believes all that "bring it on!" crap. His dad, the real hero, warned him not to occupy Iraq. Dad was an old style paleocon; he was thinking about keeping America strong and safe during and after the war. Dubya and his handlers don't give a damn about America, never did. They're in love with their own noise. And we're in love with it too, following it right down the toilet.

It didn't have to be this way. If any other president we ever had had been in the Oval Office when the hostage crisis went down, we'd have had the Mullahs begging us to take back our diplomats and Khomeini's "holy city" of Qum would be a lake of molten glass, or at the very least a bombed out rubble. But we had Jimmy Carter, a man who once got attacked by a rabbit. And that's what drove us into the arms of sleazy neo conmen like Cheney and Dubya, who know too much about how to fool the suckers back home and not a damn thing about the big, bad world.

And who suckered us into invading Iraq? You guessed it: Iran, by sending double agents like Chalabi to tell the Neocons it was going to be a "cakewalk." Meanwhile, our forces are so bogged down by an Iranian influenced insurgency that we really can't threaten Iran anymore. They're still ****ing with America, and ****ing us hard.

Now all Iran has to do is wait a few years and stroll into the oil fields of Basra. Without firing a shot, Iran gets all of Shi'ite Iraq, 60% of the Iraqi population and two thirds of the oil reserves. And America will be stuck with even more shrill chickenhawks pissing the nation's power and might away.

The result: Game, set and match to the Mullahs.

Carter Doctrine from last State of the Union:

Let our position be absolutely clear: An attempt by any outside force to gain control of the Persian Gulf region will be regarded as an assault on the vital interests of the United States of America, and such an assault will be repelled by any means necessary, including military force.

[vyo476]

Similar to my recent post in the "Best Presidents" thread, I have discovered the "Historical Rankings of United States Presidents" page on Wikipedia. Turns out that, according to them, Warren G. Harding was the worst Prez in our history, with Buchanan trailing not too far behind.

Of note: Richard Nixon is listed as 32nd out of 42.

[invest07]

The peanut farmer was the most incompetent Prez in US History. During his adminstration:
1. The unempoyment rate exceeded 10%.
2. The inflation rate excedded 10%
3. Home mortgage interest rates exceeded 16%
(Carter is the only Prez in history to score a triple double)
4. He pledged to cut the bureaucracy and instead added to it. (Was this a lie)?
5. He gutted the military and intelligence.
6. He increased the deficit (But so has every Prez since)
7. He was percieved as a pansy ass militarily. (Remember the US embassy hostages were held for 444 days and they were released 20 minutes after Reagan took the oath of office)
8. He started a new cabinet position, the Department of Education, which has furthered the federal interference in public schools and hastened their deterioration.
Anyone remember the "Misery Index"?
Anyone remember that Billy Carter was a registered agent for Libya while bro was in the oval office?
Anyone remember this phrase "Keep the canal. Give away Carter"?
The most dangerous Prez in US history was LBJ. During his admin:
1. Our currency was removed from the gold standard.
2. Social Security was gutted to pay for Vietnam and the "great" society.
3. A dangerous precedent was established of having politicos run a war. (Anyone remember Robert McNamara)?
4. The "Great" Society began, which has been a dismal and utter failure and still bleeds the economy after 40 years.
5. LBJ ran the printing presses day and night which laid the groundwork for future inflation.
6. LBJ needed even more money so he decided to sell some Fed buildings and not build new ones. We are still paying on leases 40 years after this bone headed decision.
7. LBJ was elected with 61% of the popluar vote in 1964. By 1967 he was so unpopular, he decided not to run in 1968.
8. LBJ was so hated in his own party that he had to solicit help from the Republicans to pass the Civil Rights act.
9. LBJ removed all valuable metal content from our coinage.
The biggest sex pervert in the history of US Prez's was ..... (do I even need to fill in this blank)?
The worst Prez on border security is GWB.
The closest we have had to a king as Prez was FDR. He issued over 4000 executive orders. (Modern prez's average maybe 300)
The worst Prez for selling pardons to criminals was ..... (no need to fill in this one, either)
Probably the best Prez's in history are both long gone:
George Washington could have been crowned king and chose to step away.
Abraham Lincoln held the Union together during it's darkest hours and managed to abolish one of the last holdovers from European colonialism (slavery).
Shiftiest looking Prez: Has to be Richard Milhouse with that day old growth. Even today when a day old growth is cool, he would still look shifty.
Biggest liar in the oval office ..... Slick again.

[USMC the Almighty]

Similar to my recent post in the "Best Presidents" thread, I have discovered the "Historical Rankings of United States Presidents" page on Wikipedia. Turns out that, according to them, Warren G. Harding was the worst Prez in our history, with Buchanan trailing not too far behind.

Of note: Richard Nixon is listed as 32nd out of 42.


That's a load of crap. Harding? I'd probably put him in my top half. Buchanan belongs there, but in my opinion, Johnson was the worst president in this country's history.

[USMC the Almighty]

4. The "Great" Society began, which has been a dismal and utter failure and still bleeds the economy after 40 years.
5. LBJ ran the printing presses day and night which laid the groundwork for future inflation.
6. LBJ needed even more money so he decided to sell some Fed buildings and not build new ones. We are still paying on leases 40 years after this bone headed decision.


This is what I was trying to tell vyo in the "worst pres" thread.

[vyo476]

That's a load of crap. Harding? I'd probably put him in my top half. Buchanan belongs there, but in my opinion, Johnson was the worst president in this country's history.

Johnson was near the bottom too (I don't think anyone likes him, which is well-deserved). However, Harding himself stated that he should never have been President. His presidency was marked by some of if not the most extreme corruption in the history of our government - and it was there largely because Harding himself was too much of a dunce to realize something was wrong with the people he'd appointed to the government.

Grant and Harding share so many similarities it's uncanny. Only difference is that Grant was a soldier and Harding...well, Harding wasn't.

[Truth-Bringer]

That's a load of crap. Harding? I'd probably put him in my top half. Buchanan belongs there, but in my opinion, Johnson was the worst president in this country's history.

But Johnson wouldn't have been able to do what he did without Lincoln's authoritarian assaults against the Constitution.

Again, if you want to rank by precedence, I might have to change my vote for Lincoln as the worst President instead of Wilson, because Lincoln's temporary Income Tax, greenbacks, and other usurpations laid the groundwork for Wilson's permanent changes.

[Truth-Bringer]

The peanut farmer was the most incompetent Prez in US History. During his adminstration:
1. The unempoyment rate exceeded 10%.
2. The inflation rate excedded 10%
3. Home mortgage interest rates exceeded 16%
(Carter is the only Prez in history to score a triple double)
4. He pledged to cut the bureaucracy and instead added to it. (Was this a lie)?
5. He gutted the military and intelligence.
6. He increased the deficit (But so has every Prez since)
7. He was percieved as a pansy ass militarily. (Remember the US embassy hostages were held for 444 days and they were released 20 minutes after Reagan took the oath of office)
8. He started a new cabinet position, the Department of Education, which has furthered the federal interference in public schools and hastened their deterioration.
Anyone remember the "Misery Index"?
Anyone remember that Billy Carter was a registered agent for Libya while bro was in the oval office?
Anyone remember this phrase "Keep the canal. Give away Carter"?
The most dangerous Prez in US history was LBJ. During his admin:
1. Our currency was removed from the gold standard.
2. Social Security was gutted to pay for Vietnam and the "great" society.
3. A dangerous precedent was established of having politicos run a war. (Anyone remember Robert McNamara)?
4. The "Great" Society began, which has been a dismal and utter failure and still bleeds the economy after 40 years.
5. LBJ ran the printing presses day and night which laid the groundwork for future inflation.
6. LBJ needed even more money so he decided to sell some Fed buildings and not build new ones. We are still paying on leases 40 years after this bone headed decision.
7. LBJ was elected with 61% of the popluar vote in 1964. By 1967 he was so unpopular, he decided not to run in 1968.
8. LBJ was so hated in his own party that he had to solicit help from the Republicans to pass the Civil Rights act.
9. LBJ removed all valuable metal content from our coinage.
The biggest sex pervert in the history of US Prez's was ..... (do I even need to fill in this blank)?
The worst Prez on border security is GWB.
The closest we have had to a king as Prez was FDR. He issued over 4000 executive orders. (Modern prez's average maybe 300)
The worst Prez for selling pardons to criminals was ..... (no need to fill in this one, either)
Probably the best Prez's in history are both long gone:
George Washington could have been crowned king and chose to step away.
Abraham Lincoln held the Union together during it's darkest hours and managed to abolish one of the last holdovers from European colonialism (slavery).
Shiftiest looking Prez: Has to be Richard Milhouse with that day old growth. Even today when a day old growth is cool, he would still look shifty.
Biggest liar in the oval office ..... Slick again.


Interesting analysis, but most of these guys couldn't have done their damage without precedent being set by Lincoln, Wilson and FDR.

And I think we finally came off the gold standard and went to pure fiat currency under Nixon in 1971.

Of course, that's still not as bad as the private gold confiscation under the thief FDR.

And Carter increased both the deficit and the debt. Yes, as you said, most Presidents have, but some, such as Jefferson actually reduced the national debt and left the country in better shape financially when they left office.

[Justinian]

It's hard to say. I'd have to say Clinton, Carter or Harding. Grant was also pretty bad.

[ChairmanMeow]

I don’t want to jump on the band-wagon, but I would have to say George W. Bush. Although Because I have only gained my political views since the beginning his presidency back in 2000 I believe he is the worst when compared to our other presidents. But perhaps I am just a naive idiot!

Runner up: Nixon!

[vyo476]

I don’t want to jump on the band-wagon, but I would have to say George W. Bush. Although Because I have only gained my political views since the beginning his presidency back in 2000 I believe he is the worst when compared to our other presidents. But perhaps I am just a naive idiot!

Runner up: Nixon!

GW's certainly been a less than stellar president. Few people these days will defend him. Liberals for the most obvious of reasons and conservatives because of his rather blatantly anti-conservative policies (especially economically).

The worst president in our history? No. Not when compared with the likes of Andrew Johnson or Jimmy Carter.

[ilikeboobs]

I vote for Peanut Carter.

[heyjude]

George Bush. First for starting a war for oil and to enrich the already rich. Second for thinking you can fight a tactic. Thrid for making enemies of our firiends. But primarily, for overturning our Constitution.