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Coventina

(26,874 posts)
Tue May 26, 2015, 10:21 AM May 2015

Is Obama the most obstructed / disrespected president in US History?

Just wondering what DUers think.

Also, if you say "yes" do you think that his being black (or bi-racial) has to do with that?

I'd appreciate to see what you have to say.

Thanks.

25 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
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Is Obama the most obstructed / disrespected president in US History? (Original Post) Coventina May 2015 OP
Yes and yes edhopper May 2015 #1
Yes i was going to say - 20th century probably for sure el_bryanto May 2015 #3
well i think lincoln wins that one in a landslide. unblock May 2015 #2
yes riverbendviewgal May 2015 #4
I would have to vote him a close second TexasProgresive May 2015 #5
In order, Lincoln, Carter, Obama leftofcool May 2015 #6
Andrew Johnson HassleCat May 2015 #7
Pretty par for the course Prism May 2015 #8
Ordinary citizens have disrespected him more than any other President ... dawg May 2015 #9
In my experience still_one May 2015 #10
Yes he is the most obstructed & disrespected President in the last 60 yrs at least I don't think all okaawhatever May 2015 #11
Here at DU, or in Congress? Buzz Clik May 2015 #12
yes and yes. JaneyVee May 2015 #13
He could have at least mitigated it, and maybe overcome it, by not pandering to the Doctor_J May 2015 #14
But things WERE accomplished Proud Liberal Dem May 2015 #15
Yes & yes, like no other: a tsunami of lies and hate... VOX May 2015 #16
IMO Mr Dixon May 2015 #17
I would put every president who has been assassinated rusty fender May 2015 #18
Would you include Reagan and Ford in that? Coventina May 2015 #22
The main reason is because he's brown. ...and part African. Would anybody like to tell the .... BlueJazz May 2015 #19
I'd say Bill Clinton, of the presidents in my lifetime Dems to Win May 2015 #20
and it is NOTHING compared to what Prez Hillary would have received Skittles May 2015 #24
Yes and Yes treestar May 2015 #21
Well, he wasn't impeached like Bill Clinton. NaturalHigh May 2015 #23
Yes, and Yes. MohRokTah May 2015 #25

el_bryanto

(11,804 posts)
3. Yes i was going to say - 20th century probably for sure
Tue May 26, 2015, 10:26 AM
May 2015

But at least half the states in the union didn't secede when he took office.

Bryant

TexasProgresive

(12,148 posts)
5. I would have to vote him a close second
Tue May 26, 2015, 10:27 AM
May 2015

My vote goes to Jimmy Carter who was obstructed / disrespected and disrespected by his own party in the house and senate.

 

HassleCat

(6,409 posts)
7. Andrew Johnson
Tue May 26, 2015, 10:34 AM
May 2015

I think the honor may go to Andrew Johnson, the VP who became president when Lincoln was killed. In the chaos following the Civil War, things were "interesting." They impeached him, much the same as they did Clinton, for purely political reasons. The Republicans would impeach Obama in a heartbeat if they could only find an excuse. They have to satisfy themselves with blocking all his nominees and holding them hostage to some right wing "principle." The blind hatred of Obama is stunning.

 

Prism

(5,815 posts)
8. Pretty par for the course
Tue May 26, 2015, 10:34 AM
May 2015

Actually, I'd almost argue American politics are growing tamer over time. In the late 18th and through most of the 19th Century, presidential politics were pretty vicious.

Nowadays. Eh. President Obama receives his fair share. It's indisputable there's a racial component involved.

But the worst ever? In all U.S. History? Really, not close. Here's a neat link about some of the presidential nastiness of the past:

http://www.neatorama.com/2008/01/28/5-nastiest-us-presidential-elections-in-history/

It almost seems like we were being governed by infants.

dawg

(10,610 posts)
9. Ordinary citizens have disrespected him more than any other President ...
Tue May 26, 2015, 10:40 AM
May 2015

in my lifetime. And his race is a huge part of that.

The Republican establishment has reached a point, however, where they are going to treat *any* Democratic President this way.

okaawhatever

(9,453 posts)
11. Yes he is the most obstructed & disrespected President in the last 60 yrs at least I don't think all
Tue May 26, 2015, 10:45 AM
May 2015

Republican office holders and party bosses did it because he is black. After all, they came after Clinton with everything they had, but their game was a lot weaker then. I do think that the non-bigoted politicians and party bosses knew their base was a bunch of bigots and leveraged that. They wouldn't have tried the scorched earth approach without knowing there would be no accountability for their actions.

Remember how Clinton's popularity went up after the impeachment hearings? I believe if President Obama were white they would still have tried to undermine him but it wouldn't have come in the form of a personal attack. They would be too concerned with voter backlash and sympathy for him.

 

Doctor_J

(36,392 posts)
14. He could have at least mitigated it, and maybe overcome it, by not pandering to the
Tue May 26, 2015, 10:59 AM
May 2015

republicans from his first day in office. The electorate in 2008 completely repudiated the republicans, wanted them neutralized. Obama decided to meet them 9/10 of the way, and his voters felt deceived and abandoned, and gave up on the party actually accomplishing anything. Once McConnell and boner realized that the democrats weren't going to act on the voters' mandate, it was easy for them to get their way on everything.

The obstruction would have been just as bad for Hillary.

VOX

(22,976 posts)
16. Yes & yes, like no other: a tsunami of lies and hate...
Tue May 26, 2015, 11:47 AM
May 2015

Birth certificate crap, "Kenyan," "Muslim," "Obongo," "You lie!," "African homosexual," "Black radical," "Socialist/Marxist/Communist/Fascist," grabbing guns, invading Texas, creating FEMA concentration camps, putting entire country under martial law, "Antichrist," dog-eater, drug addict, tramples Constitution on a daily basis, etc., etc.

The Internet, hate-radio talking heads/Fox-crap and social media have allowed right-wing lunatics to spew out venomous hatred in tonnage amounts and into mainstream sources --no other president has faced this magnitude of continuous daily attacks based on ethnicity, and designed to "otherize" and assassinate character.

Mr Dixon

(1,185 posts)
17. IMO
Tue May 26, 2015, 12:02 PM
May 2015

Yes and Yes Hillary is going to catch it too if she wins, but there is a bright-side like some have stated that half the country's true colors have come to light. What will be interesting is how women will justify voting for the GOP when they no longer are able to deny how little Grump old people (GOP) are about women’s issues. I have a prediction that the 1st Latino (man or woman) will be elected POTUS after Hillary has completed her two terms either way the DEMS own the White house.

 

rusty fender

(3,428 posts)
18. I would put every president who has been assassinated
Tue May 26, 2015, 12:04 PM
May 2015

before Obama as most disrespected presidents. It's very disrespectful to kill someone.

 

BlueJazz

(25,348 posts)
19. The main reason is because he's brown. ...and part African. Would anybody like to tell the ....
Tue May 26, 2015, 12:11 PM
May 2015

...congress where we (probably) ALL came from??

You would think that anybody with even a little education would realize that we're all from the same place.

 

Dems to Win

(2,161 posts)
20. I'd say Bill Clinton, of the presidents in my lifetime
Tue May 26, 2015, 12:33 PM
May 2015

There was a list of a hundred people he had supposedly had killed being circulated, disrespectful reports from Clinton's Arkansas police guard and the Secret Service, and then Clinton's entire second term was dominated by the impeachment and trial. And there was a real frenzy against Hillary the whole time.

I recall Sen. Jesse Helms warning Clinton that he wouldn't be safe traveling to North Carolina.

I know that a lot of people think that Obama has had it worse, and I definitely see a lot of racist crap thrown at him, but I still think the craziness aimed at Bill and Hillary was the worst I've seen. Just my opinion.

treestar

(82,383 posts)
21. Yes and Yes
Tue May 26, 2015, 12:35 PM
May 2015

Though with a slight dash of Tea Party intransigence being what it is. It could have affected a white POTUS had one won in 2008. But the rabidness wouldn't have been there. They would not have threatened not to life the debt ceiling or caused a government shut down every time they could. I know they did it to Clinton, but not over and over again.

NaturalHigh

(12,778 posts)
23. Well, he wasn't impeached like Bill Clinton.
Tue May 26, 2015, 05:48 PM
May 2015

His personal life wasn't investigated for six years either.

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