Worst US President?

[Texasgal]

Poll question: Worst US President?

Who, in your opinion was/is the worst US President?

Now, I realize that these are all Republicans, this is why we have an "other" option. :)

[LSparkle]

1. Actually, I take it back

Geo. SR. is the worst because if he'd kept it in his pants, we wouldn't have Jr.

[Rocknrule]

3. One thing Sr. and Jr. have in common

if they had just pulled out, the world would be a better place
:evilgrin:

[Spinzonner]

7. Then you have to include Franklin Pierce

who is the 4th cousin 4-times-removed of Barbara Bush who also bears culpability in the creation of the little toad.

[DFW]

2. I'd add

Warren Harding

(he's an "other," although not so very other....)

[BOSSHOG]

31. Harding is certainly a candidate for this list but

I believe if any American who suffered through the Harding presidency were alive today and had a taste of bush's administration it would be a no-contest. They would be singing Harding's praises.

WELCOME ABOARD DU DFW!!

[sutz12]

4. My vote goes to 'Dubai'

but Grant was pretty bad, too.

[Ufomammut]

5. I voted Raygun

[Fire Bush]

6. There is no doubt in my mind.

Ten years down the road this waste of human flesh will be regarded as the single worst thing to happen to this country.

Assuming there's anyone left.

[INdemo]

50. It will take much longer than that to get this mess straightened up that

he made.That is if we are still a Democracy.......

[CBGLuthier]

8. There have been more ineffectual presidents than Bush

But worse?

None worse.

Reagan was a smug dick and Nixon a bastard but I never really thought they were out-and-out evil.

Unlike Bush.

Hoover just plain sucked :-)

But Bush sucks and blows at the same time.

[rman]

26. Ineffectual? The man is wreaking disastrous effects upon the world

Severe effects. The mans is having a lot of effect.
It's just not the effect that most people appreciate.

[kenny blankenship]

9. that's maybe the easiest question I've ever been asked, but

even though George W. Bush is the worst ruler we've had (Hell he's not even a legitimate President!), this country lost its way under Ronald Reagan (who was elected). Basically everything we're suffering now, and will suffer in the near-medium run future results from pathologies seeded in the Reagan era.

[Inland]

24. No, it's not even close between Reagan and Bush II.

W. is taking all the rhetorical craziness that Reagan used and is turning into policy. Reagan, moreover, didn't see the end of the cold war as a reason to drum up another one. What's more, we can actually see which of Reagan's policies blew up, namely, tax cuts, the social security "surplus", immigration follies, huge military buildups for the wrong threats. W. is making the same mistakes more determinedly despite knowing better. Heck, even Reagan knew to raise taxes again and again and again after his initial tax cut.

That's why there's enough Reagan era republicans looking at W like he's nutterbutters.

[Sammy Pepys]

10. Franklin Pierce....nt

....

[MADem]

11. Up to now, the candidate usually cited as worst was a Bush relative

Not a relative of Poppy Bush, either, but a relative of the Monkey by way of his MAMA--Franklin PIERCE. But I think Monkey has exceeded the record of his ancestor by leaps and bounds.

[SammyWinstonJack]

12. Looks like Pinhead wins the cupie doll prize with this poll.

:silly:

[Fenris]

13. Bush, in the only landslide he's ever had.

[Texasgal]

15. heh heh...

Good one Fenris! :)

[NJ Democrats]

14. That's Simple

It's Bush, by a long shot.

[Warren DeMontague]

16. W's certainly the worst President of my lifetime, and considering some

of the exceptionally shitty competition...






that says quite a lot.

[Kazak]

17. Where's Harding?

But even then, W* wins by a mile...

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

18. Andrew Johnson was no slouch at being awful.

But, I'd place Reagan, Nixon, and the current fathead infesting the White House right up there with him.

[flyingfysh]

25. people forget what Andrew Johnson's real crime was

He was impeached for refusing to enforce the civil rights laws passed by Congress after the Civil War, and should have been convicted.

Curiously, there was for many years a whitewash of this whole episode in history books used by schoolchildren. They generally claimed that impeachment was unjustified. Only lately have more people become aware of what was really going on.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

30. Quite right. And, the politicians who supported him are "heroes".

But, of course, race had nothing to do with it. Just like the later withdrawal of Union troops ended reconstruction and left the freed slaves to the tender mercies of their former masters.

[Zynx]

54. Indeed. He was a horrible racist who was trying to circumvent civil rights

laws to allow the old powers in the South to re-assert themselves over the freed slaves. An absolutely horrible president.

[Hobarticus]

19. Dubya almost makes me nostalgic for King Reagan...

Almost. ;-)

[Eugene]

20. Shrubya over Nixon by a hair.

I've said Nixon before, but whatever his faults, he had the
national interest at heart at least some of the time.
Bush and his neocon handlers seem bent on remaking the world
even if they have to wreck the United States in the process.

[flyingfysh]

28. Nixon did some good things

In particular, he created the EPA. In contrast, Bush never saw an industry demand he didn't like.

[Hobarticus]

34. I brought this up the other day...

Surprisingly, Nixon sounded like quite a progressive guy before he went apeshit-paranoid. Amazing what the GOP looked like back then, compared to now.

[rman]

21. 3 people hate the New Deal

interesting

[anarch]

22. I was going to say maybe Buchanan...but I voted for GWB

BTW, I just discovered another Google "I Feel Lucky" gem: just type in "Worst U.S. President Ever" and see where you wind up.

[yellowcanine]

32. I have heard Bush compared to Buchanan - whose leadership, or

lack of it, gets blame (or credit from some who think the war was necessary to defeat slavery) from some historians for allowing the U.S. to slide into the Civil War. However, a strong case could be made that no one could have prevented the Civil War. One cannot say the same about the war on Iraq. So by that measure (starting an unecessary war), Bush should probably get the nod.

[anarch]

35. yep...I think historians will agree

assuming there are any historians around to even think about such things in the next 50-100 years.


edited to add: not only an unnecessary war, but a war of aggression in blatant violation of international law. No other president has ever done so much to basically destroy all that America once stood for, and to completely ruin any credibility and respect we may have once had at the international level.

[FatDave]

46. And don't forget...

It only took him five years. To fuck up a great country like ours at all takes a special kind of skill, but to do it only five years requires some kind of prodigy.

[Zynx]

37. The thing with Buchanan is that he did virtually nothing at all at key

points to alleviate the strain that was building. He showed no leadership at all when it was badly needed. Given how much worse the Civil War was than the Iraq War, I am definitely going to give the nod to Buchanan as our worst president.

[yellowcanine]

39. If I thought the Civil War could have been averted by 1857 I would agree.

However, I think by that time it was inevitible. So Bush still gets the nod.

[Zynx]

51. If I could completely absolve him for presiding over the collapse of

the country, I would agree with you, but I can't. Sure, he had bad timing, but Civil War was not by any means a certainty. If you look at his presidency and Franklin Pierce's together, you have eight pivotal years in which those two allowed things to get completely out of hand. Bush, as bad as he is, is not as bad as those two.

[LanternWaste]

23. Harding-- but there's still time.

I still gotta go with Pres. Harding as the worst/most corrupt, however, * still has a coupla years left to outdo him and at the pResident's current pace, I very well think he will...

[yellowcanine]

38. Harding didn't get a shitload of people killed for no reason. Bush is

worse already. No need to wait.

[stevietheman]

27. Dubai Bush, then James Buchanan, then Nixon n/t

n/t

[GoneOffShore]

29. I voted Raygun

because he paved the way for the Bushies.

[Catchawave]

33. I voted GWB, only because he truly scares me.....

especially that he seems to have his hands on the Congressional cajones !?

Would love to see a Worst Congress Ever poll on DU, it would be telling that the Congress who voted to impeach a blowjob over high crimes and misdemeanors, would be my personal worst favorite :evilgrin:

[Zynx]

36. I'm sorry, but the worst by far is James Buchanan.

His incompetence contributed mightily to the outbreak of the Civil War which is by far the greatest tragedy that has ever befallen our nation.

[geniph]

40. You're missing Harding

Shrub might end up outdoing him in the incompetent out-of-touch asshole department eventually, but Harding still had the most corrupt administration in history.

As far as we know right now, anyway.

[Spider Jerusalem]

41. Buchanan is unquestionably the worst president the US has had.

His incompetence, indecisiveness, and blatant stupidity led to the Civil War. He illegally contacted an acquaintance on the Supreme Court (separation of powers, you know) before he was actually inaugurated and convinced him to vote the pro-slavery side in the Dred Scott case; he completely bungled the issue of slavery in the territories (accepting Kansas' illegitimate pro-slavery Lecompton Constitution); he was a weak-willed fool who thought that secession was unconstitutional, but that he hadn't the authority to prevent it...Bush is bad, but he's nowhere NEAR as bad as Buchanan. Not yet, anyway. (He still has three years to go, though.)

[Zynx]

53. Finally, we have someone with historical sense comment on this.

Anyone who studies the 1850s would put Pierce and Buchanan both lower than Bush. The horror of the US Civil War far eclipses anything Shrub has done.

[Spider Jerusalem]

57. Not to mention...

that in matters of foreign policy Pierce, especially, wasn't much better than Bush; his support of Russia in the Crimean War (growing out of lingering anti-British sentiment going back decades, and most recently influenced by the Oregon territory dispute) very nearly led to the first world war happening sixty years earlier.

[FatDave]

42. Well, I had to add a theoretical "in your lifetime" to the question, but..

GWB wins hands down. I wasn't around for Harding or Hoover or any of the others, so I can't really say about them.

I don't think history will be kind to the legacy of Georgie W.

[Jack Rabbit]

43. The real answer is . . .

AL GORE.

He was such a weak President he couldn't even take office.

[Renew Deal]

44. Ike gets a lot of respect at DU.

Just ask around. People love him here.

[FatDave]

48. Ike comes from a different era

An era where there were good republicans. From what I understand, the republican party really changed in the 1964 election with Goldwater.

[SteelBird]

45. This is tough to say

Bucahanan I think I would vote ultimately because how he acted led to Civil War, I would also consider Coolidge and Harding because their economic policies led to the depression plus their international isolationism was troubling too.I wouldn't have Hoover on the list though, he should have handled the depression better but he was unfairly blamed for it, his successors deserve more blame. Bush is definely the worst in my life time though without a doubt.

[TreasonousBastard]

47. Tough one here...

Harding pretty much set the stage for the Depression, Buchanan pretty much set the stage for the Civil War, and Reagan set the stage for neocon legitmacy-- all significant "accomplishments."

But, no other Presidents I can think of till this Bush have had such a record of destruction with no positive achievements. Nixon, Pierce, Jackson, Johnson (both of 'em)... none were total wastes.

I'd go for Shrub, though. Even though the Civil War was the most horrible thing we have gone through, and the Depression comes up a close second, these were events that came upon Presidents, not things that they brought upon themselves. They were unable to deal with the events thrust upon them, but did not cause the underlying problems. Truth is, very few people would have had the depth of wisdom and strength to ward those two off.

Shrub has brought pretty much everything on himself, though and is taking the country down the tubes with him. The potential for massive economic collapse and permanent environmental damage is entirely due to his policies, and he just might end up responsible for the destruction of the nation-- a claim that can be made for no other President. Even if we manage to pull out of the trouble he has caused, there is not one single positive accomplishment that he can take credit for-- a claim few Presidents could make.

Bringing up 9/11 as an event thrust upon him is a strawman. It was a singular catastrophe that was entirely mishandled, but nothing like the underlying causes of the Depression or Civil War.

I firmly believe that he is not only inept at the job, but he doesn't really understand just what the job is. There is no indication that he has any concept, even a bad one, of just what being in the service of the country actually means. Another claim that can be made for no other President.

[genie_weenie]

49. Silent Cal Coolidge!

He used to rub vaseline on his head, count cars as they passed by the WH along Pennsylvania Ave, would take 8 hour naps during the day and would simply end meetings with foreign dignitaries and his staff right in the middle due to capriciousness.

[jomcnamara]

52. Eisenhower

Let us not forget that his interventions in Iran and Guatemala set us on the lawless and murderous path since trodden so happily by the later candidates.

[On the Road]

56. Yeah, But Eisenhower Didn't START Us on That Path

It just depends on how far you want to go back. Wilson put Haiti under US martial law (which lasted 20 years). McKinley invaded the Philipines, killing a million (in Mark Twain's estimation). Polk provoked a border incident and used it to invade Mexico and take a third of the country (thus allowing the Texans to preserve slavery). Madison started the War of 1812 and seized everything from the original 13 colonies to the Mississippi River.

[Kerrytravelers]

55. shrub, with ray-gun a very close 2nd.

If it hadn't been for the idiocy of ray-gun, we never would have ended up with a fool like shrub. Ideology is what ray-gun professed and that is what gave us the Idiot Son.