When Nixon was President, I was nostalgic for Eisenhower...

[First Speaker]

...even though I was a Dem kid from a Dem family, I knew that--as Republicans go--Eisenhower was a good man, and my father--who served in the ETO--liked and admired him, at least as a general. And I realized, at least Nixon is an anomaly. The GOP can't go any lower.

Then we had the Ford interregnum, and that was OK--at least he didn't do much harm. Then Carter, and after him--Reagan. And I found myself, to my horror, nostalgic for Nixon. At least Tricky wasn't obviously senile--this was before "Alzheimer's" was a household word--and obviously was smart. But Reagan was old, and as my Mom said, This Too Shall Pass. And I had the consolation that at least, *this* time, the GOP can't go any lower.

Then we had the Bush the First Interregnum, and I breathed a little easier. Yes, there was Clarence Thomas. But there was also Souter. And Bush was competent, especially in foreign relations. We'd survive.

Then Clinton. And then the so-called "election" of 2000. Followed by Dubya. And by God, I felt nostalgic for Reagan. Dubya was even dumber than he was. And he chose Cheney as his Veep, as opposed to Bush the First. This was not an improvement. Reagan, for all his tough talk, wouldn't have gotten into the Iraq quagmire--after all, he used proxies for his war in Central America. He would have had--barely--sense enough not to invade the Middle East with a huge American army, and it's just possible he wouldn't have sunk into the torture morass. At least, he would have had our proxies do the dirty work, instead of our own troops. But there was this consolation--This Too Shall Pass. *This* time, the GOP couldn't go any lower.

And now I'm nostalgic for Dubya. God help me. And while, yes, This Too Shall Pass--I will never again say, *this* time, the GOP can't go any lower. And that's the most frightening thought of all. Who--what--can possibly come after Trump? With any luck, I won't live to find out...

[RKP5637]

1. Frightening ... if the GOP can sink this low for Trump, it's horrific imagining someone worse.

His supporters IMO are rabid bigots, racists and ignorant. It's hard to imagine we have such lowlifes in the US. The Trump cult would likely go for someone even worse than Trump ... that's what they're made of, and so willfully uninformed and stupid.

[nycbos]

2. The difference between Dubya and Trump...

... is Dubya truly believed that his polices were right for the country. Trump only cares about himself.

[Garrett78]

3. Dubya was horrific. I will never be nostalgic for those years.

[Hermit-The-Prog]

7. same here

I have yet to hear a speech by Duuhbya. TV wouldn't survive it.

[Kaleva]

9. I think the OP is saying that, given a choice, he'd rather have Bush 43 as president then Trump.

Which would you prefer if that's the choice you had?

[Garrett78]

13. I understand the whole "it's all relative" thing, but the Republicans who came before Trump...

...made Trump possible. And nobody should long for the Bush years. I long for the post-Trump years.

[AlexSFCA]

4. if you think it can't get worse than trump, you lack imagination

[onecaliberal]

5. Sad state of affairs isn't it?

[Polybius]

6. Who can be a worse President than Trump that currently has presidential ambitions?

Cruz?

[UTUSN]

8. HAH, yip - "nostalgic for (Shrub)" !1 - the effect SHITLER has had on us!1

[Jarqui]

10. I have very different feelings

Eisenhower was really before my time - I was born during his first term as President. But I admired him - largely because of his war efforts but also because Republicans were different back then. They were conservative but they typically put the country first (or so I thought at the time).

I've always leaned well left - been progressive.

I was crazy about JFK but just a kid.
The assassinations of JRK, MLK & RFK were disillusioning, distressing, mind blowing, etc.
I still wonder who was behind those assassinations - now including the Republicans.

I was upset with Johnson - in part because of JFK and mostly because of Vietnam - I protested it. I was glad for his Civil Rights legislation but too young/ignorant to fully appreciate racism - and maybe, because I'm white, I'll always be ignorant to some extent as to how that really feels.

I never liked Nixon. He was a liar and weasel from the outset. I was very upset with Watergate. I was outraged with his pardon and because disillusioned with politics. I walked away and worked on gay rights locally or student housing - stuff like that where I thought I might be able to get something done.

Jimmy Carter brought me around some. I liked his honesty and decency. But they screwed him with lies & Iran-Contra. John Lennon getting shot upset me. I could never respect Reagan. Willie Horton ads. Again, I walked away.

Bush admin asked me to be in a think tank. I was reluctant but couldn't say no. Did my best. Then he pardons Iran-Contra folks. Again, I'm out.

Clinton gets elected and one of the first things he does is a terrible implementation of free trade that I could see was going to destroy many lives. Again, I'm out.

Bush steals the election. I'm out. 9/11. I'm back. Weapons of mass destruction. Torture. I'm out.

Obama comes along and I'm back big time. I finally got the president I always wanted.

Trump. Why waste more keystrokes?

In my life time of perception (after being a toddler), I got
15 years over a 58 year period of good presidents: JFK, Carter, Obama.
I have mixed feelings about Clinton, Ford & GHW Bush
I was never a fan of Reagan
I thought Nixon GW Bush and Trump were between bad to terrible.

I feel cheated by Republicans
Nixon scuttled Vietnam peace and committed Watergate to win
Reagan committed Iran-contra
GHW Bush Willie Horton ad
GW Bush Florida count and Kerry Swiftboating
Trump - Russia interference
(there have been a long list of other grievances along the way)
Not a single Republican has won the presidency without cheating in my lifetime.

I could handle a tag team of Carter Obama indefinitely. I admire both those men a lot.

[pscot]

11. I'm on a similar timeline

but I'd hate to leave now. I want to hang around long enough to see how it ends.

[John Fante]

12. The Bush years were horrific, and most if the horrors were

the result of his ineptitude. Its been a rough few years with Trump, but not rough enough that I long for the days of 9/11, Iraq, "Mission Accomplished", Abu Ghraib, Katrina, Fallujah, etc.