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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsThe Verdict is in: Guess Who's The Worst President in US History?
http://jeff61b.hubpages.com/hub/The-Verdict-is-in-Whos-The-Worst-President-in-American-HistoryWhen you review the facts below and consider his impact on our economy, foreign policy and domestic policy, by almost any standard, its difficult to find any president who did more harm and left the country in worse shape than George W. Bush.
As you read this article, please feel free to fact check everything as well as checking the links I provided to verify these facts....
Although he was the first president in decades to inherit a budget surplus, George W. Bush immediately wiped out that surplus, turned it into the biggest budget deficit in history (exceeding one trillion dollars per year by the time he left office) and added more debt than all presidents before him combined..
John Poet
(2,510 posts)(Need to do a little more work on that section, as some many crimes remain to be adequately covered....)
arcane1
(38,613 posts)blm
(113,037 posts)color me UN surprised
calimary
(81,179 posts)BreakfastClub
(765 posts)He clearly stole the election in 2000, and probably 2004. That was a coup if I ever saw one.
AtomicKitten
(46,585 posts)Segami
(14,923 posts)Wasn't George W. Bush the Vice President?
carolinayellowdog
(3,247 posts)Does NOT belong in the same category with any ELECTED president.
Warren DeMontague
(80,708 posts)Now, there's an idea.
drynberg
(1,648 posts)okaawhatever
(9,461 posts)http://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2015/04/26/obama_jokes_at_whcd_white_house_correspondents_dinner_dick_cheney_is_the_worst_president_in_my_lifetime.html#ooid=ZpYWtxdDqTGI6eQOqXr1GNbiQDpxt-tq
Absolutely perfect. Worth watching the minute and a half video
mountain grammy
(26,607 posts)BeanMusical
(4,389 posts)Warren DeMontague
(80,708 posts)But dubya was pretty bad.
barbtries
(28,787 posts)but i agree with gw.
Warren DeMontague
(80,708 posts)No question.
barbtries
(28,787 posts)according to my son the history major he will also never, ever forgive the creation of the modern political campaign, which he lays at jackson's feet.
joeybee12
(56,177 posts)First Speaker
(4,858 posts)...I know a lot of Dems admire Wilson, but it's hard to see how anyone could have been a bigger failure than he was. He was by far the most hated President in history when he left office, even more than Nixon, something that amazed me when I studied that era...
MrModerate
(9,753 posts)And (although his failings are often exaggerated), Grant.
First Speaker
(4,858 posts)...I think he's been underestimated as a president. He was the only President before modern times--except for Lincoln, of course--who actively supported civil rights. I'm willing to give him a lot of leeway for that.
MrModerate
(9,753 posts)Grant trusted his friends too much and they robbed everybody blind.
carolinayellowdog
(3,247 posts)Buchanan might be the bigger fuckup, but Bush was by far the MOST EVIL; Wilson at least had good intentions which is more than can be said for the other two.
deutsey
(20,166 posts)A petty little man who enjoyed strutting around like he was really something when he wasn't out riding his bike or choking on pretzels.
MyOwnPeace
(16,923 posts)"cutting brush."
Lord knows we flew him to the "ranch" enough! (NO president had as much time off-the-job as "W"
deutsey
(20,166 posts)He was fortunate to have had 1) such a servile news media; 2) so many ruthless "Mayberry Machiavelians" working in the shadows on his behalf; and 3) a very easily distracted population.
brush
(53,759 posts)deutsey
(20,166 posts)Here's an article about W's pretzel incident:
http://www.sfgate.com/politics/article/Bush-faints-then-falls-after-choking-on-pretzel-2884109.php
Liberal Veteran
(22,239 posts)Bush was a disaster. Like a bad case of the flu.
Reagan, on the other hand, set the standard that has been gnawing away at our prosperity for decades. Like a cancer.
Go Vols
(5,902 posts)Maineman
(854 posts)I am glad to see Reagan getting some acknowledgment, though.
Liberal Veteran
(22,239 posts)Disdain for the poor. Undermining the working class. Cutting taxes on the rich. Assault on labor. Incredible military spending. Undermining education. Cutting the safety nets. Short-sighted foreign policy.
hifiguy
(33,688 posts)Enthusiast
(50,983 posts)Many Democrats act like it's the way to go.
Whenever the media starts praising Reagan they need to hear some serious shit from the people.
I never miss a chance to say on the internet how Reagan Cut And Run in Lebanon. There are many Reagan hypocrisies to bring up. For one thing fundamentalist Christians need to be reminded that he embraced astrology.
appalachiablue
(41,113 posts)staggerleem
(469 posts)... George H.W. Bush would never have been President. And if his daddy had never been President, neither would Dubya.
Also, BOTH Bush Presidents selected their top advisers from Reagan's staff - just like Jeb "I'm my own man!" Bush is doing right now!
appalachiablue
(41,113 posts)hifiguy
(33,688 posts)giving and recurring.
oberliner
(58,724 posts)How do you explain that?
okaawhatever
(9,461 posts)people still believed it was the right thing to do at that point. Also, you know, Swiftboating.
Reagan was the teflon president. For whatever reason people always loved him. Look at his approval ratings. I think the only time they were underwater was right after he admitted to knowing about Iran Contra.
arcane1
(38,613 posts)MrModerate
(9,753 posts)Means that many Democrats still in office (or vying for office) bear some of the blame for the Iraq war.
A little backbone following 9/11 would have 1) gone a long way and 2) changed history profoundly.
Volaris
(10,269 posts)Brainstormy
(2,380 posts)Bush sucked. But in terms of the utter destruction of the American way of life, it's hard to see how anyone can beat Reagan.
99Forever
(14,524 posts)Ronnie Rayguns did more damage than all the others combined. Dumbya was a piker compared the him.
hifiguy
(33,688 posts)but it's hard to argue against His Chimperial Highness.
And that is still one of the most utterly moronic expressions a human, or simian, countenance has ever managed.
m-lekktor
(3,675 posts)Reagan was/is seriously popular with the crazy people, I am not sure what the same crowd thinks of GWB to be honest.
Reter
(2,188 posts)They say he expanded government. They are also very anti-Jeb. Hmm.
Joe Chi Minh
(15,229 posts)specious, antecedent 'revisionist' appraisals.
Reagan was dense, but his folly seemed as much a scheming malice as unadulterated folly. Bush wasn't cut out for cerebral work and often seemed more amoral than immoral. Apparently, he showed an egregious lack of intellectual curiosity, according to a fellow university-student.
In the RC church, a priest pushed into the priesthood by his parents is called a Mother's Vocation. Bush seemed to be a Father's Vocation (or continuation thereof).
kevin.xiii
(6 posts)A century and a half on, let's not forget how our country's MOST horrific event began, and the unbridled ineptitude of our 15th chief executive at its inception.
Dubya was quite simply our second-worst ever.
oberliner
(58,724 posts)An awful man and a horrible president in every respect.
lakercub
(659 posts)While Buchanan was certainly a bad president, America still wasn't able to cause as many problems globally as it is today. France and England were certainly choosing sides and watching the Civil War with great interest, but the worldwide reach of the war was still pretty limited. Also, it's hard to say whether Buchanan could have made things better even if he had been a better president.
Meanwhile, Bush and Reagan screwed up everyone everywhere. Their economic policies led to impoverishment and bank malfeasance all over the globe. Reagan (and Thatcher) combined to bring misery to much of the world (yet they get lauded for their Cold War "victories). They both played huge roles in destabilizing the Middle East (Reagan also made a mess in South America and Central America). They both armed all kinds of disgusting people which would come back to haunt us all (remember...if Reagan gave out guns based on "the enemy of my enemy, etc" then those guns ended up pointed right back at us.
Domestically, both had scandal-ridden administrations and both brought trust in government to incredible lows. Poverty, debt, deficits, and everything bad increased under both of them. And corporatists, here and across the globe, never had it so good at the expense of everyone else.
Buchanan just didn't have the platform to suck globally like Reagan and Bush did.
olddots
(10,237 posts)the people behind him are world class parasites and the planet may never heal from their greedy ignorance ."W" is a comedic front for turd maggots schooled by Reagan masters .
SaveOurDemocracy
(4,400 posts)Gothmog
(145,046 posts)Dont call me Shirley
(10,998 posts)oberliner
(58,724 posts)I think there is a recency phenomenon going on here.
Buchanan and Harding are the worst two I think by a long shot.
Johnson and Pierce probably the next two.
Maybe Bush can squeak in at number five, but he'd have some stiff competition.
MrModerate
(9,753 posts)because he made so many mistakes, and kept making them, whereas Harding was mostly just a tool. Harding also died before he could rack up the full complement of awfulness points. I'm pretty ignorant of Pierce, but I'm happy to keep him in the running.
My five finishers:
1. Buchanan
2. Andrew Johnson
3. George Bush
4. Warren Harding
5. Franklin Pierce (courtesy vote)
Wilson, Reagan, and Grant also picked up some miscellaneous downticks.
hifiguy
(33,688 posts)and the modern presidency it is
1A Reagan
1B The Chimperor
2 Tricky Dick Nixon
3 Harding
i am sorely tempted to add Bill Clinton for his signing off on the Telecom Act, the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, gutting Glass-Steagall and "welfare reform." He carried an awful lot of water for the billionaire class, and he has been lavishly rewarded for the services he rendered to them.
If it weren't for Breyer and Ginsburg on the SCOTUS he would easily take fourth place, maybe even third.
oberliner
(58,724 posts)I whole heartedly disagree.
hifiguy
(33,688 posts)but he didn't do any real active damage to the country. He was an innocuous placeholder until the '76 election. I was around and politically aware in those days, and while I'd never have voted for him and didn't, after 5 1/2 years of Nixon, boring old Gerry Ford was something of a relief. He did bring notorious shitheels/devils Cheney and Rumsfeld into the WH, though, but IIRC Nixon brought them in to his administration before Ford was POTUS.
But yeah, you're right, Bush the Smarter belongs in the Harding spot behind The Trickster. Then Clinton.
The recency phenomenon you mention is exactly why Bush and Reagan were worse. America wasn't the power it is today when the others you mentioned were in office. So, while there were plenty of terrible presidents, they just didn't have the reach to cause as many problems.
With America's position as the world power since WWII, American Presidents have had a greater responsibility worldwide than they did before. When they fail, those failures are magnified by the reach of the country. And Bush and Reagan failed huge on a larger stage. They caused more suffering to more people around the world than any presidents before them and it's not that close. Yes, it's a function of when they were in office, but failures on a bigger stage tend to be bigger failures by default.
oberliner
(58,724 posts)That is, of course, the largest American death toll of any conflict in US history, and it's not even close. It wiped out nearly 2 percent of the population of the country.
Buchanan and Pierce failed on an epic scale as they helped push the country down the pathway that led to that horrific war.
ailsagirl
(22,893 posts)KamaAina
(78,249 posts)AZ Progressive
(3,411 posts)When people realize that climate change is unstoppable, because people didn't act in time, they ought to see who was responsible for not doing a damn thing when it counted the most.
Of course, it was SCOTUS that appointed Bush rather than Gore. For that alone, SCOTUS has screwed the human race.
Spitfire of ATJ
(32,723 posts)rurallib
(62,401 posts)SusanCalvin
(6,592 posts)PatSeg
(47,352 posts)"The article you are looking for is not published right now. Please try again later"
NanceGreggs
(27,813 posts)When it came to being The Worst President, Dubya did exceedingly well at it.
hifiguy
(33,688 posts)You gotta admit that when it came to being a terrible president, Dubya had the necessary skills to fill that role - and it seems to have been the only time in his life he was adept at anything.
Presidentin' is hard work. Bad presidentin' requires a special talent - and he had it in spades.
hifiguy
(33,688 posts)Little Boots could fuck up a two-car funeral on a one-way street even if you spotted him the hearse.
He is the all-time poster child for FUBAR.
NanceGreggs
(27,813 posts)... made me !
"Little Boots could fuck up a two-car funeral on a one-way street even if you spotted him the hearse."
Now THAT is a brilliant observation!
hifiguy
(33,688 posts)Glad I brightened your day!
That boy's more messed up than a left-handed football bat.
heckles65
(548 posts)I'll give Buchannan and Pierce credit for unintentional consequences as a result of their blatant siding with the South. This delayed the Civil War for eight years; during that eight years, northern industry and the rail net grew apace, which meant when the confrontation -did- come, the Union had a much better chance of winning.
KamaAina
(78,249 posts)Buchanan from Pa. and Pierce from NH.
Enthusiast
(50,983 posts)riqster
(13,986 posts)realFedUp
(25,053 posts)Except he left so much damage.
arcane1
(38,613 posts)Omaha Steve
(99,559 posts)K&R!
Enthusiast
(50,983 posts)[URL=.html][IMG][/IMG][/URL]
central scrutinizer
(11,639 posts)Reagan was suffering from dementia and Bush was just lazy and ignorant. It was the puppetmasters who pulled the strings that destroyed this country
Gothmog
(145,046 posts)world wide wally
(21,739 posts)President and we should go back to those ways again.
What more does any voter need to know?
tavernier
(12,374 posts)that the news networks are honoring him and his family after the murders he has committed and the torture and the atrocities and the maiming and suffering and suicides and and and...
GWB. Live with it!!!!!
Duval
(4,280 posts)Rex
(65,616 posts)Gothmog
(145,046 posts)KamaAina
(78,249 posts)probably thanks to a barrage of complaints from Dumbya worshippers.
Terra Alta
(5,158 posts)We are still suffering from the effects of Reagan's administration three decades later. From the closing of mental health clinics, to trickle down economics, to the "war on drugs" among other things. I don't think we will ever fully recover from Reagan, unfortunately. For some reason, the right adores him, but I hope history looks at him differently.
If not for Reagan, Dumbya never would have become President(the justices Reagan appointed to SCOTUS took Dumbya's side in Bush. vs. Gore). Dumbya was terrible in his own right, from ignoring 9/11 to the invasion of Iraq to the collapse of the economy in 2008.
Reagan and Dumbya were two terrible Presidents this nation could have done without.
CharlotteVale
(2,717 posts)FailureToCommunicate
(14,012 posts)Ivywoods55
(131 posts)Reagan makes Bush look like one of those " dumb criminals" while he was an expert republican criminal! Give Raygun his due, he deserves that honor.
Thespian2
(2,741 posts)cut brush in Texas while Cheney made sure the Bush Cartel became even wealthier...
czarjak
(11,266 posts)NBachers
(17,096 posts)The progressive damage he'll exhibit will be a reflection of the damage he's caused to humanity and our world.
Watch it happen.
L0oniX
(31,493 posts)rhett o rick
(55,981 posts)He had very little to do with what happened between 2000 and 2007. My vote is Richard "Little Dick" Cheney as the worst president in US history.
Octafish
(55,745 posts)The very words of George W Bush, uttered at a press conference in which not a single of the callow, cowed press corpse saw fit to ask a follow-up. And then he laughs.
Gold Star mom Cindy Sheehan tried to bring it to our nation's attention. Few others, if anyone, saw fit to comment.
As for where American's entrepreneurial spirit of war came from: Poppy: Bush Sr told the FBI he was in Dallas on Nov. 22, 1963.
"Worst" doesn't begin to cover it or the stench of sulfur.
GeorgeGist
(25,315 posts)mnhtnbb
(31,381 posts)to office.
They don't believe in science. They don't believe in the Constitution. They don't
protect the rights of their constituents.
hifiguy
(33,688 posts)From the Know Nothings in the 1830s there has been a broad and deep streak of pure stupid in the American populace and no one knows how better to play it than what is now the billionaire class.
Americans have always distrusted education and the educated.
dubya.... dubya dubya...
dubya dubya dubya dubya dubya.....
dubya.
dubya dubya.... dubya.
dubya.
Dubya, bubya and dubya.
Dubya.
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dubya.
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dubya.
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Dubya.
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dubya.
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dubya.
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Dubya.
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dubya.
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dubya.
Dubya, bubya and dubya.
Dubya.
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dubya.
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dubya.
Dubya, bubya and dubya.
Dubya.
dubya.... dubya dubya...
dubya dubya dubya dubya dubya.....
dubya.
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dubya.
Dubya, bubya and dubya.
Dubya.
dubya.... dubya dubya...
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dubya.
dubya dubya.... dubya.
dubya.
Dubya, bubya and dubya.
Dubya.
KamaAina
(78,249 posts)Welcome!
UTUSN
(70,671 posts)freshwest
(53,661 posts)KamaAina
(78,249 posts)freshwest
(53,661 posts)Some say that to Bush, Cheney, etc., those fireworks at the end have the same moral equivalency as bombs going off, it's just energy being expended. Never mind all those people under the pretty light show, huh? Do I need a icon here?
If so, here it is: And I don't care what version you use to make Bush look like the clown he reportedly is. I think Bush was either the most deluded creature there was, or much more wiley than we give him credit for. EOM.
jalan48
(13,852 posts)KamaAina
(78,249 posts)Welcome to DU!
jalan48
(13,852 posts)Yorktown
(2,884 posts)There is a very well made compilation of all the rankings of past presidents on wikipedia, with a column trying to aggregate all the different rankings:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Historical_rankings_of_Presidents_of_the_United_States#Scholar_survey_results
It's actually rather kind to GW, because it includes two rankings aken shortly after 9/11 (Sienna 2002 and WSJ 2005) where GW still is ranked as middle range. All other rankings place GW in the lowest quartile.
The aggregated lowest quartile of the worst presidents:
Herbert Hoover R 31 (tie)
Richard Nixon R 31 (tie)
Benjamin Harrison R 33
Zachary Taylor Whig 34
Ulysses S. Grant R 35
George W. Bush R 36
John Tyler Whig 37
Millard Fillmore Whig 38
William Harrison Whig 39
Franklin Pierce D 40
Andrew Johnson D 41
Warren G. Harding R 42
James Buchanan D 43
lovemydog
(11,833 posts)at least a few spots as time goes one. One thing's for sure. We've really had some shitty Presidents!
staggerleem
(469 posts)So, the guys who work in the basement of the Heritage Foundation, monitoring Wikipedia and editing any "facts" that do not fit the Foundation's world view, don't even think that Reagan is among the 13 worst?
A Metric prefix to indicate just how infinitesimal my level of surprise at the above is, has yet to be defined. Does it surprise YOU??
brewens
(13,557 posts)AlbertCat
(17,505 posts)Oh yeah.... that other guy who can't make a sentence with a subject and a predicate.
Recursion
(56,582 posts)W was bad, but nobody could be worse than Buchanan.
Puzzledtraveller
(5,937 posts)davidn3600
(6,342 posts)I know Bush was bad, but Buchanan's policies and actions may have literally triggered the Civil War and seemed to not even care. It has even been said one of the first things he did when he took office was conspire with the Supreme Court in the Dred Scott decision. Most of his cabinet would end up resigning. And he basically sat and did nothing as the country was falling apart, literally.
DFW
(54,328 posts)But he carried out the functions of the president while he was in office, so here is my vote:
[URL=.html][IMG][/IMG][/URL]
ProfessorGAC
(64,960 posts)It says the article is no longer published. I was looking forward to reading it.
Enthusiast
(50,983 posts)[URL=.html][IMG][/IMG][/URL]
Response to KamaAina (Original post)
rosesaylavee This message was self-deleted by its author.
raccoon
(31,106 posts)IHateTheGOP
(1,059 posts)nolabear
(41,956 posts)I needed facts and they abandoned me to a RW feeding frenzy. 😫
BeanMusical
(4,389 posts)Lot of blood on his hands.
Angry Dragon
(36,693 posts)KamaAina
(78,249 posts)AikidoSoul
(2,150 posts)oh....so many adjectives fit.
raven mad
(4,940 posts)But I agree with the result.
PufPuf23
(8,759 posts)Jeb I mean.
Floors me.