George Bush the worst president in 100 years: here's why

[bemildred]

President Barack Obama is regarded as the worst US president since World War II according to the most recent opinion poll conducted by the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute in Connecticut. Quinnipiac is one of the most respected polls in the US, but this is absurd. President Obama has many problems, many of his own making, but he inherited a whirlwind from his predecessor, George Bush, who was a trillion-dollar disaster.

Yet it is Obama who was chosen by 33 per cent of those surveyed as the worst president of the modern era, while Bush came second, chosen as worst by 28 per cent.

I’ve spent the past month in the US, where I lived for 12 years, and I was struck by the impact of the miscalculations, insularity and ineptitude of President Bush’s defining decisions that are still rippling through American society. The events of recent weeks reveal the scale of the cost of his prodigiously wasteful invasion of Iraq in 2003.

In 2013, the Watson Institute of International Studies at Brown University studied the direct cost of the war and came up with a figure of $US1.7 trillion. The indirect costs would take this figure to at least double that figure. That is a heavy burden of wasted productivity even for America.

http://www.smh.com.au/comment/george-bush-the-worst-president-in-100-years-heres-why-20140713-zt5y4.html

[Scuba]

1. The left split their votes between W and Raygun. The right went for BHO.

Polls often don't tell the real story.

[fbc]

5. yeah, stupid meaningless poll.

It's the same 33-36% of the population that always votes/polls that way.

[yurbud]

13. oddly, roughly the same percentage as the conservative diehards

although I don't know how you diehard on a mobility scooter with confederate plates.

[Dustlawyer]

2. It's too soon for both of these Presidents to gain an accurate view of their Presidencies.

Obama's inclusion is due to the corporate media ginning up hate and resentment.

[BumRushDaShow]

3. Here is an archive of the 2006 Shrub poll

June 1, 2006 - Bush Tops List As U.S. Voters Name Worst President, Quinnipiac University National Poll Finds; Reagan, Clinton Top List As Best In 61 Years

Strong Democratic sentiment pushes President George W. Bush to the top of the list when American voters pick the worst U.S. President in the last 61 years. Bush is named by 34 percent of voters, followed by Richard Nixon at 17 percent and Bill Clinton at 16 percent, according to a Quinnipiac University national poll released today. Leading the list for best President since 1945 is Ronald Reagan with 28 percent, and Clinton with 25 percent.

President Bush is ranked worst by 56 percent of Democrats, 35 percent of independent voters and 7 percent of Republicans, the independent Quinnipiac (KWIN-uh-pe-ack) University poll finds. Best ranking for Reagan comes from 56 percent of Republicans, 7 percent of Democrats and 25 percent of independent voters. Among American voters 18 - 29 years old, Clinton leads the "best" list with 40 percent.

Among young voters, 42 percent list Bush as worst. Clinton tops the "worst" list among white Protestants - 24 percent, and white evangelical Christians - 29 percent.

American voters disapprove 58 - 35 percent of the job Bush is doing, compared to 58 - 36 percent in a March 2 survey. Even voters in red states, where Bush's margin was more than 5 percent in 2004, disapprove 52 - 39 percent.

More: http://www.quinnipiac.edu/news-and-events/quinnipiac-university-poll/national/release-detail?ReleaseID=919

[hibbing]

4. hmmm...what is so different about President Obama..hmmm

[fbc]

6. They should have had control questions

So the results could be something like "95% of people who think Obama is the worst president don't believe in evolution"

[Frank Cannon]

15. Good point, but I don't believe in evolution.

I have seen enough evidence to indicate to me that evolution is a fact. The same way that global climate change (human induced and/or accelerated) is, in my opinion, a fact. Belief doesn't even factor into it, nor should it.

[samsingh]

7. george w bush is indeed the worst president in history

his vp was no doubt a war monger and terrorist.
his team was undoubtedly filled with twisted dark characters who should be charged with war crimes
the economy hit the lowest point since the great depression


the only mention shrub ever excelled in was creating suffering and misery for others - inside the country and around the world

[Sunlei]

8. He did help prove what happens with-

a lot of exposure to brush clearing chemicals.

Both of them father and son.

[Scarsdale]

9. Selected

These people select the voters most likely to vote their way. How many of us on these boards have been asked to participate in these USELESS pollsI know, without polling a single person, that people in UK, France, Spain, Germany, Italy would vote overwhelmingly for W as the WORST of the WORST. Where is he, by the way? He certainly s keeping a low profile, painting himself in the bathtub, trying to wash off the blood.

[Jim Lane]

11. This was a scientific poll, not one of the silly media polls you mention.

I find the results credible. If they do the poll four years from now, the plurality choice for worst President of all time will be... whoever's in office then.

Whoever's President is in the news a lot. Therefore, adherents of the other party, who don't like that President, tend to coalesce behind naming him as the worst. By contrast, members of the President's party split their votes among many others. The result is that a plurality (though not a majority) picks the incumbent as the worst.

Quinnipiac is a respected polling organization. You shouldn't confuse a Quinnipiac poll with one of those polls on some website where DUers are urged to participate. Those polls are, as you correctly point out, useless.

[GeorgeGist]

10. Reagan's legacy is much harder to overcome ...

because so many fell for him permanently. Including Obama.

[yurbud]

12. I dislike many of Obama's policies and decisions, but I haven't feared for my freedom and life like

I did under Bush.

[polynomial]

14. live through the history, while ignoring media is the way to judge.

The demons of our history are the poll people. American’s that honestly know half of the population cannot evaluate politics with good sense.

If you ever listen to callers of political talk shows, moreover commenters that analyze and parse situations and debate, they just go in circles usually saying there are so many questions.

But now Bush with his inner circle which includes legions of political, business and personal connections will never admit to the blunder or an actual crime committed in these wars, and the huge economic blunder in the housing crisis.

This is the most difficult time for American’s because no president has done such terrible harm to the country and the world! From my view Bush’s insularity and ineptitude not only throws Islam into chaos, Bush with greed in profiteering ripped apart that religious right condemning that part of Christianity to the same hell.

It’s going to take time for Americans to figure out Bush and his friends taped the American economy to profiteer, build family fortunes in total disrespect for the position of presidency. So far Bush left everyone behind with his comment that America is resilient, yes especially to swindle which is why Bush should be prosecuted for crimes.