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Worst Presidents Since Truman

Discussion in 'Political Debate & Discussion' started by saturneptune, May 24, 2012.

  1. saturneptune

    saturneptune New Member

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    Which Democratic and which Republican President do you consider the worst since Truman and why? In fairness, exclude Obama since he has not completed his term.

    On the Republican side, I came down to two before deciding, Nixon and Bush 41. Bush because he ws the first to start the liberal trend in the Republican Party after Reagan left office and his going back on his tax pledge. Although I thought Nixon to be a brilliant man in foreign policy, his economic policy tended to involve government in the free market. I finally chose Nixon as the worst, because I consider Bush to be a man of integrity. Nixon was a curious mix of good and paranoia, and would break the law to achieve power.

    On the Democrat side, there are lots of choices. I thought about Kennedy and the women, but his economic policies and some of his foreign policies were good. Although Carter was a decent man, he had no leadership ability. Clinton was Clinton, and his main achievement was working with the Republican Congress to achieve a fairly good economy. To me, the worst Democrat President was Lyndon Johnson. He expanded government greatly, escalated Vietnam on a bogus incident, was a political thug, and presided over the greatest amount of racial and social turmoil in American history.
     
  2. OldRegular

    OldRegular Well-Known Member

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    I would agree that Nixon was perhaps the worst Republican. He obviously was an intelligent person, his foreign policies were reasonable, his domestic policies were "big government". I believe the EPA was started under his administration. All in all his character was flawed. However the character of several democrat presidents was flawed, Kennedy, Johnson, Clinton. They just did not pay a public penalty because of their flawed character as Nixon did.

    Your comments regarding Johnson are correct. Perhaps worse he accelerated the move toward Socialism started by Roosevelt. That being said I believe that Obama is the worst president in history. He makes Carter look good!. Obama has expanded Federal government power more than any president. He has destroyed the economy and I believe deliberately. I believe that if he is re-elected he will find some way to weaken the country further as indicated by his whispered promise to the Russian president. Reagan/Bush defeated the Soviet Union. The leftists in this country have not forgotten.
     
  3. Salty

    Salty 20,000 Posts Club
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    Up until Nixon, there was an unwritten rule of the media not to report on such instances. Even with FDR - his being crippled was not often mentioned.
     
  4. Robert Snow

    Robert Snow New Member

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    I think the worse democratic president was Carter, in a very close race with Lyndon Johnson. As far as the republican presidents are concerned, I believe Nixon fits the bill.
     
  5. kyredneck

    kyredneck Well-Known Member
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    Worst Dem-Carter

    Worst Repub-Dubya, hands down.
     
  6. NaasPreacher (C4K)

    NaasPreacher (C4K) Well-Known Member

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    Ditto on the first one
    Double ditto on the second
     
  7. saturneptune

    saturneptune New Member

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    Wow, Carter worse than Johnson and Bush 2 worse than Nixon. I am going to ponder that one for a while.
     
  8. NaasPreacher (C4K)

    NaasPreacher (C4K) Well-Known Member

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    My GOP worst since Truman - starting from the worst to the best
    Bush II
    Nixon
    Bush I
    Ford
    Eisenhower
    Reagan

    My democrats
    Carter/Johnson (very close)
    Obama
    Kennedy
    Clinton
     
  9. saturneptune

    saturneptune New Member

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    I like the list. It puts it in a much better perspective.
     
  10. NaasPreacher (C4K)

    NaasPreacher (C4K) Well-Known Member

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    Ignoring parties from worst to first
    Bush 2
    Carter
    Johnson
    Nixon
    Obama
    Bush 1
    Kennedy
    Eisenhower
    Clinton
    Reagan
     
  11. kyredneck

    kyredneck Well-Known Member
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    Same here with me, nearly a toss-up. I actually voted for Carter and still like the man personally, I believe him to be a good hearted soul, but, as a politician he was inept. I remember all too well the horrible economy with 21% interest rate and incredibly high inflation and unemployment, many people I knew lost their jobs and were in hard times, his giving away the Panama Canal, letting the hostages in Iran rot for 444 days (that probably caused him more harm than anything), and just overall being weak and indecisive.

    The one good thing I remember about him is his ME peace intitiative, Egypt and Israel made peace, that was a very good thing.
     
  12. kyredneck

    kyredneck Well-Known Member
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    Check this out:

    Historical rankings of Presidents of the United States
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Historical_rankings_of_Presidents_of_the_United_States

    Several different polls with different options are given. Example:

    "Harris Interactive poll....A Harris poll, taken January 16-23, 2012, asked 2,016 adults what they think of previous U.S. presidents......"Looking at the list of presidents since World War II, which one do you think is the worst president?"

    1.George W. Bush (27%)
    2.Barack Obama (22%)
    3.Richard Nixon (12%)
    4.Bill Clinton (5%)
    5.Jimmy Carter (5%)
    6.Ronald Reagan (4%)
    7.George H.W. Bush (4%)
    8.Lyndon Johnson (2%)
    9.John F. Kennedy (2%)
    10.Harry Truman (2%)
    11.Franklin Roosevelt (1%)
    12.Gerald Ford (1%)
    13.Dwight Eisenhower (1%)
    14.Not Sure (12%)
     
  13. convicted1

    convicted1 Guest

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    Being only nine, I can still remember seeing on the tv how our hostages were being handled. When Reagen was elected, in only a few days, our hostages were home. I think they knew that Reagen meant business. Reagen was the reason why I became a Republican @ 18, and Clinton was the reason why I switched to Democrat in the early to mid 1990's. I didn't agree with his "primal rages", but at the time, I was a sinner, and I saw how he, and the senate, were able to have us in pretty good shape fiscally. Now, his morals, that's anutter whole can o'worms....:rolleyes:
     
  14. kyredneck

    kyredneck Well-Known Member
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    Wow, we pretty much agree again except I'd comment Clinton doesn't really DESERVE his ranking here on account if it wasn't for the sweeping changes of 94' in Congress that forced him to the center, he (Billary) would have governed from the extreme left.

    [edit] And Bush 1 and Kennedy are tied for 4th best and I'd put Obama at 2nd worse between Carter and Bush:

    Bush 2
    Obama
    Carter
    Johnson
    Nixon
    Bush 1 - Kennedy toss up
    Eisenhower
    Clinton
    Reagan
     
    #14 kyredneck, May 25, 2012
    Last edited by a moderator: May 25, 2012
  15. OldRegular

    OldRegular Well-Known Member

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    The only one you got right in the above list is Reagan. It is nonsense or lack of understanding to say Bush 2 was the worst of the lot. Just what did he do or not do to deserve that spot?

    Nixon and Johnson were crooks, Bush 2 was not.

    Carter was an empty suit with a misery index of 20+%.

    Kennedy, Clinton, and Johnson were womanizers. Even the Bush hating, leftist media did not accuse Bush 2 of that. The only thing Clinton had going for him was a Republican Congress and the sense to work with Gingrich!

    Obama is a community organizer schooled in the thuggish street politics of Chicago. He has swilled at the taxpayer trough most of his adult life, almost like the welfare class his party created. He was trained by terrorists, Communists, and Haaavard! He doesn't give speeches, he lectures and the audience behaves like the paid mourners of the Dark Ages in Europe!

    Bush 2 is in part responsible for his own unpopularity. He refused to counter the hatred of the leftist media and many people just accepted what the media said.

    So those who place Bush 2 at the top of the list need to point out his failures!
     
  16. OldRegular

    OldRegular Well-Known Member

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    It wasn't Clinton and the Senate, it was Clinton and the Republican House. should also be noted that Clinton is the progenitor of Ruth Bader Ginsberg!
     
  17. kyredneck

    kyredneck Well-Known Member
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    OK, for starters:

    Iraq: The Biggest Mistake In American Military History

    And:

    Bush and the Republicans blew it, period. They had a golden opportunity and it angers me to no end when I consider just how badly they really did blow it:

    http://www.thedailybeast.com/articl...n-the-debt-ceiling-screwing-over-america.html

    “....the 1999 Budget of the United States of America. A gift from President Clinton to the folks on his team, it was the first balanced budget in decades...”

    “....experts projected surpluses as far as the eye could see: $5.7 trillion in surpluses, to be exact. The surpluses were so strong that deep into the future—in 2009—the entire national debt was going to be zero. For the first time since Andy Jackson was president, the United States of America would not owe a dime.

    “.....It was instead a Republican House, a Republican Senate, and a Republican president who squandered the surplus. In full possession of the federal government for the first time since Eisenhower, the GOP—with, to be fair, some help from some very foolish Democrats—systematically dismantled the economic and fiscal policies that produced the strongest economy and largest budget surplus in our history.”

    “.....they did four things: cut taxes (with a heavy tilt toward the rich), waged two wars on the national credit card (one of which was against a country that had nothing to do with 9/11 and posed no serious threat to America), passed a prescription drug benefit with no pay-for (the first entitlement in American history without a revenue source), and deregulated Wall Street (which helped turn the American economy into a casino and touched off the Great Recession).”
     
    #17 kyredneck, May 25, 2012
    Last edited by a moderator: May 25, 2012
  18. preachinjesus

    preachinjesus Well-Known Member
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    Reading some of these lists you got to wonder who is a good President...
     
  19. kyredneck

    kyredneck Well-Known Member
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  20. OldRegular

    OldRegular Well-Known Member

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    You realize, of course, that the daily beast is a left wing smut sheet and the article you referenced is by Paul Begala a Clinton devotee. Begala, now there is a real piece of work! As far as the surplus predicted by Clinton, questions are now being raised about some voodoo economics in those projections. Also recall that we had the .com bubble burst at the end of the Clinton years followed by 9/11, a gift of Clintons amorous lifestyle!

    There is no question that, in hindsight, the Iraq war was a mistake but so were a lot of other "police actions" we have been involved in. The lessons of Iraq and Afghanistan are; leave them alone and let them kill each other!
     
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