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Who was the Worst American President?

Started by SGOS, June 01, 2015, 05:16:45 AM

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Gawdzilla Sama

Thomas Jefferson could have lost the War of 1812 for the US.
We 'new atheists' have a reputation for being militant, but make no mistake  we didn't start this war. If you want to place blame put it on the the religious zealots who have been poisoning the minds of the  young for a long long time."
PZ Myers

SGOS

Quote from: trdsf on June 18, 2015, 05:07:11 AM
Johnson was without question the absolute master of power politics, and his idea of subtlety meant using a little sledgehammer instead of a big one.  Only one man in Washington was safe from being bullied by him, and that was House Speaker Sam Rayburn.

I was anticipating you to say J Edgar Hoover.

trdsf

Quote from: SGOS on June 18, 2015, 08:06:35 AM
I was anticipating you to say J Edgar Hoover.
Forgot about him.  Probably him too -- he had dirt on everyone.  S'why no one could ever fire him.
"My faith in the Constitution is whole, it is complete, it is total, and I am not going to sit here and be an idle spectator to the diminution, the subversion, the destruction of the Constitution." -- Barbara Jordan

Jason Harvestdancer

I think Obama is going to be pretty damn close to Bush Jr, but he is not out of office yet so it is unfair to judge him too much.  He might spend his last year doing everything right ... and pigs might fly out of my ass.
White privilege is being a lifelong racist, then being sent to the White House twice because your running mate is a minority.<br /><br />No Biden, no KKK, no Fascist USA!

trdsf

I think Obama's solid middle of the pack.  I had hoped he would have a presidency run with the organization and focus of his '08 campaign, but that wasn't to be.  And that he's accomplished anything in the face of the rabid lockstep opposition of the GOP is remarkable -- seriously, they don't even wait for him to finish drawing a breath to start speaking before they denounce what he's going to say.  I sometimes think if he said he supported their entire program, they'd suddenly decide they were against all of it.
"My faith in the Constitution is whole, it is complete, it is total, and I am not going to sit here and be an idle spectator to the diminution, the subversion, the destruction of the Constitution." -- Barbara Jordan

Mike Cl

Quote from: trdsf on June 19, 2015, 04:46:12 AM
I think Obama's solid middle of the pack.  I had hoped he would have a presidency run with the organization and focus of his '08 campaign, but that wasn't to be.  And that he's accomplished anything in the face of the rabid lockstep opposition of the GOP is remarkable -- seriously, they don't even wait for him to finish drawing a breath to start speaking before they denounce what he's going to say.  I sometimes think if he said he supported their entire program, they'd suddenly decide they were against all of it.
Yeah, that's how I see him, as well.
Is God willing to prevent evil, but not able?<br />Then he is not omnipotent,<br />Is he able but not willing?<br />Then whence cometh evil?<br />Is he neither able or willing?<br />Then why call him god?

the_antithesis


Mike Cl

Quote from: the_antithesis on June 20, 2015, 12:54:26 PM
No one said Ambrose Pierce yet?
Wow!  I'd forgotten all about him!  He was just horrible--I mean, how could.................wait................who?????
Is God willing to prevent evil, but not able?<br />Then he is not omnipotent,<br />Is he able but not willing?<br />Then whence cometh evil?<br />Is he neither able or willing?<br />Then why call him god?

trdsf

Quote from: the_antithesis on June 20, 2015, 12:54:26 PM
No one said Ambrose Pierce yet?
I think you mean Franklin Pierce?  Ambrose Bierce was a (brilliantly snarky) author.

Pierce is way up there.  Or way down there.  The 1840s and 1850s were not good years for the American presidency -- of the ten worst presidents by aggregate of scholar surveys over the last 60+ years, all but Polk are down there: Harrison 39th of 43 (a little unfairly I think since he was only president for a month), Tyler 36th, Taylor 34th, Fillmore 38th, Pierce 40th, and Buchanan 42nd.  For the curious, the rest of the bottom are Grant at 35th, Dubya at 37th, Andrew Johnson at 41st and Warren Harding at 43rd, but to have gotten six of the ten worst in just a 20 year stretch is pretty... something.  The only exception from that run from 1841-1861, James K Polk, is currently ranked 11th.
"My faith in the Constitution is whole, it is complete, it is total, and I am not going to sit here and be an idle spectator to the diminution, the subversion, the destruction of the Constitution." -- Barbara Jordan

Shiranu

To an extent, I honestly have to agree with Jason. While I think in most regards Obama is middle of the pack, there are so many just truly horrendous things he has allowed under his administration at best, at worst signed off on, that make me think he is a terrible human being (as a president, as a person I figure he is probably a really wonderful guy).

And I don't know if, all things considered, I can consider someone who has allowed (and encouraged) so many things that I just absolutely morally disagree with middle of the pack. I realize many of them have to do with having his arm twisted by the conservatives, that to stop doing these things would make the good that much harder to pass... but you could say the same thing about any evil empire, that the "good" guys in it were just doing evil things to protect themselves. That isn't a very convincing argument though.
"A little science distances you from God, but a lot of science brings you nearer to Him." - Louis Pasteur

the_antithesis

Quote from: trdsf on June 20, 2015, 05:37:18 PM
I think you mean Franklin Pierce?  Ambrose Bierce was a (brilliantly snarky) author.


Must be. Don't know why my wires got crossed. I'll need to drink more beer to straighten that out.

Deidre32

Don't think there is any one 'bad' President. I think that there is some good and bad in all of them. Personally, the government as a whole, is a fucked up system in need of repair...and to think that one man or woman could ever come in and clean it all up, is naive.
The only lasting beauty, is the beauty of the heart. - Rumi

Solitary

agree, but the president who killed the most innocent people was Truman. Bush if you include our own people and caused us to be feared and hated by the rest of the world by his stupidity.
There is nothing more frightful than ignorance in action.

MagetheEntertainer

I think I'd have to go with Nixon for several reasons, he started the war on drugs, there's the Watergate scandal, and then there's this famous quote of his (which you can tell he truly believes based on his actions https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tYdJqSG3K6c

Not to mention that I'm pretty sure Nixon's jowls are made entirely out of pure evil

SGOS

That WAS an interesting quote.  I have no idea how he arrived at that.