W. - For too many reasons to list here.
Followed closely behind by Nixon.
Followed closely behind by Nixon.
The Worst President, your thoughts?
- Thread starter Nowhere Man
- Start date
Damn! We were on the wrong side of WWI?
If the international community had been less bent on reparations and making Germany play the loser after the war, and had put more effort into trying to make Weimar a viable government and a partner in the international community, and if Wilson had been more politically astute in the U.S. and we became more internationalist (as we did after WWII), Hitler would've been a nothing, too.
Alas! Didn't happen, though.
We can play the "what if" game ad naseum. The best thing about it is everyone is right, because it's all hypothetical.
My favorite what if is: what if the Red Sox had signed Willie Mays when they had the chance in 1949? Ted Williams in left batting third. Willie Mays in center batting fourth. They could've also had Jackie Robinson at first or second, but the Red Sox didn't sign him after a tryout in 1945. What 1950s Yankee dynasty? Chew on that, Red Sox nation.
Yeah but Ted would still have to go in the Marines in '52 because of Woodrow Wilson causing the Korean war.
--Justin
Mays was drafted, too. Damn Wilson.
ETA: Skywalker, while you're back there, here's how you can seal the deal for the Red Sox. Find the scouts for the Indians or Cardinals and convince one of them to sign Mickey Mantle (actually, make it the Cardinals, please, I'm a Cardinals fan -- and Mantle grew up a Cardinals fan). They both passed on him before the Yankees because they heard he had bad knees. Mantle is in center next to Stan Musial. A perfect world.
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What I'm more concerned about, is just how culpable Wilson is for the outcome of the Heidi Game? Not to mention, the trauma associated with it.
OK so douchebaggery aside, Nixon wasn't that bad of a president.
Sure, after all he didn't overthrow that many democratic governments to install murderous fascist thugs instead and he kept the number of innocent civilians killed in secret, illegal wars under 7 digits; standup guy overall.
^^ Poor Knut... 
I made the mistake of watching the video... Literally made me cry...
Automatic political gain-saying aside:
Carter - It's not that he did anything really horrible.. He was just ineffectual as a leader.. He needed to be a LEADER in a time when our country was in economic crisis mode. Some of this can be blamed as being a "rebound" president from all the ill-will caused by the Nixon years, but not all..
Clinton - Another failed presidency.. Yes, the man, like Reagan, was a brilliant communicator, but that can't hide the legacy that he really didn't do much while in office.. True the economy enjoyed a nice bubble of success, but because he and the republican led congress failed to truely get us in the black, his last days in office saw us spirallying into economic stagnance. No, he did not leave us with a surplus (when you consider all the interest owed on previous debt, supplimental spending packages and budget expendatures).... Add to that he did little to strike back at the building swell of terrorism...
I made the mistake of watching the video... Literally made me cry...Automatic political gain-saying aside:
Carter - It's not that he did anything really horrible.. He was just ineffectual as a leader.. He needed to be a LEADER in a time when our country was in economic crisis mode. Some of this can be blamed as being a "rebound" president from all the ill-will caused by the Nixon years, but not all..
Clinton - Another failed presidency.. Yes, the man, like Reagan, was a brilliant communicator, but that can't hide the legacy that he really didn't do much while in office.. True the economy enjoyed a nice bubble of success, but because he and the republican led congress failed to truely get us in the black, his last days in office saw us spirallying into economic stagnance. No, he did not leave us with a surplus (when you consider all the interest owed on previous debt, supplimental spending packages and budget expendatures).... Add to that he did little to strike back at the building swell of terrorism...
From wikipedia:
^^ Poor Knut...
Automatic political gain-saying aside:
Carter - It's not that he did anything really horrible.. He was just ineffectual as a leader.. He needed to be a LEADER in a time when our country was in economic crisis mode. Some of this can be blamed as being a "rebound" president from all the ill-will caused by the Nixon years, but not all..
Clinton - Another failed presidency.. Yes, the man, like Reagan, was a brilliant communicator, but that can't hide the legacy that he really didn't do much while in office.. True the economy enjoyed a nice bubble of success, but because he and the republican led congress failed to truely get us in the black, his last days in office saw us spirallying into economic stagnance. No, he did not leave us with a surplus (when you consider all the interest owed on previous debt, supplimental spending packages and budget expendatures).... Add to that he did little to strike back at the building swell of terrorism...
Neither one of those Presidents with the reasons you gave would put them as the "worst".
Not even "bad".
Other than that, Mrs. Lincoln, how did you enjoy the play?
Personally, I will hold it against Clinton that a health care bill did not pass in his administration. I wasn't a big fan of the DLC, either. Still, he was not a failure by any stretch of the imagination.
Carter just didn't play Washington politics -- something even Reagan knew to do. To paraphrase what his former press secretary Jody Powell said about him, Carter could never figure out why a congressman's vote should depend on a ride on the presidential yacht.
Nowhere Man
Commodore
And how is that "war on drugs" working out? Or the "war on cancer"? Oh and going of the gold standard, that really is working great too. Nixon was a horrible man, " if the President does it, then it's legal." that statement alone should put him in the top two. Let's not forget the illegal bombing of Cambodia the creation of the horrible health care system we have today and oh yeah the obstruction of justice. As far as the EPA goes, well that is a major expansion of government and it is not very effective in implementing regulation. I think environmental standards are extremely important, but the EPA has no real authority, let the states do that. So, no Nixon a good President at all. He was a power hungry asshole who began the policies which have lead to the problems we face today. Not to mention opened up trade with China which is where all of our wealth and jobs are going.
Even as a "liberal", I believe that Ford served with distinction. He had that singular role, as you said marillion, of being a placeholder: of completing the term, transitioning back to normalcy, as it were, and healing the nation. It's hard to imagine anyone doing it better, and very easy to imagine someone doing it worse. Nixon's reputation has never and will never benefit from his being pardoned by Ford. There was no way that whatever Ford decided to do on that score was going to please everybody equally, no matter what he decided. The fact that the country was able to move on in relative tranquility is a testament to Ford's leadership.
Nor were Tyler, Filmore, Johnson, Arthur, T. Roosevelt, Coolidge, Truman, or LBJ when they took office.
No one votes for the Vice President.