I’ve been thinking about this a lot, and I believe that I could build an objective case that George Bush is the worst President in American history. I consider Bush a failure not because I disagree with him, but by measuring his accomplishments as a President compared to his public policy goals set out in speeches and other public statements. This includes domestic and foreign policy issues and of course includes everything from faith-based charity to Iraq.
I can’t think of a worse President in American history. I’m curious if anyone else can make a case for another President. If you have nominations for the worst President ever, please nominate them in the comments below.
I have a post underway that lays out the larger case for Bush, but I want to start the conversation first. Let me know what you think.
December 29th, 2006 at 8:29 AM
So, I talked to three history teachers (including 1 college professor) and all agreed that assuming you believe accomplishments to be a “good thing,” then President Bush has certainly set the bar higher than any president and failed to clear it so spectacularly.
However, looking at other presidents (and ignoring the presidents who died minutes into their terms):
1.) Andrew Johnson — he presided over the first few years of the Reconstruction, yet barely accomplished ordering tea in a reasonable amount of time.
2.) Martin Van Buren — his appointment as the Minister to Great Britain failed confirmation (when he had just resigned as Secretary of State), his quest to keep Texas out of the Union failed (because it would have been a slave state — sorry Marty), lost to the WHIG Party in the 1840 election (and as the Free Soil party candidate in 1848)
3.) “Silent” Calvin Coolidge — The political genius of President Coolidge, Walter Lippmann pointed out in 1926, was his talent for effectively doing nothing: “This active inactivity suits the mood and certain of the needs of the country admirably. It suits all the business interests which want to be let alone…. And it suits all those who have become convinced that government in this country has become dangerously complicated and top-heavy….”
I must admit though, I thought Ford was incompetent, especially after a story about him looking at his watch then sprinting towards his plane when he forgot that Air Force One only leaves once he’s on board — not at a scheduled time. But none the less, it only after my friend told me that he has the highest proportion of supported vetoes of any president ever. During his first 14 months as President he vetoed 39 measures — all but one were sustained.
December 19th, 2007 at 2:26 PM
The Presidents that you listed were all criticized for doing almost nothing during their terms (with the exception of Ford (but he gave up all political capital by pardoning the he-who-shall-not-be-named)), but I can not believe that doing nothing is worse than spending billions of dollars and hundreds of thousands of lives for fighting a war that we can not escape, and can not be won because the excuse for going to war changes weekly. Ideology must bend when not consistent with reality, which this president must begin to understand if he is to save his own legacy.