Who's the worst U.S. president ever?

[molly bloom]

Originally posted by Dauphin


Best wartime PM probably, but Churchill was an awful peacetime leader .

Well, he had an excuse. He was ill, having suffered a stroke.

[Giancarlo]

Who was the US president in 1881 and only served a month or something?

But anyways, Grant, not for his supposed drunkedness, but his tendency of appointing inexperienced friends to positions of high government office, and his inability to consoldiate the federal government.

Carter was a terrible president, presiding over a collapse of American confidence internationally and economically.

[Dauphin]

Originally posted by molly bloom


Well, he had an excuse. He was ill, having suffered a stroke.

I don't think he would have been a particular notable peacetime leader if he had been in power in the 20s or 30s either.

[RGBVideo]

JFK was the worst one in the 20th century... I haven't read enough to properly comment on the 19th century ones, and there aren't any really bad ones among the 18th century ones.

Winston, talking about Carter:
people, at least here, laughed at him just about everywhere he went.

You did? Hey, the whole nation of Egypt prayed just because of his hemorrhoids ... I wouldn't call that lack of respect.

All this on the backdrop of a scandalized Republican party, which should have given him an easy time

How was it scandalized? I'm not really sure what are you talking about...

pursuing his agenda, if he'd only had one...

You can blame Carter for many things, but not for lack of agenda. On the contrary, he was way too idealistic when it came to foreign policy.

Nixon- for doing his very level crooked, potty-mouthed, best, to demean an office which had once been filled by people of the calibre of Thomas Jefferson, who for all his faults, seems like St. Francis of Assisi in comparison.

Nixon kept the hippies in check and managed to end Vietnam... he should've surrendered sooner, though. Many useless casualties, same pathetic outcome.

[Dr Strangelove]

I'd have to nominate Warren Harding, who drank himself to death while still in office, and was once actually seen ******** his secretary in his office window. He was without a doubt America's Caligula.

Where the heck did you guys pull up the idea that that Wilson was a pedophile?

Regarding his failure to secure America's entry into the League of Nations, bear in mind that Willson fell ill even before returning to the US. There is good evidence that he may have suffered a small stroke while in Europe. His failure to enlist the co-operation of the US Congress can be attributed to a medical decline in his faculties. The rampant bigotry and chauvinism prevalent within the two American legislative bodies also has to be taken into account.

Finally, considering Wilson's support for "Seperate but Equal" remember that at the time when Wilson supported this doctrine, the 1880s, it was revolutionary and very controversial. Prior to "Seperate but Equal" the norm was "Seperate and Nothing". It was an uphill battle to convince the white male voting public to give black people anything, even the right to appear in public in proximity to white folks. When the NAACP appeared on the American scene at the turn of the century and began to demand true equality many of these white voters blamed liberals like Wilson.

[Dr Strangelove]

Originally posted by Giancarlo
.

Carter was a terrible president, presiding over a collapse of American confidence internationally and economically.

American confidence had already been decimated by Nixon, Ford, and Vietnam. Our alliance system was nearly in shambles, the armed forces were struggling to adjust to the end of the draft. Communist insurgencies were gaining throughout Africa and Latin America. Carter was at least a notably moral man and began to regain the trust of our allies. Of course the fact that the Commies stupidly applied terror tactics against our allies in Europe also helped. People forget that he also began the reversal of the tide of the Cold War by engaging Communist insurgents on the covert level. They also forget that the US economy was already in disarray after Ford's "WIN" fiasco and the oil embargos.

[Heresson]

I don't know enough USA presidents to chose

[Dinner]

Originally posted by VJ
JFK was the worst one in the 20th century... I haven't read enough to properly comment on the 19th century ones, and there aren't any really bad ones among the 18th century ones.

You think JFK was worse then Hoover?

How was it scandalized? I'm not really sure what are you talking about...

Don't you remember about Nixon & Watergate?

Nixon kept the hippies in check and managed to end Vietnam... he should've surrendered sooner, though. Many useless casualties, same pathetic outcome.

I actually came to a totally different conclusion about Vietnam then surrendering earlier. The public was actually very supportive of the war for until about 1969 so Johnson should have really taken the gloves off and invaded North Vietnam in 1964-65 and threatened the Communist Chinese with war in Korea & Vietnam plus unlimited air and navel bombing unless they stopped supplying the NVA. The end of the Korean war showed the PRC would respect American demands if they were backed up with sufficent force. Notice how the PRC totally caved in when Eisenhower threatened total war with the PRC.

[Heresson]

Could somebody make a list with short descriptions of qualifications?

[RGBVideo]

Answers to Oerdin.

You think JFK was worse then Hoover?

Hoover didn't really solve any problems but it's not like he was actively creating 'em either. Kennedy thought with his balls instead of his brains.

Don't you remember about Nixon & Watergate?

That was "scandalizing" republican party in 1980? Can't americans get over scandals quicker or something? I mean, Watergate was eight years before that. Are some people still obsessed with Clinton's penis eight years after Monica?

so Johnson should have really taken the gloves off and invaded North Vietnam in 1964-65 and threatened the Communist Chinese with war in Korea & Vietnam plus unlimited air and navel bombing unless they stopped supplying the NVA

Yes, I agree. But Nixon entered the White House in January 1969. With the hippies at the home front and civilians (EDIT: Vietnamese civilians, co-operating with the commies instead of US army) which had turned against US because of the use of draftees at the main front, there was little what Nixon could do anymore. Goldwater would've been an ideal president to solve US' problems in Vietnam.

Heresson, http://www.whitehouse.gov/history/presidents/

[chequita guevara]

Originally posted by Oerdin
I actually came to a totally different conclusion about Vietnam then surrendering earlier. The public was actually very supportive of the war for until about 1969 so Johnson should have really taken the gloves off and invaded North Vietnam in 1964-65 and threatened the Communist Chinese with war in Korea & Vietnam plus unlimited air and navel bombing unless they stopped supplying the NVA.

So you're saying we should have started WWIII? China recently confirmed that they would have joined the war on behalf of the North had we invaded. I, personally, am glad the planet is still here, and not blown up to support a murderous dictatorship at the end of the Mekong Delta.

[chequita guevara]

Re: Answers to Oerdin.

Originally posted by VJ
That was "scandalizing" republican party in 1980?

In the late 70s.

[Dr Strangelove]

Re: Answers to Oerdin.

Originally posted by VJ

Hoover didn't really solve any problems but it's not like he was actively creating 'em either. Kennedy thought with his balls instead of his brains.

Hoover was a major supporter of the Taft-Smoot-Hawley Act, a xenophobic bit of legislation which restricted foreign investment in the US. At that time foreigners held about 15% of US stock holdings. Black Friday occurred shortly after the introduction of this bill as foreign investors stampeded to get out of the US stock market, fearing that their holdings were going to be liquidated. So yes, Hoover did indeed create a problem. OTOH the legislation was bipartisan, so the whole US government had a part in creating the Great Depression. Unfortunately the act was so popular that it could not be rescinded until WW2.

That was "scandalizing" republican party in 1980? Can't americans get over scandals quicker or something? I mean, Watergate was eight years before that. Are some people still obsessed with Clinton's penis eight years after Monica?

I heard another Clinton joke just the other day, so yes, they are. You don't know us very well.

Yes, I agree. But Nixon entered the White House in January 1969. With the hippies at the home front and civilians (EDIT: Vietnamese civilians, co-operating with the commies instead of US army) which had turned against US because of the use of draftees at the main front, there was little what Nixon could do anymore. Goldwater would've been an ideal president to solve US' problems in Vietnam.

Heresson, http://www.whitehouse.gov/history/presidents/

Unless Goldwater were planning on keeping us out of Vietnam entirely I doubt he would have done better. The problem is that "containment" was very popular at the time so he would have had a great deal of difficulty keeping us out of Vietnam. In fact, Goldwater had close ties with the John Birch society, so he would have been greatly pressured to commit troops to Vietnam.

[Heresson]

Thanks for the link

[Heresson]

... but it does not work