Who was the worst President since the Depression

[Kephart P.E.]

Probably should of left W. Bush out, but in I think in 10 years his presidency looks worse rather than better. Almost the exact opposite of his fathers. We could wait to elect Clinton, but go back and look at Bush I record and he did an above average job.

My pick was a tie between LBJ and Nixon.

Say what you will about other presidents, but LBJ and Nixon made bad decisions consistently and intentionally. Other presidents had more to do with things outside their control, Great Depression, WWII, 911, Vietnam (ongoing).

Some presidents had a better opportunity for success than others. Clinton and Eisenhower probably had the best situation entering their terms.

here is a link to an interesting page, see the chart at the bottom, from your list consistently Hoover, Nixon, and W. Bush scored the lowest.

 

[Dexman PE PMP]

Here's a theme that I've seen develop over the last few elections:

The previous President is an idiot, the current President is an idiot, the next President will probably be an idiot too...

 

[Wolverine]

here is a link to an interesting page, see the chart at the bottom, from your list consistently Hoover, Nixon, and W. Bush scored the lowest.

James K. Polk consistently scores top ten?
Seriously? James K Polk?

I must have been sleeping during that module in elementary school Social Studies. Excuse me, I have wikipeding to do...

 

[Slugger926]

I believe Carter really did have good intentions, but no real solid grasp of the issues.

Yes, he did have good intentions. He is a family friend, and understand he had a lack of political power in the DC area. It is hard to get the right things done in DC if you are not a political insider, or don't understand the workings of that political machine. Carter lost his base trying to negotiate with the big machine in DC.

 

[Capt Worley PE]

I believe Carter really did have good intentions, but no real solid grasp of the issues.

Yes, he did have good intentions. He is a family friend, and understand he had a lack of political power in the DC area. It is hard to get the right things done in DC if you are not a political insider, or don't understand the workings of that political machine. Carter lost his base trying to negotiate with the big machine in DC.

The Georgia Mafia really alienated Congress, too. That didn't help him out any.

 

[CbusPaul]

James K. Polk stated in his campaign that he was going to work to expand the country all the way to the Pacific. Manifest Destiny, I believe. He brought in Texas and Oregon Country. He accomplished this and several other campaign promises and did not run for a 2nd term because he had accomplished all of the goals of his presidency. In addition, one of his campaign promises was to only serve one term. Need more like him.

 

[csb]

Yeah, the whole one and done probably made him pretty popular. Plus, he helped build the largest phallic symbol in the US Washington Monument!

http://www.nps.gov/nr/travel/presidents/wa...n_monument.html

 

[RIP - VTEnviro]

^Says the woman with a PE-ness.

Oh wait, isn't that someone else here...

 

[Road Guy]

Nixon might have been "dishonest" but I dont think that makes him the "worst" I think most "good" presidents probably have to have a little dishonesty in them to function..

 

[Slugger926]

Yeah, the whole one and done probably made him pretty popular. Plus, he helped build the largest phallic symbol in the US Washington Monument!
http://www.nps.gov/nr/travel/presidents/wa...n_monument.html

That symbol reminds me of many very similar symbols all over Cambodia. The kids even carve their slingshots into the symbol. I almost bought a slingshot in Cambodia for my son, but decided not to. I didn't realize how they were carved until some of the women on the trip had bought one and showing it around on our tour bus.

 

[Exception Collection]

^Says the woman with a PE-ness.
Oh wait, isn't that someone else here...

I suspect there are a lot of women on this board with PE licenses. Oh wait, no, you were failing to be clever while talking about me. Seriously people, it's one (admittedly major) facet of me and my existence. What's the fascination? Isn't my license-without-degree more relevant to this board than a juvenile fascination of what's between my legs?

As for my choice, I'd say either Nixon or Johnson. Not sure which, but the reasons why are pretty well and why not outlined above. That's for Presidents from the Depression until 2000; Bush and Obama are still too recent to judge well in my opinion. Though I think Bush will, in the end, probably go down in history as a tremendous failure - deservedly or not.

Between a terrorist attack, the greatest legal intrusion on the rights of citizens since WWII (Patriot Act, wiretapping), the admitted torture (sorry, "enhanced interrogation") of enemies of the state, the utter failure of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq at actually preventing future issues*, and the spiraling debt due to wars and ineffective tax cuts, he's in for some pain.

Of course, Obama's probably not going to do a lot better. He's accomplished very little, overall. But it's far too early to specify how little he's accomplished.

*Afghanistan's already in the process of going back to the Taliban, Iraq's more of a theocracy than it was to begin with, and our "ally" Pakistan is becoming more and more accepting of religious extremists in their military

 

[Master slacker]

Isn't my license-without-degree more relevant to this board than a juvenile fascination of what's between my legs?

No. I really don't think anyone on this board cares about who does and does not have a special rubber stamp and / or embosser.

 

[Road Guy]

Patriot Act was a bid deal during the Bush Admin. but you never hear of it anymore, Obama has had 3 years to overtun it??? All the big time liberals I knew used to get so mad they would spit when someone talked about the patriot act, now nothing??

We would be better off with 4 more years of Dick Cheney than 4 more years of Obama or Bush (II) IMO...

 

[Exception Collection]

Patriot Act was a bid deal during the Bush Admin. but you never hear of it anymore, Obama has had 3 years to overtun it??? All the big time liberals I knew used to get so mad they would spit when someone talked about the patriot act, now nothing??
We would be better off with 4 more years of Dick Cheney than 4 more years of Obama or Bush (II) IMO...

Well, maybe not 4 years of Cheney... but Obama's been doing his best to lose my support. Still, not sure who I'd vote for instead. I haven't seen a Republican I'd trust enough to vote for - Romney was close, but then he started backpedaling to appease the far right.

 

[Capt Worley PE]

Patriot Act was a bid deal during the Bush Admin. but you never hear of it anymore, Obama has had 3 years to overtun it???

He signed a four year extension of it.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/05/27/p...n_n_867851.html

 

[Exception Collection]

Patriot Act was a bid deal during the Bush Admin. but you never hear of it anymore, Obama has had 3 years to overtun it???

He signed a four year extension of it.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/05/27/p...n_n_867851.html

Indeed. Makes me furious. It was a bad law to begin with; not only does it involve issues with making us closer to a police state, it's security *theater* that puts us closer to a police state. In other words, it's ineffective at doing anything except making us feel better about our security.

 

[Jacob_PE]

It's been said that if the far-right became the dominant force of the GOP, then the GOP would be doomed. That wasn't the case with the house and senate victories of 2010. The 2012 election, in my eyes, will be the final verdict on the matter. If Bachmann and Perry have to keep appealing to the Far Right during the nomination process, it's going to be tough for them to get to the center enough to be favorable to the all imporatant independents on election day. I know unemployment is high and the deficit is astronomical, but everyone know's it's not all Barack's fault. He seems to be making an honest effort to make things better, despite the imperfect results. As long as the economy doesn't slide into another major recession, he's going to win a landslide victory.

 

[Flyer_PE]

Acknowledging that November 2012 is an eternity away from now in politics, I can't help but think that if you take your statement, replace "Perry" with "Reagan" and replace "Obama" with "Carter" you would pretty much sum up the conventional wisdom circa 1979.

Please note that I am not equating Perry with Reagan.

 

[Exception Collection]

It's been said that if the far-right became the dominant force of the GOP, then the GOP would be doomed. That wasn't the case with the house and senate victories of 2010. The 2012 election, in my eyes, will be the final verdict on the matter. If Bachmann and Perry have to keep appealing to the Far Right during the nomination process, it's going to be tough for them to get to the center enough to be favorable to the all imporatant independents on election day. I know unemployment is high and the deficit is astronomical, but everyone know's it's not all Barack's fault. He seems to be making an honest effort to make things better, despite the imperfect results. As long as the economy doesn't slide into another major recession, he's going to win a landslide victory.

The other major site I go to - one with a far closer to center/politically well distributed, though somewhat younger, userbase than this one - it's generally assumed that the far right wing of the Republican Party will cost them the election, unless a major political shift happens between now and then. Most of the Republican candidates are openly mocked.

It should be noted that (according to RealClearPolitics) the President has a 42.8% approval rating - low. Congress has a 12% rating - abysmal, 5% lower than it ever was last year, and down a whopping 16% since the Tea Party started throwing it's weight around in March or so.

 

[Exception Collection]

Acknowledging that November 2012 is an eternity away from now in politics, I can't help but think that if you take your statement, replace "Perry" with "Reagan" and replace "Obama" with "Carter" you would pretty much sum up the conventional wisdom circa 1979.
Please note that I am not equating Perry with Reagan.

I'd prefer a truly Reagan-like politician to the crop we have right now. I might even vote for someone like that.