A recent Quinnipiac poll shows that 33 percent of Americans pick Obama as the worst President since World War 2. Dubya comes in second at 28 percent.
So let’s try it this way: Let’s rank the presidents since WW2.
In the comments, respond with your rankings of the presidents since WW2, in order from worst to best.
Here’s the complete list: Re-order them and leave them in the comments.
- Truman
- Eisenhower
- Kennedy
- Lyndon Johnson
- Nixon
- Ford
- Carter
- Reagan
- George HW Bush
- Clinton
- George W Bush
- Obama.
My vote is below the fold.
Note that I’m judging by results, here, not integrity or other personal qualities.
My votes for worst president since World War 2 are, in order from Worst to Best:
- Obama.
- Lyndon Johnson – it was LBJ that dove face-first into the culture of debt, and turned the superchargers on our entitlement culture. Time has muted his status as the Great Debtmonger and Entitlement-giver – but he deserves it.
- Carter – Bad? Oh, yes. A terrible president. But he did a few useful things; in the wake of the collapse of his foreign policy, he actually started taking steps to rebuild the American military from its post-war nadir. And he had his moments as a deregulator as well as regulator. He meant well.
- Nixon – I rate him worse than Dubya because he was a more enthusiastic Keynesian. On the other hand, he saved Israel, and left to his devices we might have gotten out of Vietnam in 1969 with a tenable standoff (that would likely have resolved into a German-style reunification by now), rather than in 1975 in defeat and genocide.
- George W Bush – he spent like a Democrat. That’s a mortal sin for a conservative. On the other hand, I believe time will redeem his foreign policy.
- Ford – This one is mostly by omission; he wasn’t President long enough to do either good or damage.
- Truman
- George HW Bush
- Clinton – say what you will; when he started triangulating to the right after 1994, he governed like a conservative. It was a conservatism of convenience, but let’s give credit where due. I’m obviously not grading on personal integrity, here.
- Kennedy – I dock JFK a position for having one of the most overrated foreign policy legacies before Obama’s, and sending a generation of eager bobbleheads into “public service” with the worst thing possible; idealism about “public service”. But he’s ahead of Clinton because he actually cut taxes.
- Eisenhower
- Reagan, by a nose. An elephant’s nose, as it happens.
Agree on JFK. I would add that he was fiscally responsible and knew what damage the Fed was doing to the country. In fact, one of the theories on his assassination, was that he supposedly had a bill waiting his signature on his desk that he intended signing when he returned from Dallas. Within hours of his death, that bill supposedly disappeared from his desk.
I’d rank ’em like this:
Obama — down there with Buchanan and Wilson as the worst ever
LBJ — a monster
Carter — a disaster, but did some decent work as a deregulator
Nixon — Watergate aside, the man who gave us wage and price controls and the EPA, among other things
W — agree with you on the spending; I do think his reputation will improve over time, though
Ford — more of a punchline than a president
Truman — not a great man, but by and large an honorable man; the other president most like him is Grover Cleveland
HW — wish he’d been more decisive
Kennedy — actually a pretty good record on economics, but it’s tough to give him a pass on the Bay of Pigs and the Missile Crisis
Clinton — ranks higher than he should because he had adult supervision; had he been able to pursue his initial agenda, he’d be down with LBJ and Carter
Eisenhower — responsible for the one big gubmint project that actually made life better, the Interstate Highway system
Reagan — towers over everyone else on this list
LBJ was one of the most immoral Presidents. He knew that we weren’t going to win in Vietnam, but kept sending Americans to their deaths.
Nixon. He is kind of a Hoover. A liberal Quaker that those on the left should admire:
-Golda Meir credits Nixon with saving Israel in 1973
-Started EPA, Amtrak, promoted affirmative action, and several similiar things
-Heard an Indian from North Dakota recently say that Nixon did more for Indians than any other President.
-Got the ball rolling on tunring down the cold war.
Chuck; in addition, his administration, probably at his direction, added to those deaths with their idiotic change in our “rules of engagement”. We could not return fire without orders. Many brave men died waiting for orders while they were getting their asses shot off. Nixon relaxed them. In both Iraq and Afghanistan, once the Kenyan Klown got control, our people were again subjected to the same rules. We always said that if just one of those draft dodging Democrat congressmen had to spend a day in the field with us, they would change the rules in a heartbeat. That is, if they survived.
My measuring stick is how well each President performed his Constitutional duties, and no other. I’m a small government, no entangling alliances guy.
LBJ – actively bad – Great Society = giant expansion of federal government, hand-selecting battles in Vietnam without understanding the mindset of people he’s fighting.
Obama – actively bad – Obamacare = giant expansion again. Starting wars all over the Middle East without understanding the mindset of the people he’s fighting. Or worse, understanding them and helping them undermine USA.
Ike built the interstate and Truman sent troops to Little Rock = expansions of federal power. Truman got us into Korea without understanding the mindset . .. .
Kennedy, Ford, Carter, Clinton – caretakers.
George W – realized our only long-term defense against Islamic Jihad is a successful Crusade. Won the war and handed over the peace for Obama to throw away.
Reagan and HW Bush – tore down The Wall without firing a shot, while revving the economy to its highest pitch since The War and while holding the line on federal government size.
I have always found it interesting that the two one would think would be most admired by the left, tricky Dick and the W, are actually the most despised.
I agree with your ranking Mitch. All served during my lifetime, but if I could go back just a little further I’d include one more to the list Wilson, he’d fall between Johnson and Carter for me. I freaking HATE progressives !!!!!! I believe that history will not be kind at all to Barry’s legacy, without question he’s the worst of all time.
When judging history, you say the “what” and the “so what”. The “so what” is the long term effect of the “what”. Benidict Aronld didn’t really cause us harm. And his earlier victories may have kept us from losing the war. Algore. He started the precedence of not accepting defeat at the ballot box, but instead decided to win at all costs, including using the courts. Because of him, now the Democrats say they will never accept defeat at the ballot box, but just keep fighting. See governor Walker’s recall for a version of this. I would say Algore is one of the worst American ever.
Jimmy Carter. We recovered from many of his mistakes and poor leadership. Military, economic, foreign policy/strength, national pride. What Obama has set us up for will be extremely difficult to recover from. New multi-trillion dollar unfunded entitlements. Open borders policy that has brought in 10’s of milllions of unskilled improvished people from 3rd world countries (and future Democrat voters). Extremely left wing supreme court judges. But worse yet, the same in lower federal courts. People who will be there for possibly decades. Obamacare.
Obama- if Republican and/or white would have been impeached and removed from office already.
Lyndon Johnson- Held cabinet meetings while he was taking a shit, with everyone looking. Was scum of the Earth. After signing the Civil Rights Act of 1965 the first thing he reportedly said was, “We’ll have those n***ers voting Democrat for the next 200 years”. I could go on but I won’t
Carter- Nice guy but malaise, good god…
Truman- Good: dropped A bomb on Japan. Bad: Price controls after WWII and is the main reason we have employer based healthcare as opposed to having it as individual based/owned.
Nixon-impeached and created EPA, did open up trade with China though
George W Bush- Rallied the country after 9/11 and set a credible and reasonable foreign policy. But, NCLB was a disaster and so was just about everything else of the ‘compassionate conservatism’ domestic plan. Spent at amounts that were insane at the time but looks like a libertarian compared to Obama’s spending.
Ford- caretaker, got screwed over by a democratic congress and could and probably should have won the 1976 election
Kennedy- slashed taxes, enforced the Monroe Doctrine very well, would have been interesting to see what he would have done with 5 more years.
Clinton- Obama makes him look like a Republican, minus lying about a BJ in the oval office he did great, welfare reform. But 6 of 8 years had to deal with republican congress
Reagan- While he did help end cold war, I can’t look past Iran-Contra and S&L case. Plus I was 3 when he left office, and he faced 2 of the weakest Democratic candidates in the last 100 years.
George HW Bush- should have had 2 terms, Perot screwed him and he put his foot in his mouth a couple times. Great leader, got to love a guy who would invite someone who does a dead on impression of him to the White House for a private dinner.
Eisenhower- Supreme Allied commander, built the interstate, gave a warning the does still ring somewhat true to this day. All around class act.
Fyi Joe unless it was done twice Ike sent the troops to Little Rock in 1954.
I’m with POD about Eisenhower who saw Obama coming:
“Another factor in maintaining balance involves the element of time. As we peer into society’s future, we – you and I, and our government – must avoid the impulse to live only for today, plundering, for our own ease and convenience, the precious resources of tomorrow. We cannot mortgage the material assets of our grandchildren without asking the loss also of their political and spiritual heritage. We want democracy to survive for all generations to come, not to become the insolvent phantom of tomorrow.” DDE January 17, 1961
Prince, sorry about that, bad editing, that “Truman” didn’t belong in the Ike sentence. Good catch.
LBJ – The second coming of the loathsome FDR
Obama – “Being There” literally come true
Carter – Mr Feckless
Nixon – A RINO.
Kennedy – Grossly overrated by a sycophantic press and intelligentsia, largely due to his martyrdom (at, let us remember, the hands of a communist)
Clinton – gives the UN a run for illegitimacy and corruption
W – a decent man whose domestic policies sucked, and whose foreign policy hasn’t worked out very well, thanks largely to his successor.
Truman – a decent man who didn’t do much. Which is a good thing.
Ford – a steady hand on the tiller in rough water
Ike – Everything a President should be. Docked one spot because the USA was unchallengeably #1 in every respect when he assumed office
George HW Bush – Everything a President should be. I doubt that there ever has been or will be a person more qualified for the job at the time he or she takes office. Got us through what could have been a very dangerous time with the breakup of the USSR, and showed us how you fight a modern war.
Reagan – A giant. We shall not see his like again.
In reverse order:
Reagan
George W Bush
George HW Bush
Nixon
Ford
Clinton
Eisenhower
Truman
Kennedy
Carter
Lyndon Johnson
Obama.
Remember Eisenhower preserved the 90% income tax he inherited. He was much more liberal than most people realize.
The public sector grew during Mr. Carter’s term (up 1,304,000), during Mr. Reagan’s terms (up 1,414,000), The people who worship Reagan the most know the least. Reagan, Best Acting President…
Term Public Sector
Jobs Added (000s)
Carter 1,304
Reagan 1 -24
Reagan 2 1,438
GHW Bush 1,127
Clinton 1 692
Clinton 2 1,242
GW Bush 1 900
GW Bush 2 844
Obama 1 -713
Obama 2(1) 42
(1)=Seventeen months into 2nd term
http://www.calculatedriskblog.com/#Mv2jll6ZXY8kYvLi.99
How many are military vs. civil service?
I don’t know anyone who worships Reagan.
Public and Private Sector Payroll Jobs: Carter, Reagan, Bush, Clinton, Bush, Obama
http://www.calculatedriskblog.com/2014/07/public-and-private-sector-payroll-jobs.html#ZTVbWxm3I9HGEvz7.99
context is everything… you can twist numbers any which way your Commissar had instructred you, EmeryTheUSAHater….
Decisions, decisions… 0bumbler vs LBJ. without LBJ, there would be no 0, but then 0 can do so much more damage in the remaining two years!
Nixon – the man you love to hate. As bad as he was, I do owe him, possibly even my life. WIthout him, we would not be able to leave Russia when we did.
Obama didn’t add government jobs, he merely used existing personnel to adopt regulatings seizing the entire health care industry – oh, and most of the auto industry and banking, too. And coal.
Number of federal drones is the wrong measurement. Areas of your life they dominate, is the right one. That’s why Obama is worst.
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