Posted on 05/28/2017 3:23:09 PM PDT by blam
I am a sucker for lists.
A few weeks ago, sparked by reading yet another claim that Donald Trump is the most "fill in the blank" in American history, I Googled "the worst American in history." I thought there was a list for everything some where in Googleland, but there was no decent list for this.
So I decided to construct a respectable ranking of the five worst Americans in history. I surveyed a group of about 30 academic and popular American historians, political scientists and law professors, asking them to nominate five figures from American history. Contemporaries were eligible, but had to earn their place against over 200 years of stiff competition.
I purposefully sketched only loose criteria for being the "worst." I asked that nominations include only people who held positions of public responsibility or power -- elected officials, business magnates, judges, polemicists, generals and so forth. I was not looking for the most evil people such as serial killers and sex criminals.
Lists are fun but also edifying. They reflect both the times in which they are made and the stories, not always the truths, that endure. You can be the judge of what this list suggests.
The list is not mine. It reflects the results of my little highly unscientific survey.
--Richard M. Nixon: Nixon was the clear winner (or loser). His nominations often included remarks such as "obvious" or "of course." However, several people noted they didn't include Nixon because he had many redeeming accomplishments (opening relations with China, domestic initiatives that are now considered liberal).
(snip)
--Donald J. Trump (tie for second): I tried and failed to steer the survey panel away from contemporary figures. As one historian wrote, "No, it is not too early to tell." We'll see.
(snip)
(Excerpt) Read more at arcamax.com ...
What propaganda garbage.
Utter trash
Not a communist among them
This needs a serious barf alert.
Well the lobs seem to have dominated the voting
The fact that he left off Hillary Clinton, not to mention Alger Hiss and the Rosenbergs shows how disconnected he is from history.
Woodrow Wilson
My list would be:
Obama
Both Clintons
Oswald
LBJ
But a real assassin in LHO’s spot— John Wilkes Booth.
Leading the list though should be HH Holmes.
Baloney. A list of five worst presidents is what most people think of in the genre. The worst Americans ever would have to include the Rosenbergs, who gave nuclear secrets to the USSR. Are they on the list? Of course not.
I’d put Obama whatever’s-his-real-name on this list. Except he hid his immigration file from us —so we have no reason to believe he’s even a citizen
Gee, no Al Capone. No Jeffrey Dahmer. No Rosenbergs. No Tim McVeigh.
It sounds like they are talking about the 5 worst politicians/government people in American history.
Even if I bought their list, I could think of a lot worse Americans than any politician. Why isn’t there one mass murderer or serial killer, at least, on the list? Wouldn’t they definitely be in the WORST category?
And why only five? Let’s make it a top ten.
No kidding.
Madelyn Murray O’Hare (sp?) and Margaret Sanger deserve mention.
Ain’t touching that one with a 10 ft pole. Could lead to a 1000 post argument of which I wish no part.
Well, it is a trick question that excludes Obama right off the bat.
Did you forget Charles Manson and Richard Speck?
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