Posted on 08/12/2005 3:25:54 PM PDT by hang 'em
Who is/was the WORST U.S. PRESIDENT EVER? Carter? Clinton? Make your choice and state your reasons.
JIMMAH!!!!!
Jimmy Carter, then and now!
Clinton: corruption.
Carter: ineptitude.
Jimmy Carter, the man who broke Keynesianism.
Before the illustrious Mr. Carter, economists took it as orthodoxy that it was impossible to so wreck the economy as to maintain simultaneously high unemployment, high inflation, and high interest rates.
With unemployment getting into upper single digits (and the excesses of his misrule resulting in double-digit unemployment in the first part of Mr. Reagan's term), inflation nosing ever higher, and interest rates in Third World territory, Mr. Carter single-handedly undid the entire post-war economic consensus.
Added up on top of his various foreign policy failures, his failed battles with rabbits, and his trailer-park-class family, ranging from the pompously plainspoken "Ms. Lillian" to the beer-sotted Billy, Mr. Carter certainly deserves his reputation as the worst president in the history of the United States.
Carter
You are absolutely correct. Many of the remedies for the depression which were enacted by FDR were originally proposed by Hoover, but he was blocked by Dumocrats for purely political reasons (sound familiar?). They wanted a Dumocrat President, which of course they got.
Yes, we were saved from a disaster by a bullet in Baton Rouge. Huey was a socialist nightmare..
In the 71st Congress(1929-1931) there were 56 Republican Senators, 39 Democrat Senators, 1 DFL. In the House there were 270 Republican Congressmen to 164 Democrats. In the 72nd Congress (1921-1933) there were still 48 Republican Senators to 47 Democrats and 1 DFL. And in the House there were 218 Republicans to 216 Democrats. So Hoover had Republican majorities throughout his term. What exactly did the Democrats block and how did they block it?
Lyndon B. Johnson was absolutely the worst President - he would have done better to drop bombs on the inner city rather than Great Society programmes. He expanded on Communist FDR's legacies. Compared to those two, Carter and Clinton are pikers.
Regards, Ivan
Here are my worst five:
Andrew Jackson
James Buchanan
Jimmy Carter
Woodrow Wilson
Lyndon Johnson
I'll toss a bone to my southron comrades and submit that in terms of trashing the constitution, trampling on states rights, implementing big government and socialistic policies, and all around inept leadership in the executive office, you can't do worse than Jefferson Finis Davis.
It's a four way tie!
FDR introduced intrenched us in socialism!
Carter gave us the worst economy, gave away the panama canal and helped overthrow the Shah of Iran (who was our friend). Look at the problems that we have with Iran today!
Johnson entrenched us in Viet-Nam and refused to allow the military to win the war. Gave us the Great (sic) Society and declared a war on poverty, which we have paid for 50 times over without any positive results.
Clinton was not so much a political beast but an outright criminal.
I guess in the long run, It is the Great Clintoon that will wear the clown. The others were misguided. Billery was caluculating and precise when giving away technology to the Chi-Coms, covering up terrorist activities, and we are paying for it today in a world situation that is bringing us to the "eave of destruction".
Yep, Clintoon's the worse.
Blessings, Bobo
Excuse me, I mispoke, I said Dumocrats (habit I'm afraid) and actually meant Congress in general.
His policies were unpopular. He attempted to stop or slow down speculation and the financing thereof by banks. His appeals to the Federal Reserve, Congress and Governor Roosevelt (to propose stiffer regulation of the New York stock exchange) went unheeded.
He also opposed farm support measures and felt that no government agency should be involved in the buying and selling and price-fixing of any products as this would lead to greater overproductionand apply downward pressure on prices. He preferred private means of control.
As to the good guy thing, AReaganGirl, your right, he never took any government money for his service, giving all of it to charity.
The state didn't regulate the stock exchange, the federal government did.
I think I understand your point, but would you get rid of social security, the SEC, the minimum wage, the national park service, and Federal Aid for bridges/roads/Highways, etc?
And it's the Civil War. No slavery, no "southern independence."
The bad news is, this generation of "Bury-My-Heart-at-Wounded-Knee" Dixie pro-slave neoconfederates had almost died out by the 1980s, but a bunch of anti-American libertarian think tanks got them whipped up again. (And if you don't think a lot of these Libertarians are anti-American, check their positions on the War on Terror, the War in Iraq, and, above all, illegal immigrants!
Hillary. She was the real president wasn't she.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.