He's The Worst Ever (Have your barf bags ready)

Washington Post ^ | December 3, 2006 | Eric Foner

[WinOne4TheGipper]

Ever since 1948, when Harvard professor Arthur Schlesinger Sr. asked 55 historians to rank U.S. presidents on a scale from "great" to "failure," such polls have been a favorite pastime for those of us who study the American past.

Changes in presidential rankings reflect shifts in how we view history. When the first poll was taken, the Reconstruction era that followed the Civil War was regarded as a time of corruption and misgovernment caused by granting black men the right to vote. As a result, President Andrew Johnson, a fervent white supremacist who opposed efforts to extend basic rights to former slaves, was rated "near great." Today, by contrast, scholars consider Reconstruction a flawed but noble attempt to build an interracial democracy from the ashes of slavery -- and Johnson a flat failure.

[Domandred]

Oh my heck he has his own domain as well!

http://www.ericfoner.com/

[MadIvan]

Polk was an excellent President - he set goals and achieved virtually all of them - from the inclusion of Texas, to the settling of the Oregon border to lowering taxes.

Coolidge and Harding are severely underrated, in my opinion.

Regards, Ivan

[Allegra]

Our greatest President was, without a doubt, William Henry Harrison.

Can't get in too deep for - what was it? Six weeks? LOL!

[Howlin]

Why do they always look like that dweeb?

[avacado]

"Bush has taken this disdain for law even further. He has sought to strip people accused of crimes of rights that date as far back as the Magna Carta..."

The man just toppled two horrific and brutal totalitarian regimes and in the process liberated 51 million people from oppression! Geee... those people stripped of their rights are called TERRORISTS!

[SquirrelKing]

[Nancee]

"Despite some notable accomplishments in domestic and foreign policy, Nixon is mostly associated today with disdain for the Constitution and abuse of presidential power. Obsessed with secrecy and media leaks, he viewed every critic as a threat to national security and illegally spied on U.S. citizens. Nixon considered himself above the law."

This is what David P. Schippers (a former Democrat Chicago prosecutor), Chief Investigative Counsel for the Clinton Impeachment wrote, in his book SELLOUT The Inside Story of President Clinton's Impeachment:

"The Democratic players in the impeachment drama certainly aren't going to thump their chests. After all, what would they say? 'Yeah, we knew the President was a serial felon who made Richard Nixon look like a Boy Scout, but we don't care.' And the Republicans couldn't do much better. 'Yeah, we knew he was subverting the Constitution, too, but some of us were too scared to tie our own shoes.'"

My point here, is that these alleged "historians" do not care to print the truth about anyone; not those they hate; and certain not those they love! This article is just one more reflection of the utter dishonesty in journalism today!

Thanks for bringing it to our attention.

Nancee

[WinOne4TheGipper]

The Mexican-American War happened 1846-1848, within James K. Polk's administartion. Buchanan is a failure because of his mismanagement of the secession situation during the lame duck period of his presidency (you also know that you're pretty bad when your own party won't renominate you).

[Joe Bonforte]

When all is said and done, through it might be fifty years, Bush will be with the near-greats: Truman, Polk, Eisenhower, and Jackson.

Unlikely. He'll end up middle of the pack, I think. He did a pretty good job in his first couple of years after 9/11, and the fact that he was re-elected certainly puts him in a different category from Carter, et. al. But his lack of a consistent philosophy on domestic matters had led to a mish-mash.

Tax cuts, economic growth, and low unemployment are on the good side. Those are balanced on the bad side by a new welfare state program (Medicare Rx), high overall rates of government growth, lack of progress on reforming the Social Security and Medicare before they reach crisis mode, and abandonment of firm defense of free speech by signing CFR.

Plus consider that modern historians don't have the same values that you do. Even if the Middle East turns out exactly the way Bush envisioned (which looks chancy), the historians will still tag Bush with the "Iraq civil war/failure" theme.

[rbg81]

But Polk should be remembered primarily for launching that unprovoked attack on Mexico and seizing one-third of its territory for the United States. I see this type of refrain more and more lately. Within a decade, you will see these Academics (& their ilk) openly advocating that we return the Southwest to Mexico.

[rlmorel]

Agreed.

[avacado]

Just look at this idiot! His mother still does his laundry! Is that a guy who could topple two horrific and brutal regimes and in the process liberate 51 million world citizens? Hell no! So don't listen to his garbage! Sneak up behind him and say "Boo!" and his diaper would fill up! How dare that asshat talk about our President like that! I just emailed the prick!

Eric Foner

[headsonpikes]

The next Democrat elected President will be the worst in U.S. history.

This is very troubling.

[L.N. Smithee]

I can't understand why they consider Buchanan a failure. He was President during the war against Mexico and we gained a lot of geography (maybe that's not considered a good thing any more).

From Foner Foney's editorial:

---

One other president bears comparison to Bush: James K. Polk. Some historians admire him, in part because he made their job easier by keeping a detailed diary during his administration, which spanned the years of the Mexican-American War. But Polk should be remembered primarily for launching that unprovoked attack on Mexico and seizing one-third of its territory for the United States.

---

Foner acts as if this was a terribly egregious action (not to say that I endorse it, it's just that it's history, and will not change) but fails to note that despite any disdain for "unprovoked" warfare the United States' international reputation was not damaged enough to prevent it from becoming an even more pervasive world power.

[rlmorel]

Why, thank you MadIvan. I am impressed that you do know more about American History than most Americans...:)

[americantexan]

As far as presidents before my time, I can only go by what history says. However, I can rate who I consider to be the best and worst presidents in my 40+ years of life. I believe the best president (in my lifetime) was Ronald Reagan. He was very dedicated to keeping America strong. I believe the worst president (in my lifetime) was William Clinton. He made a mockery of the presidency and of this country.

[ichabod1]

"Bush Wants To Repeal The Magna Carta!" Especially against black people.

[Oldsailor]

I have seen it said that you are often known for who your enemies are as well as who your friends are.

This guy is a good enemy to have.

[WinOne4TheGipper]

Well, my lifetime has been considerably shorter so far, so this is easy:

Reagan
Bush 43
Bush 41
...
...
...
...
...
...
Clinton (who doesn't deserve to be ranked anywhere near Reagan)

[Frank_2001]

And Columbia is allegedly one of the "better" journalism schools. You've got to wonder what mischief is afoot at all the others....