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 ...
Barack 0bama, Al Capone, John Wayne Gacy, Richard Speck, and Hillary Rodham.
Margaret Sanger
Rachel Carlson
Abe Lincoln
Saul Alinsky
Woodrow Wilson
Just laughable
How about:
George Soros?
The Kennedys?
Al and Jesse?
Your lovable VN War guy, LBJ?
Barack Obama?
The Clintons?
Earl Warren?
Wm O Douglas?
Gus Hall?
Al Capone?
Jim Jones?
Go scan thru the article as it’s not just presidents that were named in the responses.
Tied for 2nd were:
—Nathan Bedford Forrest
—Joseph McCarthy
—Donald J. Trump
—J. Edgar Hoover
https://www.arcamax.com/politics/opeds/s-1961270
Thanks. I thought those were part of the top 5.
Jim Jones is a good one.
... I surveyed a group of about 30 academic and popular American historians, political scientists and law professors...
All fringe lunatic liberals, of course. There’s the explanation. No way Hillary would have made this list.
Rosenbergs, the Walkers, John Gacey, Oswald and the MSM.
5.56mm
The more I think about it, the more I think that Roger Taney belongs at the top of the “worst” list. His Dred Scott opinion was largely responsible for precipitating the Civil War.
I cannot find fault with your list.
Abraham Lincoln.
For mass murderers don’t forget Janet Reno.
Clickbait. Don’t bother.
Nice catch. I missed Teddy Kennedy too. :-(
1. William Howard Taft . Hes the worst because he fought for the income tax. It almost single handily reverses the rest of the Constitution in one stroke: Your work is nothing but property of the state and what you keep is dependent on the whim of the state alone. Nothing anyone has done has been as cancerous or counterproductive to the Constitution as that amendment.
2. Woodrow Wilson. This is the scumbag behind The Living Constitution. What that really means is a dead Constitution , its meaning no longer objective but subject to the whim of arbitrary judges.
3. FDR. His cuts to the Constitution are too numerous to mention. Nameless faceless bureaucrats able to write law, the birth of the Welfare state, the shake down of the Supreme court to ensure his unconstitutional laws passed through the court . The Uniparty gives this SOB the thumbs up but made sure no other President could serve as long as he did again.
4.Barrack Obama. The rule of law was just toilet paper to this trans-formative tyrant. Fortunately he did most of his evil without Congress so much of it can be reversed. His rotten judges and enormous debt however remain.
5. Bill Clinton. Ran the US government like his own personal mafia. Used new scandals to push old ones off the page. As crooked as the pecker he forced upon women. Fought for the side of Islam in the Balkans to throw off his impeachment, So sleazy he hid behind a blow job (Its only about sex!) to cover up his obstruction of justice and other crimes.
The Kenyan has to be in the top 5 somewhere.
Five worst?
Just off the top of my head:
Margaret Sanger
Hugh Hefner
Roger B Taney
William Tweed
Saul Alinsky
Hell cannot be made too hot for the homecoming of these traitors.
I included Taney on my list. :)
I put Sanger on my list
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