Poll: Worst President of the last 100 years?

[FlashHarry]

I know we've had this poll from time to time, but I thought I'd throw it out again. I was reading about Harding, and was struck by the similarities to the current administration. I wonder if Halliburton/Bechtel is the 21st century equivalent of Teapot Dome.

[trotsky]

1. Can there be any debate?

All of those idiots have screwed up one thing or another, but only * has been able to ruin pretty much everything he's touched. He's also in sole possession of the worst diplomatic blunder in history: blowing all that international goodwill we had following 9/11. We could have launched a serious and effective "war on terror" had we gone the peaceful route, and made friends instead of enemies. But noooo, there's not much money in that for Halliburton & Co., is there?

[jobycom]

10. Plenty

Reagan meets all those criteria. I'll tell you where Bush edges Reagan on the positive side. First, the negatives. Both were stupid, criminal, mean and nasty. Both had an elitist view of the economy that drove down wages and depressed production. Both lied almost every time they spoke. Both have been directly and indirectly responsible for untold numbers of deaths and atrocities, and neither has a soul enough to feel shame for that.

Where Bush is still a little better than Reagan: Reagan kicked off his campaign in Philadelphia, Mississippi, famous only (then-- now they are famous for Jerry Rice) for the murders of three civil rights activists. He spoke at Bob Jones University, and unlike Bush, showed no shame over it. He told southerners that they were right to fell racist. He turned back civil rights in this nation by decades, just at the time southerners were beginning to change. He used race in a way that Bush would not dream of doing.

Bush pretends to be a uniter. He's not, we all know about his cruel streak, but publicly, he gives lip service to unity. Reagan did not. Reagan used his bully pulpit to blame liberals for everything. While that is done for Bush, it is not done by Bush. Bush even took a stand on the Trent Lott issue, and made a very good-- though disengenuous-- speech on the subject. Reagan could not have buried his hatred enough to do that.

Reagan was worse. Bush is a close second. He may overtake him, especially if given a second term. But he's not there, yet. Not one sin Bush has committed was not committed by Reagan, too. Reagan's slaughters were more covert than Bush's, but they were just as bad. Don't forget, Saddam was only the weapon with which Reagan gassed the Kurds.

[Hippo_Tron]

22. Bush is worse, he just can't get away with everything that Reagan did

1) Reagan won beat Carter by a good bit and won re-election with 49 states. Bush barely won (or didn't even really win) the election. He would be doing just as much pandering to the racist crowd and blaming the liberals just as much if he had the popularity that Reagan had.

2) Reagan's tax cuts were actually somewhat intelligent. He did give some to businesses so that they could expand. Ultimately the economy boomed but it could've been done a lot faster if he hadn't given all that money away to rich people.

3) That stuff about Trent Lott is complete bullshit. Bush denounced him PURELY for strategy. Lott resigning meant that Bill Frist could become majority leader and he'll do exactly what Karl Rove tells him to do.

[Faygo Kid]

2. GWB is the worst, most dangerous

We've had some bad ones, no doubt. I am an American history buff; passionate about the subject. We have NEVER had a president this dangerous in our history. I previously rated Nixon at the bottom; he was a piker compared to this guy.

[raysr]

4. W

W, without a doubt, Reagun obvioiusly, but not being a history buff wasn't it Hoover who kicked off the "Great Depression"? Should be up there with Ronnie.

[IndianaGreen]

5. Bush makes Nixon look like a virgin!

The corruption of Harding, the evil policies of Reagan, the psychosis of Nixon, pale in comparison to the Bush regime.

[Zynx]

3. As much as I hate Bush, he isn't the worst.

Warren Harding is tied with Richard Nixon for that spot. They disgraced the presidency in horrible ways, had very destructive policies, and were, in general, just bad men.

[rooboy]

6. You have made three points...

which apparently differentiate Nixon & Harding from Bush. I think those 3 points describe Bush's tenure perfectly.

[jobycom]

11. Nixon's and Harding's scandals were not as bloody as Bush's

Just because Bush hasn't (yet) been busted for his doesn't make them less bad than Nixon's or Harding's. I give Reagan the edge over W, but both are way ahead of the dupe Harding, and still a sizeable ways ahead of Nixon.

[Faygo Kid]

12. Harding was a genial dope

Crummy, but not even in the same ballpark as Bush and Nixon. And Bush has only gotten started. Remember, Nixon backed the EPA and other social programs. I hated the bastard, but his crimes pale in comparison to GWB's.

[fla nocount]

7. Harding was bad. Hoover, Nixon, Reagan...bad,

bad, bad. But, hey this about me and today. Bush is bad news today and he will be bad news tomorrow. I'm a single Dad with two boys, both cannon fodder. This mofo is bad and needs to go away. Paste the bastard.

[Brucey]

8. Tie between Nixon and W.

W ruined everything he touched. Nixon was pure asshole. He said to Kissinger: "The only difference between you and me is that you care about the civilian casualties in Cambodia. K replied, "I only care so you won't look evil." I despise them both so much that I can't think straight evaluating them.

[RushIsRot]

9. Dubya suffers from an alligator mouth...

and a hummingbird a$$hole.

He's excelling alright, but in a very negative way. I'd hate to think I had caused all the troubles Dubya has caused, but then this idiot never reads the news, so he hasn't got a clue.

[grannylib]

13. Tie between Raygun and Shrub

[Clark Can WIN]

14. Kind of a close one between the meat puppet

And Reagan. But I gotta go with the meat puppet.

[ronzo]

15. I wonder if Halliburton/Bechtel is the 21st century...

_{I wonder if Halliburton/Bechtel is the 21st century equivalent of Teapot Dome.}

You've got a great point. I've been giving this some thought and I have no doubt that history will condemn the graft going on under this administration. This is cronyism in the purest form. The sweetheart deals, the laxation of environmental standards and the corporate protection from litigation will be the legacy here. They can't bullshit the American people forever.

[efhmc]

16. To me, it is about brains and the person with the least brain power ever,

who became president, is the little weasel who is now in office.

[FlashHarry]

17. Jesus! Bush Jr. by a mile!

[snippy]

18. August 6, 2001. And all that it has cost us. Bush is the worst.

[WINEWOMAN7]

19. Bush

In my humble opinion, Bush is hands down the worst president. Under his watch we changed our foreign policy by using pre emptive strike against another nation with outward provication, his attorney general has taken away our rights as free citizens with the patriot act, he has ruined our economy at the expense of the majority for the benefit of the few, I'm not so sure he isn't responsible for 911, at least by being an ignoramus and not listening to Clinton's people on the dangers of osama bin laden and his terrorist organization, he has made us a laughing stock and hated imperalistic nation to the rest of the world, his administration refuses to see the dangers of global warming and has endangered us in the future by his horrible environmental policies, he has let the radical right wing and christian coalition take over this country, under his party there is doubt that we have fair elections due to manipulation of the voting machines. In other words, if I've left anything out, he is a horrible failure and a poor excuse of a human being let along the leader of the free world. This is all in my humble opinion.

Dian

[DealsGapRider]

20. This poll is the equivalent of walking into a crowded Starbucks...

...in Greenwich Village and yelling "Ashcroft!"

Come on, people.

[leftofthedial]

21. the current POS is worst by far

Reagan is in second.

Nixon was third.

GHW Bush was really profoundly awful too.

After that, it's a l-o-n-g dropoff to fifth worst.

The visible and dominant public power throughout America in Harding's day was local, not federal, so he was a piker by the current Cabal's standards.

[Cat Atomic]

23. Where's the Cheney option?

I could vote for the Reagan and Bush Jr. administrations at the same time if there was a Cheney option.