Most Detested President?

[elperromagico]

First, historical context. If we go by approval ratings, the dubious honor would likely have to go to either Truman (after firing MacArthur) or Nixon (during Watergate).

But what about the magnitude of detestation? Which President aroused the strongest passions in people on either side of the political fence?

I'll add to/alter the list if I see fit. IF I SEE FIT. :D

[Stand and Fight]

1. Hands down... Bush Jr is a fuck-tard. n/t

[roenyc]

2. i cant even look at him. and i have lived though nixon.

young but still remember it.

[NYCGirl]

3. The massacre at Kent State makes Nixon #1 for me...

Bush has yet to murder protesters.

[Roland99]

7. Well, approximately 100,000 innocent Iraqis killed seal it for me

[proud2BlibKansan]

24. I'm sure it's only a matter of time

and when he does murder them, he will claim gawd told him to do it and their lives don't matter because they were haters.

[yardwork]

25. What about all the people dead and tortured in Gitmo?

Some of them were college students.

[moobu2]

4. George Bush jr. is the worst in every way, then Nixon is a close #2

[meppie-meppie not]

17. I'm with you and in that order! n/t

[0007]

19. I've lived through eleven presidents and junior is by far out in front

Nixon was bad, but lags way behind junior.

[saltpoint]

5. The sheer horror of Dubya is awfully fresh in my mind --

-- and I think his presidency will slide even further into desperation and deceit these next four years.

But I voted for LBJ because of Viet Nam. He was a smart, shrewd man and knew that he was presiding over a disaster. The country at that time was quick to blame Dr. King and the "hippies" for all its problems, when most of its real problems were generated from the institutions King and the "hippies" challenged.

An ugly time, with LBJ at the helm.

[American Tragedy]

30. LBJ is the one that hurts the most, because he was an authentic liberal

He was so close to being one of the greatest presidents in history, and he just cast it all aside. It's an agonizing betrayal.

[saltpoint]

33. Agreed. I will give him credit for civil rights legislation --

-- but Viet Nam just overwhelmed his judgment, I guess.

[Jack_DeLeon]

6. Worldwide...

I think Bush is definately the most hated.

Domestically I think Hoover during the depression was proably hated by more americans as a percentage than Bush.

[izzybeans]

8. I thought Reagan's handler's where

the mark of evil. Bush and his cronies far surpass it. My worse fears in the 80's came true 20 years later b/c of these people.

[proud2BlibKansan]

28. I couldn't agree more

I wasn't crazy about Reagan but his handlers were the reason I despised his administration. That whole 'ketchup is a vegetable' mentality was infuriating.

shrub however is so much worse. He is just not a good person. I think Reagan was most likely a decent man but he just never seemed too bright to me. shrub is also a dim bulb but he is EVIL.

[izzybeans]

40. Yeah it was Reagan's "chronic fatigue syndrome"

that drained his memory.

[Wisc Badger]

9. I can't stand Bush and I could not stand Clinton Either.

Clinton was a slime bucket of the highest order, Bush is just a flat out pain in the A@#!:dem:

[shiina]

10. No doubt about it

I believe B*sh holds the record for greatest number of protestors against a single person.

We've never seen anything like today in terms of demonstrations. I don't remember ever hearing about about massive, world-wide mourning and protest after the re-election of a US president.

[AntiCoup2K4]

11. First time I ever voted for Junior

:evilgrin:

[jdonaldball]

12. Historically, 200 years from now, the list will run this way:

Well, we don't know who our later Presidents will be. But 200 years from now, the list of excoriated Presidents ante 2005, will run, in descending order:
1. GW Bush
2. Ronald Reagan
3. GHW Bush
4. James Buchanan
5. Herbert Hoover
6. Jimmy Carter
7. Harding
8. Coolidge
9. Nixon
...and the others will not deserve too much detestation.
Carter is in the list for reasons which should be obvious to anyone who lived through his administration. And, his administration was the one which started getting us involved with terrorists in Afghanistan.
The best, in descending order:
1. Washington
2. FDR
3. John Quincy Adams
4. Jefferson
5. Madison
6. Teddy Roosevelt
7. Truman
8. Lincoln, although he was the most intelligent President ever
9. Bill Clinton

[yardwork]

26. I don't agree that Carter is to blame for a lot of things the Repugs blame

on him. I was unhappy with Carter at the time but I now see how much Poppy Bush and the right-wingers were on him.

[Zero Gravitas]

13. Fuck Bush

Worst. President. Ever.

[Sgent]

14. Self Delete

[DemGirl7]

15. I can't stand Bush Jr.

Even though I only lived through Reagan and onward...there is no words in the universe to describe how much I can't stand Bush Jr. I get sick even thinking about him and what he has done to ruin this country so far...and for me the next 4 years are going to be hell on earth.

[0007]

16. Eight votes here say that Clinton is worse than junior, Wos!

Goes to prove that the trolls are ever present, LOL!!

[Hippo_Tron]

45. It's a poll about the amount of hatred, Repukes HATED Clinton

Yea I was a little thrown off too when I saw Clinton with more votes than Raygun.

[Magleetis]

18. Bush

is FU #1. Reagan is FU #2, Nixon is FU #3, Bush Sr. is FU #4. At least im my lifetime so far.

on edit: can't make up mind.

[Obviousman]

20. It's that bastard Millard Fillmore.....

[Hippo_Tron]

46. HAHA Millard Fillmore

Arguably the most forgotten president in American history. Not only did he not do anything, he wasn't even assassinated.

[Jack Rabbit]

21. How can anybody possibly vote for someone other than Bush?

Bush is easily the most hated and feared man in the world.

[paineinthearse]

22. I swear I voted for Kerry, but the blackbox changed it to Bush

[Yupster]

23. Hoover doesn't belong on that list

How can you detest Herbert Hoover?

He is arguably the best human being to ever become president. He did more for people he didn't know than maybe anyone in US history.

He didn't do enough to turn the Depression? Well, probably not, but he did far more than any other president before him. The fact the FDR did lots more should not give the conclusion that Hoover didn't do anything.

There are far worse people that could be added to the list if someone needs to be detested.

[FlaGranny]

31. Hoovervilles and

the hungry WWI veterans and their families in tents on the mall don't make for popularity.

[Hippo_Tron]

47. I guess that it's more Collidge's fault, Hoover had just taken office

But the Great Depression is a good example of what happens when Republicans run the government for too long.

[AuntiBush]

27. Hate him!

Never did I ever imagine in my lifetime I'd ever truly HATE a President like I do him! Can't stand to see his face, hear the voice, you name it! Those signs call it right, "Worse President, ever!"

[nevergiveup]

29. How soon we forget

Bush and Nixon are similar except Nixon had the brains to further carry out his destruction of those who disagreed with him. He was a "little Hitler" who was paranoid and so terrible that many in his own party demanded his resignation. His "enemies list" included John Kerry and he was the father of the "swift boaters" who are still alive and well and destroyed John Kerry's character. At the time of his resignation this country was in total turmoil.

[mvd]

32. Bush and Clinton equally by the different sides

But we detest Bush because of what he has done to this country - not based on his personal life and hypocritical "moral values."

[ThorsHammer]

48. Well said (nt)

[LynnTheDem]

34. We have 9 freepo-fascists lurking on the board.

Only morans would have voted Clinton as most detested President against AWOL bush.

[Red State Blues]

35. How can the only man ever to be president for 5 terms ???

That lowlife POS George H W Bush NOT be on this list?

[K rock]

36. Who says he doesn't have a mandate...

he wins in a landslide!

[Donald Ian Rankin]

37. I don't know enough US political history

to besure, but I'm willing to be that George W Bush isn't the worst president you've had - you've had 43, and it would be an astounding coincidence if the current one just happened to be the worst. I'm pretty sure that the only reason most people are voting for him is lack of perspective, and that in thirty years time, while he'll probably be regarded as having been in the bottom 5, I doubt he'll be placed at number 1.

Herbert Hoover? To what extend was the Great Depression his fault?

[orpupilofnature57]

38. I swear it all started with trickie dick,war driven paradise. eom

[liberal N proud]

39. Prior to this pile of trash, it would have been Reagan.

I spent 2+ years looking for work under Reagonomics.

[suegeo]

41. I think Bush Sr.

I didn't really know it at the time, but George Herbert Herbert was pretty much a nasty killer. So that asshole now arouses a strong sense of dislike in me. Also, your question said "in people on either side"

I don't think the born again Nazis that now make up the Republicon party thought that (as nasty as he was) Bush Sr wasn't fascist enough for them.

Plus, Sr. gets my vote, because he is the hand up his puppet son's ass.

And his wife the quaker oats man scares me more than the pretend librarian we got now.

ON EDIT: Out of the loop on Iran Contra is an obvious lie. The man was running Murder Inc. And now he's got to use his idiot son to lock down the papers in order to keep his own bony ass out of the hoosgow. Plus the blow back from the 1980s Bush operations is getting innocent Americans (and others) killed. The bloodshed never ends, and Prescott's offspring just won't go back into the swamp out of which they slithered.

[Rebecca_Remarks]

42. I know that I'm going to get flamed for this...

But the worst president is not George W. Bush - it's Buchanan. Here's a man who did nothing to prevent the Civil War from happening for four years, leading to hundreds of thousands of American dead from brother fighting brother. And, to boot, he did nothing to stop slavery either. He had it in his power to try to find a bold solution, but did squat.

Rebecca

[RafterMan]

43. Let me start the flaming

What is this bold, slavery-stopping, war-preventing solution of which you speak?

A fantasy, I think.

[Hippo_Tron]

49. She has a point, but not a point that he's worse than GW Bush

Buchannan was ineffective as were Pierce and Filmore before him. Taylor actually might've had a shot at keeping the union together but he died unfortunately. The problem with her logic is that Buchannan didn't intentionally hurt anyone. GW Bush killed 100,000 Iraqis and counting.

[newyawker99]

44. Hi Rebecca_Remarks!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast: