D. Spencer Hines
2022-06-29 22:48:26 UTC
America"s Worst Presidents
By James Jay ***@JJCarafano
"And now, let’s turn to the biggest losers.
#1. Lyndon Johnson.
Few presidents have managed to muster foreign policy disasters as muddled as their domestic messes. LBJ did it—in grand style. We went from Ike’s steady hand to the promise of JFK’s Camelot to the Nightmare in Elm Street. Forget Vietnam, if you ever thought there was anything great about the Great Society, read “The Great Society: A New History,” also by Shlaes (2019).
#2. Jimmy Carter.
Carter inherited an America that looked more like the Cleveland Indians than Super Bowl champs. We were staggering under “stagflation” and saddled with a “hollow military.” Then Carter made almost everything worse. His greatest accomplishment was losing to Ronald Reagan. Best to read about Carter in his own words: “White House Diary” (2010), by the man himself.
#3. Woodrow Wilson.
Okay, Wilson did manage to get us “over there” in World War I, but in the process his polices triggered a global pandemic. [See: “The Great Influenza: The Epic Story of the Deadliest Plague in History” (2004), by John M. Barry. The Schoolmaster, as he was known, also compiled an appalling record on civil liberties and civil rights. And he bungled the postwar peace. He made “progressivism” something other than a dirty word. He should have stayed in Princeton.
#4. James Buchanan.
If there was a chance to derail the march toward a Civil War it might have been his presidency. Epic fail. Read “The Worst President--The Story of James Buchanan,” by Garry Boulard (2015).
#5. Warren G. Harding.
He looked presidential, but Harding was a corrupt, poker-playing womanizer. Fortunately, he died before he could do great damage. Some might argue this lacked opportunity to really blow it bigtime should disqualify him from the list. But, honestly, what were Republicans thinking? For an amusing-to-read biography of Harding, try 2004’s “Warren G. Harding: The American Presidents Series. It’s written by Watergate conspirator John Dean, who knows a thing or two about disgraceful presidents.
This piece originally appeared in the National Interest
https://nationalinterest.org/blog/reboot/memorial-day-history-5-best-and-5-worst-us-presidents-ever-186564
By James Jay ***@JJCarafano
"And now, let’s turn to the biggest losers.
#1. Lyndon Johnson.
Few presidents have managed to muster foreign policy disasters as muddled as their domestic messes. LBJ did it—in grand style. We went from Ike’s steady hand to the promise of JFK’s Camelot to the Nightmare in Elm Street. Forget Vietnam, if you ever thought there was anything great about the Great Society, read “The Great Society: A New History,” also by Shlaes (2019).
#2. Jimmy Carter.
Carter inherited an America that looked more like the Cleveland Indians than Super Bowl champs. We were staggering under “stagflation” and saddled with a “hollow military.” Then Carter made almost everything worse. His greatest accomplishment was losing to Ronald Reagan. Best to read about Carter in his own words: “White House Diary” (2010), by the man himself.
#3. Woodrow Wilson.
Okay, Wilson did manage to get us “over there” in World War I, but in the process his polices triggered a global pandemic. [See: “The Great Influenza: The Epic Story of the Deadliest Plague in History” (2004), by John M. Barry. The Schoolmaster, as he was known, also compiled an appalling record on civil liberties and civil rights. And he bungled the postwar peace. He made “progressivism” something other than a dirty word. He should have stayed in Princeton.
#4. James Buchanan.
If there was a chance to derail the march toward a Civil War it might have been his presidency. Epic fail. Read “The Worst President--The Story of James Buchanan,” by Garry Boulard (2015).
#5. Warren G. Harding.
He looked presidential, but Harding was a corrupt, poker-playing womanizer. Fortunately, he died before he could do great damage. Some might argue this lacked opportunity to really blow it bigtime should disqualify him from the list. But, honestly, what were Republicans thinking? For an amusing-to-read biography of Harding, try 2004’s “Warren G. Harding: The American Presidents Series. It’s written by Watergate conspirator John Dean, who knows a thing or two about disgraceful presidents.
This piece originally appeared in the National Interest
https://nationalinterest.org/blog/reboot/memorial-day-history-5-best-and-5-worst-us-presidents-ever-186564