Who was the worst president in the past 50 years?

Question

Compared to presidents of old, we have not really had a great president in some time. Who would you say was the worst president over the past 50 years? I know most of you are going to say George W. Bush or Bill Clinton, but let’s not forget Jimmy Carter or Nixon, or the first Bush. Please be clear on which Bush you are talking about, and I do mean politically speaking.

My vote of course is George Dubya Bush, I know I just contradicted myself, but at least I clarified which one.

Answer 1

I'll go with jimmy carter (i did like him at first)

if obama wins he will be #1 worst

Answer 2

~Jack Kennedy.  The reasons are legion.  Here are a few:

He caused the Cuban Missile crisis by refusing to remove obsolete missiles that were aimed at Moscow and other prime Soviet targets from Turkey.  He authorized the CIA to go forward with the Nixon plan to invade Cuba.  True, he did not know that CIA estimates predicted failure of the operation unless the US intervened with air and naval support.  He did state before the invasion (The Bay of Pigs) that he would not release US military assets into the operation and he did keep his word on that one.  He also authorized a few assassination attempts on Castro when Fidel threatened to nationalize United Fruit Company assets so Cuba would be able generate the money it needed from its own resources to feed her people, build schools and hospitals, raise their standard of living and build infrastructure like roads and powerplants.  He then embargoed Cuba, driving her into abject poverty, starvation and bankruptcy and driving Castro into the Soviet camp.  For their mutual protection, Castro allowed the Kremlin to install missiles in Cuba.  The crisis ended when Khrushchev offered to withdraw his missiles immediately and publicly on the condition that US missile be removed from Turkey within 6 months under cover of darkness and to stop trying to kill Castro or to invade Cuba.

He authorized the attempted assassination of  Abdul Kareem Qassim of Iraq in 1963.  Saddam Hussein was hand-picked by CIA as a member of the hit squad.  The direct result was the rise in power of the Baath Party and the eventual (with CIA assistance and support) consolidation of power in Iraq by Saddam.

He authorized the assassination of Ngo Dinh Diem and still refused to allow the internationally required elections to reunify Vietnam.  Instead, his CIA minions installed into power a string of increasingly more bloodthirsty and corrupt governments.  (JFK can't be blamed for the sequel.  He went to Dallas 20 days after his boys wasted Diem.)

He authorized coups and assassinations of democratically elected reform leaders in Ecuador, Brazil, Zaire, the Dominican Republic and Laos and he ran an illegal secret war Laos for his entire presidency (that one started with Ike and ended with Nixon so Jack is not alone there).

He lied about the "missile gap" claiming the Soviets had far more missiles and a far greater nuclear potential than did the US when he knew the opposite to be true.  He and Robert McNamara then launched the most costly, most dangerous arms race in human history  (MAD - Mutually Assured Destruction) and we all lived under the threat of nuclear annihilation ever after.  MAD diverted sorely needed funds from healthcare, education, civil rights, urban renewal and social programs and resulted in economic turmoil at home and abroad.

He had little if any control over his CIA, FBI and Joint Chiefs of Staff.  He was so fearful of a coup that he pressed John Frankenheimer to produce "Seven Days in May".

He lied about his health.  His medical records show it to be highly probable the he wouldn't have lived through another term.  He suffered from several debilitating diseases and ordered his family, physicians and staff to lie to the American people about them, knowing that the truth would have cost him the election.

He was so physically incapacitated that he could not pass a military physical.  Daddy Joe pulled strings and got him his commission in the Navy.  His mental and physical condition not only endangered his boat but his entire squadron but he needed a military career to bolster Joe's political ambitions for him.

He was addicted to numerous drugs, some prescription, some illegal.  He dropped acid with at least one of his girlfriends on several occasions during the White House years, he smoked grass in the White House and he had Max (Dr. Feelgood) Jacobson travel with him to keep him supplied with speed and other goodies.  When Bobby suggested that his drug abuse was affecting him physically and mentally, he said "I don't care if it's horsepiss.  It works.)

During the missile crisis he was on at least 9 prescriptions.  The US Air Force would not allow anyone on even one of those meds to speak on the radio in an advisory capacity to a pilot in the air because of the adverse effects of the drugs on the taker's mental acumen and capacity .  JFK was on all 9, with his finger on the button.  

Jack and Bobby ran the largest illegal wiretapping campaign in US history, targeting friends and foes alike.  Bobby pushed for legislation to make it easier to get legal taps, but, with Jack's blessings, continued to run the illegal wires without such authority.

Jack had countless girlfriends.  When Jackie found a pair of panties in her White House bed, she just gave them to Jack and told him to return them to whoever left them there.  He shared Judith Exner with Sam Momo Giancana.

He and father Joe used their numerous Mafia contacts and friends to steal the West Virginia primary (necessary to make his candidacy viable) and the Illinois vote in the general election (which secured his victory).  Jimmy Hoffa and the Teamsters were instrumental in the gambit.  He then repaid his debt to his friends by turning on them.  While Bobby's campaign against the mob and Hoffa were certainly a boon to the nation, it speaks volumes about Jack's loyalty and honesty.

He was recalcitrant on Civil Rights and pressured A. Philip Randolph and Roy Wilkins to call it off.  When he realized he couldn't stop it, he endorsed it and the Civil Rights movement.  Had he succeeded in blocking the March, we may have never heard Martin Luther King's "I Have a Dream" speech (although the speech was a staple in King's repertoire and he gave it elsewhere).

  

I could go on.  There is a wealth of other information out there, but space is limited and I've said enough.  This information comes from declassified government documents as well as from the memoirs of his friends and family.  I didn't bother to mention what his enemies had to say.

But for Lee Harvey Oswald's bullet (and Bobby went to his grave believing that the Joint Chiefs, the CIA and the Cuban exiles had a hand in Dallas) he would be recognized and remembered for who he was rather than idolized for the martyred myth he has become.

Answer 3

I would say Herbert Hoover. I didn't like the idea of "Bonus Army".

_____

Bonus Army

_____

In 1924 World War I veterans had been given certificates that the government promised to redeem with money in 1945. When the Great Depression hit, however, many veterans demanded immediate payment, and in June 1932 about 17,000 veterans marched on Washington to press their case. The Senate refused to pay off the certificates, and most servicemen went home. About 2,000, however, refused to leave the capital, and Hoover sent federal troops under General Douglas MacArthur, who evicted those remaining by using tear gas and bayonets.

Answer 4

Was cancels out Geo W who currently IS - - - to paraphrase Bill C and his definition of was is and is was - - -  it truly is a cr^p shoot and much depends upon the yardstick used to measure these matters.  For what it matters if Geo W does yield the sceptre of power then he will clearly snag the title until he is out of office one has to wrestle with the other viable candidates.  It really does boil down to Nixon, Ford, Carter, and Bush One - - - since Bush One won a War and wasn't all that responsible for the inflationary period that doomed his chances of reelection that leaves the troika.  Gerald Ford generally gets a pass since he was doing his best to smooth over the damage done by Watergate etc.  Jimmy Carter is a had choice if one listens to the rhetoric his Presidency was a disaster but the cold hard facts speak otherwise the hard truth is that J C simply had one of those prickly personalities that makes the teachers turn aside when the school yard bullies pummel the sh^t out of him.  Which leaves Nixon.  Ya wanna know the ugly secret about Nixxxxon?  He was likely one of the BEST and I do mean one of the BEST Vice Presidents.  If Nixon had left his Vice Presidency as a legacy all would view him most favoraby.  But Nixxxon had to stage one of those improbable come backs and the facts speak for themselves.  Nixon was a darn good One Term President unfortunately despite leading in the polls and facing a weak Democrat Challenger, Nixon felt compelled to cheat to gain a second term and it was his antics during that term that doomed Nixon to the ranking of the Worst - - - out & out criminal activity is a sad blot on one's record.  But Nixon, or rather his legacy can relax, if Geo W does step down after January 2009 then Nixxxon will become merely the second Worst President of the past 50 years!!

Peace//////////////////////////\\\\\\\...

Answer 5

what is your definition of worst??

Answer 6

George Dubya Bush wins hands down.  He corrupted intelligence in order to get us into a war and he's used his presidential power to take revenge on those who disagreed with him (Valerie Plame).   If any president deserved to be impeached, it is him.  

Answer 7

Dah.. Just had to.

Seriously, it would have to be George W. Bush. Why?

1. the Iraq War

2. the economy - Bush will leave this country a trillion dollars in debt

3. No Immigration Policy

4. Department of Homeland Security - Is that ever a joke and you want to talk about a contradiction in terms. That's sort of like talking about the CIA and not laughing.

5. FISA  Warrants

6. TSA

7. FEMA

8. Hurricane Catrina

Do I really need to go any further. I think it's safe to say, GW=Dismal Failure. Of course, that's just my opinion.

Answer 8

Bush was number 1 and 2. Nixon was a close third.

Answer 9

I think G. W. Bush should get that credit.  LBJ was a disaster in terms of foreign policy, but his domestic policy was enlightened and fairly effective.  Nixon's foreign policy was excellent, in some ways, and a disaster in others, but his domestic policy was weak.  Carter was weak overseas, but his domestic policy was fair, and he inhereted a disaster from the Republicans.  Clinton was a terrific president.  All the silly stuff about a BJ in the oval office aside, he did a fair job of foreign affairs, and was excellent in terms of domestic policy, leaving office with a huge budget surplus.  

Bush Jr.'s domestic policy is a wreck, with health care, infrastructure investment, environmental concerns and education in chaos, and his foreign policy is a complete shambles, having wasted the enormous pool of international good will that was ours after 9/11, having created the military policy of attacking anyone you think might someday be a threat to you, having thrown away much of the US leadership in terms of human rights, having targetted innocent American citizens for no-warrant wire taps and the rest, and having squandered hundreds of trillions of dollars and the lives of 4,500 American, hundreds of allied, and perhaps hundreds of thousands of innocent civilians.

No contest.

Answer 10

If I had to rank the top 3 it would be:

1. George W. Bush

2. Jimmy Carter

3. Lyndon Johnson

Answer 11

Jimmy Carter

Answer 12

Dubya, hands down.  No contest.

Answer 13

the 15th president and i can't think of his name. he was the only bachelor but that doesn't make him the worst and he did have the problem of the southern states wanting to succeed but he might be called the best because he keep the union together and that's what gives us our freedom.but he is known for being the worst..i've been to his home in lancaster pa. did the tour ..movie etc etc etc...  

Answer 14

Ford...He pardoned nixon....HOW COULD HE???!!!!

Answer 15

I would say Richard Nixon any maybe Jimmy Carter.

Answer 16

I would say George Bush, but I'm not sure which one  

Answer 17

The man who forced us into Vietnam...Lyndon B. Johnson.

Answer 18

Dubya!  First Bush was more on the ball, US wealthy and did well under Nixon, Carter is under-rated because the Iran hostage crisis happened toward the end of his term - but, had already been resolved just before Reagan came to power, so that Reagan could take all the credit for it.

Close at 2nd worst I would pick Reagan, who piled up astronimical debt, and with a lot of tough talk about the 'evil empire', probably extended the Cold War longer than it needed to be.

Answer 19

Lyndon Johnson did a great deal of harm to the country and many of the good things he is credited with were initiated by (Ike/JFK)

Answer 20

either Nixon or Carter

Obama is to take them down

Answer 21

clinton