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December 09, 2006

Worst. President. Ever?

The Washington Post asked four guys whether Bush is the worst president in history. It's a silly question, of course, but elicited really interesting responses: Foner Brinkley Cannato Greenberg.

Brinkley is my favorite of these. He concludes that although Bush is probably not the worst, "He has joined Hoover as a case study on how not to be president."

I am certainly not convinced W is the worst ever, if only because "worst" is such a rich term with so many possible axes (and axes to grind). So, I've put together my own list to weigh the pros and cons, in no particular order...

Positive

Negative

Resolute

Personality: Stubborn. Incurious. Not fact-based. Non-nuanced. Incapable of seeing multiple points of view. Believes he knows what God wants.

Resting heart rate of 44

Iraq

 

Debt

 

Global warming

 

Economic gap

 

Punitive educational reforms

 

Security, lack of (real)

 

Anti-science

 

Subversion of Constitution (imperial presidency, disregard of personal liberties, erosion of church-state separation, 2000 election)

 

Misc.: Disturbing Oedipal psychology. Unwarranted Texas accent. Nicknames. Patronizing neck rubs of world leaders (female). Smirk.

[Tags: bush politics]

Posted by D. Weinberger at December 9, 2006 10:06 AM


Comments

I'm no huge fan of any of those characters, but that list sure makes a strong case for “worst.”

Posted by: AKMA | December 9, 2006 11:15 AM


Bill Clinton is the worst president we've ever had. It's best to think of him as the president who did almost nothing for eight years.

Posted by: Mike King | January 2, 2007 04:07 PM


Curious George has squandered President Clinton's surpluses and will leave behind a demoralized country, hated by most of the rest of the world. The ignorant love Bush tho, so I guess that counts for something. If only there was some way to have him pacify the ignorant while those with real brains actually ran the country...

Posted by: Everyone else | January 9, 2007 04:49 PM


I don't have the proper words to describe my disdain for Mr. Bush. By far, the worst president the United States has ever seen. He is an absolute discrace and should be impeached. I will never vote republican again. The true colors of the conservative party have shown through. The greed, corruption and self righteous actions on display by George Bush and his regime are unforgivable. God help us.

Posted by: Of the People, By the People, For the People | January 14, 2007 12:37 AM


I never though we'll miss NIXON!!!!!

Posted by: Working Class | January 23, 2007 01:00 PM


I would take Bill Clinton any day over George W. Bush as president of the United States. Everything George W Bush touched in his life was wrecked and now so is America. At least the country was prosperous and RESPECTED when Clinton was in office. Bush has fostered such an anti-U.S climate throughout the world that it will take decades to repair. Bush, Cheney, Rice, Rumsfeld and a lot of other criminals should all serve very long prison sentences or worse.

Posted by: Ray | February 8, 2007 11:01 AM


George Bush is more than just the worst president in U.S History. He is far and away the worst person ever born in America. On second thought, may we inclued Bush, Cheney and Rumsfeld as a trifecta ?

Posted by: E. Smith | February 24, 2007 09:21 PM


Bush makes me want to puke, he has done NOTHING of a positive nature for our country.

Posted by: SousWee | March 16, 2007 02:37 PM


BUSH
hahahhahahahahhahahahhahahhahhahhahahahhahhahahhahaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!WaTTA dIP SHIT PREZ OF DA FLOP!!!

Posted by: Ray Ca$h | March 27, 2007 01:31 PM


clinton did nothing.......excpet eliminate national debt,improve relations with foriegn countries, and be a man of his word

Posted by: Patrick Fannin | March 31, 2007 07:24 PM


GWB... Human garbage would be to kind a term.

Posted by: Sam | May 7, 2007 08:54 AM


Clinton was a worse president than Bush, but it's close. As for "improving foreign relations", the rest of the world wasn't exactly thrilled w/Bubba's embargo of Iraq which killed 500k to 1 million, mostly children. Kind of a humanitarian nightmare I'm sure most of you never heard of. He also was rather inept w/dealing with Russia/missile defense. His policy on N. Korea was also costly and counterproductive. Of course the media loved him, and more importantly and influential to most of you, Hollywood loved him. And that's pretty much the mark of a great pres these days. What does Sean Penn and Barbra Streisand think. Clinton was a slack off boob. Welfare reform, N. Ireland, otherwise he sucked.

Posted by: tbaimbridge | July 15, 2007 04:31 PM


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