Out of the last 15 presidents, who do you think is the worst OVERALL? Please consider all aspects of a president, ie: economy, foreign policy, honesty, security, etc.

I would say "W". I cannot recall a president who pisses me off with lies and brutal corruption more than he does.... every time he is on TV I want to toss the box out the window.

I think the reason(s) why are numerous and obvious.

But mostly because he and his administration have decided they don't need to care about America, or Americans!

The needs of the people have become quite secondary.

I am a believer in the necessity of lots of water passing under the bridge before you can make sweeping judgments on history like "worst president ever". So I nominate Harding.

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http://www.americanpresident.org/history/warrenharding/

President Warren G. Harding once gambled away the White House China in a card game. A conservative politician from Ohio, Harding had few enemies because he rarely took a firm enough stand on an issue to make any. Who would have suspected that the man to succeed Woodrow Wilson, America's most visionary President, would be a man who saw the President's role as largely ceremonial?

Warren Harding was raised in a small town in Ohio. His wholesome and picture book childhood -- farm chores, swimming in the local creek, and playing in the village band -- was the basis of his down-home appeal later in life. As a young man, Harding brought a nearly bankrupt newspaper, the Marion Star, back to life. The paper became a favorite with Ohio politicians of both parties because of Harding's evenhanded reporting. Always well-liked for his good-natured manner, Harding won a seat in the Ohio State Senate, serving two terms before becoming a U.S. senator from Ohio in 1914. During his term as senator, Harding missed more sessions than he attended, being absent for key debates on prohibition and women's suffrage. Taking no stands meant making no enemies, and his fellow Republicans awarded Harding the 1920 presidential nomination, sensing the nation's fatigue with the reform agenda of Woodrow Wilson. Running with the slogan, "A Return to Normalcy," Harding beat progressive Democrat James M. Cox in a massive landslide.


Weak and Mediocre Presidency

Once in office, Harding admitted to his close friends that the job was beyond him. The capable men that Harding appointed to his cabinet included Charles Evans Hughes as secretary of state, Andrew Mellon as secretary of the treasury, and Herbert Hoover as secretary of commerce. But he also surrounded himself with dishonest cheats, who came to be known as "the Ohio gang." Many of them were later charged with defrauding the government, and some of them went to jail. Though Harding knew of the limitations of men like Harry Dougherty, the slick friend he appointed attorney general, he liked to play poker with them, drink whiskey, smoke, tell jokes, play golf, and keep late hours.

Known as a "good fellow," Harding enjoyed being liked more than he prized being a good leader. Though Harding was never linked to any crooked deals, the public was aware of his affairs with at least two women. Carrie Phillips, who had been a German sympathizer during the war, tried to blackmail Harding and was paid hush money by the Republican Party. Nan Britton, a pretty blond thirty years younger than the President, was given a job in Washington, D.C., so that she could be near Harding. The two often met in the Oval Office, and their affair continued until Harding's death.

Decidedly conservative on trade and economic issues, Harding favored pro-business government policies. He allowed Andrew Mellon to push through tax cuts for the rich, stopped antitrust actions, and opposed organized labor.

Harding knew little about foreign affairs when he assumed office, preferring to give Secretary of State Hughes a free hand. Hughes was concerned with securing foreign markets for wealthy American banks, such as the one run by John D. Rockefeller. Hughes and Secretary of Commerce Herbert Hoover used the Fordney-McCumber Tariff to secure oil markets in the Middle East, especially in modern-day Iraq and Iran. His administration revised Germany's war debts downward through legislation, passed in 1923, known as the Dawes Plan. Hughes also called for a naval conference with nine other nations to freeze naval spending in an effort to reduce spending.

Shaken by the talk of corruption among the friends he had appointed to office, Harding and his wife, Florence "Flossie" Harding, organized a tour of the western states and Alaska in an attempt to meet people and explain his policies. After becoming ill with what was at the time attributed to ptomaine (food) poisoning, Harding had a heart attack and died quietly in his sleep. The rumors flew that Flossie had poisoned the President to save him from being engulfed in the charges of corruption that swept his administration. The Hardings never had any children; Flossie died of kidney disease in 1924.

Most historians regard Harding as the worst President in the nation's history. In the end, it was not his corrupt friends, but rather, Harding's own lack of vision that was most responsible for the tarnished legacy.

Read this ^^, replace "Ohio" with "Texas" and who do we think of?

LOL.

I agree about letting water under the bridge, but letting things settle tends to thin them out a tad I think.

What the British did to Africa was unthinkable, but most people today don't even realize it.

Same goes for WWI. WWI was simply brutal, and it only happened in 1914 (except for the US, which was 1917) but most people today think of it as ancient history.

Better not to let too much water go by.

Besides, Harding sounded fun! He gambled the White House china!

I did notice the similarity there.

I actually had a really good German-national English teacher in high school who introduced us to the British record in Africa via Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe. It's not too long and a great read.

The British used to think they ran the world, and they f*cked it up. The US seems to think it's their turn - and they're doing no better.

I don't doubt it... but to too many people, the horrors of history are just that: history.

I'd hate to have dust settle on the horrors of the present and leave us with a dulled nostalgic feeling of today.

The Brits, heh.


What they did to the middle east after wwI, the way they sliced it up on a map
irregardless of tribal boarders.

Then the way they lied to them.




Violence in the Middle East is ancient, but it was always tribal.
Now?



It came home to us on 9/11
How did bush decide to deal with it?
in a decidedly british way.

a heavy hand of brutality.





Fortunately for teh Brits, they seem to have outgrown thier their imperialistic ways.
Well, except for the Falklands.

Where is Grant? Are you serious?

After the civil war half of America had no rights and was declared military zones with Generals ruling as despost. Hence the whole reason the the posse combate act was passed. He was made President because of his fame and because military contractors funded it and bought alot of votes. The political corruption of this era is what started this whole trend we have now. Just look at the laws passed then. He was drunk much of his Presidency and ran it like he did his Army. He let government contractors make most of the politcal decisions for him and he openly supported the martial law in the South.

I was limited to 15... sorry!

I voted W., and the reason? Iraq.

"I am a believer in the necessity of lots of water passing under the bridge before you can make sweeping judgments on history like "worst president ever". ---Pinget
Okay. After 17 years of passing water I make the sweeping judgement that Ronald Wilson Reagan was the worst president. At least in my lifetime.

I would have to say the current Bush. He is a pawn of the Christian right, and he has no grasp of economics or foreign policy. Economics: Spend spend and spend some more, and some tax cuts for the rich. Foreign Policy: "Oh, do you have black people too?"- Bush to Peruvian (?) President, and other obvious screwups.

You got it backwards, The Christian right is a pawn of Bushco and he has a very clear grasp of economics, his plan just does not include the rest of America.

Well, I cant argue with yuor statement about economics, but how exactly is the Christian right a pawn of Bush? Do you mean that all he does is designed to please them so they vote for him?

Yes, he uses them for their votes and nothing else.

I have to go with George W. Bush the illegally appointed asshole.
He is THE worst pResident ever. Helen Thomas thinks so too.
He's a liar and a thief. Every word out of his crooked mouth makes me sick.
Never in U.S. history has such a bastard been in the White House.
We'll be paying for this for generations...IF we can ever get rid of him and his cronies.
Yes, I hate him and all his disgusting pals.

Those are some impressive numbers and that is one impressive chart!

Say what ever you want about Clinton.
Brand him with what ever discription you want.
The chart is pretty clear!

Clinton was good for America!

Bush? That's way WAY beyond funny!
I look at that and I think, holy shit! That's gonna leave a mark!

That chart is very depressing... when your economy bottoms out, I hope that you guys still have jobs to go to.

You think that alone is depressing. Got a room I could rent in Canada?
“Though the timing is anyone’s guess, the US dollar is poised to be overwhelmed by the deficit,” warns the Asia Times.
The USA owes its creditors about $4.4 trillion right now. Paying all that interest means more borrowing – which requires still more loans to keep “rolling over” all those 10-year Treasury notes as they become due for repayment plus interest.
But with the dollar plummeting in value and inflation rising, foreign lenders are losing confidence in the worth of Bush’s IOU’s. Oil-producing nations are saying they prefer payment in Euros, gold dinars (at left), or yak hides – anything but more bogus bucks.
Until a few months ago, Asia’s central banks – particularly the big commercial banks in Japan and China – have been financing America’s huge appetite for consumer products, weapons and warfare. The interest alone on all those loans is unpayable. With total state and federal government debts currently passing $14 trillion dollars in a near-vertical climb, US taxpayers have shelled out $15 trillion in interest payments since 1960 – while the principal continues to rise.
Higher interest rates means more interest on the national debt, which is really the debt of American children, and their children – just as climate change really kicks in with increasingly costly catastrophes.

Debt=Progress panda, don't you know that.

What effects us this deeply,
WILL effect you to!

It's a small world these days.

Luckily, teaching English in a Japanese high school is a nice, secure job. When the American economy hits the shitter, my job won't go away.

People in the manufactoring sector though...

Well so far, Shrub seem to be the hands down least favorite. I just wonder who was the other person to have voted Reagan as worst.

I'd like to clarify.

For the purpose of this poll, when I said Bush2 was worst,
I'm refering to Bushco. All that is Bush.

If I were to compare only the men, Reagan was worse.
Why? Because Bush isn't as much bad as he is incompetant.
Reagan was farkin dangerous! He believed his conservative ideology.
Bush2 is an airhead!

I am lucky enough to work in one of the few areas of manufacturing whose products are difficult to ship overseas. My company makes gypsum wallboard. It is too heavy and cheap to ship. And, so far the housing boom has kept us afloat.

But, if the American economy goes in the shitter, so will my job, as well as many Canadian jobs. We have a few plants in Canada.

The federal and foreign debts are key. If the US continues on the current path, we are doomed. That should be obvious to anyone, but many people think we can continue building this house of cards forever.

The tipping point will soon come. In the 1990's Ross Perot came along and woke the American public up to these threats. We did something about it then, and staved off the crisis. Now, the problem is back, bigger than ever, thanks to the irresponsibility and outright corruption of the Republican party.

I figure we have only one more chance. The US needs to throw out these bastards and elect people who will restore fiscal sanity. Otherwise, we face worldwide disaster. Remember, the US is the world's largest debtor nation. A default would ruin almost everyone.

From that disaster, the US may not emerge as the world superpower.

i voted reagan. it was the ultra-conservatism...although i was like a yr old when his term ended. my dad said he was converative, and i also researched him.