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Who is the worst President in the history of the United States?
Why were they so bad? Who is the worst President in history for the United States? People argue about the recents like Obama, Bush and Clinton, some people go back to Truman. Who do you think is the worst President of the United States?
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M$3 Answers
I'm sorry, I have to nominate two of them for this one. One is Herbert Hoover (in office: 1929 - 1933) a man whose presidency was marked by the greatest financial crisis thus far experienced in recorded history, the Great Depression, caused by the Stock Market Crash of 1929. Now, I have to give Hoover the credit he deserves. During the years prior to his presidential administration, he developed quite a reputation for himself as a humanitarian. According to a biography on President Hoover, posted at http://www.biography.com :
"Caught in China during the Boxer Rebellion (1900), Hoover displayed his gift for humanitarian rescue by organizing relief for trapped foreigners. He drew on his China experience in 1914, when he helped Americans stranded in Europe at the outbreak of World War I. For the next three years, he headed the Commission for Relief in Belgium, overseeing what he called “the greatest charity the world has ever seen” and exhibiting impressive executive ability in helping to procure food for some nine million people whose country had been overrun by the German army. So skilled was Hoover's performance that President Woodrow Wilson appointed him U.S. food administrator for the duration of the war. Relying primarily on voluntary cooperation by the American public, Hoover won wide support for “wheatless” and “meatless” days so that as much of the nation's agricultural output as possible could be sent to soldiers at the front. Recognized by war's end as the “Great Engineer” who could organize resources and personnel to accomplish extraordinary acts of benevolence, Hoover was the natural choice to head the American Relief Administration. The ARA sent shiploads of food and other life-sustaining supplies to war-ravaged Europe—including Germany and Bolshevik Russia during the famine in that country in 1921–23. The outreach to Soviet Russia garnered Hoover much criticism, but he defended his actions on humanitarian grounds, saying, “Twenty million people are starving. Whatever their politics, they shall be fed.”
However, as great as his accomplishments were prior to becoming the 31st President of the United States, his accomplishments while in office were completely insufficient to either prevent the Stock Market Crash of 1929, nor to pull America out of the massive Great Depression which followed. According to that same biography cited previously:
"The nation's economy failed to respond to Hoover's initiatives. As the Depression worsened, banks and other businesses collapsed and poverty stalked the land, and the American people began to blame Hoover for the calamity. The homeless began calling their shantytowns “Hoovervilles.” Demands rose for greater government action, especially direct relief payments to the most impoverished of the millions of unemployed. Believing that a dole would prove addictive, sapping the will of Americans to provide for themselves, Hoover adamantly opposed direct federal relief payments to individuals. He was also a firm believer in a balanced budget, unwilling to plunge the federal government into massive debt through a welfare program. This is not to say that Hoover opposed assistance to those in need. For example, expenditures for American Indian schools and health care doubled during his administration, and this earned him accolades as the first president to recognize some basic Indian rights. Hoover also furthered the long-held Quaker interest in prison reform, alleviating prison overcrowding by building new penitentiaries and work camps, expanding educational opportunities for prisoners, and increasing the number of prisoners placed on parole. He also supported RFC loans to states for relief purposes, though this modest program did little to alleviate suffering or to stimulate economic recovery. Also largely ineffective—but sincerely pursued—was Hoover's attempt to defuse international tensions by promoting disarmament negotiations at the London Naval Conference of 1930. Quaker pacifism undoubtedly spurred Hoover's interest in the arms race and international disarmament, but, like his relief schemes on the home front that could hardly suppress or contain the Depression, these efforts failed to reduce world tensions or to prevent Japan's invasion of Manchuria in 1931."
Herbert Hoover is a rather tragic figure, in that all indications seem to suggest that he really did MEAN well, but was unable to actually accomplish anything significant to pull the country he Presided over out of the mass of problems which beset it. It is perhaps unfortunate that people began calling their shantytowns "Hoovervilles", but you have to admit, if people name the cardboard boxes they're living in after the President in office, then that's probably not a very good President at all.
The other, and perhaps the worst of them all, was George W. Bush. Yes, I know he's reviled by a good portion of the world population at this point, so it might seem cliche to nominate him as the worst President ever. But when one examines the facts of his Presidency, one may indeed see what a dismal failure his Presidency was.
In the article "100 Facts and 1 Opinion: The Non-Arguable Case Against the Bush Administration", published in .pdf format at http://www.thenation.com, the authors state 100 clear and irrefutable facts about the 2nd Bush Administration. The facts presented cast a very doubtful light on the legitimacy and competency of that particular Administration. The list is very long, so I'll just post a few examples here, and I will also post a link for any who wish to view the full article:
"2. The Bush Administration sent troops into battle without adequate body armor or armored Humvees.
Sources: Fox News, Boston Globe"
My view: While this action could have been the result of misinformation (failure of Bush's top military aides to brief him accurately as to the equipment available to the soldiers of the U.S. Expeditionary force in Iraq, it nonetheless is inexcusable for any U.S. President to be that un-informed about the very soldiers he's sending into battle. As Commander-in-Chief, he HAD no justifiable excuse for this one.)
"6. In May 2003, President Bush landed on an aircraft carrier in a flight suit, stood under a banner proclaiming "Mission Accomplished," and triumphantly announced that major combat operations were over in Iraq. Asked if he had any regrets about the stunt, Bush said he would do it all over again.
Source: Yahoo News"
My view: If the "Mission" was "Accomplished" in May, 2003, why are United States soldiers still dying in Iraq? The current President did not re-instigate a war with Iraq, but has merely continued the war that George W. Bush started, and deliberately never finished.
"8. National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice said that high-strength aluminum tubes acquired by Iraq were "only really suited for nuclear weapons programs," warning "we don't want the smoking gun to be a mushroom cloud." The government's top nuclear scientists had told the Administration the tubes were "too narrow, too heavy, too long" to be of use in developing nuclear weapons and could be used for other purposes.
Source: New York Times"
My view: Again, this could be the result of misinformation rather than outright deceit. However, combine this particular example with many other examples of the 2nd Bush Administration being caught in lies (such as announcing conclusive proof that Iraq was building Weapons of Mass Destruction, weapons which, so far, remain completely unfound by anyone.) When one takes these things into consideration, the example just cited appears to be evidence of a conscious will to deceive the American electorate.
"14. The Bush Administration secured less nuclear material from sites around the world vulnerable to terrorists in the two years after 9/11 than were secured in the two years before 9/11.
Source: nti.org"
My view: Hmmmm. Something smells rotten in Denmark. Or rather, America. How is it that an Administration which publicly expresses a willingness to pick fights with other nations over their nuclear programs does very little to stop those nuclear programs? Sounds like hypocrisy to me.
"19. Vice President Cheney told voters that unless they elect George Bush in November, "we'll get hit again" by terrorists.
Source: Washington Post"
My view: Really? And what do you know about this suspected terrorist attack, Mr. Cheney? You seem to know a lot more about it than any of us. How kind of you to release this information to us right at the time of an impending election. Kinda sounds like fear-mongering to accomplish a political agenda to me. Tool.
"27. The Bush Administration has openly opposed the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty, undermining nuclear nonproliferation efforts.
Source: commondreams.org"
My view: Well, Mr. President, fine job on your efforts to stamp out nuclear proliferation around the world! Everyone, a big round of applause, please!
"33. The Bush Administration paid Iraqi-exile and neocon darling Ahmad Chalabi $400,000 a month for intelligence, including fabricated claims about Iraqi WMD. It continued to pay him for months after discovering that he was providing inaccurate information.
Source: MSNBC
34. The Bush Administration installed as top officials more than 100 former lobbyists, attorneys or spokespeople for the industries they oversee.
Source: Source: commondreams.org
35. The Bush Administration let disgraced Enron CEO Ken Lay--a close friend of President Bush--help write its energy policy.
Source: MSNBC
36. Top Bush Administration officials accepted $127,600 in jewelry and other presents from the Saudi royal family in 2003, including diamond-and-sapphire jewelry valued at $95,500 for First Lady Laura Bush.
Source: Seattle Times
37. Secretary of Homeland Security Tom Ridge awarded lucrative contracts to several companies in which he is an investor, including Microsoft, GE, Sprint, Pfizer and Oracle."
Source: cq.com"
My view: So the 2nd Bush Administration not only handed the national energy policy to the CEO of one Energy provider, who would later be discovered to have ripped off his company and all its employees and investors for a LOT of money, but used their power to pander to special interest groups, AND accepted bribes...sorry, "gifts" from the Saudi Royal family.
"39. President Bush's top economic adviser, Greg Mankiw, said the outsourcing of American jobs abroad was "a plus for the economy in the long run."
Source: CBS News"
My view: Right. Right. There's one problem with that statement, though. If American consumers have no jobs because those jobs have been outsourced to Mexico or India or Taiwan, how exactly are we going to have money to spend, and thus keep the economy going?
"43. President Bush is the first President since Herbert Hoover to have a net loss of jobs--around 800,000--over a four-year term.
Source: The Guardian"
My view: Wow. A connection between George W. Bush and Herbert Hoover! I think the difference, though, is that Hoover probably meant well, whereas the facts thus far shown seem to indicate that George W. Bush did not.
"45. In 2000, candidate George W. Bush said "the vast majority of my tax cuts go to the bottom end of the spectrum." He passed the tax cuts, but the top 20 percent of earners received 68 percent of the benefits.
Sources: cbpp.org, vote-smart.org"
My view: I make about 400 bucks a month, tops. That's barely enough to survive on, what with the loss of value of the dollar during the course of Bush's Presidency. That makes me part of that "bottom end of the spectrum". I'm STILL waiting on my check.
"46. In 2000, candidate George W. Bush promised to pay down the national debt to a historically low level. As of September 30, the national debt stood at $7,379,052,696,330.32, a record high.
Sources: www.georgewbush.com , Bureau of the Public Debt"
My view: There once was a little proverb about the mouth writing checks that the actions can't cash...
"48. The Bush Administration increased tax audits for the working poor.
Source: theolympian.com"
My view: Seriously? What is it that anyone can possibly say or write that could justify such an action as this? This CLEARLY demonstrates that the 2nd Bush Administration simply hated poor people. Period.
"55. The Bush Administration, in violation of the law, refused to allow Medicare actuary Richard Foster to tell members of Congress the actual cost of their Medicare bill. Instead, they repeated a figure they knew was $100 billion too low.
Source: Washington Post, realcities.com"
My view: More evidence of a will to deceive on the part of the Bush Administration. They certainly didn't cover themselves in glory on this one.
"59. The Bush Administration authorized twenty companies that have been charged with fraud at the federal or state level to offer Medicare prescription drug cards to seniors.
Source: American Progress
68. One day after President Bush bragged about his efforts to help seniors afford healthcare, the Administration announced the largest dollar increase of Medicare premiums in history.
Source: iht.com"
My view: Does this not look like the Bush Administration hated the elderly, as well?
"72. The Bush Administration gutted clean-air standards for aging power plants, resulting in at least 20,000 premature deaths each year.
Source: cta.policy.net"
My view: Thank you, Bush Administration, for allowing me to live in a healthy and safe environment!!!!! Yay!!!!!
"73. The Bush Administration eliminated protections on more than 200 million acres of public lands.
Source: calwild.org"
My view: "To Hell with the poor or the elderly, guys! Let's screw all the animals over now!"
"78. The Bush Administration said that even though the weed killer atrazine was seeping into water supplies--creating, among other bizarre creatures, hermaphroditic frogs--there was no reason to regulate it.
Source: Washington Post"
My view: Not to mention all the nuclear waste they decided to dump at Yucca Mountain in Nevada, which, I might add, sits on top of one of the largest aquifers in North America. Everyone from New Mexico to California gets their drinking water from that same aquifer...could it be that the Bush Administration was actively trying to poison American citizens? Hmmmm, makes you think, doesn't it?
"81. Since 9/11, Attorney General John Ashcroft has detained 5,000 foreign nationals in antiterrorism sweeps; none have been convicted of a terrorist crime.
Source: hrwatch.org
82. The Bush Administration ignored pleas from the International Committee of the Red Cross to stop the abuse of prisoners in US custody.
Source: Wall Street Journal
83. In violation of international law, the Bush Administration hid prisoners from the Red Cross so the organization couldn't monitor their treatment.
Source: hrwatch.org
84. The Bush Administration, without ever charging him with a crime, arrested US citizen José Padilla at an airport in Chicago, held him on a naval brig in South Carolina for two years, denied him access to a lawyer and prohibited any contact with his friends and family.
Source: news.findlaw.com
85. President Bush's top legal adviser wrote a memo to the President advising him that he can legally authorize torture.
Source: news.findlaw.com
86. At the direction of Bush Administration officials, the FBI went door to door questioning people planning on protesting at the 2004 political conventions.
Source: New York Times
87. The Bush Administration refuses to support the creation of an independent commission to investigate the abuse of foreign prisoners in American custody. Instead, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld selected the members of a commission to review the conduct of his own department.
Source: humanrightsfirst.org"
My view: Seriously, in what way is the honor of our country NOT stained by the fact that we allowed this stuff to happen? Not once during the 8 years he was in office was George Bush impeached. Why? Given the picture painted here, it almost seems as if Sadaam Hussein was more humane than George W. Bush.
I have cited a lot of examples here, and I apologize for the overly long answer to your question, but I felt it necessary to give plenty of reasons why the cliche, in this case, is absolutely correct. George W. Bush WAS the single worst President in the history of this nation, a man as cruel as he was stupid. The man was responsible for a lot of death and a lot of the despair which now faces the world in the wake of the economic fallout which is but one of the many evil legacies of his "Presidency". George W. Bush has demonstrated quite clearly by his actions that he is a devoted enemy of freedom, a man who hates his own people, and unlike Herbert Hoover, he does not even deserve the credit of it being said of him that he "meant well".
There are many more examples than what I cited, and you can read them all if you'd like at : http://www.thenation.com/doc/20041108/facts
"Caught in China during the Boxer Rebellion (1900), Hoover displayed his gift for humanitarian rescue by organizing relief for trapped foreigners. He drew on his China experience in 1914, when he helped Americans stranded in Europe at the outbreak of World War I. For the next three years, he headed the Commission for Relief in Belgium, overseeing what he called “the greatest charity the world has ever seen” and exhibiting impressive executive ability in helping to procure food for some nine million people whose country had been overrun by the German army. So skilled was Hoover's performance that President Woodrow Wilson appointed him U.S. food administrator for the duration of the war. Relying primarily on voluntary cooperation by the American public, Hoover won wide support for “wheatless” and “meatless” days so that as much of the nation's agricultural output as possible could be sent to soldiers at the front. Recognized by war's end as the “Great Engineer” who could organize resources and personnel to accomplish extraordinary acts of benevolence, Hoover was the natural choice to head the American Relief Administration. The ARA sent shiploads of food and other life-sustaining supplies to war-ravaged Europe—including Germany and Bolshevik Russia during the famine in that country in 1921–23. The outreach to Soviet Russia garnered Hoover much criticism, but he defended his actions on humanitarian grounds, saying, “Twenty million people are starving. Whatever their politics, they shall be fed.”
However, as great as his accomplishments were prior to becoming the 31st President of the United States, his accomplishments while in office were completely insufficient to either prevent the Stock Market Crash of 1929, nor to pull America out of the massive Great Depression which followed. According to that same biography cited previously:
"The nation's economy failed to respond to Hoover's initiatives. As the Depression worsened, banks and other businesses collapsed and poverty stalked the land, and the American people began to blame Hoover for the calamity. The homeless began calling their shantytowns “Hoovervilles.” Demands rose for greater government action, especially direct relief payments to the most impoverished of the millions of unemployed. Believing that a dole would prove addictive, sapping the will of Americans to provide for themselves, Hoover adamantly opposed direct federal relief payments to individuals. He was also a firm believer in a balanced budget, unwilling to plunge the federal government into massive debt through a welfare program. This is not to say that Hoover opposed assistance to those in need. For example, expenditures for American Indian schools and health care doubled during his administration, and this earned him accolades as the first president to recognize some basic Indian rights. Hoover also furthered the long-held Quaker interest in prison reform, alleviating prison overcrowding by building new penitentiaries and work camps, expanding educational opportunities for prisoners, and increasing the number of prisoners placed on parole. He also supported RFC loans to states for relief purposes, though this modest program did little to alleviate suffering or to stimulate economic recovery. Also largely ineffective—but sincerely pursued—was Hoover's attempt to defuse international tensions by promoting disarmament negotiations at the London Naval Conference of 1930. Quaker pacifism undoubtedly spurred Hoover's interest in the arms race and international disarmament, but, like his relief schemes on the home front that could hardly suppress or contain the Depression, these efforts failed to reduce world tensions or to prevent Japan's invasion of Manchuria in 1931."
Herbert Hoover is a rather tragic figure, in that all indications seem to suggest that he really did MEAN well, but was unable to actually accomplish anything significant to pull the country he Presided over out of the mass of problems which beset it. It is perhaps unfortunate that people began calling their shantytowns "Hoovervilles", but you have to admit, if people name the cardboard boxes they're living in after the President in office, then that's probably not a very good President at all.
The other, and perhaps the worst of them all, was George W. Bush. Yes, I know he's reviled by a good portion of the world population at this point, so it might seem cliche to nominate him as the worst President ever. But when one examines the facts of his Presidency, one may indeed see what a dismal failure his Presidency was.
In the article "100 Facts and 1 Opinion: The Non-Arguable Case Against the Bush Administration", published in .pdf format at http://www.thenation.com, the authors state 100 clear and irrefutable facts about the 2nd Bush Administration. The facts presented cast a very doubtful light on the legitimacy and competency of that particular Administration. The list is very long, so I'll just post a few examples here, and I will also post a link for any who wish to view the full article:
"2. The Bush Administration sent troops into battle without adequate body armor or armored Humvees.
Sources: Fox News, Boston Globe"
My view: While this action could have been the result of misinformation (failure of Bush's top military aides to brief him accurately as to the equipment available to the soldiers of the U.S. Expeditionary force in Iraq, it nonetheless is inexcusable for any U.S. President to be that un-informed about the very soldiers he's sending into battle. As Commander-in-Chief, he HAD no justifiable excuse for this one.)
"6. In May 2003, President Bush landed on an aircraft carrier in a flight suit, stood under a banner proclaiming "Mission Accomplished," and triumphantly announced that major combat operations were over in Iraq. Asked if he had any regrets about the stunt, Bush said he would do it all over again.
Source: Yahoo News"
My view: If the "Mission" was "Accomplished" in May, 2003, why are United States soldiers still dying in Iraq? The current President did not re-instigate a war with Iraq, but has merely continued the war that George W. Bush started, and deliberately never finished.
"8. National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice said that high-strength aluminum tubes acquired by Iraq were "only really suited for nuclear weapons programs," warning "we don't want the smoking gun to be a mushroom cloud." The government's top nuclear scientists had told the Administration the tubes were "too narrow, too heavy, too long" to be of use in developing nuclear weapons and could be used for other purposes.
Source: New York Times"
My view: Again, this could be the result of misinformation rather than outright deceit. However, combine this particular example with many other examples of the 2nd Bush Administration being caught in lies (such as announcing conclusive proof that Iraq was building Weapons of Mass Destruction, weapons which, so far, remain completely unfound by anyone.) When one takes these things into consideration, the example just cited appears to be evidence of a conscious will to deceive the American electorate.
"14. The Bush Administration secured less nuclear material from sites around the world vulnerable to terrorists in the two years after 9/11 than were secured in the two years before 9/11.
Source: nti.org"
My view: Hmmmm. Something smells rotten in Denmark. Or rather, America. How is it that an Administration which publicly expresses a willingness to pick fights with other nations over their nuclear programs does very little to stop those nuclear programs? Sounds like hypocrisy to me.
"19. Vice President Cheney told voters that unless they elect George Bush in November, "we'll get hit again" by terrorists.
Source: Washington Post"
My view: Really? And what do you know about this suspected terrorist attack, Mr. Cheney? You seem to know a lot more about it than any of us. How kind of you to release this information to us right at the time of an impending election. Kinda sounds like fear-mongering to accomplish a political agenda to me. Tool.
"27. The Bush Administration has openly opposed the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty, undermining nuclear nonproliferation efforts.
Source: commondreams.org"
My view: Well, Mr. President, fine job on your efforts to stamp out nuclear proliferation around the world! Everyone, a big round of applause, please!
"33. The Bush Administration paid Iraqi-exile and neocon darling Ahmad Chalabi $400,000 a month for intelligence, including fabricated claims about Iraqi WMD. It continued to pay him for months after discovering that he was providing inaccurate information.
Source: MSNBC
34. The Bush Administration installed as top officials more than 100 former lobbyists, attorneys or spokespeople for the industries they oversee.
Source: Source: commondreams.org
35. The Bush Administration let disgraced Enron CEO Ken Lay--a close friend of President Bush--help write its energy policy.
Source: MSNBC
36. Top Bush Administration officials accepted $127,600 in jewelry and other presents from the Saudi royal family in 2003, including diamond-and-sapphire jewelry valued at $95,500 for First Lady Laura Bush.
Source: Seattle Times
37. Secretary of Homeland Security Tom Ridge awarded lucrative contracts to several companies in which he is an investor, including Microsoft, GE, Sprint, Pfizer and Oracle."
Source: cq.com"
My view: So the 2nd Bush Administration not only handed the national energy policy to the CEO of one Energy provider, who would later be discovered to have ripped off his company and all its employees and investors for a LOT of money, but used their power to pander to special interest groups, AND accepted bribes...sorry, "gifts" from the Saudi Royal family.
"39. President Bush's top economic adviser, Greg Mankiw, said the outsourcing of American jobs abroad was "a plus for the economy in the long run."
Source: CBS News"
My view: Right. Right. There's one problem with that statement, though. If American consumers have no jobs because those jobs have been outsourced to Mexico or India or Taiwan, how exactly are we going to have money to spend, and thus keep the economy going?
"43. President Bush is the first President since Herbert Hoover to have a net loss of jobs--around 800,000--over a four-year term.
Source: The Guardian"
My view: Wow. A connection between George W. Bush and Herbert Hoover! I think the difference, though, is that Hoover probably meant well, whereas the facts thus far shown seem to indicate that George W. Bush did not.
"45. In 2000, candidate George W. Bush said "the vast majority of my tax cuts go to the bottom end of the spectrum." He passed the tax cuts, but the top 20 percent of earners received 68 percent of the benefits.
Sources: cbpp.org, vote-smart.org"
My view: I make about 400 bucks a month, tops. That's barely enough to survive on, what with the loss of value of the dollar during the course of Bush's Presidency. That makes me part of that "bottom end of the spectrum". I'm STILL waiting on my check.
"46. In 2000, candidate George W. Bush promised to pay down the national debt to a historically low level. As of September 30, the national debt stood at $7,379,052,696,330.32, a record high.
Sources: www.georgewbush.com , Bureau of the Public Debt"
My view: There once was a little proverb about the mouth writing checks that the actions can't cash...
"48. The Bush Administration increased tax audits for the working poor.
Source: theolympian.com"
My view: Seriously? What is it that anyone can possibly say or write that could justify such an action as this? This CLEARLY demonstrates that the 2nd Bush Administration simply hated poor people. Period.
"55. The Bush Administration, in violation of the law, refused to allow Medicare actuary Richard Foster to tell members of Congress the actual cost of their Medicare bill. Instead, they repeated a figure they knew was $100 billion too low.
Source: Washington Post, realcities.com"
My view: More evidence of a will to deceive on the part of the Bush Administration. They certainly didn't cover themselves in glory on this one.
"59. The Bush Administration authorized twenty companies that have been charged with fraud at the federal or state level to offer Medicare prescription drug cards to seniors.
Source: American Progress
68. One day after President Bush bragged about his efforts to help seniors afford healthcare, the Administration announced the largest dollar increase of Medicare premiums in history.
Source: iht.com"
My view: Does this not look like the Bush Administration hated the elderly, as well?
"72. The Bush Administration gutted clean-air standards for aging power plants, resulting in at least 20,000 premature deaths each year.
Source: cta.policy.net"
My view: Thank you, Bush Administration, for allowing me to live in a healthy and safe environment!!!!! Yay!!!!!
"73. The Bush Administration eliminated protections on more than 200 million acres of public lands.
Source: calwild.org"
My view: "To Hell with the poor or the elderly, guys! Let's screw all the animals over now!"
"78. The Bush Administration said that even though the weed killer atrazine was seeping into water supplies--creating, among other bizarre creatures, hermaphroditic frogs--there was no reason to regulate it.
Source: Washington Post"
My view: Not to mention all the nuclear waste they decided to dump at Yucca Mountain in Nevada, which, I might add, sits on top of one of the largest aquifers in North America. Everyone from New Mexico to California gets their drinking water from that same aquifer...could it be that the Bush Administration was actively trying to poison American citizens? Hmmmm, makes you think, doesn't it?
"81. Since 9/11, Attorney General John Ashcroft has detained 5,000 foreign nationals in antiterrorism sweeps; none have been convicted of a terrorist crime.
Source: hrwatch.org
82. The Bush Administration ignored pleas from the International Committee of the Red Cross to stop the abuse of prisoners in US custody.
Source: Wall Street Journal
83. In violation of international law, the Bush Administration hid prisoners from the Red Cross so the organization couldn't monitor their treatment.
Source: hrwatch.org
84. The Bush Administration, without ever charging him with a crime, arrested US citizen José Padilla at an airport in Chicago, held him on a naval brig in South Carolina for two years, denied him access to a lawyer and prohibited any contact with his friends and family.
Source: news.findlaw.com
85. President Bush's top legal adviser wrote a memo to the President advising him that he can legally authorize torture.
Source: news.findlaw.com
86. At the direction of Bush Administration officials, the FBI went door to door questioning people planning on protesting at the 2004 political conventions.
Source: New York Times
87. The Bush Administration refuses to support the creation of an independent commission to investigate the abuse of foreign prisoners in American custody. Instead, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld selected the members of a commission to review the conduct of his own department.
Source: humanrightsfirst.org"
My view: Seriously, in what way is the honor of our country NOT stained by the fact that we allowed this stuff to happen? Not once during the 8 years he was in office was George Bush impeached. Why? Given the picture painted here, it almost seems as if Sadaam Hussein was more humane than George W. Bush.
I have cited a lot of examples here, and I apologize for the overly long answer to your question, but I felt it necessary to give plenty of reasons why the cliche, in this case, is absolutely correct. George W. Bush WAS the single worst President in the history of this nation, a man as cruel as he was stupid. The man was responsible for a lot of death and a lot of the despair which now faces the world in the wake of the economic fallout which is but one of the many evil legacies of his "Presidency". George W. Bush has demonstrated quite clearly by his actions that he is a devoted enemy of freedom, a man who hates his own people, and unlike Herbert Hoover, he does not even deserve the credit of it being said of him that he "meant well".
There are many more examples than what I cited, and you can read them all if you'd like at : http://www.thenation.com/doc/20041108/facts
source(s):
http://www.biography.com/articles/Herbert-Hoover-9343371?part=0
http://www.thenation.com/doc/20041108/facts
Personal opinion, logic, and reason
Photos courtesy of:
http://www.scuttlebuttsmallchow.com/herberthoover.jpg
http://www.insidesocal.com/tv/GeorgeBushEatingA_kitten.jpg
http://www.biography.com/articles/Herbert-Hoover-9343371?part=0
http://www.thenation.com/doc/20041108/facts
Personal opinion, logic, and reason
Photos courtesy of:
http://www.scuttlebuttsmallchow.com/herberthoover.jpg
http://www.insidesocal.com/tv/GeorgeBushEatingA_kitten.jpg
images:
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Calvin Cooladge-our 30th President- came into the economy and started the great depression and then spent his time fishing.
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@Bklynj It seems like you and I seem to be agreeing on the point that Hoover did fail miserably during his Administration but made sincere attempts to keep trying. As I said, he certainly appears to have meant well, and it's unfortunate that he might just have been right man to have in Office, but at the wrong time. But that appears to be the case. Though he meant well, his Presidency, because it was severely debilitated not even a year into its tenure, could hardly be called successful. I think we might also agree on the point which I did not make in my presentation but which I express now: Herbert Hoover might very well have been one of the greatest Presidents ever, if a Financial Crisis which he was unable despite earnest effort to solve hadn't crippled him almost from the start. As it was, though, Herbert Hoover the humanitarian, even Herbert Hoover the Populist, was complete overshadowed by the Great Depression that came to characterize his Presidency in the eyes of Historians. I think the Hoover Administration represents, though, a complete failure of the U.S. Government, not only the Executive Branch, but also the Legislative and, to a lesser extent, the Judicial Branches. The Great Depression might have been preventable had the entire Government acted in unity and decisively. But they didn't. Because, as you say, they let Business regulate itself, a mistake which, sadly, has been repeated over and over in the years since.
Interesting note on Calvin Coolidge: I live in South Dakota, about, oh, an hour and a half drive from Mt. Rushmore. Did you know Calvin Coolidge was the one who authorized the creation of the monument on Mt. Rushmore? He owned a lot of land out here in the Black Hills, and yes, he spent a huge amount of time fishing. lol I should probably point out, though, that he's far from being the only President to spend large amounts of his Presidency on vacation. George W. Bush is up there in the top 3 largest vacations, too. lol
And don't worry about the writing, man. You're doing fine. I had no problem whatsoever grasping the points you were trying to make (which, we must admit, is one of, if not the, primary objective of writing anyway.)
1st Kenedy had his Bay of Pigs. 2nd Bush's leap into Iraq is an extraordinary show of power. Saddam had threathened to kill his Father and he took it as a personal challenge. The only other time the world was stopped like this was in WWII when a certain General's son was shot down on a Pacific island and the war was put on hold to turn the 7th fleet around to go get him.
But a little history on the Bush family can lend some understanding to his performance. Most people believe this family made their money in oil. Actually young George lost quite a bit of money in his ventures. It goes back to the days of his grandfather who attended an Ivory league school. While just barely making it there financially he befriended a young man of means who was the son of Harrriman. You might remember the name his family donated the land upstate NY for Harriman State Park. The Harriman father was also the one after the war who bought the captured German war ships for less than scrap value and turned them into cruise ships. While early in the war he had taken over the Remington firearms co. and through his friend, an arms dealer-Herbert Walker, had been selling American made guns to the Nazis. This is what brought about the Trading with the Enemies Act of 1933. After the Act was inforced Harriman was again caught selling to the enemies. Bush having spent time at the house as a friend sat in on many dinners and was aware and actually quite eager to work with them knew of these deals. Harriman was quite impressed with Bush's silence which could have put him and Herbert Walker in prison for a long time. Bush was awarded handsomely for his loyalty. This is the basis for the Bush fortune and the middle initials of his son and grandson. The loyalty followed through the generations in a much quieter way and into the Presidentcy. Why have so many of the Presidents of this country been members of the Skull & Bones. Who really runs the Country through the banking system-the Rockefekkers. So if your not part of that 3% you try to figure out what they do and where you can squeeze out your piece.
Hoover as our 31st President inherited the Stock Mareket crash and had become the scapegoat. If you researched further into his Presidency you would see he had instituted many programs for the day. His problem was not forcing Congess to act but depending on private business to do the job. As to the Bush statements I'm sure you could find a list of negative comments written by someone who didn' like that President. You must remember that the President works off his advisors and the information and advice he receives from them. I'm not saying he had a great Presidency but he sure did have some bad advisors.
Sorry, the Rockefellers.
This is an outstanding answer. Whether you agree or not with the content...well written well put together well set out and thank you for including links and highlighting 'weak' areas of evidence.
Yes, indeed, Kennedy did have his Bay of Pigs. He was smart enough to retreat, however, from a conflict he knew he had no chance of winning. America launching a full on land invasion of Cuba would have brought Soviet missiles to United States soil, and Kennedy knew it. When Castro's forces repelled the American strike force, all chance of everything Kennedy was trying to accomplish with the Bay of Pigs was dashed to pieces. While we're talking of points against Kennedy, he also prolonged the Vietnam Conflict, resolutely continuing Eisenhower's policy of stationing Military "Advisors" in South Vietnam. (The term "Advisor" is very important, as legally, it allowed him to fight a war there without an open Declaration of War, which would have been subject to the approval of Congress. This is similar to the bit of legalistic trickery which enabled the United States to send military forces into Iraq and Afghanistan. Because they were technically "helping international forces" and not officially and unilaterally attacking the region, according to the word of law, they were able to conduct themselves as they pleased in Iraq and Afghanistan, installing puppet regimes in both, without bringing down upon them the "official" condemnation of the international community.) He still accomplished great things while in office, though. That's the difference. Kennedy accomplished much positive. Bush II's accomplishments were negative, as most the world has come to see in retrospect. Furthermore, I would like to point out that in no way, shape, or form is it ever acceptable for a United States President to conduct a personal vendetta in a foreign and sovereign nation and use their army to do so. It does not matter if Sadaam Hussein tried to kill Bush I, the fact remains that a United States President cannot let his own personal views cloud of the objectivity of his Office. Bush II was completely unjustified in conducting his vendetta against Sadaam Hussein while in Office, and this act should not be forgiven nor forgotten by the American people, particularly not by the families of those U.S. Soldiers who will never return to their homes alive, because they died for George Bush II's vendetta.
Furthermore, you said, and I quote, "But a little history on the Bush family can lend some understanding to his performance.". But then you described the way in which the Bush family attained their fortune. Pardon me if I'm missing the point here, but it seems as if you're justifying the actions of George Bush II in the Office of President of the United States by the fact that his Grandfather kept silent while his friends sold guns to Nazis. I'm having trouble seeing how selling guns to Nazis has anything to do with George W. Bush's accomplishments in office,or justifies them? Could you clarify?
In answer to your question concerning the membership of U.S. Presidents in Skull and Bones, the following maxim applies: "He who has the money rules the world". Skull and Bones' membership consists of the richest and most powerful people in the world, two categories the United States President tends to fall into.
And by the way, I agree about the Rockefellers. I don't think they themselves rule the world alone, but they belong to a select group, an economic Oligarchy, which does, in fact, rule this world. That 3% is, in fact, the Oligarchy I spoke of. Unfortunately, the way the Capitalist system works, it is rigged in favor of those 3% (remember this, equality is not a concept that exists in Capitalism. For every man or woman who becomes rich, another must be made poorer. That's just the way capitalism works). So rather than try to figure out what they do and squeeze out my piece, I think I'd rather just educate people to see the inherent flaws in this completely broken economic system, so that they'll replace it with one that works. :p
Well, since my last comment is coming up as "Comment not found" when I try to edit it, I'll have to just post another comment to address the George W. Bush issue.
I quite agree with you that George W. Bush was far from the only President to dishonor himself in office. Actually, most of them did in one way or another. Thomas Jefferson impregnated one of his own slaves. But he also quadrupled the size of the United States through a treaty with Napoleon, and resolved America's Revolutionary War debt, among many other accomplishments. Kennedy, you're right, did have a relationship with Marylin Monroe (as did his Brother, Robert Kennedy, as well as playright Arthur Miller, baseball legend Joe DiMaggio, and, allegedly, famous mafia-boss Sam Giancana). But his list of accomplishments are staggering: As a pet project he helped foster development of NASA, culiminating in manned space flight and eventually, a moon landing (which did take place several years after his death), as well as peacefully resolving the Cuban Missile Crisis, thus possibly preventing nuclear warfare between the United States and the Soviet Union, not to mention his work on behalf of Civil Rights. Yeah, he banged Marylin Monroe, and yeah, his father may have been an admitted Nazi-sympathizer who made the fortune which later enabled Kennedy to obtain the highest office in the land by running illegal booze during the Prohibition Era, but one cannot deny that Kennedy accomplished much which had a positive impact in general upon society. Most of the Presidents who had scandals attached to them nonetheless accomplished much in office that was positive. George W. Bush, however, accomplished little that could be considered positive (unless one happened to be in the top 3 percent of the population in terms of wealth). Furthermore, his decisions and policies damaged the environment, got a lot of his own citizenry killed, plunged the country into economic crisis, and involved the country in an ongoing war in two countries (so far). Subjectively, I think that George W. Bush is a bad man for these things. Objectively, his actions in office make him worthy for consideration as the worst President in the history of this country.
In response to bklynj: I addressed your points about Herbert Hoover quite adequately in my presentation, I think. I admitted that he had accomplished quite a bit as a humanitarian in the years prior to his Presidency, which indeed he did. I also indicated quite clearly that the failure of Herbert Hoover's Administration was in his complete and abject failure to act decisively to A) Stop the Stock Market Crash of 1929 from happening and B) Restore the country to at least relative stability and prosperity in the years following the Stock Market Crash. You may indeed be correct about him being a "scapegoat", and indeed, many biographies on the man imply as much. Some even state it in the same words. However, the fact remains that though he might not have caused all the problems which beset his Administration, he nonetheless proved highly ineffectual in addressing those problems and solving them, a major duty of any President holding that Office. Furthermore, to my understanding, no other President in American History has ever had shantytowns from one end of the country he ruled to the other named after him, and this, though perhaps unfair to the man personally, nonetheless demonstrates the devastating effect his ineffective and virtually powerless Administration had not only on the American Economy for years to come, but also the impact that his failures in office held upon the electorate, the People of the United States.
Heavy indeed might be the head that wears the crown, but that head must, in exchange for that crown, put forth the ideas that save a nation and its people. Hoover's ideas may not have necessarily been bad ones, but they simply didn't work.One after another after another. Countless Americans died from the effects of extreme poverty, on his watch. I applaud Herbert Hoover for his humanitarian work. But not for his Presidential Administration.
Furthermore, I make no excuses nor apologies for my stance against George W. Bush. You are right that any critic can come up with a list of negative comments against any President. But I'm pretty sure that if you looked into it, you'd find far, far, far fewer negatives against, say, John F. Kennedy or Thomas Jefferson than you would against George W. Bush. I agree that he had terrible advisers, but former President Bush cannot evade responsibility for his own actions by blaming it all on his advisers. We've already touched on the subject of "scapegoats". Some of the selected items that appeared in the list referred to members of the 2nd Bush Administration other than George W. Bush himself, but most of them refer specifically to him and his actions. Why not expect George W. Bush to be accountable for his own actions, as any other adult in the world is expected to be? In my view, and this is a view which is supported by a veritable mountain of evidence from sources all over the media, INCLUDING organizations like Fox News (who proudly bear the standard of the Neo-Con Media), George W. Bush was at best a dismal failure (as evidenced by the fact that in only 8 years, he involved American citizens in not one but two major armed conflicts resulting in thousands of American military and civilian deaths, eagerly practiced cronyism in all its hideousness, purposefully lied to the very people who elected him, and utterly destroyed the value of the world's reserve currency.) At most, he was far more sinister. I do not recant my expressed beliefs that George W. Bush is not only incompetent, but also outright evil, and I will continue to uphold that position until such a time as I am convinced to the contrary by clear reason.
And kty2777: Thanks! Politics is a murky realm where just about everyone has an opinion, and some of us have really strong opinions on the subject, such as myself. I take pride in my talent as a writer, and I'm glad that people enjoy reading my thoughts.
Baka I understand your points on Hoover but the market actually craqshed 8 mths. into his term. His biggest mistake, coming from an engineering background he sought to let business correct itself instead of acts of Congress. But he did work everyday to try. The question was the worst President and my answer to this queston was Cooladge who got the ball rolling and then spent his days fishing. I think not trying at all is much worse then a failed attempt. As for Hooverville nametag yes these were the names given. Is it any worse then junior high school and above boys after a date telling their friends they got a Clinton last night?
As to Bush you are able to state a long list of facts. This is only due to an open media. I will more than agree he did not have the most prominent Presidency as he made his family and friends rich. But these facts are only available to you due to the now openess of the press. Who knows what Jefferson's fetishes were-they are lost to history. But JFK and his sealed documents. During his Presidency you never heard about Marylyn Monroe visits to him and his brother. During the election there was never a mention of his Father's ties to underworld crime, it was not even admitted as existing. It was never mentioned that the mob got him in Office through Union control. I believe that over 60% of his records are still sealed. As for the meltdown in the economy that occured this has to be put at the feet of the guilty. Alan Greenspan oversaw the economy as a King. He let the Banks do what they did and you can blame all the people who involved themselves in mortgages they couldn't afford. The Prsident cannot be an expert in every field and thus the reasons for advisors and someone who carried the weight of Greenspan was followed as a Guru.
When you write about history I believe you must take into full account the norm of the period. Bush has no sealed documents. There were things that weren't open for public review in the past that we now tak with a grain of salt...i.e. - Clinton and Monica. So who knows what happened with all the past Presidencies. Bush got rich, so did Washington.
It's also nice you take pride in yourself as a writer but 99% of us on this site are not, my writing expertise consists of one Writing 101 course in College.