# Bush or Obama - The Better President **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 8, 2010, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-or-obama-the-better-president/556532 "2010-10-08T21:05:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2010, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-or-obama-the-better-president/556532/21 "2010-10-09T20:20:56Z")
> [@Clothahump](#): > > Bush was a good prez for the first six years. Then he started spending like a liberal. No, if he’d done that he’d have raised taxes to pay for it. And done so for something useful. Spending like crazy, creating massive debt and getting little to nothing in return for it - that’s conservative behavior, not liberal behavior. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2010, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-or-obama-the-better-president/556532/22 "2010-10-09T22:13:41Z")
> [@Curtis LeMay](#): > > There have been 43 Presidents (Cleveland being counted twice). Of them I’d say Buchanan, Pierce, Fillmore, Tyler, Jackson, and Wilson at the least are worse. With Cleveland being counted twice, there have been forty-four Presidents. I rank Bush ahead of Buchanan, Nixon, and Hoover and behind Grant, Wilson, and Lyndon Johnson. ---
**Author:** ![Cisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2010, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-or-obama-the-better-president/556532/23 "2010-10-09T22:23:42Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > > [@Curtis LeMay](#): > > > > There have been 43 Presidents (Cleveland being counted twice). Of them I’d say Buchanan, Pierce, Fillmore, Tyler, Jackson, and Wilson at the least are worse. > > With Cleveland being counted twice, there have been forty-four Presidents. I rank Bush ahead of Buchanan, Nixon, and Hoover and behind Grant, Wilson, and Lyndon Johnson. Ok, Buchanan really fiddled while Rome burned, but how was Nixon worse than Bush? ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2010, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-or-obama-the-better-president/556532/24 "2010-10-09T23:52:12Z")
Criminal acts. Using the powers of his office to get re-elected. Pandering to Southern racists. Heir to Joseph McCarthy. Helping destroy faith in government. Arguably some war crimes but that’s a judgement call. ---
**Author:** ![Cisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2010, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-or-obama-the-better-president/556532/25 "2010-10-10T00:01:27Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > Criminal acts. > Using the powers of his office to get re-elected. > Pandering to Southern racists. > Heir to Joseph McCarthy. > Helping destroy faith in government. > Arguably some war crimes but that’s a judgement call. If it wasn’t for Joe McCarthy’s name on the list, I might’ve thought you were talking about Bush. ---
**Author:** ![River\_Hippie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/river_hippie/32/26_2.png) [@River\_Hippie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/River_Hippie)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2010, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-or-obama-the-better-president/556532/26 "2010-10-10T02:14:58Z")
> [@Jophiel](#): > > I don’t recall what I was reading but one of the polling opinion blogs was talking about the “Obama as Muslim” poll and their opinion was that the number was largely overinflated by people who just don’t like Obama and thus will give the worst possible sounding answers in a poll. They don’t actually think he’s a secret Islamic terrorist or the literal Antichrist or whatever but they want to stick it to him in the polling. That’s been my suspicion all along. ---
**Author:** ![sleeping](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/839c29/32.png) [@sleeping](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sleeping)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2010, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-or-obama-the-better-president/556532/27 "2010-10-10T02:16:31Z")
Obama for sure, but frankly he’s done a pretty terrible job. ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Captor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f17d59/32.png) [@Evil\_Captor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Captor)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2010, 5:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-or-obama-the-better-president/556532/28 "2010-10-10T05:24:03Z")
I cant believe people are saying Obama is worse than Bush, just because he hasn’t cleaned up Bush’s mess as quickly and easily as they had hoped he would. Just for starters, Obama hasn’t done anything completely stupid and unethical, which puts him WAAAAAY ahead of Bush. His program, painful as it was and will be financially, probably kept us from complete financial collapse. Bush inherited a relatively stable and sound America, he turned it into a burning building. Obama inherited a burning building, he put out the fire and has started refurbishing. Obama’s only major mistake was in not realizing how deep the hurt is in the middle class right now, as 25 years of class warfare by the wealthy against them is finally registering on their pitiful little brains. The smart politicoes around him should have understood that, they did not, maybe too much time in the quagmire of Illinois politics blinded him and them to the fact that you can’t solve the problem with some razzle dazzle and a visit to the political machinery people. Compared to Bush’s illegal, unethical, misleading war in Iraq, his attempt to gut Social Security, his politicizing of the Justice Department, his cheap and vindictive attack on Valerie Plame, his total disinterest in protecting the environment … and a LOT of other things … Obama is an incredible president, a veritable icon of probity and leadership. He almost always does the right thing, and TRIES to do it right, with the most obstuctionist Congress in history … damn, Americans are idiots for not seeing that, but I knew that when Bush got half the votes in 2004. ---
**Author:** ![Onomatopoeia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/onomatopoeia/32/4145_2.png) [@Onomatopoeia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Onomatopoeia)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2010, 6:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-or-obama-the-better-president/556532/29 "2010-10-10T06:09:47Z")
I voted for Obama, but that’s because you only gave us Bush to compare him to. I’m very disappointed in Obama at this point, but he and Bush are not even in the same ballpark. ETA: You should have done a poll comparing Obama to Clinton, or Carter, or even Ford. ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2010, 8:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-or-obama-the-better-president/556532/30 "2010-10-10T08:35:52Z")
Look, I think Obama is a better President but you have to give points to the Bush administration for getting what it wanted done. Was there any big piece of legislation that took as long as the health care reform act? Did he ever have to compromise to get no support from the Dems in congress? The Bush administration were also excellent at handling the press and shaping the debate. They used their powers for evil but at least they had freaking powers. ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2010, 12:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-or-obama-the-better-president/556532/31 "2010-10-10T12:28:58Z")
For heaven’s sake, it’s only been two years. If you compare the two _at this point of their respective administrations_, you can make a case that Bush is better, but that is not fair to either Obama or Bush. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![Morgenstern](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Morgenstern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgenstern)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2010, 12:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-or-obama-the-better-president/556532/32 "2010-10-10T12:37:30Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > For heaven’s sake, it’s only been two years. If you compare the two _at this point of their respective administrations_, you can make a case that Bush is better, but that is not fair to either Obama or Bush. > > Regards, > Shodan Yeah, Bush is better - he saved the world from all those terrible WMD’s in Iraq, and it only took him what, twice as long as we fought in WWII to do it! ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2010, 12:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-or-obama-the-better-president/556532/33 "2010-10-10T12:52:48Z")
Kind of missed the point about timing, did you? Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![Morgenstern](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Morgenstern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgenstern)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2010, 1:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-or-obama-the-better-president/556532/34 "2010-10-10T13:11:21Z")
Actually no, 2002 vs. 2010. My point is valid I believe. ---
**Author:** ![septimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/septimus/32/410_2.png) [@septimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/septimus)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2010, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-or-obama-the-better-president/556532/35 "2010-10-10T13:32:44Z")
> [@InterestedObserver](#): > > Where is the “Are you fucking kidding me, where WERE you for the last decade or so?” option? 😕 > > :smack: My reaction exactly. I’m astounded and frightened by the CNN poll results reported, but they only confirm that P.T. Barnum pegged the American people real well. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2010, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-or-obama-the-better-president/556532/36 "2010-10-10T14:01:16Z")
I decline to vote in the poll because Obama has only been in office for two years. ---
**Author:** ![DarkPrince](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ce73a5/32.png) [@DarkPrince](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DarkPrince)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2010, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-or-obama-the-better-president/556532/37 "2010-10-10T16:47:39Z")
> [@InterestedObserver](#): > > Where is the “Are you fucking kidding me, where WERE you for the last decade or so?” option? > [@nate](#): > > I’ve pretty much lost any hope in the American people the last several months… It’s like half the country is living in some altered reality with no memory. I can’t believe this is even a poll… Obama is not effective, but he has a long way to go before he stoops to the level of starting an unjustified war. Pretty much these. Obama vs Ford/Carter/Johnson/Reagan/etc I can see. But Bush? Did people really forget everything that quickly? ---
**Author:** ![Balthisar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/balthisar/32/2825_2.png) [@Balthisar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balthisar)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2010, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-or-obama-the-better-president/556532/38 "2010-10-10T17:48:07Z")
I have no love for Bush, but even less for Obama. In fact, I’d say they’re both equally bad (for some of the same reasons, and for some vastly different reasons, but bad is bad). Since “equally bad” wasn’t an option in the poll, I went with where I lean. ---
**Author:** ![Knorf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/58956e/32.png) [@Knorf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knorf)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2010, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-or-obama-the-better-president/556532/39 "2010-10-10T17:52:53Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > For heaven’s sake, it’s only been two years. If you compare the two _at this point of their respective administrations_, you can make a case that Bush is better, but that is not fair to either Obama or Bush. > > Regards, > Shodan At this point in Bush’s administration, he had allowed the worst ever terrorist attack on America to occur on his watch, and he had set a record for most days taken on vacation by a U.S. president in his first year in office. Any democrat who had been president with that on his record would have been ripped to shreds. ---
**Author:** ![Mangosteen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Mangosteen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangosteen)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2010, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-or-obama-the-better-president/556532/40 "2010-10-10T18:51:54Z")
> [@Knorf](#): > > > [@Shodan](#): > > > > For heaven’s sake, it’s only been two years. If you compare the two _at this point of their respective administrations_, you can make a case that Bush is better, but that is not fair to either Obama or Bush. > > > > Regards, > > Shodan > > At this point in Bush’s administration, he had allowed the worst ever terrorist attack on America to occur on his watch, and he had set a record for most days taken on vacation by a U.S. president in his first year in office. > > Any democrat who had been president with that on his record would have been ripped to shreds. All I hear from liberals is how Obama has been in office _only_ 2 years and that Americans should give him a break and now you are blaming Bush for 9/11? How long had he been in office before the attacks? One thing about Bush, he never blamed Clinton even though Clinton should have done more to fight the terrorists who bombed the trade center the first time. Are you saying Obama seldom takes vacations? What about this summer? Vacation after vacation! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-or-obama-the-better-president/556532.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-or-obama-the-better-president/556532.md?page=3)