# Do you think this Presidency has been the U.S.A's worst ever!? **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [July 17, 2004, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-think-this-presidency-has-been-the-u-s-as-worst-ever/255533 "2004-07-17T02:22:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![dnooman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/839c29/32.png) [@dnooman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dnooman)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2004, 5:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-think-this-presidency-has-been-the-u-s-as-worst-ever/255533/21 "2004-07-17T05:06:12Z")
**Stockton** , Mattie Stepanek is smiling from his grave. Bravo. ---
**Author:** ![Ravenman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ravenman/32/2929_2.png) [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2004, 5:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-think-this-presidency-has-been-the-u-s-as-worst-ever/255533/22 "2004-07-17T05:13:53Z")
I know I’m just going to sound like another in the liberal chorus, but I think Carter got screwed by history. Good – no, excellent man, but had he been elected in 1992 rather than 1976, I think there is a chance that he would have been placed in the top 5 to 10 presidents of all time. Bush, on the other hand, is screwing up our history. If he loses reelection, he will be the Carter of the Republican party: in 15 years, Dems will still make fun of his incompetent Adminsitration that screwed up everything it touched, and the majority of independents will agree despite some protests from Republicans (who will defend Dubya like I defend Carter.) If Bush wins reelection, I’m betting he’ll be placed in the Harry Truman category. None too bright, but made a definate mark on the country. ---
**Author:** ![furlibusea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aca169/32.png) [@furlibusea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furlibusea)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2004, 5:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-think-this-presidency-has-been-the-u-s-as-worst-ever/255533/23 "2004-07-17T05:19:04Z")
Jackson’s thing with the Indians wasn’t good. Wilson had some great Ideas at the end of World War I but sort of got steamrolled by Lloyd George, Clemenceau and his own senate. I wonder if World War II would have happened quite the same way if there had been a way to really impliment part of his 14 points. I wonder if the middle east would be as messed up as it is now. I am not sure he could have much differently though. I think that the thing I hold onto is the republic has survived far worse. In the end the constitution will prove bigger than GWB even if it takes some bruising first. ---
**Author:** ![rjung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/45deac/32.png) [@rjung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjung)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2004, 7:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-think-this-presidency-has-been-the-u-s-as-worst-ever/255533/24 "2004-07-17T07:09:49Z")
I’m still unable to think of anything a President can do that’s more atrocious and shameful than lying to the world in order to start a war. Compared to that, Clinton was strictly amateur hour, and Carter’s sainthood is overdue. ---
**Author:** ![gouda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c77e96/32.png) [@gouda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gouda)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2004, 8:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-think-this-presidency-has-been-the-u-s-as-worst-ever/255533/25 "2004-07-17T08:20:51Z")
Impartial observer here… instead of looking at the negatives, how about looking at the positives of your current as well as past administrations? Then use that as a scale to judge whether this presidency has been the worst ever, i.e. the one with the least positives. If any 😃 **Stockton** is the only one who’s done that so far. I’d be interested in seeing more opinions formed on that basis. ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2004, 9:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-think-this-presidency-has-been-the-u-s-as-worst-ever/255533/26 "2004-07-17T09:52:35Z")
It’s pretty damn bad. Whether it’s worse than FDR, I’m not sure at this point. ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2004, 11:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-think-this-presidency-has-been-the-u-s-as-worst-ever/255533/27 "2004-07-17T11:00:17Z")
Go to Google and search for the string “worst president ever” and see what comes up. ---
**Author:** ![Batsinma\_Belfry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ea5d25/32.png) [@Batsinma\_Belfry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Batsinma_Belfry)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2004, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-think-this-presidency-has-been-the-u-s-as-worst-ever/255533/28 "2004-07-17T15:51:46Z")
Everybody keeps mentioning how bad Clinton was. What exactly did Clinton do that made him a bad president? ---
**Author:** ![threeorange](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@threeorange](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/threeorange)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2004, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-think-this-presidency-has-been-the-u-s-as-worst-ever/255533/29 "2004-07-17T16:14:35Z")
IMHO, GWB is the tenth best president we’ve had in my lifetime. I was born in 1960. ---
**Author:** ![Ryan\_Liam](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ryan_liam/32/3965_2.png) [@Ryan\_Liam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ryan_Liam)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2004, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-think-this-presidency-has-been-the-u-s-as-worst-ever/255533/30 "2004-07-17T16:22:58Z")
why ---
**Author:** ![monstro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@monstro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monstro)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2004, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-think-this-presidency-has-been-the-u-s-as-worst-ever/255533/31 "2004-07-17T16:26:24Z")
> [@hillbilly queen](#): > > Everybody keeps mentioning how bad Clinton was. What exactly did Clinton do that made him a bad president? He lied about having sexual relations with _that_ woman. _good times, good times_ ---
**Author:** ![Legolamb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4491bb/32.png) [@Legolamb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Legolamb)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2004, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-think-this-presidency-has-been-the-u-s-as-worst-ever/255533/32 "2004-07-17T16:33:48Z")
> [@hillbilly queen](#): > > Everybody keeps mentioning how bad Clinton was. What exactly did Clinton do that made him a bad president? Blowjobs are bad, mm’kay? :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![milroyj](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a88e57/32.png) [@milroyj](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/milroyj)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2004, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-think-this-presidency-has-been-the-u-s-as-worst-ever/255533/33 "2004-07-17T16:47:47Z")
> [@hillbilly queen](#): > > Everybody keeps mentioning how bad Clinton was. What exactly did Clinton do that made him a bad president? How about his _inaction_ following the first WTC bombing, as well as the bombings of the Khobar Towers, the African embassies, and the USS Cole? ---
**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:** [July 17, 2004, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-think-this-presidency-has-been-the-u-s-as-worst-ever/255533/34 "2004-07-17T16:49:54Z")
> [@](#): > > I’m still unable to think of anything a President can do that’s more atrocious and shameful than lying to the world in order to start a war. It’s not like Bush was breaking new ground here. Johnson lied to the world to get the Vietnam War going at full speed. But personally I’m going to rank Nixon #1 for worst Presidential sin - he used the powers of his office to influence his own re-election. That’s the kind of thing that leads to “President for Life” scenarios. It’s the unwritten first law of seperation of powers - Presidents must keep their personal desire to get re-elected seperate from their professional duties to serve the country. ---
**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:** [July 17, 2004, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-think-this-presidency-has-been-the-u-s-as-worst-ever/255533/35 "2004-07-17T16:55:37Z")
> [@](#): > > How about his inaction following the first WTC bombing, as well as the bombings of the Khobar Towers, the African embassies, and the USS Cole? Correct me if I’m wrong but haven’t terrorists killed more Americans during the Bush administration than they did during the Clinton administration? And hasn’t the Bush administration failed to apprehend Osama bin Laden or stop al Qaeda despite full bipartisan support given for that purpose? If Clinton was a failure isn’t Bush, who’s done less, a much greater failure? So why exactly are so many people acting as if Clinton failed against terrorism and Bush succeeded? ---
**Author:** ![Batsinma\_Belfry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ea5d25/32.png) [@Batsinma\_Belfry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Batsinma_Belfry)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2004, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-think-this-presidency-has-been-the-u-s-as-worst-ever/255533/36 "2004-07-17T17:09:05Z")
> [@monstro](#): > > He lied about having sexual relations with _that_ woman. > > _good times, good times_ That has nothing to do with how he preformed as a president. I wouldn’t want him for a husband or a boyfriend, but as a president he was okay. ---
**Author:** ![Batsinma\_Belfry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ea5d25/32.png) [@Batsinma\_Belfry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Batsinma_Belfry)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2004, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-think-this-presidency-has-been-the-u-s-as-worst-ever/255533/37 "2004-07-17T17:10:44Z")
> [@Legolamb](#): > > Blowjobs are bad, mm’kay? :rolleyes: Then you’ve been doing them wrong. ---
**Author:** ![Batsinma\_Belfry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ea5d25/32.png) [@Batsinma\_Belfry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Batsinma_Belfry)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2004, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-think-this-presidency-has-been-the-u-s-as-worst-ever/255533/38 "2004-07-17T17:14:16Z")
> [@milroyj](#): > > How about his _inaction_ following the first WTC bombing, as well as the bombings of the Khobar Towers, the African embassies, and the USS Cole? Yes, he should have started a war _in the wrong country_, after each one of those. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2004, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-think-this-presidency-has-been-the-u-s-as-worst-ever/255533/39 "2004-07-17T17:28:23Z")
Weren’t the people who did the WTC bombing captured and convicted? What more should have been done, **milroyj**? ---
**Author:** ![milroyj](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a88e57/32.png) [@milroyj](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/milroyj)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2004, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-think-this-presidency-has-been-the-u-s-as-worst-ever/255533/40 "2004-07-17T17:39:52Z")
> [@Revtim](#): > > Weren’t the people who did the WTC bombing captured and convicted? What more should have been done, **milroyj**? Obviously, the Clinton Administration policy of treating terrorism as a law enforcement issue (capture and convict terrorists after the fact) did us a world of good in terms of preventing 9/11. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-think-this-presidency-has-been-the-u-s-as-worst-ever/255533.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-think-this-presidency-has-been-the-u-s-as-worst-ever/255533.md?page=3)