I just read about this a minute ago (curses, I thought I could start this thread!). I was surprised because I think they really did put the worst blunder at the top of the list. Although I’m not sure exactly what Buchanan could have done.
Number 10 should be replaced with “Bush invades Iraq.” Lewinsky was a minor affair with no real consequences, blown up into a huge “scandal” by the Republicans. Frankly, the fact that that was the worst they could hang on him made me think better of Clinton. Iraq is an utter disaster, with lots of dead bodies, international hatred, massive financial losses, and so on. It’s far worse; I’d put it somewhere between 2 and 4 on that list.
One problem: these are HISTORIANS, who deal with HISTORY, which is things that have already happened, and that they can analyze in a historical context. Thus Bush and Iraq can’t qualify yet.
And the article says that Monica is #10 just for the reason you state, basically: that it affected Clinton more than the nation at large.
It’s hard to say that affair wasn’t a blunder on Clinton’s part, even if many others were more significant. Iraq can’t be higher on that list than Vietnam, and at the moment I don’t think it belongs on the list. It’s jus too soon.
And I agree that this is a quality list. Clearly, scholars do better at lists than the editors of Rolling Stone.
I know that many presidents will be rated lower on their overall presidential behavior than Clinton, but I’m having trouble thinking of a more stupid single act (assuming Bush has immunity).
The Clinton item seems petty compared to the others, unless we take into account that it lead to his impeachment. In that sense, it was a huge blunder for him, although it’s hardly of historic consequence for the country.
And #7… I’m not familiar with this one. Was it a big deal?
Agreed. And while Iran-Contra was a very disturbing abuse of Presidential power I don’t recall it having an enormous negative impact on the nation. Certainly not to the point where it should be ranked right after the Bay of Pigs invasion, which led to the Cuban missile crisis
How about Cal Coolidge’s failure to act on stock market excesses which made possible the Wall St. Crash and Great Depression?
I would have to agree with this. He made a decision to get a blow job, which well not the best decision, doesn’t quiet have the same consequences for the nation as the other decisions on the list. All of the effect from that decision came from the unnecessary, partisan hounding from the Republicans. Even considering the fallout, what really was the result of the whole fiasco? He wasn’t removed from office, nor were there any negative effects on the country, besides going through the scandal.
Off the top of my head, Roosevelt’s internment of the Japanese in WWII, Jackson’s ignoring the Supreme Court, or Reagan’s decision to give WMDs to Saddam are all much, much worse than Clinton’s decision.
For the same reason, I’d say the same about Watergate. Mistakes that get people killed are worse than those that don’t. However bad Watergate was for Nixen, and whatever political firestorm it set off, it didn’t have much of a body count. It really doesn’t belong on the same list as errors that start major wars.
Bush41’s “Read my lips! No new taxes!” comes to mind, but it’s unclear to me if “blunder” means an act damaging to the country or damaging to the particular president’s administration. If the former, Clinton’s dalliance with Lewinsky shouldn’t even be in the top hundred.
Another possibility is Eisenhower allowing U2 flights over the USSR in 1960 as an important summit approached. Gary Powers got shot down, a big headache ensued, the summit was cancelled and the cold war continued.
I might have gone with a few more economic blunders; Jackson abolishing the National Bank and Reagan breaking up the phone company and deregulating the savings & loan industry. I’d also include Nixon’s declaration of a War on Drugs; Coolidge’s decision to appoint J. Edgar Hoover to direct the FBI; Wilson’s decision to restore discrimination in the federal civil service; Jackson’s decision to defy the Supreme Court; and John Adams’s Alien and Sedition Acts.
I’d move number 4 up to number 2. A better outcome at Versailles for Germany might have allowed the Weimar Republic to survive and prosper, ending the economic depression.
The Clinton thing was Clinton’s fault like it was Lincoln’s fault that he went to the Ford theater to watch that play, thus allowing himself to be assassinated. Dumb decision on old Abe’s part, eh?
If anything, Wilson wanted to go easy on Germany in terms of punishing them with heavy reparations. Britain’s PM Lloyd George and France’s PM Clemenceau wanted Germany to suffer and certainly weren’t interested in fostering a democracy there.
Wilson’s big mistake was in not gauging the return to isolationism that had taken hold in Congress and realizing that it would never agree to League of Nations.
I’m torn between applauding the scholars for Blunder #2–I nominate Andrew Johnson for “worst president”, usually without any support, every time we have that debate–and objecting to Blunder #1. James Buchanan was a pro-slavery dunderhead, but by the time South Carolina seceded, there wasn’t a damn thing he could do. He actually deserves credit for not turning over Fort Sumter without a fight and making things worse.
And I agree that Indian removal, Japanese-American internment, and Alien and Sedition should be on the list.
Yes. Jefferson effectively imposed trade sanctions on his own nation and almost provoked New England to secede. It was a horrible mistake, but you don’t hear much about because . . . well, because he was Jefferson.
Probably not. Teapot Dome is overrated as a scandal. Harding had the misfortune to die in mid-scandal, so even his own party had no interest in defending him.
But was it a bad effect ? Distrust of the powerful is usually prudent; look at all the people throughout history who have caused disasters or done evil because they thought the government or the Leader could do no wrong.
A very small ball of wax, frankly. It was Hillary Clinton’s buisiness, but no one else’s. Certainly not the Republicans, who are hardly in a position to claim moral superiorty on any subject.