# Who would you Rank lowest among the six previous Presidents? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [June 29, 2014, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-would-you-rank-lowest-among-the-six-previous-presidents/691947 "2014-06-29T17:27:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2014, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-would-you-rank-lowest-among-the-six-previous-presidents/691947/61 "2014-07-01T01:00:54Z")
What I wonder is, who are the 21 Dopers who are crazy enough to believe that Obama is a worse President than George W. Bush? Even **adaher** concedes that Dubya was worse than Obama. Must have serious cases of Obama Derangement Syndrome. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2014, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-would-you-rank-lowest-among-the-six-previous-presidents/691947/62 "2014-07-01T03:32:52Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > Which do you think was the most horrifying injury he did the country? Was it reducing both the poverty rate, and the number of US citizens living in poverty? Cutting inflation? Triggering the longest peacetime expansion of the US economy in history? Eliminating intermediate range nuclear missiles in Europe? Setting the stage to win the Cold War? Reducing unemployment? Getting the Iranian hostages set free? > > The unreasoning hatred of the lefties for Reagan is as grotesque as it is unfounded. I should be used to it by now, but I suppose I never will be. > > Regards, > Shodan I know it’s already been adressed (by **RTFirefly** ), but the whole thing about Reagan freeing the Iranian hostages is a pet peeve of mine. In short, he didn’t. The terms of the release were negotiated by the Carter administration and were in place while he was still president. The militants picked the date and time of the release as a final “fuck you” to Carter, whom they hated. Repeat this to yourself every night before you go to bed: “Reagan had nothing to do with it.” ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2014, 4:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-would-you-rank-lowest-among-the-six-previous-presidents/691947/63 "2014-07-01T04:30:56Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > All of a sudden, all the normal ways liberals handle bad regimes goes out the window and they start going all neocon. Funny, I never saw any liberals calling for a US invasion of South Africa and gunpoint regime change. > [@](#): > > So let’s be clear here: as a general rule, if the US fails to sanction a regime, is the US responsible for extending its life? There’s a clear difference between failing to sanction from the beginning, and stopping your predecessor’s effective sanctions and replacing those with $25million arms contracts, which is exactly what Reagan did. > [@](#): > > Are sanctions generally a good tool to change the behavior of regimes the world doesn’t approve of? They worked in South Africa - specifically, soon after Saint Ronnie’s veto was overturned by overwhelming majority, the SA government started negotiating the end of apartheid, because the economy of SA tanked. So how much sooner would Apartheid have tanked if Saint Ronnie had stuck to Carter’s guns and continued sanctions, or even stiffened them? > [@](#): > > And if so, why the opposition to sanctions against some of the world’s bad actors, like Cuba? Only the US thinks Cuba is a bad actor. The rest of the world goes there on holiday, mate. ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim_r.mortiss/32/142_2.png) [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_R.Mortiss)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2014, 6:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-would-you-rank-lowest-among-the-six-previous-presidents/691947/64 "2014-07-01T06:23:14Z")
> [@RTFirefly](#): > > What I wonder is, who are the 21 Dopers who are crazy enough to believe that Obama is a worse President than George W. Bush? Even **adaher** concedes that Dubya was worse than Obama. Must have serious cases of Obama Derangement Syndrome. I’m one. GWB was no prize, especially in the spendthrift department, but at least he didn’t nudge us down the road to Socialism that the rest of the world is realizing just doesn’t work. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2014, 11:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-would-you-rank-lowest-among-the-six-previous-presidents/691947/65 "2014-07-01T11:48:29Z")
> [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](#): > > I’m one. GWB was no prize, especially in the spendthrift department, but at least he didn’t nudge us down the road to Socialism that the rest of the world is realizing just doesn’t work. I’ve a hunch you wouldn’t know socialism if it bit you in the ass. The ACA, for example, places restrictions on PRIVATE companies on what must be included in their health insurance and who they most cover. It also mandates that people buy some sort of PRIVATE health insurance. It is in no way socialism. Quit watching Faux News and quit listening to Hate Radio, you might just find that 99 44/100% of what you’ve been hearing about Obama just isn’t so. ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim_r.mortiss/32/142_2.png) [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_R.Mortiss)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2014, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-would-you-rank-lowest-among-the-six-previous-presidents/691947/66 "2014-07-01T15:40:42Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > I’ve a hunch you wouldn’t know socialism if it bit you in the ass. The ACA, for example, places restrictions on PRIVATE companies on what must be included in their health insurance and who they most cover. It also mandates that people buy some sort of PRIVATE health insurance. It is in no way socialism. Quit watching Faux News and quit listening to Hate Radio, you might just find that 99 44/100% of what you’ve been hearing about Obama just isn’t so. Thanks for being so condescending! I said “nudging.” If you don’t think that Single Payer is the ultimate goal of this process, you aren’t paying attention. And that alone will qualify him for worst President in a long, long time. ---
**Author:** ![carnut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnut/32/3531_2.png) [@carnut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnut)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2014, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-would-you-rank-lowest-among-the-six-previous-presidents/691947/67 "2014-07-01T17:58:39Z")
> [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](#): > > Thanks for being so condescending! I said “nudging.” If you don’t think that Single Payer is the ultimate goal of this process, you aren’t paying attention. And that alone will qualify him for worst President in a long, long time. But you say single-payer like it’s a socialist invention. The vast majority of democracies offer single-payer healthcare because they see it as a worthwhile, productive system that keeps healthcare costs down. Socialism doesn’t enter into the equation for them. Every single-payer system I’ve looked at also allows people to buy insurance too if they wish. ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2014, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-would-you-rank-lowest-among-the-six-previous-presidents/691947/68 "2014-07-01T18:12:30Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > Repeat this to yourself every night before you go to bed: “Reagan had nothing to do with it.” I wouldn’t be able to sleep if I lied to myself every night. Reagan was responsible for the release of the hostages. Carter tried ineffectually to get them released for 444 days and failed. If he had been re-elected (which God forbid) the hostages would not have been released. But Reagan was elected, so they were. Facts are stubborn things, to quote a great American. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![Learjeff](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/94ad74/32.png) [@Learjeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Learjeff)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2014, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-would-you-rank-lowest-among-the-six-previous-presidents/691947/69 "2014-07-01T18:44:20Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > I wouldn’t be able to sleep if I lied to myself every night. Reagan was responsible for the release of the hostages. Cite? ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2014, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-would-you-rank-lowest-among-the-six-previous-presidents/691947/70 "2014-07-01T18:45:15Z")
Well, it looks like George W. ran away with this poll. 😃 I really expected closer results between him and Carter. \ Shows what I know. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Hector\_St\_Clare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b5ac83/32.png) [@Hector\_St\_Clare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hector_St_Clare)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2014, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-would-you-rank-lowest-among-the-six-previous-presidents/691947/71 "2014-07-01T19:36:30Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > And if so, why the opposition to sanctions against some of the world’s bad actors, like Cuba? In what sense are South Africa in the 1980s and Cuba (either then, or now) remotely comparable, other than that neither of them was a liberal democracy? ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2014, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-would-you-rank-lowest-among-the-six-previous-presidents/691947/72 "2014-07-01T19:45:09Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > Well, it looks like George W. ran away with this poll. 😃 > > I really expected closer results between him and Carter. \ Shows what I know. 😉 Carter wasn’t such a bad president, despite recent efforts to make it look that way.I had some problems with him, (draft, drug policy, etc) but he did the job without scandal or catastrophe. I wouldn’t put him in the top 10, but someone in the middle. ---
**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 1, 2014, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-would-you-rank-lowest-among-the-six-previous-presidents/691947/73 "2014-07-01T20:06:40Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > I wouldn’t be able to sleep if I lied to myself every night. Reagan was responsible for the release of the hostages. > [@Learjeff](#): > > Cite? Take it easy on him. He’s sleep deprived. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2014, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-would-you-rank-lowest-among-the-six-previous-presidents/691947/74 "2014-07-01T20:27:51Z")
> [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](#): > > Thanks for being so condescending! I said “nudging.” If you don’t think that Single Payer is the ultimate goal of this process, you aren’t paying attention. And that alone will qualify him for worst President in a long, long time. I’ll go ahead and say that I dearly hope that Single Payer IS the ultimate goal in this process (although I’m not completely confident that this is so). I’ll also say that anyone who doesn’t want this outcome is wrong to not want it. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2014, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-would-you-rank-lowest-among-the-six-previous-presidents/691947/75 "2014-07-01T22:40:40Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > I wouldn’t be able to sleep if I lied to myself every night. Reagan was responsible for the release of the hostages. Carter tried ineffectually to get them released for 444 days and failed. If he had been re-elected (which God forbid) the hostages would not have been released. But Reagan was elected, so they were. > > Facts are stubborn things, to quote a great American. Facts are stubborn things, but they don’t hold a candle to you. Reagan did not free the hostages. It may be a cornerstone of Republican mythology, but it just ain’t so. ---
**Author:** ![Martin\_Hyde](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/47e85d/32.png) [@Martin\_Hyde](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martin_Hyde)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2014, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-would-you-rank-lowest-among-the-six-previous-presidents/691947/76 "2014-07-01T22:55:47Z")
Lowest to highest: 1. Obama 2. Carter 3. George W. Bush 4. George H.W. Bush 5. Clinton 6. Reagan I’d rank H.W. higher if he’d won reelection, I think he’s the best Republican President post-Nixon by a mile, but his shorter time in office and the particulars of his first term didn’t give him time to really build his legacy. I think that term that would have been his second term, or the term that was Clinton’s first, was a ripe time in the nation’s history for good things to happen. I give credit to Clinton that he was willing to work compromises to get things done during this time. A Carter or Obama type President in that slot would not have fared as well. ---
**Author:** ![Martin\_Hyde](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/47e85d/32.png) [@Martin\_Hyde](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martin_Hyde)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2014, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-would-you-rank-lowest-among-the-six-previous-presidents/691947/77 "2014-07-01T22:57:31Z")
> [@Procrustus](#): > > Carter wasn’t such a bad president, despite recent efforts to make it look that way.I had some problems with him, (draft, drug policy, etc) but he did the job without scandal or catastrophe. I wouldn’t put him in the top 10, but someone in the middle. Carter wasn’t corrupt or necessarily a horrible President, but he had one of our worst Presidencies. He would have done fine in the 1920s or the 1990s, but anytime of great conflict or the Cold War and he showed himself unsuited to the task. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2014, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-would-you-rank-lowest-among-the-six-previous-presidents/691947/78 "2014-07-01T23:20:13Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > I wouldn’t be able to sleep if I lied to myself every night. Reagan was responsible for the release of the hostages. Carter tried ineffectually to get them released for 444 days and failed. If he had been re-elected (which God forbid) the hostages would not have been released. But Reagan was elected, so they were. > > Facts are stubborn things, to quote a great American. You mean [Reagan’s treason?](http://www.consortiumnews.com/2010/050610.html) > [@](#): > > The revelation further suggests that the congressional investigation was shoddy and incomplete, thus reopening the question of whether Reagan’s landslide victory in 1980 was, in part, set in motion by a dirty trick that extended the 444-day captivity of the hostages who were freed immediately after Reagan was sworn into office on Jan. 20, 1981. > > … > > According to the Russians, the Republicans won the bidding war. “After the victory of R. Reagan in the election, in early 1981, a secret agreement was reached in London in accord with which Iran released the American hostages, and the U.S. continued to supply arms, spares and military supplies for the Iranian army,” the Russian report continued. Great American my ass. ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2014, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-would-you-rank-lowest-among-the-six-previous-presidents/691947/79 "2014-07-01T23:29:23Z")
> [@Martin\_Hyde](#): > > Carter wasn’t corrupt or necessarily a horrible President, but he had one of our worst Presidencies. He would have done fine in the 1920s … There are two men on my list of the most decent human beings ever to have been President of the United States. Neither of them were very good presidents. One is Carter, the other was president in the 1920s. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![carnut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnut/32/3531_2.png) [@carnut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnut)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2014, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-would-you-rank-lowest-among-the-six-previous-presidents/691947/80 "2014-07-02T03:24:23Z")
> [@Frank](#): > > There are two men on my list of the most decent human beings ever to have been President of the United States. Neither of them were very good presidents. One is Carter, the other was president in the 1920s. 🙂 Frank, I agree with you about Carter. He is an amazing man. It’s too bad he could not translate that into being an amazing President. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-would-you-rank-lowest-among-the-six-previous-presidents/691947.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-would-you-rank-lowest-among-the-six-previous-presidents/691947.md?page=5)