Worst President? Hardly
April 19th, 2006 by Wyatt
Drudge is reporting that Rolling Stone magazine is about to run a story calling President Bush the worst president in history. They apparently even got a historian to back up the charge.
This is either a sign of just how bad public education in this country has become or just another case of Bush Derangement Syndrome. The idea that George W. Bush is the worst president ever is laughable. While we can probably have thoughtful discussions about the worst Presidents of the 18th, 19th, and early 20th centuries, I believe it’s clear that Bush isn’t even the worst president of the last 50 years.
Is he worse than the stereotypical overspending good ol’ boy, Lyndon Johnson? I think not.
Is he worse than the paranoid control freak, Richard Nixon? Hardly.
Is he worse than the immoral, self-absorbed, compulsive liar, Bill Clinton? Ha!
Most of all, I think he’s light years ahead of the man I consider to be the worst president of the 20th century: Jimmy Carter. Double digit interest rates. Outrageous inflation. The source of the misery index. Carter wrung his hands and asked everyone to play nice while radical Islam set up shop in Iran. Inaction in 1979 and 1980 allowed these radicals to gain a foothold and a clear line can be drawn to the man who is today seeking nuclear weapons. The country was embarassed, weakened, and depressed as a result of four years of Carter. I don’t think they get any worse than that.
On the contrary, while Reagan has long been my clear favorite for best president ever, I think Bush is coming up quickly. The effects of a democratic Afghanistan and Iraq are bigger than most know and will have an effect on world events for decades to come.
Worst president? No. Lowest attempt to demonize the president? Unfortunately, it’s only one of many.