The Worst President Ever?

Over at The Nation Nicholas Von Hoffman has an article on who was the worst president ever. A lot of people are saying it's the current occupant of the White House, but he looks at the historically worst jobs done by his predecessors. He singles out James Madison for his unprepared prosecution of the War of 1812, John Tyler, John Taylor, Warren G. Harding, and others.

He comes down hard on James Buchanan for being too timid to do anything to prevent the Civil War. There follows a poll, which, not surprisingly, Buchanan wins, or at least he led when I went there.

But the comments people left add a name that Von Hoffman leaves out: Ronald Reagan. They point out that Reagan dropped the support for research for alternative fuels that started in the '60s and bloomed in the '70s. Thus, the oil companies got to prosper at the expense of the rest of the world, including us, and global warming and two wars in the Gulf region ensued. He was trotted out to read his lines, then escorted back while the corrupt regime behind the throne carried out their nefarious schemes. They didn't mention Iran-Contra, wherein the Administration send military parts to Iran (who was calling us The Great Satan) to try to get them to influence the terrorists to release our hostages. The Constitution defines giving "aid and comfort to the enemy" as treason. They then, in direct violation of the will of the American people, U. S. Law, and international law gave military support to the people in Nicaragua who were trying to overthrow a democratically-elected government and using bloody tactics on innocent people to do so. More people were convicted of wrong-doing out of that administration than from the Nixon Administration, as I recall.

James K. Polk and William McKinley got us into unnecessary wars against Mexico and Spain, but history is too far in the past for most of us to remember. Most of the presidents who get the bad press in the comments are people from our lifetimes.

So, who is the worst president? George W. Bush has sent more Americans to their death in Iraq--a trumped-up war based on lies--than al Qaeda did on 9/11. Meanwhile Osama bin Forgotten is still holed up, running free, and running his evil empire.

Of course, the bin Laden family is not a major concern of Bush's. After all, he made his first million in the Carlyle Group with Osama bin Laden's brother.

Still, it's too early to tell how Bush stacks up among the others. After all, Harry Truman was less popular at his low point than Bush is now, and see how history has treated him. I doubt history will be so kind to GWB, but we'll see.

Meanwhile, will somebody PLEASE catch Bush in flagrante dilecto with Condoleeza Rice so we can get on with the impeachment?