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Edited on Wed Jun-16-04 09:48 PM by happyslug
Where is John Adams? He passed the Alien and Sedition acts, some of the worse violation of Civil Liberties the world has ever seen.
Grover Cleveland and his suppression of the Various Strikes by US Troops during his Second term?
McKinley and his increase of the tariff and invasion of Cuba?
My list:
1. Bush Jr - No explanation needed
2. Bush Sr - His invasion of Iraq upset a very balanced applecart in the Mid-East. Yes, Saddam was a bastard, but he was more than willing to sell oil to us at the price we wanted (He just wanted to sell Kuwaiti oil in addition to Iraqi oil). That movement started the road to 911 and the War on Terrorism
3. Reagan, Firing Patco (Killing labor unions for the last 20 years), pushing deregulation (Forcing wages down), increase immigration (To keep wages down). Yes Reagan as the first President to carry a union Card was the most Anti-labor President we have ever had. Before I go one lets us no forget Nicaragua and the Development of Al Queda.
4. Nixon, who can forget his wage and price controls, his refusal to continue Johnson's income tax (which Johnson used to Balance the Budget in 1969). Watergate etc.
5. John Adams, the Alien and Sedition acts are enough alone.
There is something about these four that stand above the rest. Maybe it is the lack of good things to come from them or maybe it is the lack of a political reason to do so (For Example Johnson involvement in Vietnam can best to explained as his trying to prevent the lost of Vietnam from being used against him by the GOP, if you understand the time period a very good political reason, something lacking in the above actions of the above Presidents).
6. Cleveland. While A Democrat, his anti-Strike actions during his Second term puts him close to the above.
7. Buchanan - Going to war with the Mormons hoping that would unite the Country - letting Kansas bled rather than risk Civil War. Using the Dred Scott Case to try to prevent any split over Slavery.
8. Hayes and his decision to end Reconstruction in the South, along with failure to address the problems of the Workers that flared up in the General Strike of 1877.
9. Wilson and his decision to segregate the Federal Government in addition to going to War in WWI when it really was not in the best interest of the US to do so.
10. McKinley and his increase in the Traiff (Increasing costs to Americans, his refusal to adopt Silver (Thus increasing Inflation which was needed at that point his history) and his War with Spain that was unneeded for Spain was willing to agree to our terms without a War.
Yes I did not include Jackson and his trail of Tears for several reasons, first the Trail of Tears occurred during his Successor's term of office not his. Second, he had told the Cherokees to move for he could NOT prevent the Georgie Militia from removing them and third, his decision that the best way to solve the problem was to remove the Cherokees while harsh was the best solution he had. He had no troops to stop Georgia, the Railroads would not be completed till the 1850s so even if he could raise the troops he could neither supply them nor get them to Georgia. The trail of Tears was a disaster caused by Georgia but everyone else had to endure the price or take the blame.
As to Coolidge, Hoover and Harding, all three did very little for or against the Country. Harding may have been corrupt but he did very little harm (he even pardon Debs). Unlike today's GOP Hoover and Coolidge just did not want to do anything, either good or bad.
LBJ's bad moves (Vietnam) was dictated by Domestic Politics. If he had left Vietnam fall he would have been facing headlines saying he "Lost Vietnam" just like Truman had been attacked for "losing China" 20 years before. Neither President lost anything, each country fell do to their own leadership's failures but our Right wing was NOT going to let facts interfere with their attacks.
Remember this is a list of BAD PRESIDENT IGNORING ANY GOOD THEIR DID. Not always a easy thing to do for sometime to get something good done you have to agree to something bad (For example LBJ's Great Society Program came at the cost of Vietnam). Politics is the art of the Possible not the ideal.
Another Example was Jackson paying the price for the use of the Georgia Militia as a threat during the Nullification Crisis of 1828 (Where South Carolina voted to "Nullify" the Federal Tariff so it could not be collected in South Carolina). It was NOT the threat of Federal Troops that forced South Carolina to back down but the Threat of the Georgia, North Carolina and Tennesee Militia. All three later involved with taking the Cherokee's lands. Jackson made a Choice, he decided Unity of the United States was more important than a Treaty. Without those troops he could not face down South Carolina. The price of those troops was the Cherokee's lands. I am not defending his decision but I understand the choice he made (an easier choice than I am making here for he throught of nothing of stealing Indian's land, but he did not want to see women and children die either).
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