8 out of 10 Historians Agree: Bush Worst President Ever

[katinmn]

History News Network recently asked 415 historians: "Is George W. Bush the Worst President of the United States, Ever?"

http://hnn.us/articles/5019.html
5-17-04: News at Home

Historians vs. George W. Bush
By Robert S. McElvaine
Mr. McElvaine teaches history at Millsaps College. He is the author of EVE'S SEED: BIOLOGY, THE SEXES AND THE COURSE OF HISTORY (McGraw-Hill).

Although his approval ratings have slipped somewhat in recent weeks, President George W. Bush still enjoys the overall support of nearly half of the American people. He does not, however, fare nearly so well among professional historians.

A recent informal, unscientific survey of historians conducted at my suggestion by George Mason University’s History News Network found that eight in ten historians responding rate the current presidency an overall failure.


Quotes from historians contributing to the History News Network poll:

“Although previous presidents have led the nation into ill-advised wars, no predecessor managed to turn America into an unprovoked aggressor. No predecessor so thoroughly managed to confirm the impressions of those who already hated America. No predecessor so effectively convinced such a wide range of world opinion that America is an imperialist threat to world peace. I don 't think that you can do much worse than that.”

“Bush is horrendous; there is no comparison with previous presidents, most of whom have been bad.”

More quotes here:http://www.newsforreal.com/

[katinmn]

1. kick! Read some of the comments.

[EFerrari]

2. Kick. This is interesting. Academia pipes up.

:kick:

[katinmn]

5. thanks. It's believed that some were being sarcastic in their

answers that he wasn't the worst. :-)

Of 415 historians who expressed a view of President Bush’s administration to this point as a success or failure, 338 classified it as a failure and 77 as a success. (Moreover, it seems likely that at least eight of those who said it is a success were being sarcastic, since seven said Bush’s presidency is only the best since Clinton’s and one named Millard Fillmore.)

[EFerrari]

9. Well, Fillmore is sort of a dead giveaway.

:)

[Cooley Hurd]

3. "In terms of personal dishonesty, the worst since Clinton."

WTF??? Clinton was dishonest about ONE THING: A PERSONAL MATTER! It's obvious that these historians watched John Gibson on MSNBC during the late 90's a bit too much.:thumbsdown:

[trotsky]

7. Well, that could be a bit tongue-in-cheek.

His is the ONLY presidency since Clinton, so his personal dishonesty would be the worst since Clinton, wouldn't it? :)

[Cooley Hurd]

8. D'oh!

You're right. Should've read that a bit more closely. Thanks trotsky!:hi:

[LisaL]

4. 8 out of 10 agree? WTF is wrong with the other 2?

[katinmn]

6. see post #5

[elperromagico]

10. Those wacky historians with their lib'rul biases!

How dare they speak of Dear Leader in this way?!? :sarcasm:

[senseandsensibility]

11. kick

for the morning crowd.

[flordehinojos]

12. i wonder if that is MILLSAPS COLLEGE in JACKSON, MISS.

Right in the middle of Bible Belt?

[MADem]

36. And George Mason isn't quite Berkeley....n/t

[GeorgeGist]

13. Header is misleading...

according to the Bar chart in your post and the article itself, the number of respondents naming Bush 'Worst Ever' was 48. Out of 442 respondents that's about 12%. Just to be clear, of the Presidents I've lived under Bush is without a doubt 'Worst Ever'.

[Bandit]

14. .

[katinmn]

15. the bar chart shows how many historians compared GWB to

other presidents. The header is correct.

[EFerrari]

16. I lived to see the day when NIXON was a better choice.

:tearing hair out smilie here:

[Dem2theMax]

33. Here, for future reference -

I'm sure we can all use this smilie on a daily basis. LOL?

[EFerrari]

34. Oh, thank you! LOL! n/t

[Goldmund]

21. You're right.

[Tim4319]

17. What were the other two Historians thinking?

I just have a bachelors degree, and I can tell that Bush is the worst President ever!

[liberalmike27]

18. Just goes to show

That you don't have to waste all that money becoming a historian, as most of us knew that already.

He's like Cletus on the Simpson's.

[EFerrari]

19. kick

:kick:

[DistressedAmerican]

20. I Hope They Get Busy Writing Books! Kick And Nomination!

[ooglymoogly]

22. are the other two headless? nt

[Catherine Vincent]

23. Yessssssssssssss!!!

He is!!

[GRLMGC]

24. hahahaha

I don't know why the headline made me laugh. I wholeheartedly agree with these historians. He is absolutely the worst president ever. I mean Reagan was pretty awful, but Bush is ridiculous. Nixon was crazy, but at least he accomplished certain things. Everything Bush has done has been regressive. I shudder to think where he's thinking of taking this country.

[On the Road]

26. It Reminds Me of a Bicycle Delivery

to the Justice Department during the Reagan years. The deliveryman was stopped from entering the building because his T-Shirt said:

EXPERTS AGREE: MEESE IS A PIG!

When Ed Meese was asked about it by a reporter, he said (to his credit) "I took it as a joke, as I'm sure it was meant."

[Historic NY]

25. try as they may.........one cannot cover up the facts....

they speak for themselves. Bush would rather re-write history, to cover his short comings. This administration will be remembered as a disaster

[otohara]

27. But, But CNN Says He's Facinating

and that's all that matters

[Pacifist Patriot]

28. Blech!

[Turn CO Blue]

29. This survey is a year old ...I would love to see how those

historians poll now!

[dxstone]

30. Buh-but... don't ANY of you remember?

You CAN'T question his integrity... you just CAN'T!
What a weird thing to say about oneself... "Ya can't question mah integerty!"
WHY? WHY CAN'T WE? Cuz you don't HAVE any? Huh? WHY?

IF YOU QUESTION MY INTEGRITY

I WILL DEVOUR YOUR SOUL!!!

OH!.. oh...
:scared:

...never mind... go curl up, watch tv now... happy happy joy joy...

Worst President? An absolute no-brainer.

What about Worst Person? Ever?
Worst Evil To Ever Plague The Race of Man?
Worst Menace From Deep Space?

OH, WHY WON'T HE JUST GO HOME???

[dxstone]

31. ps: Kicked/Nominated!

Well done, Kat!
:hi:
:kick:

[Parche]

32. worst and the best

Worst GW Bush,Hoover,Nixon,Buchanan,

Best FDR,Lincoln,Madison,Jefferson,Clinton...Polk is somewhere in there too!!

[deadparrot]

35. I always knew us history buffs were the smartest.

Well done...:)

[GOPBasher]

37. Well, they're smart people, very educated. OF COURSE they hate Bush!

NT

[Crankie Avalon]

38. Well, obviously, the majority of a group of educated specialists...

...will come up with the conclusions they did.

Still, hearing accomplished historians and other competent specialists be critical of Bush's record will only make the brainwashed sheep who STILL drool over "Gee Dubya" cling to their own initial assessment (if you can dignify it with a word like "assessment") even more stubbornly and viciously. They'll just become even more entrenched in their delusions, because they need to be, really...

It's unfortunate, but that's just how it is with people who don't have much else going for them and are as stupid as they are narcissistic. They can't bear to admit they made a mistake, since many of them are the sort who haven't really turned out to be right about much else in their lives. If they had ever got some other things more or less right now and then, maybe they'd have enough security in themselves to admit they messed up on Bush, big-time. It's easier for people to admit they were wrong about one thing if they can at least look back and feel they were right about other things, before, and will be right about other things, again. People who are particularly unaccomplished don't have that consolation, and it may be part of the reason why they hate (and envy) "experts" and "specialists" so much.

[senseandsensibility]

39. I actually think that some of these people

might be swayed by specialists' opinions if the corporate news whores would ever publicize reports like this. And, of course, the pigboy and others will spin it for them to make them suspicious of the results.