434 2 #1 January 29, 2008 'The worst US president' A Norwegian professor who's considered one of the country's leading experts on US politics has ranked George W Bush as the worst US president in history. The best: Abraham Lincoln. Professor Ole O Moen, who has followed American politics most of his career, has just written a book about all the US presidents. Aftenposten's weekly magazine A-magasinet asked Moen to choose who he thinks are the five best presidents and the five worst. Two members of the Republican party landed as both the worst and the best presidents. Bush, in Moen's opinion, is the worst. "His administration stands for a dangerous blend of arrogance and ignorance," Moen told A-magasinet, claiming that Bush has lacked an ability to listen to and cooperate with other heads of state, and with the US Congress. Moen cited the invasion of Iraq, the resulting chaos that has erupted in the country and the intelligence reports that Bush's basis for the invasion (alleged weapons of mass destruction) didn't exist. Bush also defied international opinion on a host of other issues, from the Kyoto agreement to rules for an international court, and his tax measures have widened the gap between rich and poor. A federal budget surplus inherited from the Clinton administration has turned into a huge deficit and now the US is widely believed to be heading into a recession. Bush's approval ratings are currently at a low point in the US, but Bush himself has indicated that he doesn't care about his legacy. Moen's choice for the "next-worst" US president is James Buchanan, a Democrat, whose term ran from 1857-1861 and who is often called the father of the American Civil War. Buchanan is followed by Warren G Harding, a Republican who was president in the early 1920s and whose isolationist policies destabilized the world economy and helped fuel Germany's desire for military revenge. Moen chose Calvin Coolidge, president from 1923-27) who continued an isolationist strategy, as the fourth-worst president, and Andrew Johnson (1865-1869) as the fifth worst, because he allowed defeated southern states into the union without insisting that they reform themselves. The Norwegian professor's favorite president is Abraham Lincoln, also a Republican, who insisted on a government "of the people, by the people and for the people," and who rose from a poor background to save a nation that had descended into civil war. Franklin D Roosevelt is Moen's choice as second-best president, for bringing the US out of the Depression, launching social reforms and leading the nation to victory in World War II. George Washington, the country's first president, was ranked third-best, Thomas Jefferson fourth and Woodrow Wilson fifth. http://www.aftenposten.no/english/local/article2225168.ece Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ExAFO 0 #2 January 29, 2008 Quote'The worst US president' William Henry Harrison?Illinois needs a CCW Law. NOW. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
DJL 232 #3 January 29, 2008 QuoteQuote'The worst US president' William Henry Harrison? I actually think it was Harrison Ford. I mean that whole thing on AirForce One was just....BAD."I encourage all awesome dangerous behavior." - Jeffro Fincher Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Zipp0 1 #4 January 29, 2008 Typical right wing Buchanan bashing. -------------------------- Chuck Norris doesn't do push-ups, he pushes the Earth down. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
rehmwa 2 #5 January 29, 2008 Quote'The worst US president' A Norwegian professor ..... I stopped at that point and made some guesses at how he'd rank best and worst. Absolutely no surprises at all. ... Driving is a one dimensional activity - a monkey can do it - being proud of your driving abilities is like being proud of being able to put on pants Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
434 2 #6 January 29, 2008 QuoteQuote'The worst US president' A Norwegian professor ..... I stopped at that point and made some guesses at how he'd rank best and worst. Absolutely no surprises at all. So then you have a tendence to: a dangerous blend of arrogance and ignorance! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
diablopilot 2 #7 January 29, 2008 Every asshole has an opinion. Those of us that are citizens call them "votes".---------------------------------------------- You're not as good as you think you are. Seriously. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
rehmwa 2 #8 January 29, 2008 QuoteQuoteQuote'The worst US president' A Norwegian professor ..... I stopped at that point and made some guesses at how he'd rank best and worst. Absolutely no surprises at all. So then you have a tendence to: a dangerous blend of arrogance and ignorance! nope, a predilection ('predilectence' for you) for prediction supported by followup fact checking - yet still dangerous, as well as blended ... Driving is a one dimensional activity - a monkey can do it - being proud of your driving abilities is like being proud of being able to put on pants Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
kbordson 8 #9 January 29, 2008 I would have put Truman in one of the top 5. (and would have bumped Wilson out) Truman had a very difficult term but always accepted responsibility for his decisions. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
happythoughts 0 #10 January 29, 2008 Abraham Lincoln start the war that killed more Americans than any other - The War of Northern Aggression. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Zipp0 1 #11 January 29, 2008 Quote Abraham Lincoln start the war that killed more Americans than any other - The War of Northern Aggression. Or as I like to call it" The attempted redneck genocide of the 19th century." -------------------------- Chuck Norris doesn't do push-ups, he pushes the Earth down. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ExAFO 0 #12 January 29, 2008 Quote Abraham Lincoln start the war that killed more Americans than any other - The War of Northern Aggression. Yep, and we won. Your side lost. Get over it.Illinois needs a CCW Law. NOW. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Amazon 7 #13 January 29, 2008 Quote Truman had a very difficult term but always accepted responsibility for his decisions. My.. What an outdated and novel ideaPersonally I like the whole...."The Buck Stops Here" thing... Unlike. the current administration" Who can we blame for this fiasco" Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
happythoughts 0 #14 January 29, 2008 Quote Quote Abraham Lincoln start the war that killed more Americans than any other - The War of Northern Aggression. Yep, and we won. Your side lost. Get over it. Won? We managed to repel the invaders because they were led by that alcoholic Grant. They were forced to return to the Great White North. We are all vastly wealthy here. I live in the place that people from the GWN can only afford to visit for one week. When do you hear, "Thank goodness we live in Minnesota this winter. It must be intolerably warm down there." Rednecks are the screaming, shirtless, bodypainted people wearing cheese-things on their heads at a game. (They are screaming because they are not wearing shirts and it is 30 degrees below the minimum temp of 68 degrees.) Sunday it was low 70s with a 4 mph breeze. Jumping was spectacular. Did a couple of 18+ ways. "Dad...the cat is frozen to the front step again..." Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
happythoughts 0 #15 January 29, 2008 QuoteUnlike. the current administration" Who can we blame for this fiasco" Who would want to hear "It was a vast left-wing conspiracy." before the truth came out? That would be too unbelievable. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
SkyDekker 1,145 #16 January 29, 2008 QuoteEvery asshole has an opinion. Those of us that are citizens call them "votes". Really? As a citizen you get to vote on the worst president? Looks like you guys have been doing an outstanding job then (Also explains how a guy like Bush gets elected twice) Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Para_Frog 1 #17 January 29, 2008 I would vote him the most hated President in history - and since the article is based on little data, I'd be right. Clinton would be #2. Worst President - performance-wise...regardless of likeability... Jimmy Carter - hands down. And he's still fucking up and as anti-semitic as ever, at age 143.- Harvey, BASE 1232 TAN-I, IAD-I, S&TA BLiNC Magazine Team Member Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
lawrocket 3 #18 January 29, 2008 What great spin!!! Quote Bush has lacked an ability to listen to and cooperate with other heads of state, Like Tony Blair. I liked "lacked ability to listen." This is in the same vein as the famously oxymoronic, "Shut your mouth and open your mind." Um, perhaps it should be phrased, "He lacked the record of doing what I and plenty of others thought he should have done." Quote and with the US Congress. As evidenced by his veto record for the last 7 years, right? I thought he spent the first 6 years as a "rubber stamp." Quote Moen cited the invasion of Iraq, the resulting chaos that has erupted in the country and the intelligence reports that Bush's basis for the invasion (alleged weapons of mass destruction) didn't exist Okay. I cannot dispute that. It's valid. Quote A federal budget surplus inherited from the Clinton administration Factually fucking untrue. Quote a huge deficit Factually fucking true! Can't argue with that. Quote and now the US is widely believed to be heading into a recession Is there a scientific consensus? By the way, wasn't that what happened in, oh, 2000? That Bush "inherited?" Quote Bush's approval ratings are currently at a low point in the US Makes sense. Can't argue with that. It doesn't mean he's a bad POTUS. Clinton's were pretty low in 94, too. Quote Bush himself has indicated that he doesn't care about his legacy. How dare he not care abotu his legacy!!! Quote James Buchanan, a Democrat, whose term ran from 1857-1861 and who is often called the father of the American Civil War Yeah, a president who said that the Constitution didn't give him the authority to go to war with the South, so he decided not to do an Unconstitutional Act. Many find his failure to deal with the Secession to be a bad act. But what could he do? Quote Warren G Harding, a Republican who was president in the early 1920s and whose isolationist policies destabilized the world economy and helped fuel Germany's desire for military revenge. There are plenty of reasons to view Harding as a dolt. But claiming his policies led to Germany's desire for revenge? I thought the Treaty of Versailles did plenty for that - that 5 billion Pounds in reparations that were contrary to Woodrow's Fourteen Points. Germans were plenty pissed off afterward that. That quote is simply bullshit - and I think Harding was one of the worst ever. Why not look at legitimate reasons? Quote The Norwegian professor's favorite president is Abraham Lincoln, also a Republican, who insisted on a government "of the people, by the people and for the people," Could have fooled Lambdin Milligan, who was sentenced to hang by a military tribunal without due process, in part due to Lincoln's suspension of the writ of habeus corpus. See Ex parte Milligan, where a Supreme Court (not loaded with Reagan and Bush Nominees) found that convicting citizens in military courts is unconstitutional when there are functioning civil courts. YEah, here's a president who sought to arrest and execute opposition. Quote Franklin D Roosevelt is Moen's choice as second-best president, for bringing the US out of the Depression, launching social reforms and leading the nation to victory in World War II. Bringing OUT of the Depression? He presided over ten years of it! Launching social reforms? No. Credit Teddy with launching them. Leading to victory in WWII? Okay - let me get this straight - Bush is the worst for leading us into war. Buchanan is the second worst for leading us into war. FDR is one of the best for leading us INTO war, but leading to VICTORY in war that he didn't avert? And people say Americans don't know anythign about the rest of the world? My wife is hotter than your wife. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
lawrocket 3 #19 January 29, 2008 QuoteI would have put Truman in one of the top 5. (and would have bumped Wilson out) Truman had a very difficult term but always accepted responsibility for his decisions. Truman ALSO had a fantastic exercise of power that the constitution didn't grant him. He issued an order that nationalized the American Steel Industry in 1952 to keep his Korean War machine going. Said the New York Daily News in a headline, Truman Does a Hitler." Two months later, the SCOTUS ruled that such a usurpation was unconstitutional. It's astounding to me that so many presidents who committed the worst atrocities to civil liberties are viewed as being such good presidents. My wife is hotter than your wife. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
shropshire 0 #20 January 29, 2008 <> Yea well he's one of the very worst PMs that we have ever had too. (.)Y(.) Chivalry is not dead; it only sleeps for want of work to do. - Jerome K Jerome Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
pirana 0 #21 January 29, 2008 QuoteQuoteQuoteQuote'The worst US president' A Norwegian professor ..... I stopped at that point and made some guesses at how he'd rank best and worst. Absolutely no surprises at all. So then you have a tendence to: a dangerous blend of arrogance and ignorance! nope, a predilection ('predilectence' for you) for prediction supported by followup fact checking - yet still dangerous, as well as blended I take my predilections shaken, . . . not stirred. A person would have to be considered as lacking all social graces to blend them." . . . the lust for power can be just as completely satisfied by suggesting people into loving their servitude as by flogging them and kicking them into obedience." -- Aldous Huxley Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
masterblaster72 0 #22 January 29, 2008 Quote<> Yea well he's one of the very worst PMs that we have ever had too. How do ya figure? Here in USA most of us don't hear the details of foreign politics, but it seems to me that he did a decent job -- look at the strength of your economy right now, for example. Be humble, ask questions, listen, learn, follow the golden rule, talk when necessary, and know when to shut the fuck up. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
kelpdiver 2 #23 January 29, 2008 QuoteQuote'The worst US president' A Norwegian professor ..... I stopped at that point and made some guesses at how he'd rank best and worst. Absolutely no surprises at all. Indeed, there are some odd arguments being made there. The chief problem I see is a professor of history ranking a standing president in historical terms. We're a couple decades early on that; right now we're still in political science. Just look at all the assholes who started praising Nixon by the mid 90s. (He was the glaring missing name in the worst 5) Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
rehmwa 2 #24 January 29, 2008 QuoteQuoteQuote'The worst US president' A Norwegian professor ..... I stopped at that point and made some guesses at how he'd rank best and worst. Absolutely no surprises at all. Indeed, there are some odd arguments being made there. The chief problem I see is a professor of history ranking a standing president in historical terms. We're a couple decades early on that; right now we're still in political science. Just look at all the assholes who started praising Nixon by the mid 90s. (He was the glaring missing name in the worst 5) that was well said. I'm not so thoughtful - I'm arrogant and dangerous. I was just knee jerking on the combo of European + Academia Wallowing in the stereotype - as it were ... Driving is a one dimensional activity - a monkey can do it - being proud of your driving abilities is like being proud of being able to put on pants Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ExAFO 0 #25 January 29, 2008 God-dammit, the worst President was William Henry Harrison!!!Illinois needs a CCW Law. NOW. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
