Which President(s) Of The Last 50 Years Have Done The Most Damage To The Country ?

[JakeStarkey]

Which one(s) are the worst in terms of inflicting long-term damage by way of their policies, their leadership (or lack thereof), their judgment, their Supreme Court picks, etc...?

multiple choice poll, so you can vote for more than one…

Shocker... the kenyan is the clear leader as worst president ever...

Shocker . . . PR is more likely of foreign birth than Obama.

 

[pfuzzy57]

For those of you who condemn Reagan, have you forgotten that he played a HUGE part of bringing down the Berlin Wall? If he hadn't been actively involved with discussions with Gorbechv (sp) how do you figure that wall came down?

I'm a retired Air Force NCO, and I was stationed at a base in Belgium that had ground launched cruise missiles. It was part of a plan to send missiles into East Germany if they attacked us, and it was a decision made by Reagan. I was there for a year. That was part of the reason that the wall eventually came down.

I was stationed in West Germany when the wall was taken down. I remember watching it on German TV. I couldn't believe what they were showing, and I also remember the thousands of cars coming from East Germany into the West, even in the small town I lived in. Quite remarkable, and I don't believe any other president would have had the guts to tell the Russians to tear it down. Certainly not any of the democratic presidents we've had since.

 

[USMCSergeant]

I continue to see the words - unfounded or illegal - followed by war(s). I realize there is a dispute about OIF, but how can anyone dispute the war in Afghanistan? Unless you're a conspiracy person, then I couldn't care less about your opinion. But you intelligent posters, how do you feel that Afghanistan is either unfounded or illegal?

 

[Jackson]

I continue to see the words - unfounded or illegal - followed by war(s). I realize there is a dispute about OIF, but how can anyone dispute the war in Afghanistan? Unless you're a conspiracy person, then I couldn't care less about your opinion. But you intelligent posters, how do you feel that Afghanistan is either unfounded or illegal?

The war in Afghanistan was warranted. Have we forgotten so quickly?

 

[JakeStarkey]

Almost all of the Board members who have posted over time I have had almost no problem with kicking Taliban and Al-Quada butt. The degeneration of the war there with the removal of the helicopter and Spec Op units in late 2002 and 2003 is what soured me on Afghanistan. We blew our last real chance to impose our will on the entire country then.

 

[USMCSergeant]

I feel in late 2001, and early 2002 we were doing a great job tracking, locating and killing terrorists in Afghan. We conducted many raids, took many prisoners, and killed many enemy combatants in those early 8 months. Then things changed. ROE's became difficult. Our missions became fewer and farther between. More sitting, less doing. If we would have continued being aggressive things would have gotten done so much faster, including locating and killing Bin Laden. So many posts here have stated, "2 unfounded wars." or "Those illegal wars." Obviously referencing Afghanistan. I want to know why those posters feel that way?

 

[Harry Dresden]

Here is the BushBot once again defending his hero.

......come on all you Bush fans..... ya gotta admit the caption in the picture is funny.....its something he would say.....

 

[Bfgrn]

I feel in late 2001, and early 2002 we were doing a great job tracking, locating and killing terrorists in Afghan. We conducted many raids, took many prisoners, and killed many enemy combatants in those early 8 months. Then things changed. ROE's became difficult. Our missions became fewer and farther between. More sitting, less doing. If we would have continued being aggressive things would have gotten done so much faster, including locating and killing Bin Laden. So many posts here have stated, "2 unfounded wars." or "Those illegal wars." Obviously referencing Afghanistan. I want to know why those posters feel that way?

I remember Rumsfeld's briefings at the beginning of the Afghanistan war.

"No hard targets"

Translation: We don't have an army to fight a man intensive war, and more importantly, we are not feeding the military/industrial complex who should be making millions per day.

Solution: invent a reason to invade Iraq

 

[Saigon]

I voted Reagan, both because his refusal to even consider the concept of a balanced budget established a pattern for all the heavy-spending presidents who followed, but because he seemed to represent the 'greed is good' mentality which still plauges America.

In many ways Reagan was a terrific president, but I think he also did much to move the whereby pieces into positions whereby the banks could begin their slow move towards inevitably melting the global economy. He did not cause the meltdown; but he helped create the landscape upon which it would sooner or later have to meltdown.

 

[Bfgrn]

I voted Reagan, both because his refusal to even consider the concept of a balanced budget established a pattern for all the heavy-spending presidents who followed, but because he seemed to represent the 'greed is good' mentality which still plauges America.

In many ways Reagan was a terrific president, but I think he also did much to move the whereby pieces into positions whereby the banks could begin their slow move towards inevitably melting the global economy. He did not cause the meltdown; but he helped create the landscape upon which it would sooner or later have to meltdown.

"Washington couldn't tell a lie, Nixon couldn't tell the truth, and Reagan couldn't tell the difference."
Mort Sahl

 

[Peach]

I voted Reagan, both because his refusal to even consider the concept of a balanced budget established a pattern for all the heavy-spending presidents who followed, but because he seemed to represent the 'greed is good' mentality which still plauges America.

In many ways Reagan was a terrific president, but I think he also did much to move the whereby pieces into positions whereby the banks could begin their slow move towards inevitably melting the global economy. He did not cause the meltdown; but he helped create the landscape upon which it would sooner or later have to meltdown.

"Washington couldn't tell a lie, Nixon couldn't tell the truth, and Reagan couldn't tell the difference."
Mort Sahl

Bush II of course had NONE of Reagan's positive attributes, few though they were.

 

[JamesInFlorida]

I continue to see the words - unfounded or illegal - followed by war(s). I realize there is a dispute about OIF, but how can anyone dispute the war in Afghanistan? Unless you're a conspiracy person, then I couldn't care less about your opinion. But you intelligent posters, how do you feel that Afghanistan is either unfounded or illegal?

I agree. I've been against the war in Iraq since day one-but the one in Afghanistan I'm totally fine with. If anything I think we make the mistake by viewing the world through our own lens, and not theirs. They're not loyal to nations-their loyal to their tribes/groups. We should go wherever they go imo.

The only way I see Afghanistan as being illegal is the constitution states that only congress has the ability to declare war-and they still haven't done so yet. Even though at this point it's just semantics.

 

[Mad Scientist]

JFK was the last real President. I couldn't justify chosing Carter or Ford cause they were so weak.

 

[Artevelde]

JFK was the last real President. I couldn't justify chosing Carter or Ford cause they were so weak.

JFK? Come on. He was hardly a great President.

 

[nodoginnafight]

Nixon, LBJ, and Bush jr. all did tremendous damage. Hard to pick just one out of those three, but if I had to - I'd say Nixon.

 

[candycorn]

JFK was the last real President. I couldn't justify chosing Carter or Ford cause they were so weak.

JFK? Come on. He was hardly a great President.

Hard to say that given what I have read about the subject--I was born over 10 years after he died but if you look at the trajectory of events in his Presidency; I think he would have been very unremarkable had he lived the rest of his term and possibly a second.

 

[Artevelde]

JFK was the last real President. I couldn't justify chosing Carter or Ford cause they were so weak.

JFK? Come on. He was hardly a great President.

Hard to say that given what I have read about the subject--I was born over 10 years after he died but if you look at the trajectory of events in his Presidency; I think he would have been very unremarkable had he lived the rest of his term and possibly a second.

Indeed, he wasn't the worst and certainly also not the best. A pretty minor figure really.

 

[candycorn]

For those of you who condemn Reagan, have you forgotten that he played a HUGE part of bringing down the Berlin Wall? If he hadn't been actively involved with discussions with Gorbechv (sp) how do you figure that wall came down?

I'm a retired Air Force NCO, and I was stationed at a base in Belgium that had ground launched cruise missiles. It was part of a plan to send missiles into East Germany if they attacked us, and it was a decision made by Reagan. I was there for a year. That was part of the reason that the wall eventually came down.

I was stationed in West Germany when the wall was taken down. I remember watching it on German TV. I couldn't believe what they were showing, and I also remember the thousands of cars coming from East Germany into the West, even in the small town I lived in. Quite remarkable, and I don't believe any other president would have had the guts to tell the Russians to tear it down. Certainly not any of the democratic presidents we've had since.

There are times when you want a CEO and there are times when you want a CMO (Chief Morale Officer). And there are times when you need to have one trump the other. Reagan wasn't that good of a CEO but he was a great CMO and he came along at a time when we needed to remember who we are, how strong we are, and how great we are. I would dare say that the world needed Reagan as much as we did.

 

[Synthaholic]

Has anyone explained their Bush The Wiser choice yet?

 

[JakeStarkey]

JFK? Come on. He was hardly a great President.

Hard to say that given what I have read about the subject--I was born over 10 years after he died but if you look at the trajectory of events in his Presidency; I think he would have been very unremarkable had he lived the rest of his term and possibly a second.

Indeed, he wasn't the worst and certainly also not the best. A pretty minor figure really.

Kennedy will be remembered for the Cuban Missile Crisis and for (finally) getting behind and pushing the Civil Rights Bill, which, along with the assassination, gave LBJ the push he need to roll right through 1964 up to his overwhelming election.