pOt MaIk YoU sToOpId
Active Member
Today's leader suggests that George Bush could go down as the worst president in the history of the United States. His foreign policy is under fire, especially after the publication of Iraq Study Group report, which found that "stability in Iraq remains elusive and the situation is deteriorating." From Afghanistan to Guantanamo Bay, the strategies of his administration have divided opinion. Things are not looking good on the home front either; the Republicans' poor showing in the midterm elections, losing both Houses in the Capitol, was seen by most commentators as a judgment on the Bush White House.
Today, Bush is criticised as a matter of course, and every political move (and its consequence) is highly publicised. But George Bush is just one of the America's 43 presidents and is by no means the only one to have courted controversy. Are the misdemeanours and errors of judgment that pepper US presidential history any less shocking than the policies of George Bush? Andrew Johnson, who took office in 1865, was a white supremacist who vetoed Civil Rights laws which would have given freed slaves equal status. James Buchanan is often criticised for failing to prevent the American Civil War. Warren Harding was plagued by the corruption and scandal brought to his administration by the friends he appointed to high-profile positions. At the time, Harding's verbal gaffes were as much a target for ridicule as Bush's linguistic infelicities are today. Following his impeachment over the Watergate scandal, Richard Nixon became the only American president to resign.
George W Bush may have some competition for the claim, then, but can we say now that he is the worst president in US history?
Today, Bush is criticised as a matter of course, and every political move (and its consequence) is highly publicised. But George Bush is just one of the America's 43 presidents and is by no means the only one to have courted controversy. Are the misdemeanours and errors of judgment that pepper US presidential history any less shocking than the policies of George Bush? Andrew Johnson, who took office in 1865, was a white supremacist who vetoed Civil Rights laws which would have given freed slaves equal status. James Buchanan is often criticised for failing to prevent the American Civil War. Warren Harding was plagued by the corruption and scandal brought to his administration by the friends he appointed to high-profile positions. At the time, Harding's verbal gaffes were as much a target for ridicule as Bush's linguistic infelicities are today. Following his impeachment over the Watergate scandal, Richard Nixon became the only American president to resign.
George W Bush may have some competition for the claim, then, but can we say now that he is the worst president in US history?