Is Obama truly the worst POTUS of all time?

[glenn1]

LOL! I call bullshit!

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Historical_rankings_of_Presidents_of_the_United_States

https://www.washingtonpost.com/blog...ln-1-obama-18-kennedy-judged-most-over-rated/

http://m.aol.com/article/2015/11/26...ing-of-presidents-changed-over-time/21271185/

From your link, this sounds about right:

How does Barack Obama fare? Scholars had a mixed view of him. Obama ranks 18th overall and, among the modern presidents (those since FDR), he is in the middle of the pack. He ranks behind not only Clinton and Eisenhower but also Reagan, Johnson, Kennedy, and George H.W. Bush. Obama ranks ahead of Gerald R. Ford, Jimmy Carter, Richard Nixon, and George W. Bush (who was ranked 35 overall).

I'd argue Dubya belongs a bit higher than 35 and Ike and Clinton are too high being in the top 10 , but that's it's not really gemane to this discussion. Whether a particular peson goes up or down a few spots as it doesn't really affect the relative rankings of the recent presidents. I think however think Obama, Bush Sr, and Clinton should be closer together because their terms share a lot of similarities - mostly peaceful, economic stability (more in Clinton's case obviously), and no huge changes in the political dynamics of the age like FDR or Reagan ushered in.

 

[thraashman]

Every president deals with the legacy of what came before them. Bush getting us into Iraq was a clusterfuck of historic proportions, but 9/11 was the fault of the foreign policy of those that came before him. The Bush economy crashed in 2008 because it had to, the entire thing was a house of cards because everyone (not just Bush) wanted to continue the euphoric expansion of the .com bubble rather than let things cool down. Bush made terrible choices and surrounded himself with terrible people, but what recent president hasn't? Obama put Hillary "Let's Help The Middle East" Clinton in as SoS and brought Goldman Sachs in to tell him how to run the economy. And guess what, the middle east is a bigger clusterfuck than ever and the GINI index continues to favor the rich more than it did under Bush. Mission Accomplished?

I don't entirely blame the economic crisis on Bush, but he was a large factor. One of the largest factors a President has ever been in an economic change. Obama's biggest detriment to the economy was not 100% repealing the Bush tax cuts.

Yeah, because Republicans treated the Clintons sooooooooooooo much better just because they're white. Or perhaps you can just admit that the GOP would oppose most of the policies and actions of a Democratic president no matter what? If you think the Republicans changed their positions on anything because Obama was black (either exclusively or even in a tiny part) then quite frankly I think you're delusional. "Oh, I would have supported higher taxes on the rich, but since Obama is black....."

The GOP are marked by their opposition to anything resembling progress. So yes, they would oppose Obama a lot, but the level of obstruction Obama has face is unprecedented by even the GOP standards of causing fuck ups. And I didn't say the entire GOP has been racistly motivated, I specifically said the far right. Yes, it's hard to determine a difference between the GOP and the far right with how far to the right the GOP has moved in recent years. But the racism from the Tea Party groups and their ilk has been pretty blatant. Before Obama spoke a word as President, the racists were coming out from behind their curtains with loudspeakers.

 

[glenn1]

I don't entirely blame the economic crisis on Bush, but he was a large factor. One of the largest factors a President has ever been in an economic change. Obama's biggest detriment to the economy was not 100% repealing the Bush tax cuts.


The GOP are marked by their opposition to anything resembling progress. So yes, they would oppose Obama a lot, but the level of obstruction Obama has face is unprecedented by even the GOP standards of causing fuck ups. And I didn't say the entire GOP has been racistly motivated, I specifically said the far right. Yes, it's hard to determine a difference between the GOP and the far right with how far to the right the GOP has moved in recent years. But the racism from the Tea Party groups and their ilk has been pretty blatant. Before Obama spoke a word as President, the racists were coming out from behind their curtains with loudspeakers.

So you honestly think if Bernie gets elected that the GOP will treat him better and cooperate more just because he's white? And your evidence for this is what, the way the Republicans had racists coming out to oppose black republicans like Colin Powell and Condoleeza Rice?

 

[zinfamous]

Not even close. Hate does not mean you are doing a bad job. And love does not mean you're doing a good job.


The vast majority of unbiased historians think Kennedy was the worst president.

No, Harding is generally cited as the worst, IIRC. Grant as well, but primarily because he was an historically terrible judge of character, so he put together the worst administration possible, which was possibly only surpassed by Harding in terms of corruption and scandal.

Kennedy was not nearly the worst--certainly flawed in many respects.

 

[Subyman]

Wish there was a third option for neutral in the poll. I don't think he's been bad. I think he hasn't done too much, but I do like his moral stance on issues. He doesn't spout hate. He does seem to care about people. I don't think he was experienced enough to properly steer the country and he made enemies in the congress early on so he couldn't get anything done later.

I know for a fact that some on the right have blown him way out of proportion. He doesn't want to kill the 2nd amendment. He isn't trying to destroy America. He doesn't hate white people. Blah blah. The stuff that goes around Facebook about Obama is crazy. If anything, he hasn't done much. The right should be pretty happy with how ineffectual he has been. Looking back 8 years, the right way scared shitless.

The biggest failure of Obama is his foreign policy.

 

[bshole]

No, Harding is generally cited as the worst, IIRC. Grant as well, but primarily because he was an historically terrible judge of character, so he put together the worst administration possible, which was possibly only surpassed by Harding in terms of corruption and scandal.

Kennedy was not nearly the worst--certainly flawed in many respects.

If Trump gets the nomination, he would immediately go to the head of the list. I consider Obama a middle of the roader. His foreign policy (while better than Bush's) was not pacifist enough. The new EPA regs irk me, I am worried about their long term impact on our economy. Other than those two things, he was in general pretty good. He demonstrates a level of professionalism that stands in stark contrast to that shamble of a debate last night.

In short, I prefer Obama by a WIDE margin over anybody currently running for president.

 

[ivwshane]

I voted third party in '08 and '12. I know a continuation of Bush policy when I see it. What we, today, label the "establishment". It crosses party lines because it comes from Wall Street. "Your" people and "my" people are both suckers for campaign finance.

Well then you can blame yourself for the obstruction congress has used to keep those bush policies, you hate so much, from going away.