re: My list of worst 5 presidents ever

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What did he do as president?

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Well to begin with, we wouldn't have had a country for him to preside over without him. He gave us the office of the president. He could have been king, ruler, emperor, or whatever he wanted to be, and he chose to be president, with limits on his influence, power, and even his term. He set the standard for patriotism and integrity that probably none have matched since.

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Historically, Washington should have become King of the United States or Lord Protector like Cromwell.

So therefore his greatest accomplishment was becoming president and voluntarily limiting himself to 2 terms. When King George III heard that Washington was stepping down he said, "If he does that, he will be the greatest man in the world." Enough said!

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This.

We are all conditioned to the idea that elections and set terms are the norm, but it was effectively unprecedented when he walked away. It set the precedent for all who followed, with the exception of a certain megalomaniac.

Plus, he literally had zero structure or gameplay to follow. Think about how little is in the Constitution about how to actually run the executive branch.

Any list that doesn't have Franklin Pierce is suspect.

During his presidency, he and fellow Northern Democrat came up with the Kansas-Nebraska act that betrayed the Missouri Compromise on slavery in the territories in exchange hopes of the transcontinental railroad. Kansas-Nebraska opened previously free territory to slavery. This broke any chance for future compromise on slavery between the north and south and ensured the south would try to succeed. It was the direct cause of Bloody Kansas.

For championing the Kansas-Nebraska Act, a most important precursor to the Civil War, Franklin Pierce should be #1 on the bad president list.

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IMO Carter didn't war monger so he gets punished

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Carter gets punished for being a cuck.

He practically destroyed our military ... I served under him so I know. We were using old, WWII, Korean and Vietnam worn out equipment. We never had bullets or bombs to practice with. Hell, we were eating 15 and 20 year old C-Rations.

Also, Carter allowed OPEC to run roughshod over us.

He allowed the PLO to gain traction and expand under Arafat.

Carter did not instill confidence ... and under his leadership we fell into the worst economic recession since the Great Depression.

Then Carter exasperated the Iran situation by refusing to back the Shah, encouraging the return of the Ayatollah from France ... and then he invited the Shah to flee here which led to the taking of our embassy and our/the Americans were held hostage which led to the failed Eagle One rescue attempt ... and that was the end of Carter.

agreed

Carter, Obama, LBJ, Nixon, Your pick

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But Nixon was effective

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No, he wasn't. The terrible economy he had went right through Ford to Carter. Carter gets most of the blame for the economic problems Nixon tried to solve with his Shock, and Ford tried to solve with his Whip Inflation Now campaign, both of which were miserable failures, and the only thing that really turned it around was the tight money policy initiated by Paul Volcker - who was appointed by Carter.

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Nixon did end Vietnam

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That's just some sort of sick joke after Nixon expanded the war into Cambodia and was caught sabotaging the 1968 peace talks.

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did transition China from USSR lackey

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You're just venturing into fantasy land now. The rift between China and the USSR came to a head after Kruschev denounced Stalin and Mao referred to the USSR as "Revisionist Traitors" in 1961. What Nixon DID do with China, was put us on the road to this uneven trade relationship, allowing China to build its military, by thinking he was opening up Chinese markets to us - without realizing what opening our markets to a communist country would do to our labor force.

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Carter didn’t follow the mutual aspect of detente, he unilaterally reduced American military might

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By advancing the stealth bomber and cruise missile programs? By threatening to put Pershing II "nucular" missiles in Europe?

And the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan was the best thing to happen to both the USSR AND Afghanistan. I was pissed when Carter armed and trained the mujahedin.

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Carter on list because he failed across the board, and exclude Nixon because of his success.

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I don't think Carter is judged across the board, just by Iran and inflation that he inherited and actually had a major hand in ending. He doesn't get credit for ending federal regulation of trucking, interstate buses, railroads and airlines - not to mention phasing out federal price controls for natural gas and crude oil. While Nixon gets ignore for his wage and price controls and other massive regulatory initiatives (EPA, OSHA, etc...)

I would say that Carter and Nixon had about the same measures of success and failure. Yet it's the letter next to the name that people judge them by.

In my lifetime

LBJ - It's impossible to overstate the damage his policies have done to this country

Carter
Obama
Dubya

Hard call for 5th between Daddy Bush and Nixon, gotta go with Nixon

All time

LBJ

Woodrow Wilson - Set the stage for both the Great Depression and WW2.

Lincoln- yes he won the civil war, trampled the Constitution into the bloody mud in the process

Grant - Most corrupt administration in our history.

Carter probably for 5 from sheer ineptitude

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Lincoln, really.

He does not belong on that list, just let it go. We lost and that was a good thing

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No. No it wasn't.

Roosevelt
Wilson
LBJ
Carter
Obama