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George W. Bush worst president since Harding: 64 historians, scholars
No major news organization elected to lead with George W. Bush's dismal 15th percentile performance when they reported on a past presidents poll conducted by C-Span in December and January. They all elected, rather, to indulge in feel good President's Day fluff.
Most of the cowards crafted a headline and story lead about Abraham Lincoln being the best American president. That was hardly riveting news, but, rather, only President's Day fluff.
A few timid editors covered their asses with a lead about Lincoln's vice president, Andrew Johnson, being adjudged one of the worst U.S. presidents. Again, that was comfortably safe but hardly news at all.
I want to know why no major news organization went with the most obvious angle to be garnered from C-Span's February 15 reportage of a new presidential poll--that George W. Bush (Dubya) was ranked 36 out of a possible 42 among American presidents going all the way back to George Washington.
Put another way, the whiz kid from Midland is in the 15th percentile on the list. That means that 85 percent of all American presidents (35) were adjudged to have turned in a better performance than this tortured generation's George W. Bush.
The poll was taken by C-Span during December and January among 64 leading American history scholars and presidential historians drawn from a broad ideological spectrum.
From this writer's perspective, Bush's dismal showing in the poll is a confirmation of what many of us who were voices crying in the wilderness for much of the last eight years always suspected. We deserve exoneration. We deserve an opportunity to gloat.
But the news organizations did not see it that way. They are apparently mostly into letting bygones be bygones-forgiving and forgetting-turning a page, etc.
Sorry, but not this ole boy. Not yet, anyway.
Bush damned nearly destroyed my nation and her place in the world. I want to see his ineptitude and criminality exposed and punished-not swept under the rug as he assumes the unlikely role of elder statesman.
Overall rankings of U.S. presidents in the C-Span poll were:
1. Abraham Lincoln
2. George Washington
3. Franklin D. Roosevelt
4. Theodore Roosevelt
5. Harry S. Truman
6. John F. Kennedy
7. Thomas Jefferson
8. Dwight D. Eisenhower
9. Woodrow Wilson
10. Ronald Reagan
11. Lyndon B. Johnson
12. James K. Polk
13. Andrew Jackson
14. James Monroe
15. Bill Clinton
16. William McKinley
17. John Adams
18. George H. W. Bush
19. John Quincy Adams
20. James Madison
21. Grover Cleveland
22. Gerald R. Ford
23. Ulysses S. Grant
24. William Howard Taft
25. Jimmy Carter
26. Calvin Coolidge
27. Richard M. Nixon
28. James A. Garfield
29. Zachary Taylor
30. Benjamin Harrison
31. Martin Van Buren
32. Chester A. Arthur
33. Rutherford B. Hayes
34. Herbert Hoover
35. John Tyler
36. George W. Bush
37. Millard Fillmore
38. Warren G. Harding
39. William Henry Harrison
40. Franklin D. Pierce
41. Andrew Johnson
42. James Buchanan
The roster of historians participating in the poll included Douglas Brinkley of Rice University, Richard Norton Smith of George Mason University, Robert Dallek of Boston University, Edna Medford of predominantly black Howard University, Stephen Hess of the Brookings Institution, and presidential biographer Lou Cannon
Characteristics on which presidents were judged included public persuasion, crisis leadership, economic management, moral authority, international relations, administrative skills, relations with congress, vision and agenda setting, pursuit of equal justice for all, and overall performance within the context of the times.
For more details, go to:
http://www.c-span.org/PresidentialSurvey/Overall-Ranking.aspx
A few timid editors covered their asses with a lead about Lincoln's vice president, Andrew Johnson, being adjudged one of the worst U.S. presidents. Again, that was comfortably safe but hardly news at all.
I want to know why no major news organization went with the most obvious angle to be garnered from C-Span's February 15 reportage of a new presidential poll--that George W. Bush (Dubya) was ranked 36 out of a possible 42 among American presidents going all the way back to George Washington.
Put another way, the whiz kid from Midland is in the 15th percentile on the list. That means that 85 percent of all American presidents (35) were adjudged to have turned in a better performance than this tortured generation's George W. Bush.
The poll was taken by C-Span during December and January among 64 leading American history scholars and presidential historians drawn from a broad ideological spectrum.
From this writer's perspective, Bush's dismal showing in the poll is a confirmation of what many of us who were voices crying in the wilderness for much of the last eight years always suspected. We deserve exoneration. We deserve an opportunity to gloat.
But the news organizations did not see it that way. They are apparently mostly into letting bygones be bygones-forgiving and forgetting-turning a page, etc.
Sorry, but not this ole boy. Not yet, anyway.
Bush damned nearly destroyed my nation and her place in the world. I want to see his ineptitude and criminality exposed and punished-not swept under the rug as he assumes the unlikely role of elder statesman.
Overall rankings of U.S. presidents in the C-Span poll were:
1. Abraham Lincoln
2. George Washington
3. Franklin D. Roosevelt
4. Theodore Roosevelt
5. Harry S. Truman
6. John F. Kennedy
7. Thomas Jefferson
8. Dwight D. Eisenhower
9. Woodrow Wilson
10. Ronald Reagan
11. Lyndon B. Johnson
12. James K. Polk
13. Andrew Jackson
14. James Monroe
15. Bill Clinton
16. William McKinley
17. John Adams
18. George H. W. Bush
19. John Quincy Adams
20. James Madison
21. Grover Cleveland
22. Gerald R. Ford
23. Ulysses S. Grant
24. William Howard Taft
25. Jimmy Carter
26. Calvin Coolidge
27. Richard M. Nixon
28. James A. Garfield
29. Zachary Taylor
30. Benjamin Harrison
31. Martin Van Buren
32. Chester A. Arthur
33. Rutherford B. Hayes
34. Herbert Hoover
35. John Tyler
36. George W. Bush
37. Millard Fillmore
38. Warren G. Harding
39. William Henry Harrison
40. Franklin D. Pierce
41. Andrew Johnson
42. James Buchanan
The roster of historians participating in the poll included Douglas Brinkley of Rice University, Richard Norton Smith of George Mason University, Robert Dallek of Boston University, Edna Medford of predominantly black Howard University, Stephen Hess of the Brookings Institution, and presidential biographer Lou Cannon
Characteristics on which presidents were judged included public persuasion, crisis leadership, economic management, moral authority, international relations, administrative skills, relations with congress, vision and agenda setting, pursuit of equal justice for all, and overall performance within the context of the times.
For more details, go to:
http://www.c-span.org/PresidentialSurvey/Overall-Ranking.aspx
For more information:
http://www.dgranthaynes.com/blogcfm/index.cfm
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End the WARS, Jail the LIARS!
By the way, I write this not being a fan of Bush's presidency, so save your outrage.