Donald Trump said today that President Obama would go down as one of the worst Presidents in history. Really Donald? Political rhetoric aside, he can’t really think that. If he does, he is more unhinged than we realize or perhaps it’s just another one of his tweets or comments that he will eventually have to walk back like so many others.
I will admit that rating the Presidents is an inexact science at best. You can choose a number of metrics to accomplish this task but the gaze of history may prove you to be an idiot. That being said, let us apply some sober realism to to the task. I don’t intend to try and “rate” our current President because number one, he is still in office and number two, I don’t believe any President can be fairly judged or rated without a historical context.
Seriously though Donald, “the worst (P)resident in the history of the US”? Worse than James Buchanan whose inability to act led us to the brink of Civil War and threatened to destroy our union? Worse than Franklin Pierce who was so popular it took 49 ballots just to nominate him and who tried to sit the fence on the slavery issue and practiced patronage to the detriment of the country? Worse than Herbert Hoover who strongly supported a very unpopular prohibition and whose inability to act prolonged The Great Depression by who knows how long? Worse than Andrew Johnson who refused to protect the newly freed slaves, opposed the fourteenth amendment to the constitution and whose reconstruction policies were devastatingly bad for the country? Worse than Richard Nixon who used government agencies to destroy his political enemies and who was so paranoid that he ended up a national disgrace? Worse than George W. Bush who took this country into an extremely unpopular war against a country that did not provoke us? By comparison, President Obama has been a mensch.
Unfortunately, when we look back and try to rate our Presidents, so much goes by the wayside. I believe Obama’s biggest problem has been the unwillingness of a hostile Congress to work with him in any meaningful way. The Supreme Court not withstanding, Congress has refused to work with this President on almost everything. I think Obama’s greatest strength is realizing that sweeping change can only happen in this country in times of national crisis and incremental change must be the goal. I think Obama has paved the way for change in the years to come, leading this country on the path to which it is already headed. In addition to that, how can you say the man is one of the worst ever when he has led us out of the greatest recessions since the Great Depression, has taken steps to see that the weakest among us have, at least, access to health care, and who hunted down and killed the perpetrator of the greatest crime against America ever. Almost everything Mitt Romney promised in the 2012 campaign has come to pass under the Obama administration and then some so I ask you Mr. Trump WHAT MORE DO YOU WANT?
Op-Ed Nation 