Donald Trump officially ranked by presidential historians as the worst president ever

SharpshooterTom

A political survey conducted by has officially ranked Donald Trump the worst US president of all time, in 44th place (Lincoln was ranked 1st). Amongst the postwar presidents:

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2018/02/19/opinion/how-does-trump-stack-up-against-the-best-and-worst-presidents.html

6th: Harry Truman
7th: Dwight Eisenhower
8th: Barack Obama (this is too high IMO)
9th: Ronald Reagan
10th: Lyndon Johnson
13th: Bill Clinton
16th: John F Kennedy
17th: George HW Bush
25th: Gerald Ford
26th: Jimmy Carter
30th: George W Bush (too high also)
33th: Richard Nixon
44th: Donald Trump

Nate Silver, who is certainly by no means a Trump supporter and has been roundly criticized for repeatedly being too anti-Trump summed my feelings by writing this:

https://twitter.com/NateSilver538/status/965616457605410816

I want to say that I'm no fan of Trump and have made it repeatedly clear that I consider him to be a very very poor president, but for christ sake, we've had presidents who have led the US into a great depressions (Herbert Hoover, crashing the US economy leaving a 25% unemployment to his successor), James Buchanan (who plunged the US into the civil war, leaving the country being ripped apart and 700,000 dead), Franklin Pierce who expanded slavery, George W Bush who invaded Iraq under false pretenses, killing 5,000 of us own troops, 100,000 civilians, tortured, and gave the worst financial crisis in 80+ years.

Trump is certainly the worst person to ever be president, but worst person =/= worst president. If Trump ever started a nuclear war killing thousands or crashed the US economy, then I would certainly have no problems ranking him potentially as the worst president ever, but let's wait for that to happen first. At the moment I'd rank Trump about 35th ish. (i.e. crap but not the crappiest).

Also Obama 8th LMAO?? Obama did a good job rescuing the economy from dire straits in 2009, has a good LGBT record passed a solid healthcare bill.

But a lot of his other stuff is totally overrated, the Paris climate accords are almost certainly going to fail to meet their targets (95% chance of failure according to scientists), the Iran deal may fall apart at the helm of Trump, he never achieved 3% GDP (only postwar president never to do so), wage growth was abysmal under him. Obamacare was a good step foward but is under attack from the GOP and the uninsured rate is still 12.2% (as per Gallup) meaning 30-35 million Americans (and rising) still have no health insurance. If Obama was so good he wouldn't have had lost 1000 seats to the Republicans while in office and have have a moron like Trump replacing him. I'd rank Obama about 12-15th but no higher IMO.

The one good thing about this survey??

LBJ absolutely kicking JFK's arse (10 vs 16), JFK's one of the most overrated presidents and politicians ever, all the civil rights and anti-poverty programs were passed by his successor LBJ who was an excellent legislature, so at least thats something. LBJ easily America's most underrated president.

Hande hoche!

Wouldn't even rate him as the worst of the twenty first century thus far.

Vladimir Poontang

Those results are embarrassing...to presidential historians.

Your Face

Yawn

arybvtcw0eolkf

Z'zzzzzzzzzzzzz

The_Valeyard

Hande hoche! wrote: »

Wouldn't even rate him as the worst of the twenty first century thus far.

True. I still rate George Bush Jnr as far worse than Trump.

SeaFields

Ah shur someone has to be last. It's all about taking part. That's what matters.

Herb Powell

Never mind the rest of them, having Reagan up that high is madness surely???

:eek:

Den14

Shur he's worse than Hitler! I'd put him at a millionth!

pleas advice

Where did Grover Cleveland come, again?

SharpshooterTom

Herb Powell wrote: »

Never mind the rest of them, having Reagan up that high is madness surely???

:eek:

Never been a Reagan fan, but seeing off the cold war and the collapse of the Soviet Union (not really down to him mind) was a BIG foreign policy win at least.

Compare that Obama's foreign policy legacy, Iran deal (which may not even survive) and what else exactly?? He escalated the war in Afghanistan pointlessly and never really left Iraq (5,000 US troops remain), screwed up Libya etc. Unremarkable at best.

cantdecide

I'm not fond of DT but oh my dog, is all this crapola hilarious.

some random drunk

I wonder where William Henry Harrison and all his mighty achievements came on the list?

Edit to add: Actually it says on the link William Henry Harrison came 42nd, 2 places above Trump despite the fact Harrison died just over a month after becoming president...

BattleCorp

That ranking system is worth a stocking of sh1te.

Fr_Dougal

He’ll get voted in for a 2nd term.

SharpshooterTom

Fr_Dougal wrote: »

He’ll get voted in for a 2nd term.

If true, would pretty amazing accomplishment for someone who is supposedly the worst American president ever. I wonder what historians would think then?

Beechwoodspark

I would rate trump as EASILY the worst president in my lifetime already and I don’t expect him to salvage his reputation in the remainder of his tenure in the White House.

SharpshooterTom

Beechwoodspark wrote: »

I would rate trump as EASILY the worst president in my lifetime already and I don’t expect him to salvage his reputation in the remainder of his tenure in the White House.

Trump created over 2 million jobs in his first year, if he keeps that up for 8 years (no guarantee of course, and certainly no guarantee he'll get a 2nd term). That would mean he would've created 16-17 million jobs.

That would be the second highest ever in US history behind Bill Clinton (23 million). George W Bush on the other hand only created 1 million.

If he gets those sort economic figures then he's absolutely nowhere near America's worst president, no matter how much of a twat he acts on twitter. This shouldn't be a personality contest IMO.

Urindanger

So they've declared him worst president ever even though he's only a year into his term. What a load of w*nk.

Beechwoodspark

ThomasFlynn wrote: »

Trump created over 2 million jobs in his first year, if he keeps that up for 8 years (no guarantee of course, and certainly no guarantee he'll get a 2nd term). That would mean he would've created 16-17 million jobs.

That would be the second highest ever in US history behind Bill Clinton. George W Bush only created 1 million.

If he gets those sort economic figures then he's absolutely nowhere near America's worst president, no matter how much of a twat he acts on twitter. This shouldn't be a personality contest.

I attribute the last year’s economic record as a legacy of Obama’s years. also, there are many aspects to a presidency that I value. Economic performance is just one aspect.

begbysback

Historians should stick to the past - who asked them to assess current times anyways?

SharpshooterTom

Urindanger wrote: »

So they've declared him worst president ever even though he's only a year into his term. What a load of w*nk.

I'm sure Americans in 2017 and 2018 must prefer to be under the better times of the Civil War (700,000 dead), or the great depression (25% unemployment). Such such terrible days are 2017 and 2018 to be alive.

wakka12

Well he made it to presidency. I can think of worse titles than worst president of the U.S

SharpshooterTom

Beechwoodspark wrote: »

I attribute the last years economic record as a legacy of Obama.

Fair enough, there's an argument for that, when does Trump get credit? Because he keeps this up indefinitely over the next 3-7 years you can't say at the end of his 4/8 years it was all due to Obama.

Beechwoodspark

ThomasFlynn wrote: »

Fair enough, there's an argument for that, when does Trump get credit? Because he keeps this up indefinitely over the next 3-7 years you can't say at the end of his 4/8 years it was all due to Obama.

Point to something I should give trump credit for? I’m being serious. I’m drawing blanks here so help me

Herb Powell

ThomasFlynn wrote: »

Never been a Reagan fan, but seeing off the cold war and the collapse of the Soviet Union (not really down to him mind) was a BIG foreign policy win at least.

Compare that Obama's foreign policy legacy, Iran deal (which may not even survive) and what else exactly?? He escalated the war in Afghanistan pointlessly and never really left Iraq (5,000 US troops remain), screwed up Libya etc. Unremarkable at best.

True, I just think Reagan did a lot to send America down its current "fucck the poor" path.

SharpshooterTom

Beechwoodspark wrote: »

Point to something I should give trump credit for? I’m being serious. I’m drawing blanks here so help me

If economy stays good or improves over the next 4/8 years then I'm sorry Trump (or at least the competent people in his administration, if there are any) will have to get some credit.

Beechwoodspark

ThomasFlynn wrote: »

If economy stays good or improves over the next 4/8 years then I'm sorry Trump (or at least the competent people in his administration, if there are any) will have to get some credit.

Ok. And that’s just one aspect of a presidency yes? In the round he scores terrible figures overall. Dubya, previously supposedly the worst president of the last 30 years, outshines him in so many ways.

Also, on the economy I predict trump and his billionaire cronies will overheat it and it’ll go down the sh*tter. And the dems will be sent for to try to clean up his mess. Just my two cents.

suicide_circus

obama and clinton should be lower

mcmoustache

ThomasFlynn wrote: »

Fair enough, there's an argument for that, when does Trump get credit? Because he keeps this up indefinitely over the next 3-7 years you can't say at the end of his 4/8 years it was all due to Obama.

I'm no economist, but when a country is at 4% unemployment, it becomes pretty hard to improve on that number. There will always be a percentage of the labour pool between jobs or simply unable to work.

If it holds at 4% by the end of 2020, I'd say Trump can fairly claim credit for it.

SharpshooterTom

Beechwoodspark wrote: »

Ok. And that’s just one aspect of a presidency yes? In the round he scores terrible figures overall. Dubya, previously supposedly the worst president of the last 30 years, outshines him in so many ways.

Also, on the economy I predict trump and his billionaire cronies will overheat it and it’ll go down the sh*tter. And the dems will be sent for to try to clean up his mess. Just my two cents.

Remember Dubya's record is:

- Invaded Iraq under false pretenses, killing 5,000 US troops and 100,000+ civilians, leaving a vacuum for the creation of ISIS.
- Presided over the worst economic collapse since the great depression.
- Passed mass sweeping surveillance programs.
- Instigated torture and waterboarding.
- Mishandled Hurricane Katrina crisis, 1,500+ dead.
- Turned a record budget surplus into a record budget deficit.
- Established Gitmo.
- Created 1.2 million net jobs (worst of any post president, his predecessor Bill Clinton created 23 million).

Trump's bad, but he's a way to go before he enters Bush league.

AllGunsBlazing

Bush stole an election then murdered with a smile on his smug face. Fvck that guy.

Billy86

He's doing his best to rocket his way to it (possibly quite literally!) but it's too early and he's been too useless at doing his job effectively to be called the worst.

I'd still put Bush below him even from this century - he took over an incredibly stable economy when the world was in a very calm state, dismissed the security staff that had been there across several administrations before him, ignored 9/11 warnings, and after that happened he launched the chaos into the world that we're still dealing with over 15 years later. Then as his final trick, he gave us the biggest recession the world had seen in 80 years.

SharpshooterTom

Billy86 wrote: »

He's doing his best to rocket his way to it (possibly quite literally!) but it's too early and he's been too useless at doing his job effectively to be called the worst.

I'd still put Bush below him even from this century - he took over an incredibly stable economy when the world was in a very calm state, dismissed the security staff that had been there across several administrations before him, ignored 9/11 warnings, and after that happened he launched the chaos into the world that we're still dealing with over 15 years later. Then as his final trick, he gave us the biggest recession the world had seen in 80 years.

Its amazing how Bush is only 30th, nearer the middle than he is to the bottom.

I mean what positives came out of Bush's administration that makes him better than 14 other presidents? I'm struggling to think of any.

Icemancometh

Buchanan is the worst. Buchanan will always be the worst.

SharpshooterTom

Icemancometh wrote: »

Buchanan is the worst. Buchanan will always be the worst.

Yeah but he didn't give out bad tweets or scream "FAKE NEWS", doesn't matter if plunged the US into a war that led to 700,000 deaths.

Wanderer78

Won't be surprised if he gets a second term, he's doing a pretty good job

Ulysses Gaze

Obama ahead of Lyndon Johnson, Reagan and Bill Clinton is absolutely laughable.

Vladimir Poontang

The best thing about that list is that Hillary Clinton isn't on it.

Wanderer78

Vladimir Poontang wrote:

The best thing about that list is that Hillary Clinton isn't on it.

Why's that?

Vladimir Poontang

Wanderer78 wrote: »

Why's that?

Because she's a sleazy sadistic power hungry psychopath, everything Trump is, only worse. Which is why she lost.

Wanderer78

Vladimir Poontang wrote:

Because she's a sleazy sadistic power hungry psychopath, everything Trump is, only worse. Which is why she lost.

Add conman onto that for himself to, oh and she's no where near as bad as him.

Jimbob1977

It's always going to be split along partisan lines.

Even historians will be subconsciously biased against a Republican or Democrat.

Reagan, Clinton and Obama left office with high approval ratings. Reagan won the 1984 election in a total landslide.

Ike presided over a golden age, where the United States was at its peak. JFK had great promise before he was cut down.

mcmoustache

I think we can all agree that this list is bullsh!t.

Irish Guitarist

He's a pretty average president really but he's the first one to express every single thought he has on the internet.

If George Washington had a Twitter account he would have been complaining that his slaves weren't doing their job properly and were too busy procreating with his stepson.

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/george-washingtons-biracial-family-new-recognition-180960553/

riffmongous

Trumps legacy in the long run will be presiding over the greatest split in the American public since the civil war and yes he will deserve his place as one of the worst of all time

OwlsZat

He's building a serious bubble. Probably profit himself down the line.

It's going to be terribly challenging to his ego to find out he's the worst ranked President. On Presidents Day too, of all days.

I can't imagine how he'll resist the temptation to tweet his feelings on the matter.

Mutant z

I will take it all with a pince of salt he has done a decent job so far more sour grapes with Clinton being defeated Trump is now the scapegoat in the eyes of the mainstream establishment. Of course Obama could do no wrong despite stirring up racial tension by given extreme groups like BLM and Antifa credence.

Mutant z

BTW both Bush and Obama have helped to light the ME on fire which has led to the rise of Isis a policy which would have continued to happen under Clinton so spare me this worst president bs Trump is more serious about destroying Isis than any of his predecessors.

SharpshooterTom

riffmongous wrote: »

Trumps legacy in the long run will be presiding over the greatest split in the American public since the civil war and yes he will deserve his place as one of the worst of all time

But did Trump cause that split or was it already in place before he took office and rather his presidency was the result of that already existing split?

Either way unless his 'split' leaves nearly a million dead in a full on war it hardly compares to James Buchanan.

BTW you said 'one of the worst' I don't disagree with you and think somewhere around 35th is more apt, but I do think there are worse.