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submitted 1 day ago* (last edited 22 hours ago) by zyratoxx@lemm.ee to c/asklemmy@lemmy.ml

Depending on how the next four years go I'm on the fence between Bush Jr. and Trump but I'd like to hear from you

Edit:

Top 10 suggestions so far (unordered):

  • Andrew Jackson
  • Andrew Johnson
  • George W. Bush Jr
  • Ronald Reagan
  • Richard Nixon
  • James K. Polk
  • Woodrow Wilson
  • James Buchanan
  • Franklin Pierce
  • Donald J. Trump
(page 2) 50 comments
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[-] KurtVonnegut@hexbear.net 27 points 1 day ago

Woodrow Wilson was so racist that he was quoted in an epigraph for "The Birth of a Nation." You know, the 1915 movie about how awesome the KKK was, which became the first true "blockbuster" film and which led to a huge resurgence in KKK activity. Not only that, but Woodrow Wilson also personally invited the filmmakers to screen the movie in the White House - the first movie ever screened in the White House, by the way. Honorable mention!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Birth_of_a_Nation#/media/File:Wilson-quote-in-birth-of-a-nation.jpg

[-] TheLastHero@hexbear.net 11 points 1 day ago

As well as hating black people he also hated Slavs too and laid the foundations for anti-soviet US foreign policy

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[-] TheDrink@hexbear.net 38 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

Andrew Jackson and it's not even close. Not to downplay the horrible crimes committed by many of our other presidents but I don't think anything rises to the level of the Trail of Tears.

Remove Jackson from the running and it's a more interesting conversation, however thinking about it reveals just how interconnected all of this stuff is. While the current genocide is occurring under Biden, we can't forget that the conditions that lead to Oct 7 were created under Trump. For that matter so were the conditions that lead to the escalation of the war in Ukraine.

I think the worst in my lifetime by a mile is Dubya, but while his wars were massive and consequential we can't forget that George Senior also killed scores of people in Iraq, and Clinton carried out the sanctions regime that killed scores more. Clinton was also the one who broke Labor's influence within the Democratic Party - but it was Obama who was swept into power on the promise of a working class revolution only to smother it in its crib.

But yeah my top two are Jackson and Dubya but beyond that I'm not sure there are a lot of crimes in the history of America's presidency.

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[-] kersploosh@sh.itjust.works 48 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

While W. sucked in many ways, there is no way he is the worst. Off the top of my head I can easily think of four better contenders: Franklin Pierce, James Buchanan (both guilty of pro-slavery fuckery before the Civil War), Andrew Johnson (fought to let the Confederates off the hook after the war and opposed the 14th amendment), and Donald Trump (first president to be impeached twice, first to be convicted of a felony, and may be remembered by future historians as the spark that ignites the next Civil War).

[-] adarza@lemmy.ca 19 points 1 day ago

donvict ain't done yet, either. i think the damage and legacy he leaves behind, leaking out that giant diaper, will be the worst of the bunch.

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[-] LaGG_3@hexbear.net 46 points 1 day ago

I'd probably say someone like Andrew Jackson before even thinking about Trump being the worst. Jackson did a literal genocide with the Indian Removal Act

[-] zyratoxx@lemm.ee 5 points 1 day ago

Touché. His first term wasn't that horrible (although it wasn't good either). I'm still mad they organised a meeting with Kim just to tell him to go fuck himself. That character development could become spicy. On the other hand would we even have had a meeting with Clinton in power?

But hey, he still has four years and a lot of plans to claim a podium place.

[-] PolandIsAStateOfMind@lemmy.ml 5 points 1 day ago

That meeting with Kim was probably to woo him like US previously did to Iran to make them abandon nuclear armaments, but thankfully DPRK govt can read and do know what happens to countries who believe empty US lies. So since that didn't work, US in a second abandoned their friendly mask and went back to previous policies.

[-] Taalnazi@lemmy.world 7 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

Plenty of choice. In my view, most presidents were rambling reeking right wingers in some way or other, save for FDR and Teddy Roosevelt, who were the two presidents I'd actually call capable and outspoken on civil rights (rather than just pragmatical like Lincoln). They did have their blemishes, but less than e.g. Andrew Jackson.

So many presidents were terrible for one people or another.

Andrew Jackson? Held hundreds of slaves and quite literally led an ethnic expulsion against Native Americans (the Trail of Tears).

Lincoln? Mostly good, but did not forbid slavery in the form of penal labour. If one were to abolish slavery, why not go the full mile?

Wilson? Rabid antisemite, pretty much.

Hoover? Might've tried to tackle the Great Depression -- but did so by allying with large coorporations, effectively being corrupt and choosing bribery.

Truman? Dropped nukes and set the stage for "we support any government that hates people being remotely leftist".

Nixon - corrupt and wanted to sidestep the rule of law, all for his own profit: to stay in power. Other than thaf, decent, but that's a big "other than that".

Reagan - enough said. Ultracapitalist, misleading, made the US economy far worse by accruing debt like there's no tomorrow, and shoving it onto the poor -- typical oligarch behaviour! Militaristic, power-hungry. And no, he did not end the Cold War: Gorbachov did.

JFK: socially pretty good, actually. But economically, the cutting of the top rates made the richest keep more money. At least it wasn't down below 50%, but still. Had that happened, I think the tax rates would've allowed wealth accumulation.

And so on.

So, in my view, it's hard to focus on who is the worse, and better to rather focus on what is the best. Ted would be my candidate. Not only social progress, but also economical, and in a way that favour the worker -- and he also was environmentally aware. That is a good president.

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[-] BigBananaDealer@lemm.ee 18 points 1 day ago

andrew jackson (or johnson can never remember which) for the trail of tears. absolutely awful

[-] OmnipotentEntity@beehaw.org 8 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

Andrew Jackson was Trail of Tears, but I actually think Andrew Johnson was arguably worse. He was Lincoln's Democrat vice president (he was brought on to help "balance the ticket" instead of sticking with his strongly abolitionist first term VP Hannibal Hamlin), who started dismantling reconstruction and giving the power back to the former slaveowners.

You can pretty much lay Jim Crow at his feet.

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[-] imogen_underscore@hexbear.net 33 points 1 day ago

putting trump in the top 5 is lib shit

[-] zyratoxx@lemm.ee 8 points 1 day ago

I agree there have been (way) worse presidents than pre 2nd term Trump but he has a lot of potential.

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[-] Nemo@slrpnk.net 39 points 1 day ago

It's tempting to pick someone recent, but the real answer is probably Andrew Jackson. He successfully engineered a genocide, trampled the Constitution and human rights, and was actively hostile to limits on Presidential power.

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[-] IDKWhatUsernametoPutHereLolol@lemmy.dbzer0.com 27 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

lol trump is bad but not like Andrew Jackaon bad.

Probably

  1. Andrew Jackson - Crimes against native people
  2. Andrew Johnson - Fucked up reconstruction
  3. Ronald Reagan - Trickle down economics
  4. 45/47 🤮 - We all know why...
  5. Richard Nixon - The Infamous Crook

Might have some memory gaps, but these are what I can remember from the top of my head.

[-] MF_COOM@hexbear.net 27 points 1 day ago

If you think Trump is worse than no-oil you're telling everybody that you think norms are more important than a million dead brown people

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[-] PortoPeople@lemm.ee 19 points 1 day ago

Reagan definitely deserves a top 5 spot.

[-] sammer510@hexbear.net 9 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

If Trump makes your top 5 and the Bushes don't, you're a lib

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[-] MF_COOM@hexbear.net 22 points 1 day ago

How is it even close between Dubya and Trump like honestly Bush started the war on terror, killing and displacing millions.

[-] zyratoxx@lemm.ee 4 points 1 day ago

Atm I rank Bush higher but Trump still has another term to catch up.

[-] shreddingitlater@hexbear.net 18 points 1 day ago

I think I have Trump derangement syndrome but for Bush Jr. instead cause very few people make my blood boil just by seeing their face like that scum.

[-] zyratoxx@lemm.ee 3 points 1 day ago

I have yet to see a picture of him where he doesn't look like he has no clue of what is going on around him.

[-] EstraDoll@hexbear.net 14 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

me if enough of you write in "EstraDoll" in 2028

[-] zyratoxx@lemm.ee 4 points 1 day ago
[-] xiao@sh.itjust.works 20 points 1 day ago

This question is too difficult, there are too many candidates...

[-] Someonelol@lemmy.dbzer0.com 9 points 1 day ago

James K. Polk. He went into a bloody war for conquest with Mexico to conclude Manifest Destiny.

[-] Revan343@lemmy.ca 9 points 1 day ago

It's Reagan or Nixon, no contest. Bush pales in comparison

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this post was submitted on 24 Nov 2024
70 points (88.9% liked)

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