Andrew Johnson

The Basic Tenets Of Democracy–Truth And Trust–Lacking In Trump Presidency

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The basic tenets of democracy are a promotion of the truth instead of constant lies, and a trust in the leadership of government, that who is in power can be seen as acceptable to have power.

On both counts, Donald Trump fails miserably.

The man tells more lies than any President or any political figure in American history.

He refuses to admit any errors or mistakes, and never apologizes.

He cannot tolerate opposition, which is basic to any democracy.

He terrifies millions of Americans, who are fearful of the effect he is having on our system of government, and sense that he is going to lead us into World War III.

He consorts with dictators in Egypt, Turkey, the Philippines, Russia, and elsewhere, and overtly praises the strong man leadership in nations, while attacking our allies in democracies.

He is dismissive of women, and one can see that his mixed relations with Great Britain and Germany are due to their having women leaders, Theresa May and Angela Merkel.

He is on the way to being rated the absolutely worst President in American history, and raising the image of failed or terrible Presidents, including Richard Nixon, George W. Bush, Andrew Johnson, James Buchanan, Franklin Pierce, and Warren G. Harding.

Donald Trump is a menace to American democracy and world peace and order.

Terrible Character And Role Model: Donald Trump And The Diminishment Of The Presidency

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Donald Trump, in nine months in office, plus his 19 month campaign leading to his election and inauguration, has demonstrated terrible lack of character and decency, and has made a disgraceful role model for children, the nation at large, and the world.

He has diminished the image of the Presidency dramatically, and it will take many decades to recover from this nightmare, which may end soon, but also, might, miraculously survive longer than most observers think.

Trump is not the only President with terrible character and role model image.

We could include Andrew Jackson in this category, along with Andrew Johnson, and Richard Nixon.

All three undermined the office of the Presidency by their maniacal behavior on many issues, but none, not even Nixon, was as reprehensible as Donald Trump has been.

The man has no empathy, sympathy, compassion, decency, or dignity.

Similar to Andrew Jackson, Andrew Johnson and Richard Nixon, he came into office with a chip on his shoulder, despite the fact that he was born to wealth, unlike Jackson, Johnson, and Nixon, all who were born in poor circumstances, particularly the latter two.

There are other Presidents who were narcissists, including Theodore Roosevelt, Lyndon Johnson, and Bill Clinton, but all three had many virtues which lessened the effect of their narcissism.

We will spend many lifetimes and generations trying to figure out what makes Donald Trump tick, but it is clear he is a mentally ill man, very insecure and unhappy, despite his wealth, his beautiful wives and family, and his having made it to the Presidency.

One can expect that ultimately, under attack that makes being President lacking in true enjoyment, that Donald Trump will resign under fire in the Spring of 2018, as the Mueller Special Counsel investigation closes in, and as clear revelations of the corruption of the Presidential Election of 2016, becomes more conclusive.

A Clear Mental Illness: Donald Trump’s Massive Hatred Of Barack Obama And His Legacy

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Never in our history have we seen such a massive hatred of a previous President by the newly inaugurated President, as we have seen with Donald Trump’s clear mental illness regarding former President Barack Obama.

Trump is obsessed with wiping out the memory and record in office of the 44th President, and it is clear that this is a dangerous sign of severe mental illness of the 45th President.

Trump has spent the last eight years hating Barack Obama, and no matter what one says to deny reality, a lot of it has to do with the fact that Barack Obama is black in appearance, although he is mixed race, and his mother was white.

One wonders if genetics had worked differently, and Obama had been born looking white, and his name had been changed to his mother’s name, making him Barry Dunham, how the story of the hatred of Trump and so many others towards him would have evolved.

Trump became the promoter of the “Birther” theory, that Obama was born in Kenya, and has never really reneged on that, although he stopped talking about it during the Presidential Election campaign of 2016.

Trump was furious when Obama ridiculed him during the White House Correspondents Association event in 2011, making fun of Trump being a reality star, when Obama had to make life and death decisions in the White House.

Despite their history, Obama was cordial and offered help to Trump two days after the election, in their only personal face to face meeting, but Trump made up his sick mind that he was going to destroy the legacy of Obama, and so far, he seems to have accomplished that in regards to ObamaCare, the Iran nuclear deal, the environmental record in the Interior Department and the Environmental Protection Agency, and the treatment of the Dream kids who came with their parents to the United States when they were young.

Trump also accused Obama of wiretapping the White House, a delusional accusation already proved to be a crazy conspiracy theory.

What it comes down to is that Trump, an undeniable racist, cannot tolerate that a black man accomplished so much, and therefore, Trump is using a hatchet to destroy everything he can of the Obama legacy, as soon as he can do so.

But one can be assured that while much is being destroyed for now, a very upsetting development, that in the future, we will have a Democratic Congress, and a future President will work to restore all of the good work that Barack Obama accomplished.

Hopefully, Obama will have a long life so that he can witness the restoration of the Obama legacy, just as we honor the great accomplishments of other outstanding Presidents, including Franklin D. Roosevelt and Lyndon B. Johnson, with Obama joining them as among the most productive Presidents in American hstory.

Meanwhile, Donald Trump will end up in the bottom of the listing of Presidents, and nothing will be done to lift him from where he belongs, in the basement.

Obama, now listed in the C Span Presidential poll of 2017 as number 12, will likely rise to the bottom of the top ten in the future, while Trump will end up number 44 out of 44, realizing that Grover Cleveland is listed twice, as number 22 and number 24. Trump will fall below James Buchanan and Andrew Johnson, and nothing he can do will allow him to rise, as he has done enough damage in nine months to prevent him from avoiding his fate as the worst and most dangerous President in American history!

Donald Trump Declares War On Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, And Sean Hannity Calls On McConnell To Resign

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Donald Trump has declared war on Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky on Twitter and in person, an unprecedented action for a President to break with the leader of his party in the US Senate. And his lackey, talk show host Sean Hannity of Fox News Channel, has called on McConnell to resign.

Trump is angry that McConnell was unable to “repeal and replace” ObamaCare, and has called upon him to resign or be replaced as leader of Republicans in the Senate, if he cannot get that accomplished, along with other priorities of Trump, including tax reform, and infrastructure spending, and getting the Mexico Wall built.

This is ironic, as Mitch McConnell’s wife, Elaine Chao, is Trump’s Secretary of Transportation, so one has to wonder how she feels about this attack on her husband by her boss.

It is clear that McConnell, for all his faults, and the strong dislike of progressives and Democrats for him, is still well respected, and fully supported by his Republican Senate colleagues. So this will not make Trump’s relations with the Senate Republicans improve, but rather will worsen them dramatically.

And this comes after Trump’s earlier criticisms of Speaker of the House Paul Ryan, who has been attacked by Trump, and even more viciously by the Alt Right faction led by Stephen Bannon, and his former home, Breitbart News.

Donald Trump seems to be moving toward severing his bonds with the party that elected him, and to declare himself an independent, unprecedented in American history, and if that happens, he will be a man without a party, who is attempting to grab more executive authority.

Two earlier Presidents, who had been Vice President and succeeded upon the death of the Presidents (William Henry Harrison and Abraham Lincoln) they served under, John Tyler and Andrew Johnson, also were Presidents without a party, when they alienated the Whig Party and Republican Party, respectively, by their policies, and Tyler faced impeachment, which was unsuccessful, while Johnson was impeached, and then found not guilty by the Senate by a margin of one vote. They had both been Democrats who agreed to run on a Fusion ticket in 1840 and 1864, and this blogger wrote about this on the History News Network on July 30, 2017, and can be found on the list of my published articles on the right side of the blog.

Trump has the makings of a Fascist dictator, and this will spur the move by Republicans to go after him, and impeach and remove him, as he is a menace to the party and to the nation.

“The Nineties” Series On CNN, Part 2, This Evening, Examines The Truth About The Bill Clinton Presidency, Warts And All!

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This evening, CNN’s “The Nineties” Series, Part 2, will examine the unvarnished truth about the Bill Clinton Presidency, warts and all.

It will NOT be a whitewash of the Clinton Presidency, arguably the most scandal ridden Democratic Presidency in American history.

Some of the Clinton “Scandals” were conjured up by the right wing hatemongers, no question about that.

But Bill Clinton caused a lot of his own damage, and he cannot be made blameless, and one could say that the Monica Lewinsky Scandal, and other scandals surrounding women, including Paula Jones, disgraced the Presidency.

I wish to point out that when the scandal became public news in January 1998, this author felt that it was a disgrace, and that Clinton should resign immediately, but he refused, and put the nation through hell for an entire year, until he was found not guilty of impeachment charges by the US Senate. It was not an issue of morality, but rather the fact that his behavior could have compromised the national security if any of the women had been connected to Russia or some other foreign enemy, who know how to utilize women spies to blackmail a President or other public figure.

I never believed that Clinton should be impeached, and the hypocrisy of Republican leaders who were cheating on their wives with women, and yet putting Clinton through a constitutional crisis, was infuriating.

But CNN is not glorifying the Clinton Presidency, as much more could have been done during his Presidency, if only the President had known how to behave!

So my suggestion is to watch and think about the damage Bill Clinton’s behavior did to harm the nation, and remember that the first or second paragraph of his eventual obituary will mention that he was the second President impeached by the House of Representatives and brought to trial before the US Senate, after Andrew Johnson.

And now, we face the eventual possibility of the impeachment of Donald Trump, at some point, if he does not resign!

The Most Massive Liar In American Presidential History? NOT Richard Nixon, But Rather Donald Trump, As NY Times Compilation Demonstrates!

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Richard Nixon, in the afterlife, is celebrating big time!

Usually seen as a villain, a crook, and a liar, Richard Nixon now is witnessing his rise in rating, due to the reality that much of what he did in domestic, and even in foreign policy, has stood the test of time, while not whitewashing his illegalities and abuse of power.

But also, the Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum has done a great job of reassessing Nixon, and showing all aspects of the 37th President, both good and evil.

Nixon’s reputation, despite some real contributions, is permanently harmed by his wrongdoings and his psychological issues.

But after Donald Trump’s first five months, it is clear that Nixon will ALWAYS rank above Trump in historical rankings, and that Trump will be lodged in the “basement”, in last place, even behind such failures as President as James Buchanan, Andrew Johnson, Franklin Pierce, and Warren G. Harding.

There is no debate that NO President has been as massive a liar and one without any accomplishments that can been as positive, as with Donald Trump.

The New York Times has compiled all of the lies and false statements of Donald Trump, and they show that Trump lies and distorts the truth and undermines facts and reality more than any other President, with Nixon again being number 2 but way behind Trump!

Trump lies at least five times a day, and his spokesmen lie for him as well, and the truth on anything never crosses their lips, and statements that are issued.

Donald Trump is incapable of telling the truth, or admitting any mistakes or errors, and in so doing, he has created a parallel universe of followers who live in “alternative facts”, meaning lies and distortions of reality.

Donald Trump has no shame, and many would say that he is a psychopath and sociopath, who has dictatorial and authoritarian bent, and we all have to worry that a crisis will arise, and the worst, most ugly side of his personality will come out, and he will do great harm to our nation and its democracy.

Trump acts more like a third world corrupt leader from Latin America, Africa, or Asia, and is destroying the First Amendment with his constant attack on the news media, and his claim that they are the enemies of the American people.

This is unconscionable, and he will pay for it long term in the judgment of history, but the question is how we survive his maniacal, unstable behavior, meanwhile!

Donald Trump Has Divided America More Than Any Other President Since The Civil War, Including Richard Nixon!

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America has had 44 men who have served as President.

We have had a person who had no issue with slaughter of Native Americans—Andrew Jackson.

We have had a person who chose to give his loyalty to the Confederate States of America in the Civil War—John Tyler.

We have had a person who warred with our southern neighbor, Mexico, on the basis of promoting slavery expansion and American imperialism—James K. Polk.

We have had a person who was openly racist after the Civil War, and was impeached, more because of his disagreeable personality and stubbornness—Andrew Johnson

We have had a person who presided over the worst, most scandalous Presidency of the 19th century—Ulysses S. Grant.

We have had a person who presided over the worst scandals since Grant, and was seen as very lacking in any intellect—Warren G. Harding.

We have had a person who was the most crooked President in American UNTIL NOW, and caused the greatest division since the Civil War a century earlier, and resigned from office under certainty of impeachment and conviction—Richard Nixon.

All of these seven Presidents had major issues and characteristics that undermine their historical reputation, but NONE, I repeat NONE, have divided America so much as Donald Trump. not even Richard Nixon, who actually had major domestic and foreign accomplishments, despite his many shortcomings.

But Donald Trump will go down as the absolute worst President in all of American history, and my prediction in February on History News Network, which went viral, still stands as of today—that Donald Trump will leave the Presidency by one method or another no later than the range of time between August 7, 2017–199 days of James A. Garfield and May 27, 2018–one year from today–or 492 days of Zachary Taylor!

From Richard Nixon And The “Saturday Night Massacre” To Donald Trump And The “Tuesday Night Massacre”: Same Result Will Occur!

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It is hard to believe that we are reliving Richard Nixon and the Watergate Scandal, and specifically the “Saturday Night Massacre” on October 20, 1973, when Nixon fired Special Prosecutor Archibald Cox, followed by Elliott Richardson (Attorney General) and William Ruckelshaus (Deputy Attorney General), with Robert Bork, later rejected for the Supreme Court in 1987, finally dismissing Cox. But this shocking event created a constitutional crisis, which led to Richard Nixon facing impeachment, and ultimately resigning ten months later in August 1974.

Now, on Tuesday, May 9, 2017, appropriately termed the “Tuesday Night Massacre”, Donald Trump has fired FBI Director James Comey, claiming the reason being Comey’s decision to announce a further investigation of Hillary Clinton, Trump’s opponent, including 11 days before the election in 2016, helping to cause the victory of Trump over Clinton. This is totally preposterous as an explanation. It also is a clear cut attempt to stop the FBI investigation into Trump’s connection to the Russian government of Vladimir Putin through various aides who had close ties with Russia. If it was to be found that Trump was engaging in what could be seen as treason, he would face impeachment and removal from office, even beyond other charges of corruption and malfeasance by Donald Trump.

One can now foresee that Donald Trump will NOT finish his term in office, and will be forced out by resignation or impeachment at some point.

It will NOT be soon, but this blogger did write on History News Network, and it went viral, that Trump might be forced out between the 199 days of President James A. Garfield (which would be reached on August 7, 2017), and the 492 days of President Zachary Taylor (which would be reached on May 27, 2018).

The manner of dismissing Comey, while he was in Los Angeles, learning from cable news bulletins that he had been fired, is very similar to Nixon ordering seizure of the offices of Special Prosecutor Archibald Cox, and expect that there will be moves now to demand a Special Prosecutor, or else resolutions of impeachment will commence.

Donald Trump is more corrupt than Richard Nixon, imagine that, and will elevate Nixon by comparison, and Trump will go down as the absolutely worst President ever, raising the stock of James Buchanan, Andrew Johnson, Franklin Pierce, and Warren G. Harding!

The “Middle” President: From Washington-Adams-Jefferson To Bush II-Obama-Trump

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Now we can say that five times in our history, we have had three Presidents in a row, where the “middle” President of the set of three stands out as dramatically worse or better than the President before and after him.

First, we have George Washington, John Adams, and Thomas Jefferson, with Adams being seen historically as less in reputation than the other two Presidents.

Second, we have James Buchanan, Abraham Lincoln, and Andrew Johnson, with Lincoln being the success between two total failures in the Presidency.

Then, we have Theodore Roosevelt, William Howard Taft, and Woodrow Wilson, with Taft seen historically as less in reputation than the other two Presidents.

The fourth example is Ronald Reagan, George H. W. Bush, and Bill Clinton, with Bush seen historically as less in reputation than the other two Presidents.

And now, we have the fifth example, of George W. Bush, Barack Obama, and Donald Trump, but this time, as with the second case, it is the “middle” President, Barack Obama, who far outshines the other two Presidents!

Donald Trump Competes With Warren G. Harding And George W. Bush As Least Intelligent President Of The United States!

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The more one observes President Donald Trump, the more one realizes that he is one of the most ignorant, ill informed, and least intelligent Presidents of the United States.

Many of our Presidents have been intellectual heavyweights (16), including:

John Adams
Thomas Jefferson
James Madison
John Quincy Adams
Abraham Lincoln
James A. Garfield
Theodore Roosevelt
William Howard Taft
Woodrow Wilson
Herbert Hoover
Franklin D. Roosevelt
John F. Kennedy
Richard Nixon
Jimmy Carter
Bill Clinton
Barack Obama

Others, while not intellectually outstanding, were capable of good leadership (13) including:

George Washington
James Monroe
Andrew Jackson
James K. Polk
Ulysses S. Grant
Grover Cleveland
William McKinley
Harry Truman
Dwight D. Eisenhower
Lyndon B. Johnson
Gerald Ford
Ronald Reagan
George H. W. Bush

Then, there are others who are mediocre by comparison, but had at least some redeeming qualities (12), including:

Martin Van Buren
William Henry Harrison
John Tyler
Zachary Taylor
Millard Fillmore
Franklin Pierce
James Buchanan
Andrew Johnson
Rutherford B. Hayes
Chester Alan Arthur
Benjamin Harrison
Calvin Coolidge

And then there are the three Presidents at the absolute bottom intellectually, and all three disasters in office, including

Warren G. Harding
George W. Bush
Donald Trump

At least Harding and Bush were decent human beings, who bumbled their way through the Presidency, but Donald Trump is, in many ways, more ignorant and dense than either Harding or the second Bush.

Harding was a lightweight intellectually, but at least he published a newspaper in Marion, Ohio, before his political career, and he had some outstanding cabinet officers including Charles Evans Hughes and Herbert Hoover.

George W. Bush, we know, read a great deal in the White House, while Trump is not a reader, and hardly gets past a page or two, even of important documents, as we learn that he counts on his top staff people to keep him up to date, and prefers Twitter and watching cable news as his main sources of information. His lack of intellectual curiosity, and willingness to believe conspiracy theories as fact is extremely alarming.

Trump has shown total ignorance of history and science, and is proving to be a true total disaster after only a little more than 100 days in office. He is much more destructive of the image of the Presidency than Harding or Bush could ever be!