James Buchanan

Time For Pause, Calming Spirit, And Careful Consideration Of Future Tactics!

admin 8 Comments

Having read a number of opinions, and calming down from the shock of last evening’s Presidential debate, this author and blogger is taking a deep breath and reflecting that it is not a good idea to panic, although many decent people are doing so.

One must remember that Joe Biden has always been underestimated his whole life, and has always recovered from disappointments and tragedies.

Joe Biden is one of the most decent, humane public figures in my lifetime, and in the mind of this author and blogger, he became the new Hubert Humphrey, after the tragic passing of Humphrey in 1978 at the early age of 66.

Biden, like Humphrey, and only a small list of other political leaders in my lifetime, exudes decency, compassion, and sincerity, and his Presidency has been the best, most accomplished in domestic affairs since Lyndon B. Johnson.

And Biden has shown courage and principle in foreign affairs, dealing with very complex international problems in a measured way, and has great respect and admiration from world leaders, who fear the return of the most massive liar and most crooked President in American history, Donald Trump!

No wonder experts and scholars agree overwhelmingly that Donald Trump is the worst President, raising the stature of those two Presidents, James Buchanan and Andrew Johnson, that have been the bottom rankings for many years. This is demonstrated in the C Span Presidential Survey of 2021 and the Siena College Research Institute Survey of 2022, as well as the American Political Science Association Survey of 2024!

The struggle to stop Donald Trump requires commitment and truth, and Joe Biden deserves a chance to prove that what happened yesterday is not the norm. His rally in North Carolina this afternoon was inspiring, so give it a few days to a week for reflection, and then it might be time for action, but let us all pray for the best for Joe Biden and the nation he loves!

APSA Presidential Greatness Poll 2024–The Bottom 10 Presidents

admin Leave a comment

The American Political Science Association Presidential Greatness Poll 2024 makes clear that Donald Trump is the absolute bottom of all 45 Presidents, below James Buchanan, Andrew Johnson, Franklin Pierce, William Henry Harrison, and Warren G. Harding, all with very low total scores, but Trump with a final score of 10.92 as compared to Buchanan’s 16.71, Johnson’s 21.56, Pierce’s 24.6, Harrison’s 26.01, and Harding with 27.76.

The other four at the bottom, numbers 36 to 39 in order, are Herbert Hoover, John Tyler, Zachary Taylor, and Millard Fillmore.

Notice that of these 10 Presidents at the bottom, four are the Presidents preceding Abraham Lincoln and one following him.

The others are Harding and Hoover from the 1920s; and one month President William Henry Harrison and his successor John Tyler in the early 1840s, when the Presidency came under attack due to the first Vice President succeeding the President due to death of the incumbent.

And then there is Donald Trump, who ranks last for those participants in the poll who are identified as Democrats, Independents, Liberals, and Moderates; and even for those who identify themselves as Republicans or Conservatives, Trump only rises to number 43, with Buchanan and Johnson rated below Trump by Republicans, and Buchanan and Pierce rated below Trump by Conservatives.

Also note that the only Presidents of this group who served a full term were Franklin Pierce, James Buchanan, Herbert Hoover, and Donald Trump.

Donald Trump Condemned To Last Place In Presidential Rankings For All Time!

Ronald Leave a comment

It is now official: Donald Trump is condemned to last place in Presidential rankings for all time!

With two impeachments and four indictments, and with a total of 91 counts against the 45th President, he falls into the basement, so to speak, as for all time the worst, most corrupt President, and it is hard to imagine any future President being as horrendous as he has now been judged by facts and reality!

His mugshot will reverberate in history for the long run, a symbol of a would be tyrant who would never leave office, if it had not been for courageous and principled people around him who stood in the way of the establishment of an autocracy that would have destroyed the American Republic!

A lot of this tragedy was caused by Donald Trump himself, and his desire to destroy American democracy, the Constitution, and the rule of law, and puts him in an exclusive spot as a wannabe Fascist authoritarian who almost succeeded in his quest to be President for life!

And Trump is delusional, trying to raise money on his mugshot from gullible Americans, when to believe that he will evade ALL 91 counts in four cases against him, is truly a warped mind who lives in an alternative universe! Why would any sane American wish to buy a T shirt with the Trump mugshot on it is beyond all sanity!

Realize that almost all of the witnesses in the various cases against Donald Trump are REPUBLICANS, who thankfully refused to participate in the attack on democracy, at the same time that so many others, including present Republican contenders for the Presidency either stayed on the sidelines or participated in trying to overthrow the accurate results of the Presidential Election of 2020!

Yes, other Presidents have been judged in the past as the worst, including James Buchanan, Andrew Johnson, Franklin Pierce, and Warren G. Harding, but none of them, with their faults and shortcomings, come anywhere near the venality of Donald Trump!

Even the other most corrupt President, Richard Nixon, would be stunned at the level of evil that Donald Trump represents, and Nixon had some real accomplishments which have prevented him from ending up in the bottom few Presidents!

One might say Donald Trump accomplished some noteworthy achievements, but his level of evil is so massive that it cannot save him from the basement of history long term!

Ironically, Donald Trump will have a full scale Presidential funeral, and likely will have, at some point, a Presidential Library and Museum, as even Richard Nixon had, but the stain of what he did and tried to do to subvert American democracy will never be overcome in the annals of history!

Centennial Of Warren G. Harding’s Death, And Accession Of Calvin Coolidge Coming Up On August 2-3!

Ronald Leave a comment

The centennial of the death of President Warren G. Harding is arriving on Wednesday, August 2, with Harding passing away of natural causes in San Francisco, shocking the nation, as Harding was on the way to finishing a Western tour, which had included visiting the territory of Alaska.

The swearing in of President Calvin Coolidge took place in the early morning hours on August 3, with Coolidge being sworn in at his father’s homestead in Vermont, where Coolidge was visiting, and with his father, a local justice of the peace, swearing in his son, before he returned to Washington DC, and was again sworn in later in the day.

This was the sixth time a President had died in office, and was the second time that the Vice President who succeeded to the Presidency went on to win a full term of office in 1924, following Theodore Roosevelt, who succeeded the assasinated William McKinley in 1901, and went on to win a full term in 1904.

Harding is regarded by scholars as a failed President, with massive scandals occurring, similar to those of a half century earlier under President Ulysses S. Grant in the 1870s. While he had some successes, he is ranked in the bottom five of all Presidents, in the same category as Andrew Johnson, James Buchanan, Donald Trump, and Franklin Pierce.

Calvin Coolidge is perceived as higher in ranking, generally at the top of the bottom third of Presidents, but shortly after he left office, the Great Depression occurred, and his administration is perceived as having had major negative impact on the economy which led to the Crash on Wall Street seven months after his retirement.

Certainly, the Presidency is seen as having declined in the 1920s, after the Progressive Era of Theodore Roosevelt, William Howard Taft, and Woodrow Wilson, and seeing rising fortunes after Herbert Hoover, with the coming to the Presidency of Franklin D. Roosevelt in the 1932 Presidential election.

Impeachment Power Being Abused, When It Should Be Rarely Utilized!

Ronald 1 Comment

The reckless move toward impeachment of President Joe Biden, and or Attorney General Merrick Garland or Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas by the small margin Republican majority in the House of Representatives, is an issue that brings to attention that the impeachment power has been horribly abused, when it should be rarely utilized!

To impeach a cabinet officer is extremely rare, and basically is a no brainer, as it would not lead to conviction in the US Senate.

To impeach a President was always rare, with the only exceptions being Andrew Johnson and later Richard Nixon, although Nixon resigned the Presidency before the whole House of Representatives could vote to impeach him on the charges brought by the majority of the House Judiciary Committee.

The Bill Clinton impeachment was purely political, while the two impeachment cases against Donald Trump were totally justifiable, and the proposal to “expunge” the impeachments is preposterous, and will not take away the stain and the history of the reality of Trump’s abuses in office!

Attempts to impeach the following Presidents went nowhere:

John Tyler
James Buchanan
Ulysses S. Grant
Grover Cleveland
Herbert Hoover
Harry Truman
Lyndon B. Johnson
Ronald Reagan
George H W Bush
George W. Bush
Barack Obama

Unless a case is clear, as with Nixon and Trump, there is NO justification for abusing the impeachment power!

Presidents Day 2023: The Changes In Rankings Occurring

Ronald 2 Comments

Every Presidents Day is a time for reflection on rankings of Presidents by Presidential scholars and by ordinary citizens.

As more evidence comes out about Donald Trump, it just moves him closer to the bottom of the list with James Buchanan and Andrew Johnson.

Neither of them, as horrendous as they were, took action to stage a coup by inciting violence and bloodshed at the US Capitol, and no President was as immoral and unethical as Trump, not even Richard Nixon.

The reputation of Jimmy Carter, even before his announcement of going into hospice, has been on the rise, as it is understood that he was horribly underestimated, because of his loss in 1980 to Ronald Reagan.

The record of Barack Obama also looks better all of the time when compared to the Presidents before and after him—George W. Bush and Donald Trump!

Joe Biden is in midstream, but his record of accomplishments and his common decency and empathy are causing him to be seen in sympathetic eyes by most observers, except the hate mongers, of which there are, sadly, too many!

Gerald Ford’s reputation is also improving, as the Republican President truly seen as saving the Presidency after the tragedy and corruption of Richard Nixon. His pardon of Nixon cost him in rankings, but in recent years, Ford is seen in a different light!

Donald Trump The Most Corrupt President In American History By Far!

Ronald 4 Comments

Sadly, America has had Presidents whose time in office included scandals and corruption on a wide scale.

But no President has been as corrupt personally and politically as Donald Trump.

It is also telling that the Presidents whose administrations stand out for their corruption are all Republicans!

The list would include Ulysses S. Grant (1869-1877); Warren G. Harding (1921-1923); Richard Nixon (1969-1974); Ronald Reagan (1981-1989); and George W. Bush (2001-2009).

But the closest in level is Nixon, and yet, if he were here today, he would be shocked at the level of corruption, most of it personal, of Donald Trump!

Trump out of office faces legal challenges in Florida, Georgia, Washington DC, and New York, and he is the only President to be impeached twice, and have some members of his own party vote to convict him of impeachment charges!

That is why Trump has already been rated by scholars as in the bottom three of all Presidents in history, only ahead of James Buchanan and Andrew Johnson, who battle each other for last place!

Donald Trump, The Most Character Flawed President In American History!

Ronald 3 Comments

America has had 45 men who have been President.

All of them had human frailties, as all of us have.

Some have been seen as horrible in their time in office, and lacking character.

This would include Andrew Jackson, Andrew Johnson, and Richard Nixon for sure.

And others would be seen as failures in other ways, including Franklin Pierce, James Buchanan, Warren G. Harding, and Herbert Hoover for sure.

But there is no President quite like Donald Trump!

This is the “truthful” President, who has lied more than 30,000 times since 2015, more than any President by far!

This is a “genius” who hides his college grades!

This is a “businessman”, who had six bankrupticies!

This is the “billionaire” who continues to hide his tax returns!

This is the “Christian” who never goes to church!

This is the “father” who has been a terrible role model for his children!

This is the “philanthropist” who has defrauded charities!

This is the “patriot” who dodged the draft!

This is the “playboy” who pays for sex, and has had three wives, while ‘cheating” excessively!

This is the “employer” who cheats those he employed for his properties!

This is the “innocent man” who refuses to testify, utilizing the 5th Amendment!

And beyond these eleven statements, there are so many more, and that the total is uncountable!

The question is how Donald Trump can be so horrendous in character, and live within his own skin!

Clearly, he has no conscience, and the thought that he could become President again is a literal nightmare!

One Term Presidencies That Mattered: Jimmy Carter, George HW Bush!

Ronald 2 Comments

President Joe Biden stated at his end of first year press conference yesterday, that he planned to run for a second term in 2024, and that Kamala Harris would again be his running mate.

That is to be expected at this time, but by early 2023, Biden will need to make a final decision on running, so as to open the race to alternative choices if he announces he will retire.

The concept that a President must seek reelection was not the case with three Presidents, who decided not to run–James K. Polk in 1848, James Buchanan in 1860, and Rutherford Hayes in 1880. But Polk, despite not running for another term, is considered to have accomplished his goals, and as it turns out, his health was not good, and he died 105 days after leaving office in 1849.

Buchanan and Hayes are not considered to have had successful terms, and they may have sensed that they could not win reelection.

Other one term Presidents, such as Benjamin Harrison and Herbert Hoover, had horrible depressions to deal with, helping to cause their defeats in 1892 and 1932, and William Howard Taft had a split in his party with former President Theodore Roosevelt, which doomed his campaign for reelection in 1912.

Gerald Ford was a special situation, having not been elected, succeeding Richard Nixon, and having a bad economy, which doomed his desire for election to a full term in 1976, although he is considered in a kind manner at this point, having worked to unite America after the Watergate Scandal and resignation of Nixon.

But the two most recent Presidents defeated for reelection, before Donald Trump, had real accomplishments in office, although they were unable to win a second term, Jimmy Carter in 1980, and George H. W. Bush in 1992.

Clearly, all Presidents since Rutherford Hayes in 1880, who have survived a term, have attempted to be reelected, but since Biden will be 82 years old weeks after the Presidential Election of 2024, he might decide not to run, or his health might be such that he is told he should not run.

C-Span Presidential Historians Survey 2021 Announced Today!

Ronald Leave a comment

For all Presidential followers, including scholars and specialists in the American Presidency and Presidential history, today is a great day, as C-Span announced its Presidential Historians Survey results for 2021!

It will take time to analyze the results, but a few points stand out:

Barack Obama went up from 12th to 10th in the overall listings.

Donald Trump ended up tied for 42nd out of 44, with Franklin Pierce, with only James Buchanan at 44 and Andrew Johnson at 43 below him.

Woodrow Wilson slipped from 11th to 13th as he continues to decline in overall rankings.

Andrew Jackson slipped dramatically from 18th to 22nd, and is now just in the middle of the overall rankings.

James K. Polk slipped from 14th to 18th, a continued decline in overall rankings.

John Adams and John Quincy Adams both rose four points from earlier rankings.

Bill Clinton dropped from 15th to 19th, a dramatic decline after having risen in earlier rankings.

Jimmy Carter ended up tied with James A. Garfield at 26th, and in the “battle” of Gerald Ford vs Carter, Carter came out ahead for the third time in the four C-Span surveys, in 2000, 2008 along with 2021, with Ford ahead in 2017.