The Worst President Ever? You Be the Judge.By R. Marc Kantrowitz and Matthew J. Kantrowitz
Infidelity in the White House. An administration packed with cronies. A new congressional investigation seemingly every day. Sound familiar? Of course it does. It’s the administration of Warren G. Harding. Harding was a handsome man who stood six feet tall and looked the part of a president. Perhaps a clue of things to come, President-Elect Harding left for vacation after winning the 1920 election, declaring that no appointments nor decisions would be made. Golf wasn’t his game, but he fished in Texas and later traveled to Panama. His notable appointments to the cabinet were quickly overshadowed by those whose motto might have been, “It’s a government for the people, and we’re the people.” READ MORE |
|
Nastiest presidential campaign ever? Not even close.
When it comes to mudslinging campaigns, everything old is new again.By R. Marc and Matthew Kantrowitz
With people commenting that the current presidential race is the foulest in history, Donald Trump has never, up to this point at least, characterized any of his past opponents as a “hideous hermaphroditical character [who] has neither the force and firmness of a man, nor the gentleness and sensibility of a woman.” The man on whose behalf these words came to be uttered is enshrined on Mount Rushmore. Yes, a Thomas Jefferson supporter coined this phrase in attacking his opponent John Adams, who responded in kind, predicting that the election of Jefferson would result in houses being burned, females being accosted and “children writhing on pikes.” That the heated election centered around immigration, presidential war powers and the first amendment shows how little we have moved, both in terms of substance and insult. READ MORE. |
Top, from left: Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, John Quincy Adams, Andrew Jackson. Bottom, from left: James Blaine, Grover Cleveland, Donald Trump, Hillary Clinton.
|
