> Ryan wrote:
> The Worst President in History
> Three particular failures secure Trumps status as the worst chief
> executive ever to hold the office.
> By Tim Naftali
>
> About the author: Tim Naftali is a clinical associate professor of
history
> at NYU. He was the first director of the Richard Nixon Presidential
Library
> and Museum.
> President Donald Trump has long exulted in superlatives. The first.
The
> best. The most. The greatest. No president has ever done what Ive
done,
> he boasts. No president has ever even come close, he says. But as
his
> four years in office draw to an end, theres only one title to
which he can
> lay claim: Donald Trump is the worst president America has ever
had.
> In December 2019, he became the third president to be impeached.
Last week,
> Trump entered a category all his own, becoming the first president
to be
> impeached twice. But impeachment, which depends in part on the
makeup of
> Congress, is not the most objective standard. What does being the
worst
> president actually mean? And is there even any value, at the bitter
end of
> a bad presidency, in spending energy on judging a pageant of failed
> presidencies?
> It is helpful to think of the responsibilities of a president in
terms of
> the two elements of the oath of office set forth in the
Constitution. In
> the first part, presidents swear to faithfully execute the Office
of the
> President of the United States. This is a pledge to properly
perform the
> three jobs the presidency combines into one: head of state, head of
> government, and commander in chief. In the second part, they
promise to
> preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United
States.
> Trump was a serial violator of his oathas evidenced by his
continual use
> of his office for personal financial gainbut focusing on three
crucial
> ways in which he betrayed it helps clarify his singular historical
status.
> First, he failed to put the national-security interests of the
United
> States ahead of his own political needs. Second, in the face of a
> devastating pandemic, he was grossly derelict, unable or unwilling
to
> marshal the requisite resources to save lives while actively
encouraging
> public behavior that spread the disease. And third, held to account
by
> voters for his failures, he refused to concede defeat and instead
> instigated an insurrection, stirring a mob that stormed the
Capitol.
> Many chief executives have failed, in one way or another, to live
up to the
> demands of the job, or to competently discharge them. But
historians now
> tend to agree that our worst presidents are those who fall short in
the
> second part of their pledge, in some way endangering the
Constitution. And
> if you want to understand why these three failures make Trump the
worst of
> all our presidents, the place to begin is in the basement of the
> presidential rankings, where dwell his rivals for that singular
dishonor.
> For decades in the 20th century, many historians agreed that the
title
> Trump has recently earned properly belonged to Warren G. Harding, a
> president they remembered. The journalist H. L. Mencken, master of
the
> acidic bon mot, listened to Hardings inaugural address and
despaired. No
> other such complete and dreadful nitwit is to be found in the pages
of
> American history, he wrote.
> Poor Harding. Our 29th president popularized the word normalcy and
self-
> deprecatingly described himself as a bloviator, before dying in
office of
> natural causes in 1923. Although mourned by an entire nation9
million
> people are said to have viewed his funeral train, many singing his
favorite
> hymn, Nearer, My God, to Theehe was never respected by people of
letters
> when he was alive. An avalanche of posthumous revelations about
corruption
> in his administration made him an object of scorn among most
historians. In
> 1948, Arthur M. Schlesinger Sr. began the tradition of regularly
ranking
> our presidents, which his son, Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr.
continuedfor
> decades Harding consistently came in dead last, dominating a
category
> entitled failure.
>
>
> The scandal that prompted Hardings descent to presidential hell
involved
> the leasing of private drilling rights on federal lands in
California and
> under a Wyoming rock resembling a teapot; Teapot Dome would serve
as the
> shorthand for a terrible presidential scandal until it was
displaced by
> Watergate. In April 1922, the Republican-controlled Senate began an
> investigation of the Republican administration, with Harding
promising
> cooperation. Public hearings began only after Hardings death the
next
> year. The secretary of the interior was ultimately found guilty of
bribery,
> becoming the first person to go from the Cabinet to jail. Other
scandals
> engulfed the director of the Veterans Bureau and the attorney
general.
> Although Harding had some warning of the corruption in his
administration,
> no evidence suggests that he personally profited from it, or that
he was
> guilty of more than incompetence. John W. Dean, the former White
House
> counsel who pleaded guilty to federal charges for his role in
Watergate,
> later concluded that Hardings reputation was unfairly tainted:
The fact
> that Harding had done nothing wrong and had not been involved in
any
> criminal activities became irrelevant. And, regardless of
Hardings role
> in the widespread corruption in his administration, he didnt ever
threaten
> our constitutional system.
> On the other side of the ledger, Harding had a number of positive
> achievements: the Washington Naval Conference to discuss
disarmament, the
> implementation of presidential authority over executive-branch
budgeting,
> the commutation of Eugene V. Debss sentence. These, combined with
his own
> lack of direct involvement in the scandals of his administration
and the
> absence of any attack on our republic (which no positive
administrative
> achievements could ever balance out), ought to allow him to be
happily
> forgotten as a mediocre president.
> Hardings reputation has hardly improved, but in recent
presidential
> surveys organized by C-SPAN, his tenure has been eclipsed by the
failures
> of three men who were implicated in the breakup of the Union or who
> hindered the tortuous effort to reconstruct it.
> The first two are Franklin Pierce and James Buchanan. Pierce, a New
> Hampshire Democrat, and Buchanan, a Democrat from Pennsylvania,
abetted and
> at times amplified the forces that drove the Union asunder.
Although
> neither was from the South, both men sympathized with southern
> slaveholders. They considered the rising tide of abolitionism an
> abomination, and sought ways to increase the power of slaveholders.
> Pierce and Buchanan opposed the 1820 Missouri Compromise, which had
calmed
> political tensions by prohibiting slavery above a certain line in
the
> Louisiana Territory. As president, Pierce helped overturn it,
adding the
> pernicious sentence to the 1854 Kansas-Nebraska Act that declared
the
> Compromise inoperative and void. The Kansas-Nebraska Act not only
allowed
> the people of the Kansas and Nebraska territories to determine
themselves
> whether their respective states were to be slave or free but opened
all
> unorganized territory to slavery.
> Buchanan then used federal power in Kansas to ensure that
slaveholders and
> their supporters, though a minority, would win. He authorized the
granting
> of an $80,000 contract to a pro-slavery editor in the territory and
> contracts, commissions, and in some cases cold cash to northern
Democrats
> in the House of Representatives to press them to admit Kansas as a
slave
> state.
> When Abraham Lincoln was elected to replace him in November 1860,
and
> states began to secede, Buchanan effectively abdicated his
responsibilities
> as president of the United States. He blamed Lincolns Republicans
for
> causing all the problems he faced, and promised southerners a
> constitutional amendment protecting slavery forever if they
returned. When
> secessionists in South Carolina set siege to a federal fort,
Buchanan
> collapsed. Like
Nixon in the summer of 1974 before his
resignation,
> wrote the Buchanan biographer Jean H. Baker, Buchanan gave every
> indication of severe mental strain affecting both his health and
his
> judgment.
> During the Whiskey Rebellion of 1794, President George Washington
had led
> the militia against the Pennsylvania rebels. Buchanans Cabinet
didnt
> expect him to personally lead U.S. troops to protect the federal
forts and
> customhouses being seized by southern secessionists, but he shocked
them by
> doing effectively nothing. When federal officeholders resigned in
the
> South, Buchanan did not use his authority to replace them. He even
had to
> be deterred by his Cabinet from simply surrendering Fort Sumter in
> Charleston Harbor, and ultimately made only a feeble effort to
defend the
> fort, sending an unarmed merchant ship as relief. Meanwhile, former
> President Pierce, who had been asked to speak in Alabama, instead
wrote in
> a public letter, If we cannot live together in peace, then in
peace and on
> just terms let us separate. After the Civil War ended, Pierce
offered his
> services as a defense lawyer to his friend Jefferson Davis. (Pierce
might
> not have been our worst president, but hes in the running against
John
> Tyler, who left office in 1845 and 16 years later joined the
Confederacy,
> for leading the worst post-presidency.)
> The next great presidential failure in U.S. history involved the
management
> of the victory over the South. Enter the third of the three men who
> eclipsed Harding: Andrew Johnson. Lincoln had picked Johnson as his
running
> mate in 1864 to forge a unity ticket for what he expected to be a
tough
> reelection bid. A pro-Union Democrat, Johnson had been the sole
southern
> senator in 1861 not to leave Congress when his state seceded.
> But Johnsons fidelity to Lincoln and to the nation ended with
Lincolns
> assassination in April 1865. While Lincoln had not left detailed
plans for
> how to bind up the nations wounds after the war, Johnson
certainly
> violated the spirit of what Lincoln had envisioned. An unrepentant
white
> supremacist, he opposed efforts to give freedmen the vote, and when
> Congress did so over his objections, Johnson impeded their
enjoyment of
> that right. He wanted slavery by another name in the South,
undermining the
> broad consensus in the victorious North. What he had in mind all
along for
> the south, as his biographer Annette Gordon-Reed wrote, was a
restoration
> rather than reconstruction.
> Johnson used his pulpit to bully those who believed in equal rights
for
> formerly enslaved people and to encourage a culture of grievance in
the
> South, spreading myths about why the Civil War had occurred in the
first
> place. Many people are responsible for the toxic views and policies
that
> have so long denied Black Americans basic human rights, but Andrew
Johnson
> was the first to use the office of the presidency to give that
project
> national legitimacy and federal support. Having inherited Lincolns
> Cabinet, Johnson was forced to maneuver around Lincolns men to
impose his
> own mean-spirited and racist vision of how to reintegrate the
South. That
> got him impeached by the House. A Republican Senate then fell one
vote
> short of removing him from office.
> All three of these 19th-century presidents compiled awful records,
but
> Buchanan stands apart becausebesides undermining the Union, using
his
> office to promote white supremacy, and demonstrating dereliction of
duty in
> the decisive crisis of secessionhe led an outrageously corrupt
> administration. He violated not just the second part of his oath,
betraying
> the Constitution, but also the first part. Buchanan managed to be
more
> corrupt than the low standard set by his contemporaries in
Congress, which
> is saying something.
> In 1858, members of Congress tried to curtail a routine source of
graft,
> described by the historian Michael Holt as the public printing
rake-off.
> At the time, there was no Government Printing Office, so contracts
for
> printing the reams of congressional and executive-branch
proceedings and
> statements went to private printers. In the 1820s, President Andrew
Jackson
> had started steering these lucrative contracts to friends. By the
1850s,
> congressional investigators found that bribes were being extorted
from
> would-be government printers, and that those who won contracts were
kicking
> back a portion of their profits to the Democratic Party. Buchanan
directly
> benefited from this system in the 1856 election. Although he signed
reforms
> into law in 1858, he swiftly subverted them by permitting a
subterfuge that
> allowed his key contributorwho owned a prominent
pro-administration
> newspaperto continue profiting from government printing.
> Does Trump have any modern competitors for the title of worst
president?
> Like Harding, a number of presidents were poor executors of the
office.
> President Woodrow Wilson was an awful man who presided over an
apartheid
> system in the nations capital, largely confined his support for
democracy
> abroad to white nations, and then mishandled a pandemic. President
Herbert
> Hoover helped drive the U.S. economy into the ground during the
Great
> Depression, because the economics he learned as a young man proved
> fundamentally wrong.
> President George W. Bushs impulse after 9/11 to weaken American
civil
> liberties in the name of protecting them, and his blanket approval
of
> interrogation techniques universally considered torture, left
Americans
> disillusioned and impeded the struggle to deradicalize Islamists.
His
> invasion of Iraq in 2003, like Thomas Jeffersons embargo on
foreign trade
> during the Napoleonic Wars, had disastrous consequences for
American power,
> and undermined unity at home and abroad.
> These presidents were each deeply flawed, but not in the same
league as
> their predecessors who steered the country into Civil War or did
their
> utmost to deprive formerly enslaved people of their hard-won rights
while
> rewarding those who betrayed their country.
> And then theres Richard Nixon.
> Before Trump, Nixon set the standard for modern presidential
failure as the
> first president forced from office, who resigned ahead of
impeachment. And
> in many ways, their presidencies have been eerily parallel. But the
> comparison to Nixon reveals the ways in which Trumps presidency
has been
> not merely bad, but the very worst we have ever seen.
> Like the 45th president, Nixon ascended to office by committing an
original
> sin. As the Republican presidential nominee, Nixon intervened
indirectly to
> scuttle peace negotiations in Paris over the Vietnam War. He was
worried
> that a diplomatic breakthrough in the 11th hour of the campaign
would help
> his Democratic rival, Hubert Humphrey. For Nixon, it set the
pattern for
> future presidential lies and cover-ups.
> Trump, too, put his political prospects ahead of any sense of duty.
As a
> candidate, Trump openly appealed to Russia to steal his opponents
emails.
> Then, as Russia dumped hacked emails from her campaign chair, he
seized on
> the pilfered materials to suggest wrongdoing and amplified Russian
> disinformation efforts. Extensive investigations during his
administration
> by thenSpecial Counsel Robert Mueller and the Senate Intelligence
> Committee didnt produce any evidence suggesting that he directly
abetted
> Russian hacking, but those investigations were impeded by a pattern
of
> obstructive conduct that Mueller carefully outlined in his report.
> Trumps heartless and incompetent approach to immigration, his use
of tax
> policy to punish states that didnt vote for him, his diversion of
public
> funds to properties owned by him and his family, his impulsive and
self-
> defeating approach to trade, and his petulance toward traditional
allies
> assured on their own that he would not be seen as a successful
modern
> president. But those failures have more to do with the first part
of his
> oath. The case that Trump is not just the worst of our modern
presidents
> but the worst of them all rests on three other pillars, not all of
which
> have a Nixonian parallel.
> Trump is the first president since America became a superpower to
> subordinate national-security interests to his political needs.
Nixons
> mishandling of renewed peace negotiations with Hanoi in the 1972
election
> campaign led to the commission of a war crime, the unnecessary
Christmas
> bombing at the end of that year. But it cannot compare, in terms
of the
> harm to U.S. national interests, to Trumps serial subservience to
foreign
> strongmen such as Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey, Kim Jong Un of
North
> Korea, and, of course, Russias Vladimir Putinnone of whom act out
of a
> sense of shared interests with the United States. Trumps effort to
squeeze
> the Ukrainians to get dirt on his likely opponent in 2020, the
cause of his
> first impeachment, was just the best-documented instance of a form
of
> corruption that characterized his entire foreign policy.
> The second pillar is Trumps dereliction of duty during the
COVID-19
> pandemic, which will have killed at least 400,000 Americans by the
time he
> leaves office. In his inaugural address, Trump vowed an end to
American
> carnage, but in office, he presided over needless death and
suffering.
> Trumps failure to anticipate and then respond to the pandemic has
no
> equivalent in Nixons tenure; when Nixon wasnt plotting political
> subversion and revenge against his perceived enemies, he could be a
good
> administrator.
> Trump, of course, is not the first president to have been surprised
by a
> threat to our country. Franklin D. Roosevelt was caught off guard
by the
> Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. Trump, like FDR, could have tried
to
> redeem himself by his management of the response. But Trump lacked
FDRs
> intellectual and leadership skills. Instead of adapting, he dug in,
denying
> the severity of the challenge and the importance of mask wearing
and social
> distancing while bemoaning the likely damage to his beloved
economy.
> Trump continued to insist that he was in charge of Americas
coronavirus
> response, but when being in charge required him to actively oversee
> plansor at least to read and approve themhe punted on the tough
issues of
> ramping up testing, and was painfully slow to secure sufficient
protective
> equipment and ventilators. FDR didnt directly manage the Liberty
ship
> program, but he grasped its necessity and understood how to empower
> subordinates. Trump, instead, ignored his own experts and advisers,
> searching constantly for some silver bullet that would relieve him
of the
> necessity of making hard choices. He threw money at pharmaceutical
and
> biotech firms to accelerate work on vaccines, with good results,
but went
> AWOL on the massive logistical effort administering those vaccines
> requires.
> In doubling down on his opposition to basic public-health measures,
the
> president crossed a new line of awfulness. Three of Trumps tweets
on April
> 17, 2020LIBERATE VIRGINIA, LIBERATE MICHIGAN!, and LIBERATE
> MINNESOTA!moved him into Pierce and Buchanan territory for the
first
> time: The president was promoting disunity. The liberation he was
> advocating was civil disobedience against stay-at-home rules put in
place
> by governors who were listening to public-health experts. Trump
then
> organized a series of in-person rallies that sickened audience
members and
> encouraged a wider public to put themselves at risk.
> Trump channeled the same divisive spirit that Pierce and Buchanan
had
> tapped by turning requests from the governors of the states that
had been
> the hardest hit by the coronavirus into opportunities for partisan
and
> sectarian attack.
> Fifty-eight thousand Americans had already died of the virus when
Trump
> signaled that ignoring or actively violating public-health mandates
was a
> patriotic act. Over the summer, even as the death toll from COVID
mounted,
> Trump never stopped bullying civic leaders who promoted mask
wearing, and
> continued to hold large in-person rallies, despite the risk of
spreading
> the virus. When the president himself became sick in the fall,
rather than
> being sobered by his personal brush with serious illness, the
president
> chose to turn a potential teachable moment for many Americans into
a
> grotesque carnival. He used his presidential access to experimental
> treatment to argue that ordinary Americans need not fear the
disease. He
> even took a joyride around Walter Reed National Military Medical
Center in
> his closed, armored SUV to bask in the glow of his supporters
adulation
> while endangering the health of his Secret Service detail.
> American presidents have a mixed record with epidemics. For every
Barack
> Obama, whose administration professionally managed the threats from
Ebola
> and the H1N1 virus, or George W. Bush, who tackled AIDS in Africa,
theres
> been a Woodrow Wilson, who mishandled the influenza pandemic, or a
Ronald
> Reagan, who was derelict in the face of AIDS. But neither Reagan
nor Wilson
> actively promoted risky behavior for political purposes, nor did
they
> personally obstruct federal-state partnerships that had been
intended to
> control the spread of disease. On those points, Trump stands alone.
> The third pillar of the case against Trump is his role as the chief
> instigator of the attempted insurrection of January 6. Although
racism and
> violent nativism preceded Trump, the seeds of what happened on
January 6
> were planted by his use of the presidential bully pulpit. No
president
> since Andrew Johnson had so publicly sympathized with the sense of
> victimhood among racists. In important ways, Nixon prefigured Trump
by
> conspiring with his top lieutenants to use race, covertly, to bring
about a
> realignment in U.S. politics. Nixons goal was to lure racists away
from
> the Democratic Party and so transform the Republican Party into a
governing
> majority. Trump has gone much further. From his remarks after the
neo-Nazi
> rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, to his effort to set the U.S.
military
> against the Black Lives Matter movement, Trump has openly used race
in an
> effort to transform the Republican Party into an agitated,
cult-like,
> white-supremacist minority movement that could win elections only
through
> fear, disenfranchisement, and disinformation.
> Both Trump and Nixon sought to subvert any serious efforts to deny
them
> reelection. Nixon approved a dirty-tricks campaign, and his chief
of staff
> Bob Haldeman approved the details of an illegal espionage program
against
> the eventual Democratic nominee. Nixon won his election but
ultimately left
> office in the middle of his second term because the press, the
Department
> of Justice, and Congress uncovered his efforts to hide his role in
this
> subversion. They were helped in large part by Nixons absentminded
taping
> of his own conversations.
> Trump never won reelection. Instead, he mounted the first effort by
a
> defeated incumbent to use the power of his office to overturn a
> presidential election. Both men looked for weaknesses in the system
to
> retain power. But Trumps attempt to steal the 2020 election put
him in a
> class of awfulness all by himself.
> Holding a national election during a pandemic was a test of the
resilience
> of American democracy. State and local election officials looked
for ways
> to boost participation without boosting the viruss spread. In
practical
> terms, this meant taking the pressure off same-day votinglimiting
crowds
> at boothsby encouraging voting by mail and advance voting. Every
candidate
> in the 2020 elections understood that tallying ballots would be
slow in
> states that started counting only on Election Day. Even before
voting
> began, Trump planted poisonous seeds of doubt about the fairness of
this
> COVID-19 election. When the numbers didnt go his way, Trump
accelerated
> his disinformation campaign, alleging fraud in states that he had
won in
> 2016 but lost four years later. The campaign was vigorous and
widespread.
> Trumps allies sought court injunctions and relief from Republican
state
> officials. Lacking any actual evidence of widespread fraud, they
lost in
> the courts. Despite having exploited every constitutional option,
Trump
> refused to give up.
> It was at this point that Trump went far beyond Nixon, or any of
his other
> predecessors. In 1974, when the Supreme Court ruled unanimously in
U.S. v.
> Nixon that Nixon had to turn over his White House tapes to a
special
> prosecutor, Nixon also ran out of constitutional options. He knew
that the
> tapes proved his guilt, and would likely lead to his impeachment
and then
> to his conviction in the Senate. On July 24, Nixon said he would
comply
> with the order from a coequal branch of our government, and
ultimately
> accepted his political fate. In the end, even our most awful
presidents
> before 2017 believed in the continuation of the system they had
taken an
> oath to defend.
> But not Trump. Heading into January 6, 2021, when Congress would
ritually
> certify the election, Trump knew that he lacked the Electoral
College votes
> to win or the congressional votes to prevent certification. He had
only two
> cards left to playneither one of which was consistent with his
oath. He
> pushed Vice President Mike Pence to use his formal constitutional
role as
> the play-by-play announcer of the count to unconstitutionally
obstruct it,
> sending it back to the states for recertification. Meanwhile, to
maintain
> pressure on Pence and Republicans in Congress, he gathered some of
his most
> radicalized followers on the Mall and pointed the way to the
Capitol, where
> the electoral count was about to begin. When Pence refused to
exceed his
> constitutional authority, Trump unleashed his mob. He clearly
wanted the
> count to be disrupted.
> On January 6, Trumps legacy was on a knifes edge. Trump likely
knew
> Pences intentions when he began to speak to the mob. He knew that
the vice
> president would disappoint his hopes. In riling up the mob and
sending it
> down Pennsylvania Avenue, he was imperiling the safety of his vice
> president and members of Congress. If there was any doubt that he
was
> willing to countenance violence to get his way, it disappeared in
the face
> of the presidents long inaction, as he sat in the White House
watching
> live footage of the spreading assault.
> And he may do still more damage before he departs.
> Andrew Johnson left a political time bomb behind him in the
nations
> capital. After the Democratic Party refused to nominate Johnson for
a
> second term and Ulysses S. Grant won the election as a Republican,
Johnson
> issued a broad political amnesty for many Confederates, including
leaders
> who were under indictment such as the former president of the
Confederate
> States, Jefferson Davis.
> So much of the pain and suffering this country experienced in the
Trump
> years started with that amnesty. Had Davis and top Confederate
generals
> been tried and convicted, polite society in the South could not
have viewed
> these traitors as heroes. Now Trump is hinting that he wishes to
pardon
> those who aided and abetted him in office, and perhaps even pardon
> himselfsimilarly attempting to escape accountability, and to delay
a
> reckoning.
> As Trump prepares to leave Washington, the capital is more agitated
than
> during any previous presidential transition since 1861, with
thousands of
> National Guard troops deployed around the city. There have been
serious
> threats to previous inaugurations. But for the first time in the
modern
> era, those threats are internal. An incumbent president is being
asked to
> discourage terrorism by supporters acting in his name.
> There are many verdicts on Donald Trump still to come, from the
Senate,
> from juries of private citizens, from scholars and historians. But
as a
> result of his subversion of national security, his reckless
endangerment of
> every American in the pandemic, and his failed insurrection on
January 6,
> one thing seems abundantly clear: Trump is the worst president in
the 232-
> year history of the United States.
> So, why does this matter? If we have experienced an unprecedented
political
> trauma, we should be prepared to act to prevent any recurrence.
Nixons
> fall introduced an era of government reformexpanded privacy
rights,
> overhauled campaign-finance rules, presidential-records
preservation, and
> enhanced congressional oversight of covert operations.
> Managing the pandemic must be the incoming Biden administrations
principal
> focus, but it neednt be its only focus. Steps can be taken to
ensure that
> the worst president ever is held to account, and to forestall a man
like
> Trump ever abusing his power in this way again.
> The first is to ensure that we preserve the record of what has
taken place.
> As was done after the Nixon administration, Congress should pass a
law
> establishing guidelines for the preservation of and access to the
materials
> of the Trump presidency. Those guidelines should also protect
nonpartisan
> public history at any public facility associated with the Trump
era. The
> Presidential Records Act already puts those documents under the
control of
> the archivist of the United States, but Congress should mandate
that they
> be held in the D.C. area and that the National Archives should not
partner
> with the Trump Foundation in any public-history efforts.
Disentangling the
> federal Nixon Presidential Library from Nixons poisonous myths
about
> Watergate took an enormous effort. The pressure on the National
Archives
> to, in some way, enable and legitimate Trumps own Lost Cause is
likely to
> be even greater.
> Trumps documented relationship with the truth also ensures that
his
> presidential records will necessarily be incomplete. His
presidency has
> revealed gaping loopholes in the process of public disclosure,
which the
> president deftly exploited. Congress should mandate that future
candidates
> and presidents release their tax returns. Congress should also seek
to
> tightly constrict the definition of privacy regarding presidential
medical
> records. It should also require presidents to fully disclose their
own
> business activities, and those of members of their immediate
family,
> conducted while in office. Congress should also claim, as public
records,
> the transition materials of 201617 and 202021 and those of future
> transitions.
> Finally, Congress must tend to American memory. It should establish
a Joint
> Congressional Committee to study January 6 and the events and
activities
> leading up to it, have public hearings, and issue a report. And it
should
> bar the naming of federal buildings, installations, and vessels
after
> Trump; his presidency should be remembered, but not commemorated.
> Because this, ultimately, is the point of this entire exercise. If
Trump is
> now the worst president we have ever had, its up to every American
to
> ensure that no future chief executive ever exceeds him.
> Tim Naftali is a clinical associate professor of history at NYU. He
was the
> first director of the Richard Nixon Presidential Library and
Museum.
>
>
>
https://archive.ph/uV0de#selection-531.0-568.0The worst
president in history is every single President after JFK. When US
elects an actor into office, we have to question the sanity of it all.
Trump won only because the opposition. The discrimination against men,
from little children having to hear rubbish about v-jay jay integrated
into our daily lives. Imagine going to college and having to read
about abortion knowing full well your professor had to skip four
stories that was just abortion and she skipped them because not only
of disgusted but because of her upbringing in religion. It is a slap
in the face of the Christian people. Sad reality with my parents
generations they are Christians without the proper training or
discipline.
This is a response to the post seen at:
http://www.jlaforums.com/viewtopic.php?p=667847106#667847106
Re: Corrupt Feeble Failure Felon Trump The Worst President In History - Prove Me Wrong