Andrew Johnson

Donald Trump Loves Chaos And Anarchy: A Guarantee Of His Failure And Downfall

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Donald Trump loves chaos and anarchy, which is a guarantee of his failure and ultimate downfall.

In just 13 and a half months, he has had more staff resign or be fired than any other President, now nearly doubling the turnover of any of the last four Presidents.

At the same time, many positions have not been filled that are crucial for the smooth operating of the American government.

And clearly, Donald Trump is more mercurial and temperamental a Chief Executive than any President, clearly even more than Andrew Johnson and Richard Nixon, both known for their mental instability, but neither on the level of Trump.

The Andrew Johnson and Richard Nixon Presidencies were centers of constant stress and turmoil, but not on the level we are now experiencing.

The one lucky thing about these 13 and a half months is that there has, thankfully, been no major crisis to test the ability of Donald Trump to do his job, no turning point that every President eventually faces.

When that time and situation arises, we will not be ready as a nation to deal with it, and we only have to hope and pray that we will be able to deal with it in a manner that will not cause long term damage, but honestly, pessimism is the more realistic view to have, rather than optimism.

2018 Presidents And Executive Politics Presidential Greatness Survey Of 170 Political Scientists: First Experts Assessment Of Donald Trump

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The American Political Science Association conducted a survey from late December 2017 to mid January 2018 of social science experts in presidential politics, the first such survey to assess all of the 44 men who have held the office of the Presidency, including Donald Trump after one year in office.

Last year, C Span had its third survey of Presidential experts, mostly historians but some political scientists and journalists, rating the Presidents, as Barack Obama left office.

So this is a significant moment, as now Donald Trump is part of the equation. The score rating is, theoretically from 100 high to a Zero low.

Abraham Lincoln had 95.03 rating of this group of scholars, and Donald Trump ended up number 44 out of 44, with a score of 12.34, nearly three points lower than James Buchanan with 15.09 score, with the pre Civil War President finally getting out of the basement as the lowest ranked President.

Even William Henry Harrison, the one month President in 1841, who accomplished nothing but his inaugural address and selection of his cabinet, ended up 42nd with a score of 19.02, demonstrating just how disastrous this group of political scientists sees Donald Trump after one year.

Democrats and Liberals and Moderates rated him 44th, the bottom, while Independents ranked Trump 43rd, ahead of only Buchanan. But even Republicans and Conservatives only rated him 40th out of 44, only ahead of Buchanan, Harrison, Pierce, and Andrew Johnson for Republicans, and only ahead of Buchanan, Harrison, Andrew Johnson and Pierce for Conservatives.

In percentage, Democrats gave Trump a 7.60 rating; Liberals a 7.92 rating; Moderates a 13.43 rating; Independents a 16.49 rating; Republicans a 24.53 rating; and Conservatives a 25.19 rating.

Trump topped the list as the most polarizing President, mentioned 138 times. The closest to him was Andrew Jackson, mentioned 81 times; George W. Bush with 74 mentions; and Barack Obama 72 times. Richard Nixon was fifth, with 55 mentions and tied with Abraham Lincoln, followed by Andrew Johnson with 37 mentions, Ronald Reagan with 33 mentions, Bill Clinton with 30 mentions, and Franklin D. Roosevelt with 29 mentions, to round out the top ten.

Five questions were asked about Trump: his Presidency overall; Legislative Accomplishments; Foreign Policy Leadership; Embodying Institutional Norms; and Communicating with the Public.

Trump earned three Fs and 2 Ds, with his best score on Communicating with the Public and lowest on Embodying Institutional Norms.

The only area in any group where Trump gained a C was in Foreign Policy Leadership, and also in Communicating with the Public, both from Republicans.

So Donald Trump, in the view of scholars and experts on the Presidency, is a true disaster, and to think he will get out of the basement and pass the four Presidents above him, is truly delusional!

The American Presidency And Racism Nothing New, But Donald Trump’s Comment Way Beyond The Pale, And Should Force His Resignation!

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The American Presidency and racism is nothing new, but Donald Trump’s comment about Haiti and the continent of Africa being a “shit hole” is way beyond the pale, and should force his resignation as a moral and ethical disgrace!

We know that nine of the first 12 Presidents were slave owners.

We know that Andrew Jackson slaughtered native Americans, and forced thousands to Oklahoma, the disgraceful “Trail of Tears”, and condemned abolitionists and worked to prevent their literature from going through the US Mail.

We know that John Tyler and James K. Polk worked to expand slavery territory.

We know that Andrew Johnson was a white supremacist in a disgraceful way.

We know that Theodore Roosevelt was critical of the mass migration of Catholics and Jews (the “New Immigration”) to America, and did not care about racial discrimination in the South.

We know that Woodrow Wilson was a white supremacist, who segregated the nation’s capital by executive order and refused to give any honors for military service to African Americans, and looked at Japan and China as inferior nations.

We know that Franklin D. Roosevelt failed to take adequate action against the Holocaust that killed millions of Jews and others in World War II, and failed to move against racial discrimination, although his wife Eleanor did speak up and take whatever actions she could, as First Lady.

We know that Richard Nixon was antisemitic, and said biased statements against Jews and African Americans on the Watergate Tapes, which were recorded in the Oval Office.

We know there were other actions by Presidents which showed reluctance or refusal to take action against racism and antisemitism.

But Donald Trump, by his public utterance yesterday, and so many other statements and actions before he became President, and since he became President, is the most vile racist of them all, including his wish to deport tens of thousands of Haitians, Salvadorans, and Hondurans, and his lack of concern about the horrible damage done to Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands during the hurricane season.

For that, Donald Trump will go down as the bottom of the list of all of our Presidents, and we MUST work to get him out of office before he does much more damage beyond what he has done!

Presidents Who Were Most Prolific Authors In Life Or After Their Deaths

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The issue of the intellectual prowess of Presidents is a significant one, in a time of a President who does not display much intellectual interest or talents.

Of course, ability to write and communicate in diaries or in books is not the only area of competence for a President, but we are fortunate that so many Presidents contributed to our nation in their writings.

First, however, is which Presidents did NOT contribute any significant writings in print or in diaries, although many left behind a massive amount of manuscripts, which historians have utilized in their published books on Presidents.

The list would include, chronologically, the following 20 Presidents.

George Washington
Thomas Jefferson
James Madison
James Monroe
Andrew Jackson
Martin Van Buren
William Henry Harrison
John Tyler
Zachary Taylor
Millard Fillmore
Franklin Pierce
Abraham Lincoln
Andrew Johnson
Rutherford B. Hayes
James A. Garfield
Chester Alan Arthur
William McKinley
William Howard Taft
Warren G. Harding
Franklin D. Roosevelt

A long list of Presidents (24) wrote diaries, Memoirs, or autobiographies, or other published works in their lifetime, or after their deaths, including, chronologically:

John Adams
John Quincy Adams
James K. Polk
James Buchanan
Ulysses S. Grant
Grover Cleveland
Benjamin Harrison
Theodore Roosevelt
Woodrow Wilson
Calvin Coolidge
Herbert Hoover
Harry Truman
Dwight D. Eisenhower
John F. Kennedy
Lyndon B. Johnson
Richard Nixon
Gerald Ford
Jimmy Carter
Ronald Reagan
George H. W. Bush
Bill Clinton
George W. Bush
Barack Obama
Donald Trump

Of all of these 24 who contributed published works, only a few, however, were voluminous, substantial, and could be described as prolific.

John Quincy Adams, with his 69 year diary in 48 volumes, would be one such case.

James K. Polk. with his 4 volume diary, would be another.

Theodore Roosevelt was extremely active as an author, and Woodrow Wilson was an active academic, which explains his large amount of publishing.

Herbert Hoover, Richard Nixon, and Jimmy Carter, all with long retirements, were prolific, and Carter has continued to be so.

Barack Obama is expected to join this group of prolific authors, and had two books before his Presidency, similar to John F. Kennedy, who clearly would have contributed more, had he not been assassinated.

So this is a summary of the literary intellectual life of our 44 Presidents!

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!