Jimmy Carter

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

Ronald 61 Comments

A survey produced by the website “theleahfiles” makes clear that Donald Trump is by far the most corrupt President in American History.

The survey demonstrates the level of corruption of every President since Dwight D. Eisenhower, with recognition that any Presidency will end up with some level of corruption, but in many cases, not a serious level.

Donald Trump scores 53 in first term, and 91 in his first year and a half of his second term.

Richard Nixon scores 41, the only other President over 25.

George W. Bush scores 23; Bill Clinton 22; and Ronald Reagan 21.

Lyndon B. Johnson scores 17; George H.W. Bush 13; and John F. Kennedy 10.

All the other Presidents are in single digits in the following order:

Barack Obama and Joe Biden scored 8; Dwight D. Eisenhower 6; and Gerald Ford and Jimmy Carter 2.

If one adds the scores of Republican Presidents, the total is 250, while for Democratic Presidents, the total is 67.

So clearly, the level of Republican corruption is more than three and a half times higher than for Democratic corruption.

The total number of years of Republican Presidential leadership are 42 through 2026, starting in 1953 and Eisenhower.

The total number of years of Democratic Presidential leadership are 32.

Presidents And Immigration Policies: 1961-2001

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From the 1960s to the turn of the 21st century, 8 Presidents pursued varying immigration policies.

All of the eight Presidents promoted pro immigration policies, a major change from earlier policies, with the exception of Bill Clinton.

John F. Kennedy advocated immigration reform, and opposed the discrimatory national origins system that had been in effect since the 1920s. He made attempts to advance serious reforms, but was stopped in his brief Presidency from accomplishing his open minded attitude toward immigration.

Lyndon B. Johnson advocated and signed into law the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965, signing the new legislation in a ceremony at the Statue of Liberty, a massive reform that revolutionized migration of immigrants from around the world, as part of his “Great Society” programs. The National Origins formula since the 1920s was abolished, and a family based system was established.

The special preference for Northern and Western European migration was now expanded to include Southern and Eastern European, Latin American, Asian, and African immigration, vastly changing over time the demographic mix of the nation. This was seen as part of the changing political climate, in the time of the Civil Rights Movement of the era.

Richard Nixon generally pursued what Johnson had accomplished, and arranged for admission of Vietnam War refugees to come to America, and Gerald Ford continued the policies, including passage of the Indochina Migration and Refugee Assistance Act of 1975.

Jimmy Carter continued the same pattern of openmindedness toward immigrants and refugees, including passage of the Refugee Act of 1980.

Further reforms occurred under Ronald Reagan, with amnesty for three million undocumented immigrants, under the Immigration and Control Act of 1986. In his Farewell Address in 1989, he applauded the importance and signicance of permitting immigrants into the nation as as advancement of America’s role in the world.

George H. W. Bush further expanded immigration reform, first promoted by Senator Edward M. Kennedy of Massachusetts, with passage of the Immigration Act of 1990.

This expanded legal immigration and promoted a diversity lottery, which included allowing migration of homosexuals, which had been prevented in the Johnson 1965 law.

Under Bill Clinton, with a Republican Congress in control in both houses for the first time in 40 years, restrictions on illegal immigration, under the Illegal Immigration Reform And Immigrant Responsibility Act in 1996, were put into place.

Deportation proceedings led to removal actions on a large scale. Bars to re-entry in the nation were instituted, and establishment of barriers on the US-Mexico Border were promoted.

So after more than three decades of immigration reform, new restrictions were being imposed in the mid to late 1990s.

Historically, Midterm Elections Favor Party Opposing The President!!

Ronald 107 Comments

With the Midterm Congressional Elections of 2026 now two months away, the odds look good for Democrats to regain control of the House of Representatives and the US Senate under Republican President Donald Trump.

The Republicans are trying to argue that such will not happen, but history tells us this is a normal scenario throughout most of history, particularly since 1946, the first midterm after World War II.

The only times that this scenario did not occur was in 1998 under Bill Clinton, and 2002 under George W. Bush.

In 1998, the Democrats actually gained 4 seats in the House, and kept the 45 seats they had in the Senate, so the Republicans actually gained nothing in that election year, although they continued to have control of both houses of Congress.

In 2002, with September 11 being an influential factor, the Republican Party actually gained 8 seats in the House, and 2 seats in the Senate, therefore actually gaining control of the upper chamber after being in the minority previously.

But otherwise, the party out of power in Congress ended up gaining control in 1946, with Republicans gaining control of both houses of Congress under Harry Truman, with Democrats losing 54 seats in the House and 10 in the Senate.

In 1950, Truman’s Democratic Party kept control of Congress, but lost 28 seats in the House and 5 seats in the Senate.

Under Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1954, the Republicans lost control of both houses of Congress, which they had won in 1952, losing 18 seats in the House and 2 seats in the Senate.

In 1958, Eisenhower saw a loss of 48 seats in the House and 12 seats in the Senate.

In 1962, in the midst of the Cuban Missile Crisis, the Democrats lost 4 seats in the House of Representatives, but gained 4 seats in the US Senate.

In 1966, in the midst of the Vietnam War under Lyndon B. Johnson, the Democrats lost 47 seats in the House, and 3 seats in the Senate, but still had massive margins.

Under Richard Nixon, in 1970, 12 Republican seats were lost in the House, but 2 seats were gained in the Senate.

Under Gerald Ford in 1974, in the midst of the Watergate Scandal and the resignation of Richard Nixon, the Republicans lost 48 seats in the House and 4 seats in the Senate.

Under Jimmy Carter in 1978, Democrats lost 15 seats in the House and 2 seats in the Senate, but retained control of both houses of Congress.

Under Ronald Reagan in 1982, Republicans lost 26 seats in the House and no seats in the Senate. Then, in 1986, Republicans lost 5 seats in the House, and lost 8 seats in the Senate, losing control of that chamber it had gained in 1980.

Under George H. W. Bush in 1990,, the Republicans lost 8 seats in the House and 1 seat in the Senate.

Under Bill Clinton in 1994, the Democrats lost control of both houses as part of the “Republican Revolution”, losing 54 seats in the House and 9 seats in the Senate. Then, in 1998, a surprise as Democrats gained 4 seats in the House and no change in the Senate, while the Republicans kept control.

Under George W. Bush in 2002, after September 11, the Republicans gained 8 seats in the House and two seats in the Senate, gaining the majority in the Senate. But in 2006, Republicans lost control of both houses of Congress, losing 32 seats in the House and 6 seats in the Senate.

Under Barack Obama in 2010, the Democrats lost the massive number of 63 seats in the House, and 6 in the Senate, losing control of the House to the Republicans. In 2014, the Democrats lost 13 seats in the House and 9 seats in the Senate, losing control of the Senate to the Republicans.

Under Donald Trump’s first term, in 2018, the Republicans lost control of the House, losing 41 seats, but gained two seats in the Senate, and retained the majority in the Senate.

Finally, under Joe Biden in 2022, Democrats lost control of the House by 9 seats, but gained one in the Senate, and kept control.

In 2026, two months from now, we will see what transpires.

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$40 Trillion National Debt A Crisis For America, And Mostly Occurring Under Republican Presidents!

Ronald 33 Comments

America is faced with a crisis, as the national debt just passed $40 Trillion, and no end in sight, as Donald Trump adds massively to the national debt with his extremely large tax cuts, and the costs of the Iran War.

This presents a crisis for the funding of Social Security and Medicare, which will be unable, as things stand now, to pay out to recipients the entire amount they are due on a monthly basis by the mid 2030s, and on health care costs.

The national debt reached $1 Trillion under Ronald Reagan by his second year in office, 1982.

And when one looks at all Presidents since then, it is clear that the national debt has magnified primarily under Republican Presidents since Reagan, who tripled the national debt to $3 Trillion, as well as George W. Bush, and Donald Trump.

George W. Bush started with a $5.7 Trillion national debt, and left eight years later, with $10.6 Trillion, so a doubling of the national debt.

Donald Trump started with about $20 Trillion national debt, and left after four years with $28 Trillion national debt. And in his second term, the national debt has grown from $36 Trillion up to, presently, $40 Trillion national debt.

So $20 Trillion, half the total national debt at present, but with about $3 Trillion being added annually by estimate for the next two and a half years of Trump, are due to Republican policies, including more massive tax cuts for the wealthy under Bush and Trump, and involvement in foreign wars in Iraq, Afghanistan, and now Iran.

This is not excusing Democratic Presidents since Reagan, but the worst economic downturn, the Great Recession, since the Great Depression, explains Barack Obama adding $9.3 Trillion to the national debt in two terms; and Joe Biden, with the COVID 19 Pandemic, adding $8.5 Trillion to the national debt in his one term of office.

Bill Clinton added only $1.5 Trillion to the national debt in his two terms, and actually had balanced budgets in his second term, in league with a Republican Congress, while Republican George H. W. Bush in his one term added $1.3 Trillion to the national debt.

By comparison, Democrat Jimmy Carter in his one term only added $300 Billion to the National Debt.

“Democratic Socialists” Vs Democratic Party

Ronald 23 Comments

The Democratic Party has brought about in the past century, since Franklin D. Roosevelt onward through Joe Biden, a massive number of major reforms.

The vast number of them came under FDR and the New Deal in the 1930s, and Lyndon B. Johnson and the Great Society in the 1960s, both periods where the Democratic Party had massive majorities in both houses of Congress.

Under other Democratic Presidents, fewer reforms were possible, but there were domestic accomplishments and advancements under Presidents Harry Truman, John F. Kennedy, Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton, Barack Obama, and Joe Biden.

Now, however, so called “Democratic Socialists” are trying to turn the Democratic Party further to the left, and have succeeded in electing Zohran Mamdani as NYC Mayor and likely will elect Janeese Lewis George as Washington DC Mayor in November.

The best known “Democratic Socialist” is Independent Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont, who caucuses with the Democratic Party, and is seen by others as a “model”, but is not technically seen as part of this updated “Democratic Socialists”.

Also, there are three members, presently, in the House of Representatives;

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York
Rashida Tlaib of Michigan
Greg Casar of Texas

In the upcoming 120th Congress (2027-2029), the following additions are to be added to the House of Representatives:

Dairaliza Avila Chavalier of New York
Claire Valdez of New York
Melat Kiros of Colorado
Chris Rabb of Pennsylvania

There are others who are termed as “The Squad”, but do not call themselves “Democratic Socialists”, including

Ilhan Omar of Minnesota
Ayanna Presley of Massachusetts
Delia Ramirez of Illinois
Summer Lee of Pennsylvania

The “Democratic Socialists” and “The Squad” membership could be a problem if the Democrats gain the majority in the House of Representatives by only a small margin, as that could interfere with the ability of House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York to become the first Black Speaker of the House.

“Democratic Socialists” promote the following:

32 Hour Work Week
Minimum Wage of $30
Medicare For All
High Taxation of the Rich
Housing Reform And Universal Rent Control
Cuts In Military Spending
Opposition to NATO and Aid to Ukraine
Replacement of Capitalism
Hostility To Israel Since Israel-Gaza War

This author and blogger, proud to be a “Progressive”, sees these goals as unrealistic or objectionable.

Lowering the work week to less than 40 hours is possible, and a minimum wage goal over time of $25 seem reasonable.

Movement toward Medicare to cover Americans over 50, and some taxation of the rich is also reasonable.

Housing Reforms including for renters in a moderate way is also reasonable.

Some Cuts in Military Spending, but support of NATO and of Aid to Ukraine in its war with Russia is the proper way for the future.

Capitalism will not be replaced, but could come under greater regulation and controls.

Criticism of Israel, and ending military support of the government due to its actions in Gaza and the West Bank, can occur, but not total hostility to the right of Israel to its own nationhood.

So there is potential for reforms and change, but not to the extreme promoted by the “Democratic Socialists” and “The Squad”.

They will continue to “make noise” as their small number in Congress grows, but the Democratic Party is not going to go as far left as these groups promote, as they are totally unrealistic.

Presidents’ Common Birth Years, And Death Dates, As Three Presidents Reach Age Of 80 In Next Eight Weeks!

Ronald 29 Comments

The year 1946 witnessed the births of three American Presidents, in reverse order of date of birth, and all three will reach 80 years of age in the next eight weeks:

Donald Trump June 14
George W. Bush July 6
Bill Clinton August 19

But there are other Presidents who share similar birth years, although no cases of THREE Presidents, rather TWO, who have the same birth year.

1767—John Quincy Adams (July 11) and Andrew Jackson (March 15), consecutive Presidents but reverse dates of birth.

1822—Ulysses S Grant (April 27) and Rutherford B. Hayes (October 4).

1913—Richard Nixon (January 9) and Gerald Ford (July 14).

1924—Jimmy Carter (October 1) and George H. W. Bush (June 12), non consecutive Presidents but reverse dates of birth.

At the same time, there are only three sets of cases of death dates of American Presidents dying on the same day of a year, with two in the same year:

July 4—John Adams and Thomas Jefferson (1826) and James Monroe (1831). But Jefferson died a number of hours before Adams on the 50th Anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, and supposedly, Adams’ last words were “Thomas Jefferson still survives”, which was not the truth!

March 8—Millard Fillmore (1874) and William Howard Taft (1930)

December 26—Harry Truman (1972) and Gerald Ford (2006).

Donald Trump Presidency Easily The Most Corrupt In American History, Bar None!

Ronald 86 Comments

If there was any doubt about the level of corruption of Donald Trump in his first term in the Presidency from 2017-2021, his one year and four months so far of his second term, with two thirds of the term still ahead of us, settles the issue. It has escalated to the certainty of a multitude of observers, that his Presidency is the ultimate level of corruption without any debate on other Presidents and their administrations.

It is also fact that there can be no debate that the Presidencies that stand out as corrupt are all Republican Presidents.

Richard Nixon’s Presidency was seen as the worst and most corrupt, but now Trump replaces Nixon at the top of the list, without any debate.

Once we get past Trump and Nixon, the remaining Presidencies with high levels of corruption, would include

Ulysses S. Grant (1869-1877)
Warren G. Harding (1921-1923)
Ronald Reagan (1981-1989)
George W. Bush (2001-2009)

No other Republican President comes close to the level of corruption and scandal of the above six Republican Presidents.

So Theodore Roosevelt, William Howard Taft, Calvin Coolidge, Herbert Hoover, Dwight D. Eisenhower, Gerald Ford, and George H. W. Bush are not to be compared with the horrendous record of the six Republican Presidents who had large scale illegalities in their administrations.

And one would have to scrape very far to find any Democratic President since Andrew Jackson established the “Spoils System” in the 1830s to attempt to put any leaders of that party on the level of corruption being discussed here.

There is no such thing as perfection, but other than personal scandal, sometimes known in their lifetime, and other times not known, not one Democratic President—Grover Cleveland, Woodrow Wilson, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Harry Truman, John F. Kennedy, Lyndon B. Johnson, Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton, Barack Obama, or Joe Biden—comes anywhere near the scandal ridden times of the six Republican Presidents.

Four Octogenarian Presidents In Next Three Months!

Ronald 14 Comments

America has had 45 men serve as President, and 12 of them have reached the age of 80, and with three more to be added to the list between June and August 2026.

So one third of our Presidents will have reached the age of 80, with six of them reaching the 90s up to 100, and nine reaching the age of 80 plus.

Those in their 90s include Jimmy Carter, who reached age 100, followed by George H. W. Bush (94); Gerald Ford and Ronald Reagan (93); John Adams and Herbert Hoover (90).

Those in their 80s include Harry Truman (88); James Madison (85); Joe Biden (who will be 84 in November 2026); Thomas Jefferson (83); Richard Nixon (81); and John Quincy Adams (80).

In the next three months from today, Donald Trump will reach 80 on June 14; George W. Bush on July 6; and Bill Clinton on August 19.

Seven of these 15 are Republicans (HW Bush, Ford, Reagan, Hoover, Nixon, Trump, W Bush); 4 are Democrats (Carter, Truman, Biden, Clinton); 1 is Federalist (Adams); and 3 are Democratic Republicans (Madison, Jefferson, JQ Adams) in party affiliation.

Interestingly, 4 of the 15 Presidents were from the first 6 Chief Executives. Then, all of the remaining 11 Presidents who will have reached the age of 80, are a full century later after JQ Adams.

And after Hoover and Truman, and from Nixon onward in succession, every President from Ford, Carter, Reagan, HW Bush, Clinton, W Bush, Biden and Trump, will have reached that accomplishment, with only Barack Obama still nearly 15 years away from being an octogenarian.

Trump’s Public Opinion Ratings Sinking, Now 33 Percent, And Losing Major Voting Groups!

Ronald 4 Comments

Donald Trump’s public opinion ratings are sinking, presently at 33 percent.

Major voting blocs are abandoning him, including Latinos, Asian Americans, and voters without a college degree.

Already, women voters have soured on him, and young voters of both genders are also disillusioned with him.

The rising gas prices, along with the Iran War, are causing a collapse, just as occurred 46 years ago for President Jimmy Carter, with the Iran Hostage Seizure and rising gas prices.

There could not be two Presidents more different than Carter and Trump, but they share this commonality.

More specifically, Trump has 32 percent support on Iran; 30 percent on the economy; and 23 percent on the cost of living, and 40 percent on his immigration policy.

Only in eight states does Trump have majority support—Wyoming, North Dakota, West Virginia, Oklahoma, Idaho, Tennessee, Arkansas, and South Dakota. He is underwater in all of the “Swing States”, a troubling sign for the future, as he won all of those states.

And Trump has now reached a new low in public opinion ratings, lower than right after the US Capitol Insurrection on January 6, 2021, as he was about to leave office at the end of his first term, when he had a rating of 34 percent!

Two New Presidential Libraries And Museums Opening In June And July!

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For all those who care about and devote their lives to the study and analysis of the American Presidency and its occupants, celebrations are in order, as two new Presidential Libraries and Museums are opening within about two weeks of each other in June and July 2026.

On June 19, Juneteenth, the Barack Obama Presidential Library and Museum in Chicago will be dedicated, and then the next day, it will be open to the public. It will be the first Presidential Library totally digitized, although hard copies will be available at a separate facility. The Center will be located in Jackson Park on the South Side of Chicago, adjacent to the University of Chicago campus. A landscaped urban park and a new branch of the Chicago Public Library will be on the property.

On July 4, the 250th Anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, the Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum will be opened in Medora, North Dakota, which is connected to Theodore Roosevelt through his times in the mid 1880s that he spent in the “Badlands” area of North Dakota, escaping from the death of his wife and mother on Valentine’s Day 1884.

The Sagamore Hill National Historic Site in Oyster Bay, Long Island, New York, was the home of Theodore Roosevelt throughout his life, along with his birthplace at 28 East 20th Street in Manhattan, New York City, and both are open to tourists and scholars. But now, there will be a true Presidential Library in a state that Theodore Roosevelt claimed had a great impact on him, and that he would not have been President without the experience as a rancher.

It must be pointed out that every President since Herbert Hoover has an official Presidential Library and Museum, and both Donald Trump and Joe Biden are in early stages of planning such projects.

Earlier Presidents have historic sites, but not officially part of the National Archives and Records Administration, and in many cases, are based on their homes, including:

George Washington–Mount Vernon, Virginia
John Adams and John Quincy Adams–Quincy, Massachusetts
Thomas Jefferson–Charlottesville, Virginia
James Madison–Charlottesville, Virginia
James Monroe–Fredericksburg, Virginia
Andrew Jackson–Nashville and Knoxville, Tennessee
James Buchanan–Philadelpia, Pennsylvania
Abraham Lincoln–Springfield, Illinois
Andrew Johnson–Tusculum, Tennessee
Ulysses S Grant–Starkville, Mississippi
Rutherford B Hayes–Fremont, Ohio
Grover Cleveland–Princeton, New Jersey
William McKinley–Canton, Ohio
Woodrow Wilson–Staunton, Virginia
Warren G Harding–Marion, Ohio
Calvin Coolidge–Northampton, Massachusetts

This author, scholar, and blogger has visited the historic sites and homes of George Washington, John Adams and John Quincy Adams, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, James Monroe, Andrew Jackson, William Henry Harrison, John Tyler, Abraham Lincoln, Rutherford B. Hayes, James A. Garfield, William McKinley, Theodore Roosevelt in NY, William Howard Taft, Woodrow Wilson in Virginia and DC, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Harry Truman, John F. Kennedy, Lyndon B. Johnson, Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford Museum in Grand Rapids, Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, Bill Clinton, and George W. Bush.