Joe Biden

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

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!

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.

The Three “I”s–ICE, Inflation, Iran–Key Campaign Issues For Midterm Elections Of 2026!

With six months to the Midterm Elections of 2026, it is clear that Democrats have key campaign issues to emphasize, and they all begin with the letter “I”.

The outrageous abuses of ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement), including the death of Renee Good and Alex Pretti in Minneapolis, but also many other abuses, and denial of basic human rights to people of color and even legal immigrants, is an issue that will not be diminished.

Inflation, the outrageous growth of the cost of living, most notably in gasoline and food prices, but also across the board in the economy, is undermining the ability of tens of millions of Americans to cope with the stresses of daily living, and denial by Trump and Republicans, or ridiculously blaming it on Joe Biden, will not make the issue go away.

The Iran War, and the undermining of international stability by Trump, starting a war that has no real end, and which threatens the Middle East and NATO long term, is an albatross around the neck of Donald Trump and Republicans, and will cost massive economic harm long term.

Additionally, the totally unhinged behavior of Donald Trump, his authoritarian attack on American democracy and the rule of law, and his outrageous attention to glorifying his own name and legacy, is an alarm bell in the night, and demands ability of a Democratic Congress to rein in his dictatorial bent.

Midterm Elections With Presidential Approval Ratings Below 50 Percent

The history of Midterm Elections and Presidents has, historically, not been a good one for almost all Presidents in modern history,

The one major exception is 1934, two years into the first term of Democratic President Franklin D. Roosevelt and his New Deal, when his party gained supermajorities in both houses of the 74th Congress, up from 60 to 75 seats in the US Senate, and up from 309 seats to 333 seats in the House of Representatives.

In the 106th Congress (1999-2001) under Democrat Bill Clinton, his party gained five seats in the House of Representatives, and one seat in the Senate, although the Republicans kept the majority.

And in the 108th Congress (2003-2005), under Republican President George W. Bush, and after September 11, Republicans gained six seats in the House of Representatives, and one seat in the Senate.

Finally, in the 118th Congress (2023-2025) under Democrat Joe Biden, the Democrats actually gained one seat in the Senate, while losing the House of Representatives majority to the Republican opposition.

Otherwise, the party in the White House has suffered major losses in seats, connected particularly with the modern approval ratings of Presidents falling below 50 percent.

So in 1946, under President Harry Truman, the Democrats lost 55 House seats and the majority in both houses.

Lyndon B. Johnson lost 48 seats in 1966; Ronald Reagan lost 26 seats in 1982; Bill Clinton lost 54 seats in 1994, and control of both houses; George W. Bush lost 30 seats in 2006, and control of both houses; Barack Obama lost 64 seats in 2010 and control of the House of Representatives; and Donald Trump lost 42 seats in 2018 and control of the House of Representatives.

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

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.

Emergence Of Anti Iran War MAGA Republicans Could Affect Midterm Elections Of 2026, And Presidential Election Of 2028!

Now that the United States is in Week Two of the Iran War, and with the son of the late Ayatollah being annointed his successor, it seems clear that America is on the road to a long, massive, expensive, disastrous intervention in the Middle East, without any certainty of success, similar to the Iraq War and the Afghanistan War.

And opposition is starting to emerge, from many so called MAGA Republicans, against the military intervention, some of it openly, and some of it behind the scenes.

Openly critical individuals this early include:

Tucker Carlson
Steve Bannon
Marjorie Taylor Greene, former Congresswoman from Georgia
Thomas Massie, Congressman from Kentucky
Rand Paul, Senator from Kentucky

Behind the scenes, based on past views about military intervention, and support of “isolationism” expressed, would include the following:

Vice President JD Vance
Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard

The latter two are being very quiet at this point, but their past record of viewpoints clashes with what Donald Trump, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, and apparently, Secretary of State Marco Rubio are promoting.

So there could be a battle brewing for the future of the Republican Party, based on what happens in the midterms, and as the Republican Party starts to look at its future direction.

It is hard to imagine Vance openly breaking with his party and his “boss”, the President of the United States, but it is perceived by many that had Vice President Kamala Harris expressed more differences with her “boss”, Joe Biden, possibly, the result in the Presidential Election of 2024 might have been different.

If Vance was to “break” with Trump, he still would be Vice President, but it would encourage Marco Rubio, Senator Ted Cruz of Texas, Governor Ron DeSantis of Florida, and others to challenge him for the Presidential nomination in 2028.

Of course, IF Vance became President by succession, and therefore, would be a sitting President, it would be much more difficult for a rebellion by MAGA Republicans to succeed against him.

Most certainly, the future of the Republican Party with the upcoming Presidential Election of 2028, is very much a fluid situation, and very difficult to project what will occur down the road!

Trump-Netanyahu “War Of Choice” Escalates To Widespread Middle East Conflict With Iran Attacking Neighboring Nations!

The decision of Donald Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu to choose to provoke a war with Iran is leading to a widespread Middle East escalation affecting all of the neighboring nations of the area, including

Kuwait
United Arab Emirates
Saudi Arabia
Bahrain
Qatar
Oman
Lebanon
Iraq
Jordan

This war came about without an “imminent threat” of Iran having enough potential for a nuclear weapon, and with negotiations going on between Iran’s Foreign Minister and Trump envoys Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff.

This clearly was a war promoted by Benjamin Netanyahu, who has wanted this war for decades, but until now with Donald Trump, could not bring it about under earlier Presidents.

Barack Obama brought about a nuclear agreement in 2015, signed onto by the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Russia, and China, and yet Trump destroyed the agreement in his first term, with Joe Biden reviving it in his term, but with Israel knowing how to stroke the ego of Trump, and accomplish what Netanyahu has wanted for a very long time.

So Netanyahu effectively manipulated Donald Trump, and now we have a Middle East War that is creating chaos and anarchy, and is causing economic instability, with higher oil prices on the way, and no certainty of how the US will resolve the war, including whether combat ground troops will engage, putting America in a major morass as Iraq and Afghanistan were for the previous two decades.

Analyzing Age Of Democratic Presidential Nominees 1828 To The Present!

The issue of age has been in the forefront of Presidential politics, as a result of the clear decline in office of both Joe Biden and Donald Trump, the two oldest Presidents ever elected.

When Ronald Reagan was elected in 1980, just weeks short of age 70 at the Inauguration in January 1981, it was a controversial issue, particularly right after the failed Assassination attempt of March 30, 1981, which clearly had some effect on his health over time, as signs of early Alzheimers seemed evident to many in Reagan’s last two years, including to his son Ron Reagan.

It had been pointed out that Dwight D. Eisenhower, leaving the Presidency in January 1961 at age 70 and three months, had stated that no one older than himself should be President.

But as it turned out, we have now had three “elderly” Presidents in the past half century—Reagan, Trump, Biden.

This issue has caused this author and blogger to conduct research on the age of Democratic Presidential nominees, whether winner or losers of the Presidency, going back to the beginnings of the Democratic Party under Andrew Jackson in the 1828 Presidential Election through the Presidential Election of 2024.

The record shows the following for all Democratic Presidential contenders, including first time for those nominated more than once. Altogether, 36 individuals have been Democratic Party nominees, but only 15 have ever been elected President, including two who first succeeded upon the death of the incumbent President—Harry Truman after Franklin D. Roosevelt, and Lyndon B. Johnson after John F. Kennedy.

1828–Andrew Jackson—61
1836–Martin Van Buren–54
1844–James K. Polk–49
1848–Lewis Cass–66
1852–Franklin Pierce–48
1856–James Buchanan–65
1860–Stephen Douglas–47
1864–George McClellan–38
1868–Horatio Seymour–58
1872–Horace Greeley–61
1876–Samuel Tilden–62
1880–Winfield Scott Hancock–56
1884–Grover Cleveland–47
1896–William Jennings Bryan–36
1904–Alton Parker–52
1912–Woodrow Wilson–56
1920–James Cox–50
1924–John W. Davis–51
1928–Alfred E. Smith–55
1932–Franklin D. Roosevelt–51
1945–Harry Truman 60 Upon Succession
1952–Adlai Stevenson–52
1960–John F. Kennedy–43
1963–Lyndon B. Johnson–55 Upon Succession
1968–Hubert Humphrey–57
1972–George McGovern–50
1976–Jimmy Carter–52
1984–Walter Mondale–56
1988–Michael Dukakis–55
1992–Bill Clinton–46
2000–Al Gore–52
2004–John Kerry–61
2008–Barack Obama–47
2016–Hillary Clinton–69
2020–Joe Biden–78
2024–Kamala Harris–60

Of course, age longevity and overall good health is much improved over what it was in the 19th and 20th centuries, but the clear indication is that most Democratic Presidential nominees were under the age of 60 when first nominated for those who had more than one nomination.

Nine of these Democratic nominees were in their 60s, and only Lewis Cass in 1848 (66), James Buchanan in 1856 (65), and Hillary Clinton in 2016 (age 69), were above the age of 62.

And all by himself is Joe Biden in 2020 (age 78)!

So the two oldest Democratic nominees were the last two who ran against Donald Trump, the oldest Republican nominee, although both Clinton and Biden had tried for the nomination of their party when younger, Clinton in 2008 at age 61, and Joe Biden in 1988 at age 46 and again in 2008 at age 66.

Nine of these Democratic nominees were in their 30s and 40s, with the youngest being William Jennings Bryan in 1896 (36) and George McClellan in 1864 (38), and six of the other seven being elected President–James K. Polk in 1844 (49); Franklin Pierce in 1852 (48); Grover Cleveland in 1884 (47); John F. Kennedy in 1960 (43); Bill Clinton in 1992 (46); and Barack Obama in 2008 (47). Only Stephen Douglas in 1860 (47) failed to win the Presidency, and ironically died just four months after the inauguration of his opponent, Abraham Lincoln.

The remaining 17 Democratic nominees were in their 50s, with only five winning the White House—Martin Van Buren 1836 (54); Woodrow Wilson 1912 (56); Franklin D. Roosevelt 1932 (51); Lyndon B. Johnson 1963 upon Succession (55); and Jimmy Carter in 1976 (52).

In summary, 15 Democrats have been elected President, with 11 of them being in their 40s or 50s, and the only exceptions older are: Andrew Jackson (61); James Buchanan (66); Harry Truman (60) upon Succession; and Joe Biden (78).

So in conclusion, it is clear that the best strategy for the Democratic Party in 2028 is to nominate a candidate ideally younger than 61, or at the most age 64, but with 11 potential nominees being in their 50s in 2028, as compared to 4 between 39 and 49 in 2028, and 4 between 61 and 64 in 2028.

The Total Preposterous And Outrageous “Prager University” Presidential Rankings Survey!

The Right Wing Propaganda Organ known as “Prager University”, which is NOT a university, but a well financed attempt to distort the reality of American history, extol the virtues of unbridled capitalism, work against “Diversity, Equity, Inclusion”, and undermine science, has come out with a 2026 Ranking of American Presidents.

Anyone who would believe the virtues or veracity of this listing needs their heads examined, as it is a total distortion of the office of the Presidency to the extreme imaginable!

All Presidents except William Henry Harrison (one month) and James A. Garfield (6 months) are included, but with the decision NOT to include Donald Trump, even though he finished his first term five years ago, but using the excuse that he is presently in office, so not to be placed in the listing for now.

One can be certain when a later version of this so called “Ranking” is published in the future, Donald Trump will end up very high on the list, probably in the top five, based on the crazy order of the Presidents compiled by the propagandists promoting this pure trash of a listing.

So without listing every President, let’s look at the most significant cases of total distortion.

The survey starts off with George Washington Number 1 and Abraham Lincoln Number 2, but after that, the listing goes totally awry.

Ronald Reagan is Number 3, which is a major distortion of reality, but then is followed by, of all people, Calvin Coolidge at Number 4. That is an example of how wacky this survey is, when examined in detail. No one who has any intelligence would rate Coolidge as anything more than in the bottom third of the Presidents.

The rest of the top 10 are in order—Thomas Jefferson, Dwight D. Eisenhower, James Monroe, James Madison, John Adams, and Theodore Roosevelt. Monroe, Madison and John Adams in most cases would be in the middle of the second ten, not the top ten, but otherwise, not terrible, except to put Coolidge above the Founding Father Presidents and Theodore Roosevelt, as well! How crazy can one get?

Harry Truman is rated Number 12, behind Grover Cleveland at Number 11, which seems ridiculous, followed by Andrew Jackson as Number 13 and James K. Polk as Number 15, both who have otherwise collapsed to lower than Number 20 with recent reevaluations that have caused their rapid decline. Ulysses S. Grant is Number 14, higher than the rise he has gained in legitimate rankings.

John F. Kennedy ends up Number 18 and Franklin D. Roosevelt as Number 20, with of all people, William Howard Taft in between as Number 19, clearly totally lacking in reality.

The Two Bushes, HW and W are Numbers 21 and 22, with Bill Clinton behind them as Number 23, followed by the largely unimpressive many Presidents that have been ranked low for many decades in surveys.

But once we reach the 31-42 range, the bottom of the list, we discover Lyndon B. Johnson Number 35 behind Herbert Hoover Number 33, as well as behind Gerald Ford Number 27 and Richard Nixon Number 29. How crazy can one get to come up with such rankings?

And it gets worse, as Woodrow Wilson is Number 37, followed by Barack Obama Number 38, Jimmy Carter Number 39, and then followed by two Presidents who belong in the bottom, Andrew Johnson Number 40 and James Buchanan Number 41. One might be harshly critical of Wilson, who has declined in rankings in recent years, but to put him in the bottom six of all Presidents is preposterous! And placing Obama and Carter in this bottom group is outrageous beyond belief and reality!

But one might ask, well, who is the absolute bottom at Number 42, and it is, unbelievably, Joe Biden! Whether one admires Joe Biden’s Presidency or not, to put him dead last is the height of craziness, not based on facts!

Notice that the three recent Presidents who demonstrated compassion, empathy, common decency and humanity, morals, ethics, and had no corruption—Obama, Carter, Biden—end up in the bottom five of these listings, which is testimony to how disgraceful this listing of Presidents really is!

This so called “Prager University” Poll is total garbage, and no serious scholar or intelligent citizen would accept the presposterous and outrageous compiling of this propaganda organ, that deserves to be disposed of as extremist and lunatic in nature!

Presidents Day 2026: Need For Updated Assessment, And One Scholar’s Viewpoint!

Presidents Day is tomorrow, Monday, February 16, a good time, after a full year of the second Presidency of Donald Trump, and one retirement year of Joe Biden, to reassess rankings of Presidents, particularly recent Chief Executives.

C Span is likely in process of reassessing its rankings of Presidents, last done in 2021, as Joe Biden became President, and Donald Trump became, at the time, a former President who had been defeated for reelection, but mounted an illegal, unconstitutional attempt to overthrow the results of the Presidential Election of 2020 through the US Capitol Insurrection of January 6, 2021.

There can be disagreement over many Presidents and their rankings, but with the reality that in recent years, the following Presidents have seen their stock rise in assessments of scholars, in chronological order:

Ulysses S. Grant
Harry Truman
Dwight D. Eisenhower
Lyndon B. Johnson

At the same time, the following Presidents have seen their stock fall lower in assessments of scholars, in chronological order:

Andrew Jackson
James K. Polk
Woodrow Wilson
Ronald Reagan

In the view of this scholar, author, and blogger, the thought is that the following recent Presidents will be likely to benefit the most in the future in rise in rankings from where they are presently, in chronological order:

Gerald Ford
Jimmy Carter
Barack Obama
Joe Biden

But the debate over Presidential performance will continue, certainly, to be heatedly debated for the long term future.