John Adams

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

Ronald 20 Comments

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!

Further Reflection On Trump’s Destruction Of “The People’s House”! :(

Ronald 11 Comments

With another 24 hours having passed, and the destruction of the East Wing of the White House, “The People’s House”, in full swing, without any hearings or approval by a Washington Landmarks Commission, this author and blogger is feeling more outraged and disgusted by the hour, and blood pressure is rising.

Who gives any President the right to abuse his position, and destroy a landmark historic building without any intervention to delay it and consider it carefully, instead of just charging ahead as if he is the Emperor, who makes decisions unilaterally?

Imagine if such destruction was to take place suddenly at the Vatican in Rome, or the Parthenon in Athens, or Buckingham Palace in London, or the Louvre in Paris, or a multitude of other historic and significant sites of history!

To create a 90,000 square feet (more than two football fields) Ballroom that will be larger than the rest of the White House structure, is a monstrosity that will harm the reputation and significance of the residence where the American President lives while in office!

What would Theodore Roosevelt, Harry Truman, and Jacqueline Kennedy, all involved in throughtful renovations over the past century and more, say if they were here?

What would John Adams, the first President to occupy the White House, or James Madison, who fled during the War of 1812, when the White House was heavily damaged by the British, but began the needed renovation on the building, say?

What would Abraham Lincoln, who was always concerned that the Confederate States of America might attack the White House, think about his distant successor who had no regard for History and Architecture, and just wanted to glorify himself?

This is a travesty of injustice, and will condemn Donald Trump for all time, as the absolute worst American President, no matter what else occurs!

It is a disgrace that as we are about to commemorate, not celebrate sadly, the 250th Anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, that we are seeing the complete reshaping of an historic building which should have been left as it was for the long haul of history!

Past Presidential Disputes Never Anything Like Trump With His Predecessors!

Ronald 5 Comments

Donald Trump’s incessant attacks on many of his predecessors in the White House is unparalleled in American history!

Trump has attacked over the years not only Barack Obama, but also Joe Biden, Bill Clinton, Jimmy Carter, and both Presidents Bush in vehement and outrageous ways.

In the past, there were cases of “bad blood” between Presidents, but nothing on the scale of what Trump has done.

John Adams and Thomas Jefferson had strong criticism of each other, as well as Andrew Jackson and John Quincy Adams, and neither Adams attended the inauguration of his successor. But later, Adams and Jefferson revived their former friendship, with extensive letter correspondence over the last 14 years of their lives.

John Tyler, Franklin Pierce and James Buchanan were unhappy with Abraham Lincoln’s policies during the Civil War.

Andrew Johnson had issues with his successor, Ulysses S. Grant, and refused to attend Grant’s inauguration.

Theodore Roosevelt fought bitterly against his own annointed successor, William Howard Taft, and challenged him in 1912, and both TR and Wilson were at odds very often with Woodrow Wilson.

Herbert Hoover was very bitter in his loss to Franklin D. Rooosevelt, and during the terms that FDR was in office, probably more vehement than any other situation other than Trump, and FDR never invited Hoover to visit the White House.

Harry Truman was critical of Dwight D. Eisenhower to some extent, and he and Richard Nixon were dire enemies, until Nixon brought the Truman piano in the White House to the Truman Library in 1969.

Jimmy Carter tended to be critical of other Presidents, but in the case of Gerald Ford, they became the best of friends after both had left office. Carter remained a strong critic, but in a dignified manner, of George H. W. Bush, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, Barack Obama, and Donald Trump.

Despite past rivalries, both Bush Presidents and Bill Clinton became good friends in later years, and the same for Barack Obama and the two Bushes.

It is extremely inappropriate for the members of the “Presidents Club” to be lambasting others in that group, and it was refreshing that Carter and Ford became friends, and that the Bushes and Clinton were cooperative, as well as Obama with the Bushes.

But then, Donald Trump has destroyed the idea of camaraderie among the small, select group who have the opportunity to be President of the United States.

Massive Abuse: Trump Invocation Of Alien Enemies Act Of 1798!

Ronald 9 Comments

In the early days of the Republic, during the administration of John Adams (1797-1801), the Federalist Party majority in Congress enacted the Alien and Sedition Acts of 1798, an action against French nationals who had migrated to America during the French Revolution.

President Adams signed the legislation’s four laws, which violated the recent enactment of the Bill of Rights in 1791, and the “Quasi War”, undeclared naval war against France went on from 1798-1800, until the coming to power of Napoleon Bonaparte, led to an agreement to end the undeclared war.

The controversy over the Alien and Sedition Acts led to the defeat of John Adams by Thomas Jefferson in the Presidential Election of 1800, and the repeal of three of the four laws passed in 1798 was the result, but what remained was the Alien Enemies Act.

The law was used during the War of 1812 against Great Britain, under President James Madison, but after that, ignored for a full century.

That law was utilized by Woodrow Wilson in World War I, against nationals of German and other nationals of enemy nations during that war.

And then, again, that law was utilized to justify internment of Japanese nationals after the Pearl Harbor attack that brought America into World War II.

In 1988, President Ronald Reagan signed legislation that led to an apology to survivors of the Japanese internment, and financial compensation to those individuals.

But the law remained in the background, and now, eighty years after World War II, Donald Trump has utilized it as a method and justification to accelerate the deportation of millions of immigrants. Trump is first starting with Venezuelan migrants who have been involved in crimes, but also promoting the removal of hundreds of thousands of Venezuelan refugees who had been given Temporary Protected Status by President Joe Biden, and face potential threats if they are forcibly returned to Venezuela, where they faced likely imprisonment or death.

And invocation of the Alien Enemies Act will be used as justification for deportation of millions of other undocumented immigrants, which have come to America to escape persecution and violence in their homeland, and now face a threatening future to their health and safety.

This is perceived as a massive abuse of power, and as the most nativist action by the US government in modern American history!

An update, that despite a federal judge ordering to stop removal of some 250 undocumented Venezuelan immigrants and to return those on the way to El Salvador, which has agreed to accept them, that the Trump Administration has ignored the restraining order, and such immigrants have arrived in El Salvador.

Civil Liberties Under Attack With Arrest Of Palestinian, Mahmoud Khalil, Activist From Columbia University!

Ronald 1 Comment

Civil liberties are under attack in the Trump Presidency, and the recent arrest of Mahmoud Khalil, a Columbia University graduate student of Palestinian descent, is an alarm bell, as there is no justification for his arrest by ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement), and his detention in secret in a prison in Louisiana.

Khalil may have political viewpoints about the Israel-Gaza War that are unpopular and opposed by many American Jews and other supporters of Israel, but that is not justification for the move to deport, when he is here legally on a green card, a permanent resident card with the permission to work,and has not committed any felonies.

Khalil led student demonstrations last spring, but when did we declare there is no freedom of assembly, and freedom of speech, just because some of us may not agree with one’s viewpoints?

This was not the way that demonstrations at the University of Virginia in 2017 by white supremacists and Nazi sympathizers were treated, by Donald Trump!

Trump is acting like a dictator threatening all Americans’ rights to the First Amendment, and this case must be fought to restore the basic principles of the Bill of Rights.

This was abrogated by President John Adams in the 1790s, Woodrow Wilson during and after World War I, and Franklin D. Roosevelt during World War II, most infamously among our Presidents, and it is not a political or partisan view to oppose violations of the rights under the First Amendment to the Constitution!

Sense Of Optimism As Democratic National Convention Ends, With Exceptional Acceptance Speech Of Kamala Harris!

admin 7 Comments

There is a sense of optimism as the Democratic National Convention of 2024 adjourns.

After more inspiring speeches and presentations by a multitude of speakers on all kinds of issues that matter, Kamala Harris gave a memorable Acceptance Speech, making clear how “Presidential” she really is!

As Vice President, one never can easily make an impression that is noticed, and one can ask John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, Martin Van Buren, and George H. W. Bush, the only other “sitting” Vice Presidents who had the success of being elevated to the office of President to follow their “boss” by election.

Harris’s 20 year public career which began as a masterful prosecutor in San Francisco and later as the Attorney General of the largest state in the Union, so arguably the second most powerful Attorney General after the US Attorney General in Washington, DC, makes her highly significant.

Then as a probing US Senator questioning Trump Administration figures such as Attorney Generals Jeff Session and William Barr, and Supreme Court Justice nominee Brett Kavanaugh, holding their “feet to the fire”, made her someone who clearly was principled to pursue justice and truth.

Harris has been underestimated, and also dismissed by misogynists who resent that a woman has the nerve to be aggressive in her pursuit of exposing evil in the criminal justice system and in American government.

Now that we see her out in the open, we are coming to realize how wonderful it was that Joe Biden selected her to be his “behind the scenes” Vice President, who gained lots of experience that we could not recognize openly, but now is ready to become President of the United States, and to bring Donald Trump to account in the 73 day campaign to follow until Election Day on November 5, 2024.

Harris and the Democratic Party have raised a half billion dollars in the past month; have had massive crowds everywhere that Harris and Tim Walz have appeared; and the momentum is on to bring about widespread Democratic victory all over the map in November!

235 Years Since The Inauguration Of George Washington!

admin 7 Comments

On this day in 1789, George Washington was inaugurated, 57 days late, as the first President of the United States, in the downtown Wall Street area of New York City.

Washington was the right person to start the Presidency of a new Republic, and he knew that it was essential that he give up power, in order to insure the survival and stability of the nation in the long term future.

We cannot thank Washington enough, or all of the later Presidents who knew when to leave!

And we can also be thankful that even in hotly contested elections in the future, Presidents who lost reelection—John Adams, John Quincy Adams, Martin Van Buren, Grover Cleveland, Benjamin Harrison, William Howard Taft, Herbert Hoover, Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter, and George H. W. Bush–followed the tradition Washington had set by leaving office.

Also, we have to be thankful that in close elections, such candidates as Samuel Tilden in 1876, Al Gore in 2000, and Hillary Clinton in 2016 were gracious in defeat, and that Vice Presidents who lost the succession to their President—Richard Nixon in 1960, Hubert Humphrey in 1968—also were gracious in defeat, as was Gore in 2000.

Sadly, the crisis today is due to the reality that Donald Trump would not accept defeat graciously, and provoked a violent mob on January 6, 2021, for which he must be held accountable!

Presidential Concession Speeches An Endorsement Of American Democracy!

Ronald Leave a comment

The story of American democracy over two centuries and more has been graceful concession speeches by the losers of Presidential elections. Despite vehement and emotional feelings on both sides of an election, being a “good sport” and conceding in a proper manner is an American tradition!

The only time there was, in effect, no concession speeches was when South Carolina, and eventually ten other Southern states, eventually refused to accept that Abraham Lincoln had won the Presidency in 1860, and began the civil insurrection known to history as the American Civil War!

Other than that one time, losers of Presidential elections have always been gracious and patriotic in their acceptance of the victory of their rivals, until 2020 when Donald Trump refused to concede and provoked the US Capitol Insurrection of January 6, 2021!

Some elections have been very close, as in 1876, when Rutherford B. Hayes defeated Samuel Tilden, in an election which dragged on to final determination until just before Inauguration Day in 1877, with Tilden accepting his loss.

The same situation occurred in 1884, when the Republican Party lost the Presidency for the first time in a generation to Democrat Grover Cleveland by very small margins, but James G. Blaine accepted defeat graciously.

In 1916, we had the second closest Electoral Vote margin after 1876, until later in the year 2000, with loser Charles Evans Hughes being gracious in defeat to President Woodrow Wilson.

The upset election victory of President Harry Truman over New York Governor Thomas E. Dewey in 1948 was accepted in a proper way by Dewey. And later, Truman had Dewey visit the White House!

Richard Nixon in 1960 had advisers suggest he challenge John F. Kennedy over the close Illinois vote, but Nixon, outgoing Vice President, refused to drag out the matter, and accepted defeat in a gracious manner.

President Gerald Ford was heartbroken in 1976, when he lost to Jimmy Carter, but was very gracious in concession, read by his wife Betty Ford, because the President had developed laryngitis. And the Fords and the Carters became fast friends in later years, a closer friendship than anyone since John Adams and Thomas Jefferson!

Michael Dukakis was way ahead of George H. W. Bush at one point of the 1988 Presidential campaign, but was very appropriate in his concession speech.

President George H.W. Bush was devastated by his loss to Bill Clinton in 1992, as was Bob Dole in 1996, but both were proper in their concessions.

Al Gore fought the good fight in 2000, contesting the result for 36 days, but then conceding, when the Supreme Court intervened, and as outgoing Vice President, rejected any further battle over the Electoral College vote count on January 6, 2001.

Senator John McCain was totally decent and proper in his gracious concession speech, congratulating the nation in 2008, on the election of the first African American President, Barack Obama.

Mitt Romney had the same decency when he lost to Obama in 2012, and Hillary Clinton conceded the morning after the 2016 election to Donald Trump, although totally stunned by the loss.

So there was no excuse, and still there is none today, for any candidate for the Presidency who loses the election to refuse to concede, and instead to cause chaos, disarray, and literal violence, as that provoked by Donald Trump against Joe Biden’s victory in 2020.

So the time has come for Donald Trump to pay the price for the bloodshed and violence he provoked, and to be convicted and sentenced to federal prison.

And his decision to continue to provoke violence and what he calls “retribution” should lead to his incarceration BEFORE trial, as an example to the American people what happens, when anyone, even a former President, chooses to promote undermining of American democracy and the rule of law!

C-Span Presidential Historians Survey 2021 Announced Today!

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For all Presidential followers, including scholars and specialists in the American Presidency and Presidential history, today is a great day, as C-Span announced its Presidential Historians Survey results for 2021!

It will take time to analyze the results, but a few points stand out:

Barack Obama went up from 12th to 10th in the overall listings.

Donald Trump ended up tied for 42nd out of 44, with Franklin Pierce, with only James Buchanan at 44 and Andrew Johnson at 43 below him.

Woodrow Wilson slipped from 11th to 13th as he continues to decline in overall rankings.

Andrew Jackson slipped dramatically from 18th to 22nd, and is now just in the middle of the overall rankings.

James K. Polk slipped from 14th to 18th, a continued decline in overall rankings.

John Adams and John Quincy Adams both rose four points from earlier rankings.

Bill Clinton dropped from 15th to 19th, a dramatic decline after having risen in earlier rankings.

Jimmy Carter ended up tied with James A. Garfield at 26th, and in the “battle” of Gerald Ford vs Carter, Carter came out ahead for the third time in the four C-Span surveys, in 2000, 2008 along with 2021, with Ford ahead in 2017.

Joe Biden Victory Looking More Impressive As Vote Count Has Reached 99 Percent!

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Joe Biden’s victory over Donald Trump in the Presidential Election of 2020 looks more impressive by the day, and now, 99 percent of the vote is in, and Biden has 80.1 million votes to Trump’s 73.9 million votes, so a lead in popular votes of 6.2 million!

Assuming the same division of votes in the remaining one percent not yet tabulated, the final vote should be 80.9 million votes for Biden, and 74.6 million votes for Trump, a margin of 6.3 million votes.

This is nearly two and a half times the popular vote lead of 2.85 million that Hillary Clinton had over Donald Trump in 2016, and it makes Trump on the losing side of the popular vote in the two elections by a total of 9.1 million!

So Trump in the popular vote was twice a massive loser, with George W. Bush the loser in 2000 by 540,000; Rutherford Hayes in 1876 the loser by about 250,000; Benjamin Harrison the loser in 1888 by about 90,000; and John Quincy Adams the loser in 1824 by about 38,000.

And Joe Biden won the Sun Belt states of Arizona and Georgia, and retook the Midwest states that Hillary Clinton lost by small margins in 2016—Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Wisconsin!

When Donald Trump won in 2016, he declared it a landslide with 306-232 in the Electoral College, but now that Joe Biden has accomplished the same electoral vote by taking five states from Biden, suddenly it is sore loser behavior, very infantile, on the part of Donald Trump, but the plans for the inauguration and setting up of the government over the next 53 days will continue to move forward!

Trump may never concede, but it does not matter, and only makes him look terrible in the eyes of history. And he may not show up at the Inauguration, which only John Adams in 1801, John Quincy Adams in 1829, and Andrew Johnson in 1869 failed to do!

And let us be honest, who cares if Trump shows up or acts civil, since that is NOT his nature, and his presence would actually besmirch the festivities, as we finally have dignity, decency, competence, knowledge, compassion and empathy back in the White House, which is sorely needed after the nightmare disaster of the corrupt Trump regime!