Al Neuharth: Bush Is Worst President of All-Time

[marmar]

from Editor&Publisher, via Truthout:


Al Neuharth: Bush Is Worst President of All-Time
Editor & Publisher

Friday 16 February 2007

New York - Al Neuharth, the former Gannett chief, USA Today founder and currently weekly columnist for that newspaper, has had a change of heart.

A year ago, in honor of President's Day, he stated that while he was often critical of George W. Bush, he did not, and probably would not ever, crack his list of the five worst presidents we've ever had.

A year later he admits he was wrong. In his USA Today column today he announces that Bush has not only cracked the bottom five, he's now at the very bottom.

Last year, Neuharth, a World War II hero who has met every president since Eisenhower, listed his five worst as Andrew Jackson, James Buchanan, Ulysses Grant, Herbert Hoover and Richard Nixon. "It's very unlikely Bush can crack that list," Neuharth wrote.

Now he admits: "I was wrong. This is my mea culpa. Not only has Bush cracked that list, but he is planted firmly at the top." By top, of course, he means bottom. .......(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/021907B.shtml

[theoldman]

1. I do not agree with this list of worst presidents.

Hoover was unlucky enough to serve when the whole world was in a deep depression. That does not make him a bad president. Nixon was a real nut cake but he was not stupid. Nixon inherited the Vietnam war which was a real mess. He may not have been a good president but he was far from the worst.

[Jackpine Radical]

3. Hoover wasn't the worst.

But he was bad enough. He may not have created the disasters that ended his reign, but he sure as hell didn't do anything to fix them, and indeed his laissez-faire approach to the economy no doubt made things a lot worse than they had to be. Still, he's certainly not in the Bush league (ahem); Dubya CREATED the current mess, and there is reason to think that he, or at least his handlers, did it on purpose for their own nefarious ends. I think they want permanent war as a backdrop to their fascist designs.

[Jackpine Radical]

2. Good. Now if he'll only

give that judgment some public exposure...

[Rob H.]

4. This is a big deal coming from a former Gannett chief

I worked for a Gannett paper in Idaho back before sElection 2000 and they did everything but call Gore "Satan" while giving Dubya a pass on, well, pretty much everything. Why? Because Dubya was and remains in favor of media deregulation.

"Alleged cocaine user? Meh. Ran every business he had into the ground? No big deal. Presided over a record number of executions while governor of Texas? They had it comin'. At least he doesn't wear earth tones or sigh loudly while he's debating his opponents! And Gore said he invented the internet! That's HUGH!1!! We're series!!1!1!!1!"

Gannett also downplayed the results of the later recount carried out in Florida that showed if Gore had insisted upon a statewide recount of disputed ballots, he would've carried the state and thus been sworn in as President. At the paper where I worked the article summarizing the results was on page A14, iirc.

Gannett is evil! Evil, I say!

[Felix Mala]

5. Too bad Al was so helpful in saddling the nation with W through

his USA editorials. I'm also surprised he didn't list Clinton either time.