Monday, February 16, 2009

From the Earth to the Moon…

Last month, this country celebrated one of the great aspects of the American republic… the peaceful transfer of power and the inauguration of a new President. In today's world, we take the simple transfer from one individual to another for granted. Let's face it, we are not accustomed to seeing the two parties engaged in armed conflict (although it seems so at times). For the most powerful individual in the world to simply pass control to someone else, let alone a member of the opposing party, without so much as a hesitance is quite amazing. Despite the now infamous Oath mess up, Barrack Obama became this country's 44th person and the 43rd person to hold that office. He also became the first non-white President, much to the chagrin of the Ku Klux Klan.

I personally did not vote for President Obama. While I do not agree with his political views, I am proud to have seen the day that someone other than the typical middle-aged white man take the oath office… twice. I know there are many out there who place 100% of the blame on the Chief Justice and some place the blame on the shoulders of Obama. The truth is, both made mistakes that seemed to confound the other. Regardless of who started it, both should be embarrassed. There is no excuse for the Chief Justice to make that mistake. Also, there is no excuse for the President… who happens to be a constitutional law expert, to jump the gun either. Obama started to repeat the oath too soon; the Chief Justice then got confused and changed the placement of "faithfully" which then threw the new President for a loop. It was just one big happy mix-up. I think it is funny that they decided to have the oath take place again even though the first oath was not necessary and is more of just a formality. The 20th Amendment specifies exactly when the term begins and does not require the oath to be administered. I have high hopes for the new President.

On this day, we celebrate President's Day. Now, in a four part series that will be tied to my next four blog entries (I know it has been a while), the top 42 Presidents from worst to first. I will give some reasons why I placed them where I did. You may be curious as to why only 42… well, Grover Cleveland does not get placed twice even though he was the 22nd and 24th President. Also, Obama is saved from this list as he has not completed his time in office and it would be unfair to rank him for just under 1 month of service (a time even less than William Henry Harrison who takes the honor as my 42nd placed President (spoiler alert). This first grouping is called "The Dire" (The others are "The Forgettable" "The Honored" and "The Divinity"). Enjoy!

**This list will differ from yours. After all, our own political backgrounds and life experiences will shape our opinions of each President. I look forward to your suggestions…

42.    William Henry Harrison

Why last? Well, he died in just thirty days, insisted on giving the longest inaugural address in history (at more the 8,000 words) while not wearing a coat on a very, very cold day in Washington. He caught the cold and died 30 days from the oath of office. His death also marked the beginning of the end to the Whig Party.

41.    Richard Nixon

He would have placed much higher if it were not for his Watergate and Vietnam issues. He did go to China, which many have said only he could have done that. His resignation also lifted the only man to never have won a Presidential election into the role as President and Commander in Chief. Believing that he was not a crook and he had the right to bug his political opposition, which struck at the heart of the American republic, was shameful. So much so that it dropped him as far down on the list as he could go before you hit someone that died before he could do anything.

40.    Andrew Johnson

When he assumed the Presidency after the tragic assassination of Abraham Lincoln, he was quickly outsmarted and out played by the radical Republicans who controlled Congress. Despite this, he did begin to process of reconstruction (although Congress was not in session at the time) and pardoned all southerners who agreed to take an oath of allegiance to the United States. Certain former confederate leaders and men of wealth would not receive a general pardon but would be required to seek a special Presidential Pardon. By the time Congress resumed in December 1865, most of the southern states had emerged from reconstruction, although more "Jim Crow" style laws began to pass in the South. The republicans in Congress began to counter act Johnson and also passed laws designed to reduce the power of the President. They passed the Civil Rights Act of 1866 through an override of a Presidential Veto, the first such override of a veto on such an important piece of legislation. In 1867, Congress passed its own Reconstruction plan and placed the southern states back in the hands of the military. After Johnson "violated" one of the laws designed to reduce Presidential powers, the House impeached Johnson. His conviction was sparred, by one vote, in the Senate. Johnson spent the remainder of his Presidency not opposing Congress.

39.    Herbert Hoover

Known to many as the champion of Lazier Faire economics, he did attempt some reform that went against the Adam Smith philosophy. He was the scapegoat to for the great depression, was an outspoken critic of the New Deal and "statism" tendencies, he did fail to properly act as the country and then world spiraled into recession/depression. He did ask congress to increase spending on public works programs and believed that Americans should not suffer from cold and hunger. Responsibility for caring for the hungry should be up to local and voluntary efforts, not the federal government. When the recession first started, what was his announced plan of attack? A balanced budget. Yeah, right.

38.    John Tyler

He was the first VP elevated to the office of the President after the death of the worst President, William Henry Harrison. Under his tenure as President, the first resolution for impeachment was introduced primarily because of his love of the Presidential Veto. His vetoing of several US Banking bills led the unsuccessful cause of Impeachment. He signed the Log Cabin Bill, which allowed settlers to claim land before a public auction and then later pay $2.50 for it and also annexed Texas. He later helped create the confederacy.

37.    James Buchanan

He was the only President to have never married. He seemed to be out of touch with most Americans as he continued to use constitutional arguments to combat Northern and Southern debates over slavery. On a topic like Slavery, reason does not generally work, which he failed to see. He thought he could rely on the Supreme Court to settle slavery arguments and even boasted that the supreme court was about to hand down a decision that would be of little importance. A few days later, they handed down the Dred Scott Case. In 1858, the federal government actually came to a stalemate with the house being anti-slavery and the Senate/President being south leaning. Not much was passed after 1858. He later would deny the legality of secession but acknowledged that there is little the federal government could do.

36.    Martin Van Buren

When he became President, the nation entered into a normal cycle of recession. He subscribed to Jacksonian style finances (deflationary policies) which seemed to escalate the recession and, like today, hundreds of banks began to fail and thousands of Americans lost their lands. He blocked Texas' annexation as it would expand slave state's power and bring war with Mexico, which actually may have reduced the length of the depression as we experienced in the 1940's.

35.    Franklin Pierce

Pierce entered into office during a seemingly tranquil period of time, thanks to the compromise of 1850. He hired southern advisers to help him maintain the tranquility but his actions helped to further disintegrate the country's stability and helped speed up the approach of the Civil War. He decided that we needed more expansion, which once again set off the slavery debate. He purchased more land from Mexico to give us the present day southern Arizona and New Mexico. He later suggested that territories be allowed to decide the slavery question for themselves. This caused a rush of northern and southern settlers to Kansas. This set off the "bleeding Kansas" crisis and essentially became the first bloodshed of the Civil War.

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