Yesterday was Presidents’ day. Usually, that is a day reserved for celebrating the presidents both past and present. It is customarily a day in which most of us think about George Washington and Abe Lincoln and cars and furniture go on sale. And every year the New York Times and Boise State release their annual survey of presidential experts’ rankings of our presidents from best to worst.
This year’s survey of political scholars now shows that President Donald Trump is indeed the worst president this country has ever had.
So there it is – definitive proof that you are not crazy. The cognitive dissonance you are experiencing is not in your imagination. Your current leadership is considered by experts in the field to be the worst president this country has ever seen.
Yesterday morning, Trump tweeted that everyone should have a great but “reflective” President’s day. Isn’t it interesting that the man who is known for anything but wants everyone else to reflect? He must think that if only we concentrate hard enough, we will realize he is the best president we have ever had.
Have a great, but very reflective, President’s Day!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 19, 2018
Scholars point to a few other men, however, who truly do take the top spot.
For example, Lincoln freed the slaves and won the Civil War. He shares the top spots with George Washington who founded the country and won the Revolutionary War, and FDR for beating the Nazis as well as the Depression. And Obama is up from last year, now ranking as the eighth best president.
TRUMP IS THE BEST AT BEING THE WORST
The presidents who rank among the worst in history are as follows: Franklin Pierce earned a last place slot for helping cause the Civil War. William Henry Harrison refused to put on a coat during his inauguration, and as a result, he died. And last but not least, Andrew Johnson screwed up the outcome of the Civil War and was impeached.
Until now, none of our modern presidents have ranked among the worst of the “bad presidents” until Trump won the electoral college in 2016 that is. The survey does separate Republican opinion from Democratic, and the two lists did rank Trump differently. Instead of dead last like the Democrats, the Republicans ranked him in the final five.
After Trump sent out that tweet asking the rest of us to reflect at 8:42 a.m. yesterday, his motorcade left his decadent estate at Mar-A-Lago. By 9:09 a.m. the motorcade pulled into Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach, only minutes from where 17 students were gunned down in their classrooms less than a week ago.
Trump does always brag about being the very best at everything. Yes, he is the best. Finally, we can agree. He is the best at being the worst president ever.
Feature Image via cornstalker on VisualHunt / CC BY
