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February 21, 2011

Bush and Buchanan — the parallels

Many people rate Andrew Johnson the nation's worst president. He undermined the start of Reconstruction, was openly racist, and had such a huge ego as to claim once that it was god's design to have Abraham Lincoln assassinated so he, Johnson, could become president.

Well, among the professional historian types, Lincoln's other "bookend," James Buchanan, often is ranked second-worst. And, to the unacceptability of many modern Republicans in general, let alone neocons, wingnuts, etc., George W. Bush is given a spot in the bottom five, even if not specifically ranked.

Glenn LaFantasie, in a Presidents' Day argument that Buchanan should actually be No. 1, also notes the parallels between him and W., starting with two of the worst decisions in Supreme Court history — Dred Scott, which Buchanan knew about in advance and had bullied one Northern justice into signing off on, and Bush v. Gore.

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