The Least Great President in History
President Trump must’ve had a miserable President’s Day.
That was the day he found out that he’s the least great president in American history.
That’s according to something called the 2018 Presidents and Executive Politics Presidential Greatness Survey.
NOTE: The results of the survey may appear to be skewed since the majority of 170 of the usable responses that comprised it came from Democrats. That is, unless you consider the fact that even those respondents who self-identified themselves as Republican or conservative rated Trump no higher than 40th of the American presidents.
But what may have caused even more sting for Trump was the fact that his predecessor, Barack Obama, ranked eighth on the list.
Obama jumped 10 slots from the 2014 survey, when he was ranked as the 18th “greatest” president.
I’d say one year of Trump and his antics, made the presidency of Obama seem much greater by comparison.
Those “social science experts in presidential politics,” (as defined by the coordinators of the survey) can clearly see that the Trump presidency is chaotic and mired in controversy.
Oh, Abe Lincoln, who’s considered the greatest president, had his own share of controversy.
But Lincoln solved far more problems than he caused.
And besides, Mr. Lincoln was known as “Honest Abe” for a reason.
Not so much, Mr. Trump.
His casual disregard for the truth has become the hallmark of his time in office.
Last Tuesday, the day after the results of that survey were released, Trump showed why he ranked so low among people who compare him to other American presidents.
“I have been much tougher on Russia than Obama, just look at the facts. Total Fake News!” he tweeted.
Trump wants his followers to know that he’s taking a firm stand against Russia with their hostile meddling in our political system.
He’s lying.
Obama took several strong measures when he learned about Russia’s attempts to disrupt the 2016 election.
He ordered a comprehensive review of Russian meddling. He sanctioned four Russian individuals, five entities, expelled 35 Russian diplomats and he closed two Russian compounds.
Trump has done little, if anything, to signal to the Russians that this country is on to their shenanigans.
When Russia responded to Obama’s sanctions by expelling U.S. diplomats, Trump, curiously, thanked them.
“We’re trying to cut down on payroll,” he said, as if Russia had fired those diplomats. They hadn’t. They were merely getting kicked out of the country. They were still getting their government paychecks.
It was simply a silly thing to say in the face of a very serious matter.
Greatness, for Mr. Trump, didn’t happen that day.
It certainly didn’t happen after the U.S. Congress voted 517-5 in favor of instituting those sanctions last summer, but Trump decided in late January to ignore them.
Most of the highest ranked president in the survey were known for their eloquence; their speechmaking abilities.
Lincoln (ranked #1), Washington (#2) Franklin Roosevelt (#3) Jefferson (#5), Obama (#8) and Reagan (#9) were all men known for their masterful use of the English language.
“@BarackObama plays golf to escape work while America goes down the drain,” tweeted Trump (ranked dead last) on December 11th, 2011.
You have to wonder if Mr. Trump would hardly ever speak, if he couldn’t come up with some insult directed at Barack Obama.
Since Nov., 22, 2010, Trump has tweeted using the words “Obama,” or Obamacare 2,612 times.
That’s just over a tweet-a-day in his effort to stand on Obama’s shoulders in order to make himself appear to be taller.
By contrast, I’ve checked out Obama’s Twitter feed, and I’ve been unable to find a single tweet with the word “Trump” in it.
There’s no way of knowing if Trump would like to climb on this list, or any list of “great” presidents in the future.
Especially since you get the impression that despite his languishing poll numbers, and his growing list of controversies, he still sees himself as great, anyway.
But then again, isn’t that his biggest problem?
Edward A. Owens is a multi-Emmy Award winner, former reporter and anchor for Entertainment Tonight and 20-year TV news veteran. Email him at freedoms@bellatlantic.net.