In this political season I have decided to rank all of the Presidents. Recently I ranked the top ten on Helium. If you are impatient and don’t want to wait the 43 days it will take to get there, here is the link to my top ten. This blog will feature more in-depth articles on these Presidents. Today, however, I am going to focus on the WORST PRESIDENT OF ALL TIME: Lyndon Baines Johnson.
I have chosen Johnson as the worst President ever because I think enough time has passed that we can understand his presidency. On most lists, Nixon would be #43 because of his spying on Democrats during the 1972 election. What historians have come to find out, however, is that this was a practice started by Johnson in 1968. This can be found in No Peace, No Honor by Larry Berman, a noted and credible author. Alongside Johnson’s spying on Republicans in ‘68, I believe his actual entire administration was inept.
Johnson created “The Great Society” in a time when Americans could not afford the entitlements it promised. Although admirable for the 1964 Civil Rights Act, little else has amounted to anything. Johnson was a President that spent a lot of money and expanded military operations in Vietnam. It was his administration that made Vietnam a conflict that American could not exit from with its honor intact. The spending of the Johnson administration plagued the nation later as the dollar’s value became inconsistent because of the heavy debts accumulated throughout the Vietnam war.
Johnson also was a man who could not take criticism and frankly was overwhelmed by the office of President. He was brash and angry. When he was challenged in the 1968 primaries by his own party, he ran away from the office out of fear of losing a Presidential election. Some claim that Johnson was doomed by the situation in Vietnam and that he would have been an excellent President. Johnson, however, had complete control of the conflict in Vietnam. He had the option to exit before combat troops were deployed.
These are the reasons why I believe Lyndon Baines Johnson is the WORST PRESIDENT EVER!
