Tag: Presidency

The Real Pres. McKinley

Note:  I have a habit of writing posts and putting them in my drafts and from time to time I have more drafts than I need….I use them for when circumstance takes me away from my ‘puter and I still need to post…..as of now I have 36 drafts in waiting so I will be posting more than my usual 5-6 posts per day…..sorry for the extra reading but these are things that need to be posted.  Thanx for your understanding.

Time again for the old professor’s classroom ( heavy sighs heard in the back of the room) and a look at an American president that most know very little about other than he was assassinated…there is so much more to McKinley’s presidency than his death…..

William McKinley was the 25th President of the United States, serving from March 4, 1897, until his assassination on September 14, 1901, after leading the nation to victory in the Spanish-American War and raising protective tariffs to promote American industry.

At the 1896 Republican Convention, in time of depression, the wealthy Cleveland businessman Marcus Alonzo Hanna ensured the nomination of his friend William McKinley as “the advance agent of prosperity.” The Democrats, advocating the “free and unlimited coinage of both silver and gold”–which would have mildly inflated the currency–nominated William Jennings Bryan.

While Hanna used large contributions from eastern Republicans (some things never change within the GOP) frightened by Bryan’s views on silver, McKinley met delegations on his front porch in Canton, Ohio. He won by the largest majority of popular votes since 1872.

The American Conservative takes a long look at the presidency of McKinley……

What’s wrong with the Roosevelts? What’s wrong is their shadow. The spotlight of history shines so brightly on Theodore and Franklin Roosevelt that most other presidents, especially conservative presidents, end up in semi-darkness. Whatever these interstitial figures gave the nation gets likewise obscured. While the Roosevelts tapdance across history’s stage, William McKinley, William Howard Taft, Warren Harding, Calvin Coolidge and, of course, Herbert Hoover get locked backstage in a cabinet of “flawed figures.”

What’s more, with each passing year, the Roosevelt shadow deepens. McKinley, especially, is practically forgotten. Sometimes, the obscuring of these presidents is intentional; sometimes half-intentional. Whatever respect President Barack Obama demonstrated to Native Americans when he replaced the title of Alaska’s mighty Mount McKinley with the Native American name, Denali, the president was also doing his bit to intensify the obscurity of non-Roosevelts.

http://www.theamericanconservative.com/articles/a-probing-new-look-at-the-real-mckinley/

McKinley was so much more than his assassination….and now you know more than the person sitting next to you….ain’t history grand?

Woodrow Wilson Is America’s Worst President

Recently I did a post on a list of the top 10 worst presidents, I believe……their list was different than mine….every president has his ups and downs and each of those could weigh heavy on one’s perception of who was the worst.

Thew list will be re-written many times and I am sure that there is another name that will be added in the coming years…..

All that aside my worst president is the same as the one in an article written for the National Interest……

Woodrow Wilson is my pick…..simply….he was an educated racist (an oxymoron), warmonger just to mention a few of his more detestable characteristics……

Making the case

If you wanted to identify, with confidence, the very worst president in American history, how would you go about it? One approach would be to consult the various academic polls on presidential rankings that have been conducted from time to time since Harvard’s Arthur M. Schlesinger Sr. pioneered this particular survey scholarship in 1948. Bad idea.

 

Source: Why Woodrow Wilson Is America’s Worst President Ever | The National Interest Blog

When Did We Ever Have A Secret President?

Political History is a fascinating subject of study…..and if done correctly then the student can learn some fantastic information.

Last election the US came as close as we ever have to electing a woman as president …..but it was not to be.

But did you know that almost a century ago….the US was controlled by a woman in the White House…..you see our president at the time, Woodrow Wilson, suffered a stroke….a severe stroke.

Woodrow Wilson may have been one of our hardest-working chief executives and by the fall of 1919, he looked it.

For most of the six months between late Dec. 1918 and June 1919, our 28th president was in Europe negotiating the Treaty of Versailles and planning for the nascent League of Nations, efforts for which he was awarded the 1919 Nobel Peace Prize (an award he did not officially receive until 1920). Back home, however, the ratification of the treaty met with mixed public support and strong opposition from Republican senators, led by Henry Cabot Lodge (R-Mass.), as well as Irish Catholic Democrats. As the summer progressed, President Wilson worried that defeat was in the air.

Bone-tired but determined to wage peace, on Sept. 3, 1919, Woodrow Wilson embarked on a national speaking tour across the United States so that he could make his case directly to the American people. For the next three and a half weeks, the president, his wife Edith Bolling Galt Wilson, assorted aides, servants, cooks, Secret Service men and members of the press rode the rails. The presidential train car, quaintly named the Mayflower, served as a rolling White House. Also joining the party was the president’s personal physician, Cary T. Grayson, who had grave concerns over his patient’s health.

Source: When a secret president ran the country | PBS NewsHour

AS usual your history lesson for the day is complete…..now use it the next time someone wants a debate…..

Five Worst Foreign Policy Presidents

I have been asked for the Winter session to teach a course of US Diplomatic History…I have already taught one on the US Foreign Policy in the Middle East…..and now with all the news about our diplomatic and foreign policy problems the school felt there would be interest in a course on the subject.  We will see!

MY readers know that I judge my presidents by their foreign policy chops….it is too early for me to choose Trump as a bad foreign policy president.

We have had some terrible presidents in foreign policy……and the American Conversation has put together a list…..

The president of the United States is granted wide leeway by the U.S. Constitution over foreign policy, more than any other policy realm. In addition to being the commander-in-chief of the armed forces, the president can make treaties, appoint diplomats (with the consent of the Senate), and, due to congressional legislation, impose sanctions on foreign entities.

Since World War II, the United States has issued no declarations of war; all military actions have been initiated by the president. As per the War Powers Resolution of 1973, the president can deploy troops for up to 60 days without congressional approval. Thus, whatever the foreign policy of the United States—positive or negative—the president owns it: his vision and decisions can initiate a foreign conflict with very little to inhibit him. We call it the “Monroe Doctrine” and not the “18th Congress Doctrine” for a reason—and not all of them have been successful. Who were the worst foreign policy presidents in our history? Here are the five who make the cut:

Source: Five Worst Foreign Policy Presidents in American History | The American Conservative

Anyone you would like to add?  Please justify why you think they deserve a spot on the lists.

A Team of Sycophants?

Back in the day Lincoln put together a government with rivals (Whigs, Free Soilers, Dems, etc)……Abraham Lincoln’s election in 1860 marked the first time a Republican was elected president. Having no experience in national affairs and facing a crisis of enormous proportions, Lincoln strategically filled his cabinet with the men who had opposed him for the nomination and who were his political rivals. Formed from a disparate coalition of Whigs, Democrats, Free Soilers, easterners, westerners, northerners, radicals, and conservatives, the new Republican political party mirrored the men who served in Lincoln’s cabinet.

I bring this up because Pres. Trump has not done anything resembling a forward thinking move that Lincoln did.  Instead he found a team of sycophants.

Oh, my bad……to you supporters of Mr. Trump…..sycophant means a servile self-seeking flatterer…..if that is a bit too deep for your mental capabilities then how about…..ass kisser, boot licker or brown noser….got it now?

Trump could have done as Lincoln did….put together a government of people that would illustrate his “independence” from political parties…..but instead he found those people that would do as told and do whatever it took to stay in the good graces of the president…the country means NOTHING to these people.

Other are more polite…they are calling this the Vanity Cabinet……

But watch the love fest for yourself……

This is pathetic that he felt the necessity to air this ass kissing episode….some things are better left in private.

I think to air a cabinet meeting that is actually accomplishing something would be a better use of their time…..but I am starting to doubt that this is possible.

After I wrote this draft Trump has hired a new communications director and pushed Spicer out the door.

He could not have picked a better sycophant….in his first press briefing he tells the world that he loves Trump no less than 14 times in one briefing…..

Watch the vid in the link below……

Source: Scaramucci Announced He ‘Loves’ Trump 14 Times | Crooks and Liars

His nickname is “The Mooch”…….need I say more?

(Moot point….. after 6 days The Mooch is gone…..not even being a boot licker can save you in the Trump WH)

Kinda embarrassing to watch a pack of ass kissers at work….but what do we expect from the man in the White House?

To Kill A President

Disclaimer:  Please this post is in NO way about the present president….I know how some supporters are quick to jump the gun (no pun intended)…….

Let’s start our day with a little history.

After the recent shooting that involved a Congressman I got to thinking about assassination of the president…..we all know about the assassination of Lincoln by Booth and the death of JFK and the attempt on Reagan’s life even some can remember the shooting of radical presidential politician, George Wallace……there have been many plots to get rid of a president……

So as a public service I thought I would give my readers a little more info on the attempts to kill a president…..

Anyone can change the course of history. You can start a movement, run for office, or if you’re too insane for that kind of thing, buy a cheap gun and try to kill the President.

Now killing the President requires a lot of planning, but when you’re crazy, planning involves casting imaginary spells and talking to ghosts. All of which makes it even stranger that some of the craziest assassination plots ever hatched by some of the craziest people came so close to succeeding.

For instance…

Source: The 6 Most Utterly Insane Attempts to Kill a US President

There you have today’s mini course on presidential assassination…..

Just How Disgusting Is Congress?

We are told by the media that the American voter is disgusted with Congress, the president and the economy……and yet they will vote for the same worthless bunch time and time again……

But the question is….just how disgusted are they?

The first exit polls show that those who turned out to vote today are in a foul mood politically, and it applies to both President Obama and Republicans. Some highlights:

  • Obama: More than half, 54%, disapprove of Obama, a figure just shy of George W. Bush’s 57% in the 2006 midterms, reports NBC News.
  • Congress: A staggering 79% disapprove of the job Congress is doing, one percentage point shy of the all-time low in exit polls.
  • Both: About a quarter of voters say they’re unhappy with both Obama and GOP leaders in Congress.
  • Country: Two-thirds say the nation is on the wrong track, and just 22% think the next generation will be better off, reports CNN.
  • Trust: Only 1 in 5 say they trust the government to do what is right most or all of the time. Most (61%) say they trust DC to do the right thing only “some of the time.”
  • Economy: It’s still voters’ No.1 concern.
  • Health care: The AP notes that those who ranked it as their top concern were “about as likely to say Obama’s health care overhaul didn’t go far enough as to say it went too far.”

What  amuses me is that if the people polled told the truth….then why do we keep sending the same mental midgets to DC?

Is this a paradox?  Or is it just stupidity?

When will we ever learn?  (that is rhetorical because we all know the answer)……

Who Was Our 1st President?

College of Political Knowledge

Subject:  American History

Today is 17 February or the federal holiday known as President’s Day…….it was once called Washington’s birthday…actually Washington’s birthday is the 22nd…… but since another president had a birthday the same month the government decided it was to be called President’s Day in 1971………

We are all familiar with this question from our civics and/or American History classes, right?  And we all answered with the popular answer…….George Washington.  Remember?  But how accurate is that standard answer?

To answer the question….not very accurate, at all.

Let’s dash back in history for a moment…..the year is 1776 and the Continental Congress has jjusr given Jefferson (a bone of contention with me) the task of writing the Declaration of Independence….when the task was completed and the document agreed to….we became the United States of America and at this time our ruling body was the Continental Congress and president of the Congress was John Hancock and as head of the Congress he became the 1st president of the US by default…..

Now the war with mother England rages on….and on….and in 1781 the colonies came up with a document for the governing of the new nation and it was called the Articles of Confederation………..and by now Hancock had stepped down as president of the Congress and Huntington assumed the leadership in 1779.  Once again as president of the Congress at the time of the signing of the Articles of Confederation this made him, by default, the president of the US…..where he remained until he had to resign because of ill health…in 1781……..that is president #2.

With the retirement of Huntington one John  Hanson became the president of the Congress in 1781…..but only after several others had been elected to the position but refused to serve for whatever reason they could think of at the time.  This making him the 3rd president of the United States of America.

And now we come to the rest of the story…..It is true the George Washington, the hero of so many battles, was our first president….our first ELECTED president…..and the first person to work at the job 24/7 365 days………..let us teach truth and accuracy not popular myth……

If you would like more info…..

” Who was truly the 1st President of the United States “

Yet Another Bush As Prez?

Former President George H.W. Bush said his son Jeb should run for president and blasted the New York Times for its “grossly unfair” criticism of another son, President George W. Bush.

During an interview on “FOX News Sunday,” the nation’s 41st president said Jeb, the former governor of Florida, is “as qualified and as able as anyone I know in the political scene” to be president.

In the meantime, Jeb could take another job, his father suggested.

“If Jeb wants to run for the Senate from Florida, he ought to do it,” Bush said. “He’d be an outstanding senator. This is a guy that really has a feel for people, the issues in Florida and nationally. And his political days ought not to be over, says his old father.”

Please…NO more talk about another Bush presidency–we have been punished enough by the last one.

Putin For President

A series of constitutional changes that critics allege are meant to consolidate one-party rule and perhaps pave the way for Vladimir Putin’s early return to the presidency are set to pass the Kremlin-dominated State Duma early this week.

In a stunning demonstration of the Kremlin’s control over Russia’s political process, the first-ever amendments to the country’s 1993 constitution were suggested by President Dmitry Medvedev in a Nov. 5 speech, then crammed through their first reading in the Duma on Friday.

The measures, which passed by 86 percent of the votes in the lower house of parliament, will extend a president’s term in office from four years to six, prolong terms of Duma deputies from four years to five, and require the government – for the first time – to report on its work annually to parliament. Duma Speaker Boris Gryzlov said the final two readings are set for Tuesday.

Following that, the bill will be sent to the Kremlin-controlled upper house for the needed three-quarters approval. Since the vast majority of Russia’s 81 regional legislatures are dominated by the United Russia party led by Mr. Putin, the required endorsement of two-thirds of them also seems likely

Mr. Medvedev argued that the current four-year presidential term is too brief for one man to master the complexities of leading a huge country like Russia. In an interview last week he insisted that the new rules will apply starting with his successor, who is due to be elected in 2012.

Putin, speaking to journalists last week, said the amendments had “no personal dimension” and were intended to “foster the development of democracy.”

But critics say the muscular haste with which the changes are being pushed through belies routine explanation. Some recall the stage-managed Kremlin operation that vaulted Putin’s handpicked successor, Medvedev, into the presidency with himself as prime minister last year. They warn that a similar power play may be in motion.

Geez!  This guy is a work of art.