Lincoln was assassinated 143 years ago today. That turned him from a historical figure into a mythological one. I don’t know others experience, but growing up and learning about the United States, it seemed like Lincoln and Washington were on a different plane from the rest.
John Wilkes Booth is properly recalled as a scoundrel. For all his pretensions toward heroism and gentility, he shot a man in the back of the head and ran.
(H/t Doghouse Riley who has this tagged as part of “Treason in Defense of Slavery” month.)
Like many others of a similar disposition, JWB had the opportunity to put his money where his mouth was, by serving in the CSA military. He opted not to, whether it was cowardice, elitism, or the belief that he had more important matters to attend to, instead of serving his chosen side like so many others managed to do.
I am still in awe of the way that Lincoln handled the whole Civil War; and I often wonder if the wounds in the nation would have healed quicker if he had not been martyred.
Of course right now we have a president who might end up pushing Fillmore out of last place!
Probably Rev. AJB.
“W” won’t be in my top five “worst” presidents.
It’s always the “smart” ones that end up causing the most long term damage.
Odd that. Offhand, one might assume intelligence to be a plus. But, the smartest, laziest and/or most clueless lead the list for me.
I thought Buchanan was in last place. Ah, Wikipedia has a nice chart with various rankings over the past 80 years or so. Looks like Harding was the whipping boy for most of the 20th century, followed closely by Ulysses S. Grant. Buchanan seems to have taken the lead only in the past 10 years or so. Andrew Johnson and Franklin Pierce also show up below Fillmore. Lincoln, FDR, and Washington are the consensus top 3; with Lincoln usually taking the top spot. FDR seems to usually come in second. And Washington seems to usually come in third.
Remember, it’s Wikipedia.
Also remember, the “top” Presidents had their vociferous detractors as well (especially contemporaries).
The Wikipedia chart lists rankings conducted by other organizations over the years; so it’s not a bunch of Wikipedians spouting off.
I always provide a “Wikipedia Disclaimer”. It’s seems better to be safe than sorry.
The only entries I often take real issue with are those about living people who seem to have crafted their own image, made up their own vitae, and/or created their own spurious advanced education credentials (or, had their lackeys do it for them).
“Whenever I hear anyone arguing for slavery, I feel a strong impulse to see it tried on him personally.”
I love that line.
JFK is the other president elevated in martyrdom. He gets a lot of credit for ending the Cuban Missile Crisis, but tends not to be charged much with aiding in the escalation of the tension leading to it. Also, Vietnam isn’t much laid at his feet.
In any case, I cannot imagine an ego large enough to desire being POTUS- a person who will endlessly have rocks thrown in their direction, unable to do right by a certain percentage of the population no matter what is done, even if it improves the country. Anyone want to touch odds that a bumper sticker reading “Impeach Obama/Clinton/McCain” is available prior to inauguration? A certain callousness is required in such an environment. We see today where that gets us.
Good points all, Mike.
Well, “impeachobama.com” and “impeachmccain.com” are already taken — I didn’t bother with “impeachclinton.com”.
I work at Indiana Beach and the cars in our parking lots on any given busy day will reveal a cross-section of various bumper stickers. I remember that I was stunned in the summer of 1993 seeing an “Impeach Clinton” bumper sticker. I thought to myself “exactly what the hell has he done to deserve impeachment? He’s only been in office a few months!”.
I saw an “Impeach Clinton” sticker on a car before his first 100 days were up. Brutal. I guess it’s a sign of our relative comfort that such a large number of Americans can be more blindly partisan than interested in results, with another huge number so turned off by this dynamic that they ignore the process altogether.
None of it is taking us anywhere good.