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Who was more unpopular Donald Trump or George W Bush?

M

Mcgovern_Gore

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Both Bush and Trump received a lot of negative press and have terms that describe a pathological hatred of them from non-supporters.
Everyone now talks about Trump Derangement Syndrome but the term was first applied to W. Bush.
I think Bush was the first president that truly ruined our standing in the world and made some people traveling abroad hesitant to admit to being American.
It will be interesting to see what their reputations are like 20 years from now and I find it strange Bush's image is being whitewashed now.
 
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Bush's image is not being "whitewashed" so much as coming back to reality. The same will be true of Trump.
 

Bush is a very nice man who made a terrible mistake when he invaded Iraq and destabilized the middle east. Trump is a con artist who is totally unfit to be president. There is no comparison between the two.
 
During his presidency, Abe Lincoln was the most unpopular president this nation has seen. At the end of his term in office, no president was as unpopular as Jimmy Carter, reviled by both sides of the isles for his weakness and indecionsion.
 

Popularity isn't the best way to rank presidents. Here are four polls that asked the question who was the best and worst presidents since WWII. G.W. Bush was ranked second worst behind Obama in the Quinnipiac 2014 poll. But Obama was also the fourth best. 2017 Quinnipiac poll showed Bush sixth best with Obama 2nd best. It also showed Obama the second worst with Bush being the third worst.

In 2017 Morning Consult poll included Trump for the first time. Obama was 2nd best, Trump 5th best, Bush 6th best. Morning Consult had Trump the worst, Obama second worst with Bush fourth worst. Quinnipiac University poll taken in March 2018 had Obama second best, Trump 5th best and Bush 10th best. Quinnipiac 2018 worst, Trump the worst, Obama second worst with 5th worst.

Needless the polls below showed partisanship at it finest or worst. These polls are how the average American Joe viewed the presidents, not historians which is different. Needless to say if you're a Republican Obama is the worst, if you're a Democrat, Trump is the worst with G.W. close behind.

Best and Worst presidents since WWII

2014 Quinnipiac poll
A Quinnipiac University poll taken June 24–30, 2014, asked 1,446 registered voters in the United States who they thought were the best and worst Presidents since World War II.

Best President since World War II:

Ronald Reagan (35%)
Bill Clinton (18%)
John F. Kennedy (15%)
Barack Obama (8%)
Dwight Eisenhower (5%)
Harry S. Truman (4%)
Lyndon B. Johnson (tie) (3%)
George H. W. Bush (tie) (3%)
Jimmy Carter (2%)
Richard Nixon (tie) (1%)
Gerald Ford (tie) (1%)
George W. Bush (tie) (1%)

Worst President since World War II:

Barack Obama (33%)
George W. Bush (28%)
Richard Nixon (13%)
Jimmy Carter (8%)
Lyndon B. Johnson (tie) (3%)
Ronald Reagan (tie) (3%)
Bill Clinton (tie) (3%)
Gerald Ford (tie) (2%)
George H. W. Bush (tie) (2%)
Dwight Eisenhower (1%)
Harry S. Truman (tie) (<1%)
John F. Kennedy (tie) (<1%)
2017 Quinnipiac poll
Four years later, a Quinnipiac University poll taken January 20–25, 2017, asked 1,190 voters in the United States who they thought were the best and worst Presidents since World War II.

Best President since World War II:

Ronald Reagan (30%)
Barack Obama (29%)
John F. Kennedy (12%)
Bill Clinton (9%)
Dwight Eisenhower (tie) (3%)
George W. Bush (tie) (3%)
Harry Truman (tie) (2%)
Lyndon B. Johnson (tie) (2%)
Jimmy Carter (tie) (2%)
George H. W. Bush (tie) (2%)
Richard Nixon (tie) (<1%)
Gerald R. Ford (tie) (<1%)

Worst President since World War II:

Richard Nixon (24%)
Barack Obama (23%)
George W. Bush (22%)
Jimmy Carter (10%)
Ronald Reagan (5%)
Bill Clinton (4%)
Lyndon B. Johnson (3%)
George H. W. Bush (2%)
Gerald R. Ford (1%)
Harry S. Truman (tie) (<1%)
Dwight Eisenhower (tie) (<1%)
John F. Kennedy (tie) (<1%)
2017 Morning Consult poll
Including for the first time President Donald Trump, a Morning Consult poll taken February 9–10, 2017, asked 1,791 registered voters in the United States, who they thought were the best and worst Presidents since World War II.

Best President since World War II:

Ronald Reagan (26%)
Barack Obama (20%)
John F. Kennedy (17%)
Bill Clinton (9%)
Donald Trump (6%)
George W. Bush (tie) (2%)
Harry Truman (tie) (2%)
Jimmy Carter (tie) (2%)
George H. W. Bush (tie) (2%)
Richard Nixon (tie) (1%)
Lyndon B. Johnson (tie) (1%)
Gerald R. Ford (<1%)

Worst President since World War II:

Donald Trump (26%)
Barack Obama (25%)
Richard Nixon (13%)
George W. Bush (7%)
Bill Clinton (6%)
Jimmy Carter (5%)
George H. W. Bush (3%)
Lyndon B. Johnson (2%)
Ronald Reagan (tie) (1%)
Gerald R. Ford (tie) (1%)
Harry S. Truman (tie) (1%)
John F. Kennedy (<1%)
2018 Quinnipiac poll
A Quinnipiac University poll taken March 3–5, 2018, asked 1,122 voters in the United States who they thought were the best and worst Presidents since World War II.

Best President since World War II:

Ronald Reagan (28%)
Barack Obama (24%)
John F. Kennedy (tie) (10%)
Bill Clinton (tie) (10%)
Donald Trump (7%)
Dwight Eisenhower (4%)
Harry Truman (tie) (3%)
Jimmy Carter (tie) (3%)
Lyndon B. Johnson (2%)
George H. W. Bush (tie) (1%)
Richard Nixon (tie) (1%)
George W. Bush (tie) (1%)
Gerald R. Ford (<1%)

Worst President since World War II:

Donald Trump (41%)
Barack Obama (21%)
Richard Nixon (10%)
Jimmy Carter (8%)
George W. Bush (6%)
Bill Clinton (4%)
Lyndon B. Johnson (tie) (2%)
Ronald Reagan (tie) (2%)
Gerald R. Ford (1%)
Harry S. Truman (tie) (<1%)
Dwight Eisenhower (tie) (<1%)
John F. Kennedy (tie) (<1%)
George H. W. Bush (tie) (<1%)

Historical rankings of presidents of the United States - Wikipedia
 
Taylor said:
Bush's image is not being "whitewashed" so much as coming back to reality. The same will be true of Trump.
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Trump publicly supported Neo Nazis and the KKK. National community and business leaders resigned from prestigious presidential committees in protest, so other than White Supremacists trying to defend it by denying it, everyone knows it's a historical fact.

Add in Trump's blatant racism as leader of the Birther Movement, his primary campaign strategy of using racism to energize his base, and his image ain't never "coming back."
 

If you’re hesitant to “admit” being America then don’t frikkin’ be one.
 
Yes, this is the kind of bs that will be filtered out.
 
bearpoker said:
Bush is a very nice man who made a terrible mistake when he invaded Iraq and destabilized the middle east. Trump is a con artist who is totally unfit to be president. There is no comparison between the two.
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But the hatred Democrats felt towards GW Bush was about the same as what they now feel for Trump. And Bush was not a womanizer or arrogant asshole, or anything like Trump.

I think Democrats will despise any Republican president who doesn't speak like a law professor. Even then, they might.
 
bearpoker said:
Bush is a very nice man who made a terrible mistake when he invaded Iraq and destabilized the middle east. Trump is a con artist who is totally unfit to be president. There is no comparison between the two.
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I agree. Trump didn't spend trillions of dollars and 4+ thousand lives on a disastrous war built on lies. Bush made no mistake. He itched to go after Saddam once Saddam supposedly put out a hit on Daddy. So, he had his neo-con advisers craft a lie to get us in. Of course, a lot of young men and women paid the ultimate price and all we got was ME destabilization to this day. Bush's legacy will be this and it didn't have to be. He had like 80% approval after 9-11 and simply threw it all away. His father knew better and didn't go into Iraq after kicking them out of Kuwait. Jr. should have learned from his father.
 
Trump isn't the worst president. He isn't even remotely close to the worst president. He's simply the one the left hates most.
 
Bush let 9/11 happen. Started 2 wars for no reason while cutting taxes and brought about the worst recession in living memory. He'll probably go down in the 35-40s range of presidents.

Then in their infinite wisdom, Americans decided to jump on the republican train, except this time they elected the man who will undoubtedly go down as the worst president ever.
 

Bush sucked but he didn't let 9/11 happen. That's simply goofy. (BTW, Bill Clinton had 8 full years to get Bin laden. Bush had 8 months) 9/11 happened because we weren't prepared and we wouldn't have been prepared any better with "Carbon Offset" Al Gore at the helm. He also didn't start two wars for no reason. Afghanistan had a reason and every Democrat save one voted to authorize us going there. Bush sucked for one reason and that was Iraq.
 

Thank you for putting so much effort into another great post.
I voted for Bill and Ronald. Not sure if that is good or bad.
 
Lovebug said:
Thank you for putting so much effort into another great post.
I voted for Bill and Ronald. Not sure if that is good or bad.
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LOL, I never voted for Bill Clinton, Perot twice and once for Ronnie. Being a Georgia boy it was Jimmy in 1980. I was born right after WWII, Eisenhower and JFK rank one/two in my list of best presidents in my lifetime. Reagan and Bill Clinton are three and four.

Each of us view presidents differently and through different eyes. We all have our reasons for ranking them as we do and also either voting for or against them. How and who we rank as the best or worst is subjective, subjective to our own personal whims along with political ideology and philosophy not to mention being a Republican and or a Democrat. That's how a president in those polls I cited can be rated one of the best and one of the worst in the very same poll. That I find interesting.
 
bearpoker said:
Bush is a very nice man who made a terrible mistake when he invaded Iraq and destabilized the middle east. Trump is a con artist who is totally unfit to be president. There is no comparison between the two.
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One is a war criminal who should have been tried and executed for his crimes against humanity.

The other is kind of a weirdo who liberals hate mostly because he isn't Hillary, and they've been told to.

No comparison indeed.
 
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Love it!

 
3leftsdoo said:
Love it!

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Historians tell us it takes 20 years after a president leaves office to fairly accurately rate and rank them. That gives it time for the partisanship to die down some along with giving historians time to see the long range results of a presidents policies, decisions and actions.

Popularity, Truman only had a 30% approval rating when he left office, yet historians rank him the 6th best president in this nation's history. Truman is in the near great category of presidents. Truman couldn't have gotten elected dog catcher in 1952, so that shows popularity isn't everything. I think a president's impact on the future of this nation is. The problem is one has to wait 20 years to see how a president impacted this nation future.
 

It happened under his watch. I'm sure if happened under Gore you would be up in arms. So yes, Bush let 9/11 happen, and he started 2 unnecessary wars and he ****ed the country by not stopping the sub prime crisis. Somehow republicans managed to pick someone even more incompetent. Someone so dumb he can barely read. Someone so immoral he slept with a pornstar while being married.
 
veritas1 said:
Trump isn't the worst president. He isn't even remotely close to the worst president. He's simply the one the left hates most.
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I honestly can't decide who was worse.

The old man Bush was pretty good. He was the one and only republican that I have ever voted for. GWB, not so much. Trump, not so much.

The only good thing about the two of them is that they have given me a profound appreciation for Richard Milhous Nixon.
 

He couldn't do **** about the subprime thing. The bad acts being done were not regulated. The sub prime thing belongs to Newt Gingrich and Bill Clinton.
 

The things that made him unpopular made him great, really. He ran the job he was hired to do, the best way he knew how, and he didn't give a damn about the polls.
 
At one point Truman was down to 20% approval.
 
Hamish Howl said:
The things that made him unpopular made him great, really. He ran the job he was hired to do, the best way he knew how, and he didn't give a damn about the polls.
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He started the concept of non-win, defense only police-action wars with the Korean war disaster, followed then by the same model in Vietnam.
 
Hamish Howl said:
The things that made him unpopular made him great, really. He ran the job he was hired to do, the best way he knew how, and he didn't give a damn about the polls.
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Exactly. Truman made no excuses nor blamed anyone else. Just like his plaque sitting on his desk, "The Buck Stops Here." Pretty near every other president since has always blamed someone or something else when something didn't go the way they wanted. Some presidents much more than others, some a lot less.
 
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