OC Weekly: Worst President Ever: Harrison vs. Bush

[question everything]

September 23 - 29, 2005

Worst President Ever: Harrison vs. Bush
by STEVE LOWERY

THIS WEEK’S CONTEST: Benjamin Harrison (Republican, 1889-1893) vs. George W. Bush (Republican, 2001-present)


FAMILY TIES: Harrison’s grandfather, William Henry “Tippecanoe” Harrison, was the ninth president of the United States and the first to die in office. Bush’s father, George Herbert Walker “Aunt Sally” Bush, was the 41st president and the first to vomit on a Japanese prime minister. WORST PRESIDENT: Bush


ELECTORAL MANDATE: Harrison was elected in 1888 despite receiving 89,596 fewer votes than Grover Cleveland. Bush was elected in 2000 despite receiving 543,895 fewer votes than Al Gore. WORST PRESIDENT: Bush


DEALING WITH DISASTER: The Johnstown Flood of 1889 killed 2,209 people. Harrison’s response was limited to sending Army engineers to build pontoon bridges, but, according to Richard Burkert, executive director of the Johnstown Area Heritage Association, “It wasn’t expected he would do anything. At that time, people didn’t conceive of the idea of the federal government having that kind of role.” Hurricane Katrina’s death toll was 800 at press time and continues to rise. Bush did little in the days following the disaster, which may have contributed to widespread violence, disease and death. But according to Barbara Bush, mother of George W., “What I’m hearing, which is sort of scary, is all want to stay in Texas. Everyone is so overwhelmed by the hospitality. And so many of the people in the here, you know, were underprivileged anyway, so this is working very well for them.” WORST PRESIDENT: Bush


TECHNOLOGY: Harrison was the first president to use electricity in the White House. Bush choked on a pretzel. WORST PRESIDENT: Bush


WORLD-VIEW: Harrison: “We Americans have no commission from God to police the world.” Bush: “The relations with, uhh, Europe are important relations, and they’ve, uhh, because, we do share values. And they’re universal values, they’re not American values or, you know, European values, they’re universal values. And those values, uhh, being universal, ought to be applied everywhere.” WORST PRESIDENT: Bush


ECONOMICS: Despite being president during the Gilded Age — a period of American history distinguished by a growing gap between rich and poor — Harrison managed to sign the Sherman Anti-Trust Act and said, “I pity the man who wants a coat so cheap that the man or woman who produces the cloth will starve in the process.” Despite being president during what some have called the New Gilded Age — distinguished by CEOs who earn 1,000 times what their workers do — Bush managed to sign massive tax cuts for the rich while telling them, “Some people call you the elite. I call you my base.” WORST PRESIDENT: Bush


RESULT: BUSH SCORES EASY FIRST ROUND SWEEP! Faux Republican Harrison’s compassion and balanced world-view are no match for the 43rd president’s killer combination of entitlement, inaction and poor motor skills.

http://www.ocweekly.com/ink/06/03/worst-lowery.php

[Zynx]

1. Harrison's economic policies largely led to the 1893 depression

Bi-metalism in the form of the Sherman Silver Purchase Act and the McKinley Tariff of 1890 contributed heavily towards the 1893 Depression, which, if not for the Great Depression of the 1930s, would likely hold that title.

[KittyWampus]

3. Sad to say, I don't know what the McKinley Tariff of 1890 was...

off to google.

[KittyWampus]

5. McKinley Tariff- Another Republican Economic Strategy That Was Ruinous But

which they managed to blame the Democrats for.


Tariffs had been a key political issue throughout the nineteenth century, with industrial and Northeastern interests generally in favor, farmers usually opposed. The principles involved had been established by Alexander Hamilton, the nation's first Secretary of the Treasury. High import tariffs, paid by overseas manufacturers who wanted access to U.S. markets for such products as textiles, tin plate, china, and sugar, gave an advantage to U.S. manufacturers and provided revenue for the federal Treasury. Critics argued that American consumers paid higher prices for the necessities of life, because tariffs established a high "floor" price and enhanced industrialists' profit, rather than helping workers.

After the South's secession at the start of the Civil War, Republicans raised tariffs sharply. Through a host of revisions they remained high until Woodrow Wilson's administration in the 1910s. In 1896, the name of Republican candidate William McKinley was widely associated with the "McKinley Tariff" of 1890, which he had shepherded through Congress as an Ohio Representative. That tariff proved unpopular--but the depression of 1893, which began under a Democratic administration, refocused criticism on the Democrats.

McKinley and other Republicans hoped to make the tariff a major issue in 1896. They argued that Democratic "free trade" (lower tariffs under Cleveland) had helped cause the depression and unemployment. William Jennings Bryan, however, seized the initiative and fought the campaign on the silver question, dismissing the tariff as an "irrelevant" issue. Despite McKinley's efforts, tariff "protection" became a secondary issue, though still important to many Republicans, who argued that tariffs enabled American men to earn a family wage and "protect" their families. The tariff thus formed a key part of Republicans' appeal to laboring men.

With McKinley's victory and Republican control of Congress, protective tariffs remained high after 1896. In the wake of depression, however, even many die-hard tariff advocates conceded that tariffs were not a total answer to unemployment and low wages. After 1900, many former Republicans joined Democrats and Socialists in seeking new remedies for the problems of industrial labor.

[Zynx]

6. Republican caused Depression = Democrats' fault

Makes sense.

[BlueJazz]

2. Finally.!..Bush won Something...I'm...I'm...I'm so proud..I mean..

..I want to thank the Acadamy..You Hate me...You Really, Really Hate Me!

[grytpype]

4. That is great!

Is this some kind of continuing series? We could have Bush v. Grant, Bush v. Harding, Bush v. Buchanan...

[question everything]

9. First of its kind. Stay tune (nt)

[Oeditpus Rex]

7. This reminds me of

the first sketch in Episode 14 of Monty Python's Flying Circus, "Face the Press," in which the Minister for Home Affairs debates housing with a small patch of brown liquid.

[SaveAmerica]

8. Harrison wins, Bush disqualified, not really president