Quote:This country has suffered more in his (Bush) two years in office than any president serving his full term. c.i.
** During the Jefferson Administration the country was plunged into one of the worst depressions in our history. His Embargo Act virtually destroyed American trade, and the economy fell to almost zero. No statistics were kept, but without doubt unemployment was far worse than anything since the Great Depression in the mid-20th century.
** The Democratic-Republican Warhawks drove the United States into the War of 1812 with dreams of snatching Canada from a Britain occupied by the Napoleonic Wars. The New England states threatened to leave the Union, and the Federalist Party of Washington never recovered. The result was a disaster on almost every front. The Capitol was burned, and the chesapeake Bay was totally dominated by British naval forces. Only Jackson's victory at New Orleans with the help of pirates provided any solace to a miserable experience.
** Andrew Jackson rode his fame as an Indian fighter and hero of 1812 came into office. During Jackson's administration the nation came close to destruction when the South tried Nullification on for size. Jackson spent a tremendous effort trying to destroy the national banking system, thereby causing another depression during his successor, Martin Van Buren's administration. Though the Little Magician was only partially to blame, his adminstration was so unpopular that he was easily swept from office by Harrison.
** The suffering endured by all Americans during Lincoln's administration would be hard to match. Roughly 600,000 died as families were torn apart, and not infrequently faced one another on the battleground. The Union was in real danger of destruction, and the economy was shattered. The loss in property would have been in the trillions if calculated by today's dollar. There was martial law, and government censorship. The draft made it's first appearance and provoked riots in the large cities. Thousands were left hopeless, homeless and on the road. Hunger and hardship were everywhere.
** Those who suffered under the administrations of Johnson and Grant were legion. These were years when half the country was under military occupation, where carpet baggers and corrupt politicians exploited victory for their own ends, profit and revenge. Newly freed slaves were cast adrift with little assistance in finding new lives as free men. Cronyism flourished like never before, and only occasionally since.
** The rise of monopolies and Trusts during the last twenty years of the 19th century created one of the greatest gulfs between rich and poor in the nation's history. The Gilded Age witnessed excesses that are now happily in the past. Little children labored in coal mines and among the looms of mills for pennies, while railroad and steel barons accumulated greater relative wealth than modern tycoons. The power of the mighty was almost unchecked, while the "little guy" became powerless to avoid exploitation. There were more depressions, these more often caused by the personal greed of a few.
** President's Harding's administration was filled with scandals and the beginning to Prohibition, but it was during the Hoover Administration that the Market fell and the great depression began. Not only was the nation thrown into economic chaos with thousands out of work. The Dust Bowl struck and drove farmers from the land their grandparents homesteaded. The rails were crowded with young men searching for any sort of work. Gaunt-eyed children lined up for a cup of watery soup. There was no social net to keep starvation and homelessness at bay. demagogs appeared here, just as they did in Germany and Italy. Stalin's ComIntern had little trouble recruiting Americans into socialist movements. Soldiers with bayonets were used to quell Veteran's demonstrations in Washington.
** During LBJ's adminstration the American People demonstrated in greater numbers than any seen in 2002. Thousands fled to Canada and other nations to avoid serving in the military. Riots were common in many American cities. The Civil Rights Movement had a violent side, as the Black Panthers and the Symbianise Liberation Army strutted around with automatic weapons and robbed banks. Police officers were ambushed and bombs went off on campuses and in other public places. The cost of the Great Society threatened to indebt Americans well into the 22nd century, and the People lost faith in their government. The military was demoralized, and many no longer wore their uniforms with pride.
That's nearly a dozen administrations where the country suffered more than during the time Bush has been in office. Actually, I'm a little at a loss to identify much suffering at all that can be traced to the Shrub's administration. The market is not good, but that may be as much the fault of the Clinton years or just a normal down-turn as anything done by the Shrub. Unemployment is up, but still less far less than 5%. Productivity is up, and the currency is holding its value. The nation has been struck by cowardly foreign ideologues, but the administration has maintained an aggressive pursuit of those responsible and those who make such attacks possible.
