It is time to grade Donald Trump’s second year as President of the United States.
Before giving out the grade, something needs to be set straight: Trump isn’t the worst POTUS ever.
The title of “Worst POTUS” goes to Andrew Jackson because he created the genocide known as the Trail of Tears. History.com reports, “President Jackson and his government frequently ignored the letter of the law and forced Native Americans to vacate lands they had lived on for generations. In the winter of 1831, under threat of invasion by the U.S. Army, the Choctaw became the first nation to be expelled from its land altogether. They made the journey to Indian territory on foot (some “bound in chains and marched double file,” one historian writes) and without any food, supplies or other help from the government. Thousands of people died along the way.”
The title of “Second-Worst POTUS” goes to Franklin Roosevelt because he created the internment of U.S. citizens of Japanese descent. U.S. History.org states, “Over 127,000 United States citizens were imprisoned during World War II. Their crime? Being of Japanese ancestry. . . Succumbing to bad advice and popular opinion, President Roosevelt signed an executive order in February 1942 ordering the relocation of all Americans of Japanese ancestry to concentration camps in the interior of the United States.”
The title of “Third-Worst POTUS” goes to Woodrow Wilson because he promoted anti-black racism as well as the violation of the First Amendment. Form the website of Middle Tennessee State University:
The Sedition Act of 1918 curtailed the free-speech rights of U.S. citizens during time of war.
Passed on May 16, 1918, as an amendment to Title I of the Espionage Act of 1917, the act provided for further and expanded limitations on speech. Ultimately, its passage came to be viewed as an instance of government overstepping the bounds of First Amendment freedoms.
President Woodrow Wilson, in conjunction with congressional leaders and the influential newspapers of the era, urged passage of the Sedition Act in the midst of U.S. involvement in World War I. Wilson was concerned about the country’s diminishing morale and looking for a way to clamp down on growing and widespread disapproval of the war and the military draft that had been instituted to fight it.
The provisions of the act prohibited certain types of speech as it related to the war or the military. Under the act, it was illegal to incite disloyalty within the military; use in speech or written form any language that was disloyal to the government, the Constitution, the military, or the flag; advocate strikes on labor production; promote principles that were in violation of the act; or support countries at war with the United States.
The targets of prosecution under the Sedition Act were typically individuals who opposed the war effort, including pacifists, anarchists, and socialists. Violations of the Sedition Act could lead to as much as twenty years in prison and a fine of $10,000. More than two thousand cases were filed by the government under the Espionage Act of 1917 and the Sedition Act of 1918, and of these more than one thousand ended in convictions.
The Guardian reports that Wilson “oversaw the resegregation of multiple agencies of the federal government and was a vocal advocate for the Ku Klux Klan.”
If you want to call Trump the worst Republican POTUS ever, then so be it, but three Democrats are ahead of him in the “Worst POTUS” contest.
Now that we know which Presidents were worse than Trump, we can go ahead and deal with Trump’s grade.
His current grade is . . .
Trump shut down the federal government by refusing to sign spending legislation that was passed prior to Christmas 2018. Way too many Americans are suffering as a result.
The “Wanted” posters say the following about David: “Wanted: A refugee from planet Melmac masquerading as a human. Loves cats. If seen, contact the Alien Task Force.”