If you thought George W. Bush was the worst president ever, you were right . . . until now.
Compared to every president since WWII in seven broad categories of economic measurement, Bush came in dead last. But in just four short years President Obama has managed to mess up what it took George Bush to do in eight. Call President Obama "The Quicker Screwer Upper."
My readers know that I have been examining and ranking every president from Truman to Obama in recent days from best to worst in a variety of broad economic categories: increase in the national debt, control of the rate of inflation, growth of the economy, real stock market performance for investors, increase in housing values for savers, increase in household net worth and rate of unemployment. Follow the links to examine the results for each one.
When put all together, it's easy to see who has been the best president overall, and who the worst. The ideal president, naturally, would score a 7 overall on this scale, placing first in every category compared to his peers. The worst president would score a 70, placing last by every measure. That last number tells you how I have counted the presidents. JFK, who was assassinated in his first term, is grouped together with his VP LBJ. Nixon, who resigned in his second term, is grouped together with his VP Ford. That leaves eight others: Truman, Eisenhower, Carter, Reagan, Bush the Elder, Clinton, Bush the Younger, and Obama, stretching from 1948 until 2012.
Here's the list showing them all, from best to worst, including the numerical ranking in each category, and the overall score. Democrat Harry Truman comes out on top, and Democrat Barack Obama comes up in dead last. Over time the economic difference between Republican leadership in the White House and Democrat has been infinitesimally small, a difference of just 0.13 percent, slightly favoring Republicans who average 6.03 compared to Democrats who average 6.04.
Otherwise the main take away is that the only president to score in the 20s like long ago Truman, Eisenhower, and JFK/LBJ has been Bill Clinton, who spent the majority of his term in office with Republicans in control of the Congress. Any president who can again score in the 20s like him will necessarily be two times better economically for the country than George Bush and Barack Obama have been. They've both been unmitigated disasters.
Ranking for Debt+Inflation+GDP+SP500+Housing Values+Household Net Worth+Unemployment = score
Truman 1+6+2+1+4+6+1 = 21
Clinton 4+5+3+2+1+4+5 = 24
Eisenhower 2+1+5+3+6+7+2 = 26
JFK/LBJ 3+3+1+6+8+5+3 = 29
Carter 5+10+7+8+3+1+8 = 42 (tie)
Reagan 10+8+4+7+2+2+9 = 42 (tie)
Nixon/Ford 8+9+6+9+7+3+6 = 48
Bush The Elder 6+7+8+5+9+8+7 = 50
Bush The Younger 9+4+9+10+5+10+4 = 51
Obama 7+3+10+4+10+9+10 = 53
