The question of how history will view President Joe Biden’s term in office is raised by fresh evidence linking him to a” pay to play” bribery scheme. Comparing the achievements of current presidents to those of their forebears is, obviously, dangerous. Snap decisions can be uncomfortable in the future because it is difficult to place recent events in historical context. For instance, some commentators called George W. Bush the worst British deputy executive in history while he was president( served from 2001 to 2009 ). But yet to democratic academics, that assessment seems absurd in retrospect. He was ranked 29th out of 44 in the C-SPAN Presidential Historians Survey for 2021. Donald J. Trump( 2017 – 2021 ) has recently been called the worst president by some commentators. However, some obvious successes, mainly in economic and foreign policy, are disregarded in this assessment. However, the history thus way points to Biden as one of the worst presidents in history, barring unavoidable circumstances. Another organizations, like Siena College, publish national rankings in addition to C-SPAN’s How Surveys Rate the Presidents. They ask experts — mostly historians and other academics — questions, and then they tabulate the answers. These surveys, regrettably, have serious flaws. The questions and the answers are the two reasons why this is real. Second of all, the questions have little to do with the Constitution’s description of the president. The majority of inquiries don’t address legal obligations like basic law enforcement and acting as military commander-in-chief. Instead, they show a liberal obsession with concepts like” vision” and” economic management.” Additionally, the surveys show that presidents perform better if they support Congress, despite the fact that the survey’s framers intended for the presidency to act as a check on Congress. Next, progressive bias skews the answers. For instance, academic historians ranked Ronald Reagan( 1981 – 1989 ) 15th and Franklin D. Roosevelt( 1933 – 1951 ) third among presidents for” economic management” in the 2021 C – SPAN survey. However, history demonstrates that despite years of efforts, FDR’s opposing monetary policies were unable to revive the economy, whereas Reagans’ policies swiftly turned a downturn into an economic boom. Biden, what about him? If you use standards based on the Constitution, as you might expect, Biden performs badly. Surprisingly, he even performs badly when using the survey-based criteria. Let’s look at some of those criteria to see how well he performed. The majority of the presidents ScandalAmerica has had are sincere. However, when scandals occur while they are watching, historians also identify stupid presidents. That explains why Ulysses S. Grant( 1869 – 1877 ) and Warren Harding( 1921 – 1923 ) are not given higher rankings. In contrast to the cases of Harding and Grant, the Biden administration has previously been tarnished by a number of scandals that could implicate the president. The president is required by the Constitution to” take care that the Laws are diligently executed” in order to enforce the law. Although this factor is certainly sufficiently emphasized in the surveys that have been published, it directly influences the ratings. The most notable instance of this is James Buchanan’s extremely low ranking( 1857 – 1861 ) as a result of his failure to uphold federal law against the Southern states that seceded. Biden is allowing millions of foreigners to enter the Union illegally, only as Buchanan allowed secessionists to do so against the law. If no quickly corrected, the outcomes might be just as serious as what Buchanan’s neglects were in danger of becoming. The Biden administration has a history of disdaining the rule of law, and this is just one example. Above, more can be seen. Another instance of liberal bias is the” Equal Justice” survey from C-SPAN, which inquires as to whether presidents have promoted it. Whether the president usually enforces the law is a more democratically based question. Also on this flawed standard, it is hard to see how Biden performs well. Under Biden, weaponization has reached a new peacetime great, despite the fact that some previous presidents have used it to defend the government from political rivals. Since the Constitution gives the president broad foreign policy powers, either explicitly or implicitly, this factor appears in the majority of published surveys. Anyone with an honest historical sense knows that this is a very alarming development and most definitely not in accordance with” equal justice.” It is difficult to ignore the fact that after Biden was inaugurated, the world became a more aggressive and risky place, even though there are many reasons for the current state of the planet. Two aspects of this change are the rise of Marxist Foreign influence and the conflict between Russia and Ukraine. Another factor that is mentioned in surveys that have been published is financial management. It could be argued that the question is illegal because, first, financial management is not one of the president’s legal obligations, second, Congress, the Federal Reserve, and other administrative bodies have authority over the economy that is outside of his purview, third, it assumes that it is the responsibility of government to” manage” the economic economy. But let’s take into account the surveys’ performance first. The national debt has increased from less than$ 31 trillion to almost$ 34 trillion in his brief tenure in office. The debt level would be even higher if Congress hadn’t disapproved of extravagant extra spending and his student loan program hadnt been declared invalid by the Supreme Court. The much-reported Medicare scandal is another issue. Biden ordered Medicare to cover the full cost of increased COVID – 19 test kits during his self-declared emergency, with no co-payments for those who placed the orders. Fraudsters are now defrauding the government of incalculable millions as a result of this. A round of inflation unlike anything Americans had experienced since the 1970s was consistently sparked by these and other reckless policies. Additionally, they have led to ongoing workforce under-participation. Biden admits that he, along with Trump and the state governors — almost all of whom made poor economic choices during the COVID-19 pandemic— is to blame for inflation. Abuse of Power In the past, there have been significant political power abuses, mostly during wartime. These included the suspension of the habeas corpus by Abraham Lincoln( 1861 – 1855 ), the suppression of dissent by Woodrow Wilson( 1913 – 1921 ), and the imprisonment of Japanese Americans by FDR. However, during a period of peace, Biden’s administration has engaged in numerous abuses of national authority. Judge Terry A. Doughty documented” arguably … the most massive attack against free speech in United States’ history” in his preliminary opinion in Missouri v. Biden( pdf ). These include the discriminatory application of justice mentioned above, broad executive orders that invade state and congressional prerogatives and impair liberty. Richard Nixon’s abuses are occasionally cited by historians as justification for discrediting him. Judge Doughty’s assessment shows how little Nixon has abused people compared to Biden. The Constitution makes no mention of” Moral leadership” as opposed to” demagogy ,” but published presidential ranking systems do. Biden receives a poor rating once more. Poor spiritual leadership is indicated by a lack of response to corruption. The same goes for claiming to transfer student debt obligations from those who benefited from them. The Constitution was adopted in part to stop for transfers. Andrew Johnson ( 1865 – 1849 ) is frequently criticized by historians for his impolite criticism of rivals, but Biden has been at least as polarizing. Recall his infamous MAGA speech from August 25, 2022, in which he referred to mainstream political opponents as” extremists” and” semi-fasts.” According to the Siena College survey, presidential” intelligence” falls under a specific category. Since a president’s mental abilities are evident in how well he performs on additional measures, such as foreign policy and operational skills, this definitely shouldn’t be treated separately. However, respondents to the Siena College survey have the option of dismissing presidents based on alleged mental impairment. And for alleged cognitive decline during their presidencies, academics occasionally attribute Reagan and George Washington( 1789 – 1797 ). Naturally, Biden has shown mental decline since the start of his presidency. His capacity to manage his subordinates is diminished as a result. Knowing that the leader will be held accountable for anything that goes bad, subordinates who are not under control frequently act out. It is amazing that not all surveys address the president’s role as commander-in-chief of the armed forces given that the Constitution makes this clear. They ought to. Some awkward military errors have been caused by the Biden administration. The failure that accompanied British withdrawal from Afghanistan was one. Another was the mysterious failure to detonate a Socialist Foreign spy balloon before it had captured many of the nation’s landscape. Biden’s politicization of the military, a terrifying development that is almost unheard of in British history, is more significant in the long run. Numerous aspects of readiness have been impacted by this mismanagement, including issues with recruitment. ConclusionOf course, it will be necessary to wait until Biden’s term is over before conducting a thorough traditional analysis of his presidency. But at this point, he appears to be on the verge of being ranked among the worst presidents in British history. The Original Constitution: What It Really Said and Meant was written by Robert G. Natelson, a historian and former professor of constitutional law at the Independence Institute in Denver. He contributes to” Heritage Guide to the Constitution” published by the Heritage Foundation.
It is dangerous to compare modern presidents with their predecessors. Snap judgments are often made because it’s difficult to put current events into historical context. This can be embarrassing in the future. For example, some commentators have ranked George W. Bush as the worst American president in history. Even liberal academics find this assessment absurd in retrospect. Donald J. Trump’s presidency (2017-2021), according to some commentators, was the worst. This assessment ignores some clear achievements, especially in economics and foreign policy. Nevertheless, the record thus far suggests that, barring any unforeseen events, Biden may rank as one the worst presidents ever. They pose questions to people they consider experts (mostly historians and other academics) and then tabulate the results.Unfortunately, these surveys are deeply flawed. The questions and answers are both to blame. First, they are not in line with the Constitutional job description of the president. Most questions do NOT address constitutional duties like general law enforcement or serving as commander-in chief. The surveys are more liberal in nature and focus on factors such as “vision” or “economic management”. While the framers intended the presidency to be a check against Congress, the surveys reward presidents who go along with Congress. In the 2021 C-SPAN poll, academic historians ranked Franklin D. Roosevelt (1933-1945), third among presidents in terms of “economic management”, while ranking Ronald Reagan, (1981-1989), 15th. The history shows that FDR’s contradictory economic policies failed after years to lift the economy from the doldrums, while Reagan’s policies quickly turned a recession into a boom. What about Biden? As you might expect, Biden does not rank well if you base your criteria on the Constitution. He also ranks poorly if you use criteria like those in the surveys. Let’s examine his performance on some of those criteria.ScandalAmerica has been fortunate in having mostly honest presidents. Even innocent presidents are rated lower by historians when scandals occur under their watch. The ratings are affected indirectly by this factor. Although published surveys don’t emphasize it enough, the Constitution commands that the president “take care that the Laws are faithfully executed.” James Buchanan’s (1857-1861), who failed to enforce federal laws against the seceding Southern States, is a good example. If not corrected immediately, the results could be as serious as Buchanan’s derelictions. This is just one example of the Biden administration’s contempt for rule of law. Other examples are below. “Equal Justice”The C-SPAN poll asks if presidents have promoted “Equal Justice for All”, another example of liberal bias. (A more constitutionally-rooted question would be whether the president enforces the law generally.) It is hard to see how Biden would do well on this imperfect measure. Biden’s administration has weaponized the government to a new level of intensity, compared to past presidents who have done so. Foreign PolicyThis factor is included in many published surveys, as it should be, since the Constitution gives the president broad powers in foreign policy, either explicitly or implicitly. This change is reflected in the growth of Communist Chinese power and the Russian-Ukrainian conflict. Economic Management is another factor that appears in published survey results. It is a question that is arguably illegitimate because (1) economic management does not fall under the constitutional responsibility of the president, (2) the president is limited in his ability to manage the economy by the Federal Reserve and other administrative agencies outside his reach, (3) the question assumes it is the government’s role to “manage the economy”. The debt level would have been even higher if Congress had not rejected extravagant additional spending and if the Supreme Court hadn’t invalidated his student-loan scheme. Biden, during his self-declared COVID-19 crisis, ordered Medicare to cover the full cost for excessive COVID-19 kit costs, with no copayments from the people who ordered the test. These and other irresponsible policy choices triggered an inflationary wave that Americans hadn’t seen since the 1970s. They also have resulted in continued workforce under-participation.Admittedly, Biden shares the blame for inflation with Trump and the state governors, nearly all of whom made bad economic decisions during the COVID-19 pandemic.Abuse of PowerIn the past, major presidential abuses of power occurred primarily in time of war. These included Abraham Lincoln’s (1861-1865) suspension of the writ of habeas corpus, Woodrow Wilson’s (1913-1921) suppression of dissent, and FDR’s incarceration of Japanese-Americans.But Biden’s administration has been guilty of widespread abuses of presidential power during a time of peace. The abuses include: the discriminatory application, as mentioned above; the sweeping executive orders which invade state and congressional rights and impair freedom, including several orders void by the courts; and, “arguably”. . . As Judge Doughty’s opinion demonstrates, Nixon’s abuses pale in comparison with Biden’s. Nixon’s abuses pale by comparison to Biden’s, as Judge Doughty’s opinions demonstrate. Moral Leadership v. Demagogy “Moral Leadership” – as opposed to demagogy – is not mentioned in the Constitution but is a feature in published presidential ranking systems. Biden is again rated poorly. Failing to respond to corrupt practices is a sign that moral leadership is lacking. It is also a bad idea to pretend to transfer student loan obligations from those who benefitted from them to those that did not. His intemperate attacks on opponents often cause historians to mark him down, but Biden’s divisiveness is at least as bad. Recall his notorious Aug. 25, 2022 MAGA speech, in which he called mainstream political opponents “extremists” and “semi-fascists.”Cognitive ImpairmentThe Siena College survey includes a distinct category for presidential “intelligence.” This probably should not be a separate factor, because a president’s cognitive abilities show up in his performance on other measures, such as foreign policy and administrative skills.Still, the Siena College survey allows participants to demote presidents for supposed cognitive weakness. Academics have also marked down George Washington (1789-1797), Reagan, and others for alleged cognitive decline in the latter part of their presidencies. Biden, however, has shown signs of cognitive decline since the beginning of his presidency. This makes it harder for him to control his subordinates. It is surprising that many surveys do not address this issue. The Constitution states that the president is the commander-in chief of the military. They should. The Biden administration is responsible for several embarrassing military lapses. One was the debacle that accompanied the American withdrawal from Afghanistan. Another was the inexplicable failure to shoot down a Communist Chinese spy balloon before it had photographed much of the country.Of more long-term import is Biden’s politicization of the military–a frightening development almost unique in American history.This mismanagement has affected readiness in several ways, including recruitment problems.ConclusionOf course, a full historical assessment of the Biden presidency will have to await completion of his term. He is on track to be ranked among the worst presidents in American history. Robert G. Natelson is a former constitutional law professor and senior fellow in constitutional justice at the Independence Institute, Denver. He authored “The Original Constitution” (3rd edition, 2015). He is a contributing author to the Heritage Foundation’s “Heritage Guide to the Constitution.”
