Op-ed views and opinions expressed are solely those of the author.

An email from Republican friends declaimed in the subject line: “Worst President Ever!!!” and then offered the choice of LBJ, Carter, Clinton, Obama or Biden. 

The statement begs the question; the answer depends on your politics. To the Democrats, it could be Trump, Reagan or Nixon, their accomplishments or administrative skills immaterial to the true believer.

In spite of enforcing the border, standing up for the American worker, or American history by opposing Critical Race Theory, Trump will always be a villain to the left, it could not be otherwise. Their true attitude toward Americans was on display when the Biden administration announced that Americans did not have priority for being evacuated from Afghanistan. When Reagan successfully fulfilled George Kennan’s containment policy by bringing down the Soviet Union, Kennan criticized Reagan, saying “that’s not what I meant.” What then did he mean? Before Reagan the sentiment was the Soviets will eventually win, Reagan said no “We win, they lose” and that’s what happened. The left never forgave Nixon for beating left-leaning Helen Gahagan Douglas in the 1950 California senate race either, or for being from lower-middle-class origins. How dare he not know his place! Obscured was that Jack Kennedy delivered a thousand-dollar check from family patriarch Joseph Kennedy for Nixon’s campaign. The Kennedys were anti-communist. The left also criticized Nixon for his “enemies list” not realizing, that although a Protestant, Nixon was Irish, and that his enemies list was natural; “I’ve got you down in my book” says Victor McLaglen in “The Quiet Man,” and so it was with Nixon as well.

The worst thing about JFK’s assassination was making Lyndon Johnson president. He was effective, truly “Master of the Senate”. Because of LBJ the National Origins Act was repealed begetting today’s immigration catastrophe. LBJ also inflicted the nation with “The Great Society” which destroyed the black family, upended the U.S. economy and “growed” the federal bureaucracy. The Vietnam War was also mismanaged with Johnson and his secretary of defense Robert McNamara setting bombing routes and targets unnecessarily losing American pilots and aircraft while not using sufficient American power to bring the communists to heel.

In an administrative sense, Clinton was passable. He let the economy function and actually rounded up illegal aliens, something Bush the Younger never did. Fortunately, Clinton was more interested in skirt chasing than anything else. 

Obama was successful at creating racial division and unemployment. Being the leftist he is, Obama illegally acted to safeguard illegal aliens and got away with it, his long-term vision being to import and regularize enough foreigners to overwhelm Republicans and the white majority instituting socialism forever. Obamacare was blatantly unconstitutional but that didn’t matter to Chief Justice Roberts, our leading legal magician. Obama could have destroyed ISIS before they got a foothold in Iraq, he didn’t allow these fanatics to spread murder and mayhem little hindered by US airpower until Trump took office.

Carter was an unmitigated disaster. As one of “Uncle Hymie’s” nuke boys he was a micromanager, useful if you’re running a nuclear sub (the USN has never had a nuclear accident), but not as president where you have to be able to delegate, something the very experienced Reagan knew how to do. Other than the Camp David Accords, Carter was a foreign policy naïf illustrated by the Iranian fiasco which allowed Ayatollah Khomeini to grab power in Iran, compounded by the seizing of the US embassy. When the embassy was overrun, the cable to Tehran should have demanded their release or Tehran would be bombed within the hour. The Iranians expected to be hit and were stunned when Carter did nothing. He then botched the rescue attempt. Likewise, Carter successfully gave the country “the great inflation” and the gas crisis.

The grand champion of incompetence, however, has to be Pres. Biden. If he had all his faculties he would be evil, but as the man is senile, inept will have to do. He has violated his oath of office to faithfully execute the laws by scraping the border allowing the country to be invaded, he has ignored the Supreme Court invalidating his illicit eviction moratorium, he has endorsed unconstitutional actions of the Congress, and now in Afghanistan has brought about a foreign policy crisis of horrendous proportions.  Maladroit would be an understatement. When the Taliban was on the march to conquest they could have been bombed. He failed, just as Obama could have bombed ISIS on the march and failed to do so. Biden is not alone in the fault department. His military and civilian advisors did not comprehend Afghanistan, in fairness, neither did the advisors of his predecessors. The Afghans, like other clients, should have been told “It’s your country, fight for it, and you’d better win, because if you lose, you ain’t coming here.” I am fed up with Americans being kill and wounded while our “friends” run from the enemy. As for those “refugees,” why didn’t they fight, why didn’t they defend their own families? “They helped us” I hear. Did they? A story on last night’s news featured a soldier whose unit translator planted a bomb to kill them. How many more like that are there? No, they didn’t help us, we helped them, that debt is paid. Refugee doctrine calls for refugee camps to be as close to their homes as possible, that does not mean flying them across the Atlantic. Afghans have a cultural affinity with neighboring Moslem countries, that is where they should go.

What comes after Biden? Harris? She is universally disliked and has never demonstrated any administrative skill. If Harris somehow becomes president, she may unite both parties in voting for her impeachment.

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William Layer

Lt. Colonel Civil Affairs, USAR (ret) served twenty-six years in the regular and reserve components of the US Army. He was civil military liaison for the 260th Military Police, DC National Guard, State Public Affairs Officer, Commander of the Public Affairs unit and a counter-drug intelligence analyst. Transferring to the 352 Civil Affairs Command as monuments and archives officer, he became the Command Public Affairs Officer in Iraq as well as liaison to local Iraqi leaders and acting Secretary to the General Staff. He was instrumental in recovering photographic artifacts of the Iraqi Royal family while in Baghdad. He was wounded in action in an ambush in Feb. 2004 for which he was awarded the Purple Heart.
In his civilian career he worked primarily in Army Public Affairs and for the Air Force as historian to the presidential wing in the early Reagan administration and later for Air Force Legislative Liaison covering congressional hearings and assisting in preparing testimony for senior leaders.
His essays and reviews have appeared in the scholarly and popular press including Asian Affairs and the Washington Times. He is co-author, with Ali Wahab, of The Iraqi Royal Family, a Collection of Photographs Recovered from The Ruins of the Zuhur Palace, 2004.
A native New Yorker, he holds a BA with honors in history from Findlay College (Ohio) and an MA in history from The Ohio State University. He is a graduate of the US Army Command & General Staff College and was graduated with distinction US Naval War College with a MA in National Security and Strategic Studies.

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