Norwegian Wisdom

The Oslo newspaper is worth reading from time to time.

'The worst US president'A Norwegian professor who's considered one of the country's leading experts on US politics has ranked George W Bush as the worst US president in history. The best: Abraham Lincoln.
Professor Ole O Moen, who has followed American politics most of his career, has just written a book about all the US presidents. Aftenposten's weekly magazine A-magasinet asked Moen to choose who he thinks are the five best presidents and the five worst.
Two members of the Republican party landed as both the worst and the best presidents. Bush, in Moen's opinion, is the worst.
"His administration stands for a dangerous blend of arrogance and ignorance," Moen told A-magasinet, claiming that Bush has lacked an ability to listen to and cooperate with other heads of state, and with the US Congress.
Moen cited the invasion of Iraq, the resulting chaos that has erupted in the country and the intelligence reports that Bush's basis for the invasion (alleged weapons of mass destruction) didn't exist. Bush also defied international opinion on a host of other issues, from
the Kyoto agreement to rules for an international court, and his tax measures have widened the gap between rich and poor.
A federal budget surplus inherited from the Clinton administration has turned into a huge deficit and now the US is widely believed to be heading into a recession. Bush's approval ratings are currently at a low point in the US, but Bush himself has indicated that he doesn't care about his legacy.
Moen's choice for the "next-worst" US president is James Buchanan, a Democrat, whose term ran from 1857-1861 and who is often called the father of the American Civil War. Buchanan is followed by
Warren G Harding, a Republican who was president in the early 1920s and whose isolationist policies destabilized the world economy and helped fuel Germany's desire for military revenge.
Moen chose Calvin Coolidge, president from 1923-27) who continued an isolationist strategy, as the fourth-worst president,
and Andrew Johnson (1865-1869) as the fifth worst, because he allowed defeated southern states into the union without insisting that they reform themselves.
The Norwegian professor's favorite president is Abraham Lincoln,
also a Republican, who insisted on a government "of the people, by the people and for the people," and who rose from a poor background to save a nation that had descended into civil war.
Franklin D Roosevelt is Moen's choice as second-best president, for bringing the US out of the Depression, launching social reforms and leading the nation to victory in World War II. George Washington, the country's first president, was ranked third-best, Thomas
Jefferson fourth and Woodrow Wilson fifth.

Aftenposten's reporterLars KlugeAftenposten English Web
DeskNina Berglund