"We can probably learn just as much - or maybe even more - by looking at the mistakes rather than looking at why they were great,"

Most of us have looked back at mistakes in our lives and like to think we’ve learned something from the.

So what has America learned?
Scholars Rate Worst Presidential Errors
http://news.aol.com/topnews/article...9990004&cid=771


(Interesting approach)

__________________

That poll could be more extensive.

"Scholars" have too much time on their hands.

This is a classic example of people looking at history through filters of modern thought and morality.

You need to know why someone has committed an act or omission for the knowledge of the act

or omission to be more than a dry fact.

The world has learned much from the past, just very little it is willing to use as a moderative guide.

Hey, everybody, I found my soap-box again.

__________________
Calm, quiet, smooth, devastating

"History is merely a list of surprises. It can only prepare us to be surprised yet again"--Kurt Vonnegut

sorry guys but i personal dont think they have learned anything (i'm not bagging anyone, just in general)

Rarely does someone learn from someones else's mistakes, they have to make them for themselves. Might be why "history repeats itself".

__________________

The practice of putting women on pedestals began to die out when it was discovered that they could give orders better from there.~ Betty Grable

If I wanted your opinion, I'd remove the duct tape and ask you for it.~ Me
<~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~>
One man's dream is another man's nightmare~~~~> §¤ Lilith ¤§
~>My Scribbles<~
==>Gone Shopping<== ~Just a Quickie~ *~A Celebration Vacation~* ~Surprises~ Sleeping With the Window Open
What Did You Do Today? Self Defense Class ~Short Sweet Snippets~ § Summer Spin § Story Challenge Submission Pajamas

PantyFanatic,

If Americans can learn that they are as fallible as everyone else, they will have learned as much as can be expected.

__________________
Eudaimonia

Interesting thought about why history repeats itself - in that people are unable to learn from each others mistakes.

The only thing I'll tell you is that most decisions or actions are relevent to the time (obviously) and hindsight is 20/20. Hard to go back and really argue to vehemently on most items on that list.

I gotta tell ya...I don't know one single person who was affected by Bill Clinton's "personal" oval office antics! I still say that was between him and his wife!

I like/admire a man who can think with both sides of his brain (ie: get a blow-job and talk political business on the phone at the same time). Makes me imagine what else he can multi-task at! Then again...I'd prefer to be the total focus. Hmmmmmm...lemme rethink this!

Oops! What was the question?

__________________
Minds are like parachutes. They only work when they are open.

~Thomas Dewar~

Saw a bumper sticker yesterday that said, "NOBODY DIED WHEN CLINTON LIED"...that his little blunder in his personal life even makes the top ten is sorta incredible to me...I do have an addition to the historians #1 blunder, in that Buchanon should hardly bear all the blame for the Civil War, he had a lotta help from the four geniuses that preceded him...especially the Fillmoron...
Mainly, tho, I agree that the only thing we learn from History is that we don't learn anything from History...

__________________
Plug me into somethin'

If the theory does not conform to the facts, then the facts must be discarded.

No good deed ever goes unpunished

Never argue with an idiot. He'll drag you down to his level, & beat you with experience.

People brought it up enough, though!

Lixy, it was betwen him and his wife up to the point where he lied under oath. He broke the law. His actions affected all of us because the president is the Executive lawmaker. End of story.

Interesting list, though I am not sure I agree with the order & reasoning.

1) There was nothing Buchanan could have done to stop the civil war. Slavery was a cancer that only a violent act was going to remedy. No amount of diplomacy was going to change the hearts and minds of the Southern people.

2) A. Johnson's actions carried little weight at the time and had little true impact on the nation. The Reconstructionists ran government after Lincoln was killed.

3) L. Johnson's mistake was in not prosecuting the war fully once he decided on it. If you are going to make war, then MAKE WAR. Otherwise, don't do it.

4) I do not see how Wilson's refusal to compromise would have prevented the rise of Nazi Germany or of Fascist Italy. Neville Chamberlain tried compromise...with disastrous results.

5) My #1. Nixon's acts rocked the very foundation of the government "by the people, for the people".

6) Consider that U.S. ships were being seized by the British and that thousands of American sailors were being conscripted into the Royal Navy...among other things...what real bearing would the avoidance of war had on a young country's fortunes? Remember: give me liberty or give me death.

7) Jefferson's blunder did indeed cause serious damage to the economy.

8) JFK's error was in not backing the invasion as he promised. Again, if you are going to make war, then MAKE WAR. Otherwise, don't do it.

9) I've never understood the merits of our actions in Nicaragua.

10) It will be interesting to see how history remembers Bill Clinton 25 years from now. His story isn't finished.

Interesting thoughts Rabbit.

I have to ponder the ones I didn't see from the same prospective.

__________________

Not quite the end...it begs the question, how did a sitting president end up in a situation where he was forced to answer questions about his personal life? The answer: he was hounded by political enemies who would not stop digging in the dirt till they found something they could nail his ass with...remember, the Special Prosecutor started out looking into the Whitewater thing, & how his scope broadened from a botched investment scheme in which the principal targets actually LOST money to encompass the whereabouts of the First Penis is still a mystery to me...& I watched it happen!

__________________
Plug me into somethin'

If the theory does not conform to the facts, then the facts must be discarded.

No good deed ever goes unpunished

Never argue with an idiot. He'll drag you down to his level, & beat you with experience.