Perspective on the Present Mess

1st Man: Poor old Lyndon can’t go deer hunting this year.
2nd Man: Oh, why’s that?
1st Man: Because Oswald’s still got his rifle.
-joke circulating in Texas early 1964

As we struggle through the administration of the truly execrable Barack Obama after enduring the administration of the pretty execrable George W. Bush, it can help to look back at history and remember that this nation has survived some awfully bad characters in the White House. Consider Lyndon Johnson. His administration gave America the war in Vietnam, greatly increased government power and spending at home, serious domestic non-tranquility, and the assorted failures of the Great Society programs. This week it was reported that his predecessor’s widow was on record as having believed at least at one time that he had her husband bumped off. As the joke above indicates, that was not exactly a unique notion whether she really expressed it or not. The consensus among many was that if Johnson didn’t kill John Kennedy, it was not because of any ethical compunction on his part.

Johnson was followed in the next three elections by Richard Nixon and Jimmy Carter, two men belonging on any serious list of the half dozen or so worst presidents. Their administrations saw the inflationary depression of the 1970’s, the continuation and failure of the war in Vietnam, the creation of numerous new bureaucracies and regulatory monstrosities, a forced presidential resignation, the fiasco in Iran, astoundingly high interest rates, declining military power, and, at least under Carter, a losing position in the Cold War.

For all that, the nation recovered. The next decade saw a restored economy with inflation tamed, complete victory in the Cold War, simultaneous secular bull markets in stocks and bonds, and the start of a quarter century of unparalleled prosperity. That is something to consider as we look at the grim present. There is clear evidence that this nation can recover from really bad presidents. I think some of the present pessimism overrates Obama’s ability to do truly lasting harm between now and the next election, and I hope we won’t have to worry about him after that.