George W. Bush was worse than you remember

The most overrated and underrated American presidents, ranked [VIEW IN BROWSER]( MSNBC DAILY Understand today's news [VIEW IN BROWSER]( MSNBC DAILY Understand today's news Feb. 20, 2023 THE LATEST [Alternate text] George W. Bush was worse than you remember]( By Michael A. Cohen The American presidency is one of the strangest jobs in the world. Politicians aspire to it. The media focuses obsessively on the person who holds it and those who want to win it. Millions of books and articles have been written about it. And yet, most of the people who’ve held the job really weren’t that good. There are a few truly great presidents, some pretty good ones, and a handful of complete disasters. But most can be summed up, as the Simpsons famously once did, as the “adequate, forgettable, occasionally regrettable, caretaker presidents of the U.S.A.” In fairness, the presidency radically changed in the 20th century, especially as the United States became a global power, so it’s a bit hard to compare the earlier commanders in chief to the modern ones. And despite the many mediocrities, ranking the presidents is a popular pastime, one I’ve dabbled in myself. So let’s ask a slightly different question: Who are the most overrated and underrated holders of the most thankless job in American politics? This is a preview of Michael A. Cohen's latest article. [Read their full column here.](     TOP STORIES [Alternate text] [STEVE BENEN]( //link.msnbc.com/click/30605813.111528/aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cubXNuYmMuY29tL29waW5pb24vbXNuYmMtb3Bpbmlvbi9mb3gtbmV3cy1kZWNlaXZpbmctdmlld2Vycy10ZXh0LW1lc3NhZ2VzLXByb3ZlLXJjbmE3MTIxND9jaWQ9ZW1sX21kYV8yMDIzMDIyMCZ1c2VyX2VtYWlsPWQ3ZGM3NDUxNzI5N2IzOTcxYWExNGQ2ZjMzMTEzNWEwODc4ZjhmNjQwZmExYTEwMTlmMTU3YjY1YzFiNWRkMWQ/58292da26e4adc7b0b8b4914B41fae314 [Newly exposed internal messages create a nightmare for Fox News]( Fox didn't just promote absurd election fraud claims in order to appease Republican voters — it also kept them watching.[Read more.]( [WAJAHAT ALI]( [Nikki Haley’s ‘model minority’ trope isn’t surprising. But it’s still dangerous.]( Nikki Haley is trying to use white grievance and hate to pave a lily-white road to the White House. It won’t work in her favor. [Read more.]( [JORDAN RUBIN]( [Trump’s deranged death penalty musings could run into a problem: the law]( A president can't just snap their fingers and impose whatever unhinged form of capital punishment they desire. [Read more.](//link.msnbc.com/click/30605813.111528/aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cubXNuYmMuY29tL3RoZS1yZWlkb3V0L3JlaWRvdXQtYmxvZy9iYW5uaW5nLXRpa3Rvay1ub3QtZ29vZC11c2UtYmlkZW4tcmVwdWJsaWNhbi10aW1lLXJjbmE2MzczMT9jaWQ9ZW1sX21kYV8yMDIzMDIyMCZ1c2VyX2VtYWlsPWQ3ZGM3NDUxNzI5N2IzOTcxYWExNGQ2ZjMzMTEzNWEwODc4ZjhmNjQwZmExYTEwMTlmMTU3YjY1YzFiNWRkMWQ/58292da26e4adc7b0b8b4914Bbd1bb4ef [MARISA KABAS]( [The GOP is pinning blame on Dems for the disaster in Ohio. They're not entirely wrong.]( Before we get to the right-wing dishonesty of it all, let's start with this truth. [Read more.]( TOP VIDEOS [Alternate text] WAY TOO EARLY]( [Biden makes surprise visit to Ukraine to mark one year after Russia's invasion]( ALI VELSHI]( [Fmr. Zelenskyy Press Secretary: 'We'll never give up to Putin.']( [SYMONE]( [Former President Jimmy Carter to receive hospice care at home]( [ALL IN]( [Mehdi: Bombshell text evidence confirms Fox 'is not a news channel'](   [LIVING BLACK HISTORY]( [Alternate text] [A photo of Symone Sanders and Bryan Stevenson]( In a new series called "Living Black History," Symone D. Sanders-Townsend celebrates the pioneers in our community who are living Black history right now. Symone continues the series with Bryan Stevenson, founder and Executive Director of the Equal Justice Initiative, and author of Just Mercy, which was recently turned into a major motion picture. [Watch now.](   [MORE FROM MSNBC]( [Alternate text] MSNBC Films presents "When Truth Isn't Truth: The Rudy Giuliani Story," a new four-part series from TIME Studios. It provides unprecedented access, including interviews with Giuliani’s own son, Andrew, and explores the former prosecutor and mayor's rise to power, fall from grace, and how little he changed in between. All new episode next Sunday, February 26 at 10 p.m. ET on MSNBC, and streaming on Peacock. This Black History Month, "Into America" celebrates the 50th anniversary of hip-hop with a special mini-series, "Into America presents Street Disciples: Politics, Power and the Rise of Hip-Hop." Hosted by Trymaine Lee, the series explores how our country's political and economic forces shaped half a century of hip-hop, and how over time, hip-hop shaped the country. In the second episode, Trymaine speaks with Melle Mel of the Furious Five to get the story behind his iconic 1982 single "The Message" and how it pushed hip-hop to get political. 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