From a policy standpoint, Reagan and Clinton got away with murder. Clinton is now officially a liberal, but he was no such thing in office - he triangulated on liberals. Reagan is officially the great tax cutter, but he stuck it to the middle class and retirees. Reagan supposedly brought down the Soviet Union, but in reality, it was little Saudi Arabia that did that. But from a public perception standpoint, they rocked.

Jimmy Carter had a good head on his shoulders, but came off as preachy and didn’t get much done. But it is interesting that the great “Reagan” defense buildup started under Carter, and the first of the massive “Reagan” tax cuts came under Carter.

Geez, Iraq alone may be the country’s single worst foreign policy decision in our history. And I don’t think any other president had ever lost a major metropolitan area out of sheer incompetence before. And the Abramoff scandal and K Street project indicated a level of governmental corruption not seen since the Grant administration. And the Bush administration’s theory of the unitary executive — giving him the “right” to violate any law or aspect of the Constitution at his discretion — makes Nixon look like a wallflower. And then there’s torture…rendition…warrantless wiretapping…suspension of habeas corpus…