Warren Harding vs. Bill Clinton

[A18]

Two scandal-plagued presidents who were insanely popular anyway.

[opebo]

What do you mean by scandal?  The blow job?

[A18]

Perjury, improper requesting (and receiving) of personnel files from the FBI without asking permission of the subject individuals, and allegedly accepting campaign cash from the Chinese government.

[○∙◄☻¥tπ[╪AV┼cVê└]

Perjury, improper requesting (and receiving) of personnel files from the FBI without asking permission of the subject individuals, and allegedly accepting campaign cash from the Chinese government.

Have you paid attention to anything the Bush administration has done?

[A18]

Yes, I'm aware that a Cabinet official paid someone to promote a government program. Yawn.

[Joe Republic]

Actually this is quite a good comparison.  Both candidates were beset by scandal even during their first election campaigns, and both suffered losses of their party's seats in Congress after the first mid-terms.

Although perhaps its not too fair to put them on the same level if you consider that one was an eight-year president and the other was a two-and-a-half year president.  Plus, Clinton was still popular at the time he left office, while Harding was not so much.  Also, Clinton was not as overtly corrupt, and actually made some very wise cabinet appointments.

Anyway, with hindsight in mind, Clinton wins.  Without hindsight, Harding edges it.

[DanielX]

Harding/Clinton.

[○∙◄☻¥tπ[╪AV┼cVê└]

Yes, I'm aware that a Cabinet official paid someone to promote a government program. Yawn.

What about the other 999,999 scandals?

[J.R. Brown]

I think Harding was a little more corrupt than Clinton. And probably had higher popularity at the time because he died in office. He is now considered one of the worst presidents in US history.

In my opinion all politicians are corrupt in some way. The only question is to what degree are they corrupt. On a scale of 1 to 10, 10 being the most corrupt, I give Harding a 10 and Clinton a 3, maybe a 4. It's too early to tell. We have to wait at least 20 to 30 years before we know what the public truly thinks about him.