Written by Frank Li
On July 3, 2013, former Chinese President Jiang Zemin hosted Henry Kissinger in Shanghai. During that meeting, Dr. Kissinger reportedly commented on the five most recent Chinese leaders, one sentence for each (Kissinger commented on Five Chinese Leaders). Although Dr. Kissinger’s view is widely known (Kissinger’s Offers Wise Words on China), nothing has been so succinct and concise so far.
So I translated his comments from Chinese (as I read it) into English for you, my fellow Americans, to appreciate.
Taking this opportunity, I’d like to comment on the 10 most recent American Presidents, one sentence for each, in the same spirit as Dr. Kissinger’s, presumably …
Here is the line-up for the five most recent Chinese leaders:
Here are Dr. Kissinger’s comments (my translation):
Mao: His charm overwhelmed everything.
Deng: He was one of the greatest human beings in the 20th century.
Jiang: Gentle and energetic.
Hu: Thoughtful and courteous.
Xi: A powerful leader!
I largely agree with Dr. Kissinger’s comments, except that he was much too easy on Mao but not generous enough to Deng, whom I called, in my book Saving America, Chinese Style, “one of the greatest peaceful transformational leaders in human history!”
Now, allow me to comment on the 10 most recent American Presidents …
JFK: The worst President, ever, so far, for allowing public-sector workers to unionize against the United States of America, although most Americans have yet to realize the magnitude of the damage caused by JFK. For more, read: Detroit, Public-Sector Unions, and JFK.
LBJ: A socialist who led America more deeply into socialism, following FDR.
Nixon: Could have been the best American President in the 20th century, except for the Watergate scandal and his subsequent resignation. For more, read: Barack Obama vs. Richard Nixon.
Ford: A decent man who served as a slot-filler.
Carter: Often considered the worst President in the 20th century, until more Americans come to the realization that JFK was actually much worse.
Reagan: Overall, the best President in the 20th century!
Bush I: A misguided, but decent President.
Clinton: The luckiest President in American history until Barack Obama! For more, read: The Myth of The Bill Clinton Presidency.
Bush II: The worst President, ever, until more Americans come to the realization that JFK was even worse!
Obama: A clueless President who knows everything about campaigning but nothing about governing, with the potential to be the worst President, ever!
Here is the race to the bottom:
What do you think? Hey, remember, this is still America!
Very importantly, correctly assessing the most recent leaders of both the U.S. and China is not just an exercise for fun, but has serious undertones for both countries in terms of self-understanding, self-healing, and learning from each other …
Now, here is the real theme of this article for America:
Unfortunately for America, American Presidents have been getting progressively worse as an overall trend! For example, Carter was thought to be the worst until Bush II surpassed him. Bush II was the worst until Obama surpassed him. Let me repeat: “unless our political system is fundamentally changed for the better (as I suggested), the streak of bad Presidents will continue”.
Fortunately for America, there were a few bright lights (e.g. Nixon and Reagan), allowing America to survive. We need another bright light soon, but the prospects are dim, unfortunately (again). For more, read: The Coming Demise of America …
Finally, I’d like to recommend two videos to you, in order to draw a stark contrast between China and the U.S. today:
Eric X. Li: a tale of two political systems. Have you ever seen more confidence from China than this?
Obama: false hope, false messiah. Does this make sense to you?
Wake up, America!