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Craig Butcher's avatar

You have a good point about Jackson. On the spectrum of US Presidential vileness, he used to top the list. He was also personally a violent man whose behavior in every sphere of his life was consistent with a belief that he was special, and whatever morality and rules others should follow did not apply to him. It is probably fair to conclude he, like Trump, was high up on the narcissism spectrum.

Of course, he differed from Trump in that he was by no means an idiot, had great organizational and leadership abilities, set serious goals for himself, and worked to accomplish them with iron self-discipline.

I imagine if there is in some afterlife US Presidential Asshole club, the three of them looking down (or perhaps up) at us must be shaking their heads in disgust at their successor, muttering, how disgracefully degraded the former standards of deplorability have become. For assholery and vileness Trump certainly qualifies for admission, but in every other respect can only be regarded as a contemptible failure.

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