Tuesday, October 23, 2007

Is Harry Reid the Worst Democratic Majority Leader in History?

I started thinking about this tonight. We've been hearing a lot about Harry Reid and its usually not good whether its months ago saying we've already lost in Iraq or today blaming the fires in California on global warming. The more I thought about it the more I wondered if Harry Reid is the worst Senate Majority Leader in History.

In the interest in time - I decided to just look at the Democratic Party. Maybe in the future I'll look to see who was the worst on the other side of the aisle. The information is via Wikipedia.

- Joseph Taylor (1933-37) - the first Democratic Senate Majority Leader - one of only 4 people to have their face on a US coin while still alive. Better than Harry Reid.
- Alben Barkley (1937-47) - was effective enough to be named Vice President under Harry Truman when Truman took over for FDR. Made the news for marrying a widow half his age. Better than Harry Reid.
- Scott Lucas - (1948-50) - WW1 veteran who ended up losing his Senate seat in large part due to an active smear campaign by Joseph McCarthy. Better than Harry Reid.
- Ernest McFarland (1951-53) - known as the Father of the GI Bill and who left the Senate to become Governor of Arizona and then Chief Justice of the Arizona Supreme Court. Better than Harry Reid.
- Lyndon Johnson (1954-60) - was legendary in his control of the Senate. He was sought by JFK as his VP in the 1960 Presidential election because of his popularity. I doubt Harry Reid will be sought by any of the Democratic candidates as a running mate. Better than Harry Reid.
- Mike Mansfield (1961-77) - the longest serving Senate Majority Leader in history. Not enough time to go into all of Mansfield's accomplishments. I will note that he served in both the Navy and Marine Corps. Better than Harry Reid.
- Robert Byrd (1977-81 and 1987-89) - if Reid is to get competition as the worst Democratic Majority Leader in history the challenge will come from former member of the KKK Robert Byrd. Even though Byrd will be remembered for his racism and for being the "King of Pork" it has to be noted that he was very skilled at using parliamentary tactics and the fact that he held the position twice puts him above Harry Reid (who I doubt would be asked back). Better than Harry Reid.
- George Mitchell (1989-95) - still held in high regard on both sides of the aisle. Trusted as an honest broker for things like the Belfast Peace Agreements and the baseball steroids investigation. I doubt any would use Harry Reid as an "honest broker". Better than Harry Reid.
- Tom Daschle (2001-03) - say what you want about Daschle but his history is not riddled with personal financial scandals. Better than Harry Reid.

Well that's all of them and all of them were better at the job of Senate Majority Leader that Harry Reid. That makes Harry Reid the worst Democratic Senate Majority Leader in history. I think its telling that Harry Reid was the only person I looked at who needed special sections on their Wiki page - one for "Controversy" and another for "Criticism".

No comments:

Post a Comment