CNN.com - And the top 10 worst presidential blunders are...� - Feb 18, 2006

CNN.com - And the top 10 worst presidential blunders are...� - Feb 18, 2006: "The second worst mistake, the survey found, was Andrew Johnson's decision just after the Civil War to side with Southern whites and oppose improvements in justice for Southern blacks beyond abolishing slavery.
'We continue to pay' for Johnson's errors, wrote Michael Les Benedict, an Ohio State University history professor emeritus."

My ignorance will shine through with the quote above, as I do not know much about the Johnson decision quoted above. I do wonder though, what Michael Les Benedict means, which we might have a clue had CNN actually had a story here with details; but we shouldn't expect that I guess. What impression are we supposed to be left with here, when all that is quoted is "we continue to pay" this is entirely too vague. Ah, yes, I agree?!. Regardless though, I guess we're still paying for it.

Did Johnson allow Vietnam to intensify? Perhaps it would be better to say "he didn't allow it as much as he did intensify it.

Clinton and Lewinsky; "it probably affected Clinton's presidency more than it did American history and the public." The "bimbroglio,*" definately affected his presidency, however his presidency has left us with much unfinished, ignored business. Unfortunately, many still want to treat the bin Ladens as criminal cases, i.e. Gitmo, FISA's "probable cause," etc.

Overall a weak article lacking any detail.

*I was unable to find a link to a good reference to this at The New Republic, so had to settle for the one used