From the right: http://www.rightwingnews.com/special/worstfigures.php From the left: http://www.rightwingnews.com/blogsel/leftworst.php
As has been chronicled in various places on the internet, these lists tend to betray a lack of history. Also, you've got a lot of definitions of what "worst" means. I'd argue you at least need bad intent and bad effect.
Maybe polling 50 left wing bloggers and 50 right wing bloggers gives some groupthink to the history part. At least the both know who aldrich ames is.
I'm actually surprised that W wasn't higher up on that list. I had to look up Scaife and Coughlin and which John Walker. Aside from that, I'd concur that a) most don't know their history, and tend to overaccentuate the recent events. Timothy McVeigh as a "worst American ever"? Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson? Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson? Guh.
These are the worst figures in american history: Code: government's fiscal year runs Oct. 1 through Sept. 30. Total public debt subject to limit Aug. 19 13,310,379 Statutory debt limit 14,294,000 Total public debt outstanding Aug. 19 13,363,228 Operating balance Aug. 19 230,177 Net interest fiscal year 2010 thru July 185,248 Net interest same period 2009 167,706 Deficit fiscal year 2010 thru July 1,169,071 Deficit same period 2009 1,266,963 Receipts fiscal year 2010 thru July 1,752,541 Receipts same period 2009 1,739,949 Outlays fiscal year 2010 thru July 2,921,612 Outlays same period 2009 3,006,912 Gold assets in August 11,041 $44,000 per man, woman, and child. $176,000 for a family of four.
US debt went from 3.3T (zooming down) to 7.8T (zooming up) under Bush. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/US_debt
