John Nichols: No Joke, Cheney Was the Worst President

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No Joke, Cheney Was the Worst President
John Nichols on April 27, 2015 - 10:25 AM ET

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But once in a great while a great moment occurs.

President Obama had one Saturday night, when he ruminated momentarily on the crude excesses of a certain former Vice President.

"A few weeks ago Dick Cheney said he thinks I'm the worst president of his lifetime, which is interesting, because I think Dick Cheney is the worst president of my lifetime," mused Obama.

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While there was no question that the American people were tired of Bush, they were absolutely finished with Cheney—whose approval rating dropped to just 13 percent at the end of a tenure characterized by endless wars, neglected disasters, the collapse of the global economy and the bailout of Cheney's banking buddies.

Typically, Cheney blamed everyone but himself.

In particular, Cheney blamed Obama for not immediately cleaning up the mess he and Bush had made of just about everything.

The former vice president has since 2008 (when, notably, his fellow partisans failed to invite him to that year's Republican National Convention) made it his immediate and ceaseless mission to gripe about the succeeding administration. So it came as no great surprise when he told Playboy that, "I look at Barack Obama and I see the worst president in my lifetime, without question—and that's saying something."

What did come as something of a surprise—and a delightful one at that—was Obama's decision to parry the former Vice President's thrust with a devastating one liner that had the advantage of being true.