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Name some great follies in American history.
It could be either related to the government or politics or simply private citizens.
I'm thinking of any incident that was plagued from its onset by mistakes and poor judgment and erroneous planning and simply deteriorated into a disastrous mess at the very end.
Things like Custer's Last Stand and the Donner Party immediately come to my mind.
I ask this because I'm pretty confident at this point that the Republican Party's decision to nominate Donald Trump will end up in the history books as one of the great follies in American history.
23 replies
= new reply since forum marked as read
= new reply since forum marked as read
Harding Presidency - one can argue about presidential corruption but for corruption scandals per year spent in office, Harding is it.
American entry into WWI - while very popular at initial entry, public opinion spiraled downward and in less than a decade, the American public, essentially, said "WTF were we thinking?".
Dot com bubble - seriously, buying into companies that never made a profit (and in some cases staggering losses) and making some of them the most valuable companies on the planet?
Prohibition - no, you can't drink alcohol...at all...this action firmly entrenched organized crime for more than 50 years (and by extension the War on Drugs).
Smoot Hawley Tariff - economies thrive on trade. slapping tariffs that slows/stops trade? not the brightest move on the planet especially during a severe economic crisis.
The twisting of the Monroe Doctrine - this led to the the USA's atrocious behavior in Latin and South America over the years.
The Carter Doctrine - taking the position that "
a)n attempt by any outside force to gain control of the Persian Gulf region..." has led to no less than 10 US military issues.
(actually, a lot of US "doctrines" didn't fair very well)
Lincoln's running mate (Johnson) - while Johnson was loyal to the Union, putting a Southerner in a position to run Reconstruction was not the brightest move.
American entry into WWI - while very popular at initial entry, public opinion spiraled downward and in less than a decade, the American public, essentially, said "WTF were we thinking?".
Dot com bubble - seriously, buying into companies that never made a profit (and in some cases staggering losses) and making some of them the most valuable companies on the planet?
Prohibition - no, you can't drink alcohol...at all...this action firmly entrenched organized crime for more than 50 years (and by extension the War on Drugs).
Smoot Hawley Tariff - economies thrive on trade. slapping tariffs that slows/stops trade? not the brightest move on the planet especially during a severe economic crisis.
The twisting of the Monroe Doctrine - this led to the the USA's atrocious behavior in Latin and South America over the years.
The Carter Doctrine - taking the position that "
a)n attempt by any outside force to gain control of the Persian Gulf region..." has led to no less than 10 US military issues.
(actually, a lot of US "doctrines" didn't fair very well)
Lincoln's running mate (Johnson) - while Johnson was loyal to the Union, putting a Southerner in a position to run Reconstruction was not the brightest move.
