Question for the historians on DU

[Poiuyt]

Has there ever been this level of corruption in the United States?

I know about Harding's Teapot Dome scandal, and the people surrounding US Grant. But those were all cases where individuals were trying to gain wealth through nefarious means. Trump, of course, is also enriching himself and his friends. But I've never seen an administration seeming to work to the betterment of a foreign hostile nation and that one branch of Congress is actively supporting and colluding with the administration. I think that's what bothers me the most—the way that Republicans in Congress are paving the way for Trump to sell out his country.

How does the Trump administration compare throughout history?

[jaysunb]

1. They're in a class by themselves. n/t

[Exotica]

2. It is the worst. After only 14 months.

The other were pikers. Most of the true graft hasnt even kicked in yet. The fiscal raping is just getting started.

[Sherman A1]

3. We have gone through the looking glass

I know of nothing in history that compares with this fiasco.

[Stuart G]

4. Yes, there was a period in the 1870s where the "Robber Barons were in charge"

Hit the link and you will find out about them...They were worse...in my opinion. Why? Their practices of total greed for themselves, resulted in death. It was an era of total greed and fu*k the worker and everyone else.
No unions, no laws, no one to stop them....a special kind of theft....

So, it wasn't an "administration" but a time in history where the wealthy did anything and everything to increase their wealth at the expense of everyone else.. This was before the Interstate Commerce Commission, before any regulations of business, and an attitude that the wealthy are almost ..gods..

https://www.thoughtco.com/robber-baron-definition-1773342

another link with more info from Wikipedia:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robber_baron_(industrialist)

[defacto7]

8. A picture of our future under the oligarchs.

[JHB]

12. Not so coincidentally, that period...

...is what Movement Conservatives commonly point to as their Golden Age, when great fortunes were built, railroads across the continent were built, ... and anyone who tried to get in the way could be stepped on with impunity.

[Stuart G]

13. Your above discription of their "Golden Age" is incredible..thank you for posting...

[LanternWaste]

5. Harding's corruption went far beyond Teapot Dome.

Harding's corruption went far beyond Teapot Dome. Both the Justice Department and the Veterans' Bureau were also engaged in high-end corruption (independent of the Teapot Dome affair) known to Harding, while Harding himself was noted for his cronyism and appointments of friends family members to high level federal potions.

In particular, one of these appointments, Charles Forbes, was indicted, and afterwards, Harding actually assisted Forbes' escape to Europe (Forbes returned and was jailed). In another instance, Harding made sure that Jess Smith (of Justice, who had been found selling bonded alcohol to bootleggers) was removed from DC without trial. Smith was later found dead, an apparent "suicide" so said the administration, but forensic experts and historians seek answers to many relevant questions about that as well.

Then we have The Little Green House on K Street, Harding's headquarters for his operatives, and became as well known and as infamous at the time that Watergate is now. DC insiders still make gallows-humor jokes about it (for examples, when Ensign and Pickering (R-Naturally) were both exposed for extra-marital affairs, even the sub-literate, conservative editorialist Cal Thomas brought it up.

As it stands, Trump is just a small time operator when applied to historical DC corruption. Granted, he's the most incompetent and buffoonish of all presidents without a doubt, making his nickle-and-dime affairs take on a much more dramatic ambiance, but Harding will likely go down as The Most Corrupt, while Trump will go down as The Most Half-Witted.

[mnmoderatedem]

15. "Half Witted"

you're giving him too much credit

[byronius]

6. Totally the worst moment ever in US history.

No comparison.

[Stuart G]

9. I respectfully disagree. Yes, this is bad, but 9/11 was much worse.

Bush was warned about 9/11. And he did nothing ..sure corruption we have now is bad.

But the deaths of 2996 people after a warning that was ignored by the President of the United States, is much worse......from Wikipedia :

During the September 11 attacks of 2001, 2,996 people were killed (including 19 terrorists) and more than 6,000 others wounded. These immediate deaths included 265 on the four planes (including the terrorists), 2,606 in the World Trade Center and in the surrounding area, and 125 at the Pentagon

FROM THE NY TIMES "Bush White House was Deaf to 9-11 Warnings:

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/11/opinion/the-bush-white-house-was-deaf-to-9-11-warnings.html

[byronius]

10. Ah -- but I would argue that the resultant body count from this period

will be far, far higher. Old people with cut benefits. Children without Head Start. Global warming non-response. Just the stress of full-on North Korea-style assault on democracy! Add in everything, it's going to be in the millions. It's the cruelest, most damaging attack on everything American in American history.

Wait ten years. Then tell me I'm wrong.

[jes06c]

7. My high school history teacher always said Grant was the most corrupt

Even worse than Harding or Nixon. I can't remember the specifics but over the course of the school year (which was 2000 - 2001) he always singled Grant out as the worst president ever.

I know he traditionally is ranked pretty low but to be fair, in recent years it looks like historians are starting to re-evaluate him and give him credit for being an early supporter of civil rights during Reconstruction

[rzemanfl]

11. This tops them all. n/t

[Demsrule86]

14. Possibly the businessmen's revolt was as serious as this is...it was an attempted to coup to

put in a fascist dictator...Gen. butler (Marine) ratted them out to Congress...that was big business who hated Roosevelt. I know of no president who basically betrayed his country and is likely a Russian spy. I am sure Putin give Trump a list of top secret documents he wants to know about everyday.

[oasis]

16. No other president has ever been so obnoxious and despicable. nt