I agree with Brent that we should avoid modern politics, but I would think the real presidential failure, at least from your perspective, was Jefferson Davis of Mississippi, who mismanaged his war and his generals and destroyed the southern economy sent a huge per centage of his population off to die, foolish started shooting and nation more powerful than his own, and, in the end, lost. We might remember of course that both men were really southerners, and step-children of Virginia, having been born in Kentucky. Paul Finkelman President William McKinley Distinguished Professor of Law and Public Policy Albany Law School 80 New Scotland Avenue Albany, New York 12208-3494 518-445-3386 [log in to unmask] >>> [log in to unmask] 04/10/07 12:05 PM >>> I hope the US has learned a lesson from Mr. Lincoln's war and doesn't elect another inexperienced, two-bit politician from Illinois to the presidency in 2008. ************************************** See what's free at http://www.aol.com.