In seeing the events of the last few years, there is clear partisan divide in the United States. In my memory, I don't recall an administration that dealt with this level of obstructionism. Almost every issue, big or small, is politicized as an attempt to save face.
Going back, has there ever been this kind of divide and "disrespect" for the president and government?
(I don't know if disrespect is the right word, but from what I know and experienced, no one elected to the high office of President has ever really been treated this low)
Hello everyone. Just a reminder of this subreddit's "20-year rule" against discussing current events. So do please keep any examples prior to 1994. Thanks!
OP, you might consider x-posting this question to /r/AskSocialScience, /r/Politics, or a sub specializing in US politics for other viewpoints.
John Adams was very much despised by the anti-Federalists (and also by Alexander Hamilton, a member of his own party), especially after the passage of the Alien and Sedition Acts. During the election campaign of 1800, for instance, the Republicans threw every type of vicious rumour and slander at him that they could. This is not to say that Adams didn't do it too (here's an example of some of the slander thrown out by the Federalists), but it was a very vicious election. It didn't help that Adams has been described as "grating" and was very insistent on one particular way of governing. Indeed, it's thanks to him and his efforts that the vice presidency is as powerless as it is.
Beyond Adams, there also the more obvious answer of Lincoln, whose election was the immediate cause of the South's secession. That seems to me to be the epitome of vitriol for a US president.
More broadly, partisanship and vitriol in US politics isn't a new phenomenon. It's less apparent when there's agreement between Congress and the Presidency, but it has also been there to one degree or another.
