presidential blunders

Sometimes, presidents point fingers at themselves. For a time, George W. Bush famously denied he made any mistakes. But at least one predecessor took a more modest view of himself. Dwight Eisenhower has been quoted as saying the two biggest mistakes of his presidency were the appointments of Justice William J. Brennan Jr. and Chief Justice Earl Warren to the U.S. Supreme Court. According to Kim Eisler, who wrote a biography of Brennan, Eisenhower's regret was documented in Justice Harold Burton's diaries. Says Eisler: Burton recounts a meeting with Eisenhower in 1957, when he told the President he was leaving the Supreme Court. He confirms that Eisenhower expressed his regrets in appointing Warren and Justice Brennan and described both appointments as big mistakes. The President described the favorable recommendation he had received on Justice Brennan as ''off-base.'' Eisenhower finished his observations to Burton by saying that in finding a replacement, he would pay more attention to ideology than he had in the Warren and Brennan appointments, which were both made for political reasons. You can read Eisler's full comments here, as published in The New York Times.