The majority of the American public seems to think George W Bush is the worst president of all time. Well that may be true someday, but not enough time has passed to make that proclamation. Maybe in fifty years Dubya is hands down the worst president ever. For right now, however, here are five presidents that were worse than George W Bush.
Franklin Pierce (1853-1857)
There were a lot of shitty presidents in the middle of the 19th century and Franklin Pierce was the first of them. In such a trying time in our country's history, it's amazing how many idiots we had holding the highest office in the land.Pierce lived an interesting early life. He was only 27 years old when he became a congressman, at 31 he became a senator. He resigned in 1842 and decided to return to his home of Concord, New Hampshire to practice law, mostly because his wife, Jane Means Appleton, absolutely hated Washington. He turned down nominations to be Governor of New Hampshire and Attorney General of the United States, seemingly perfectly content to spend the rest of his life adhering to Jane's anti-political wishes. But soon after, Pierce up and decided to join the army and fight in the Mexican-American war. After serving in the war he decided it was time that he ran for President of the United States. Maybe he was just really sick of life with Jane.
Pierce faced one problem when he decided to run for President, no one knew who the hell he was. Pierce, however, had the ultimate trump card: he was good friends with famous author Nathaniel Hawthorne. Hawthorne, who was writing best sellers like they were going out of style, penned a biography of Franklin Pierce that was embellished to an extreme degree. Hawthorne was so popular that no one cared to check and see how true this actual story of Pierce was, and Pierce won the Presidency in a landslide. While president-elect, Pierce's train car derailed and his 11 year old son was killed. Jane saw the accident as God's way of punishing Pierce for becoming President.
Why He Sucked
Pierce refused to be sworn into the White House, instead choosing to be affirmed in and placing his hand on a law book instead of a Bible, which almost every other president did. This doesn't bother me, but I am sure it caused a lot of people in the country to freak out. Pierce also appointed Jefferson Davis as his Secretary of War. Davis was, you know, only the most famous traitor in American history. Pierce signed the Kansas-Nebraska Act, which repelled the Missouri Compromise and led to Bleeding Kansas, which was kind of like a "warm up" for the Civil War. Who was in his ear during this crucial time? Mr. Jefferson Davis of course.
Pierce holds the distinction of being the only incumbent President in United States history not be nominated for a second term. Hey, even Dubya got nominated for a second term. Upon leaving the White House, Pierce was quoted as saying "there's nothing left to do but get drunk".
He did have one victory in office though; he presided over the Gadsden Purchase. So if you live in the most southern part of Arizona, you can thank Pierce for being an American, sort of.
James Buchanan (1857-1861)
America was still reeling from the Pierce administration, yet we got an even worse President to follow in his footsteps! Fresh off of telling Franklin Pierce to get the fuck out, the Democratic Party nominated James Buchanan because he wasn't around when the country was coming to blows over the Kansas-Nebraska act. He was in London at the time, and the Democratic Party figured that he was not tainted by either side, so he was the perfect candidate. The only problem was that Buchanan had no desire to be President, but he decided to accept the nomination anyway.
Why He Sucked
In his inaugural address, he said he wasn't going to run for a second term. Basically he was quitting before he ever started! I guess this is what you can expect when you nominate someone who doesn't want the job in the first place. He lobbied the Supreme Court to uphold the right of owning slaves in the Dred Scott Decision. He was accused by Abraham Lincoln as being a key figure of Slave Power, which was a movement to get slavery legalized in the United States. If that wasn't enough, he got into an all out war over control of his party with Stephen A Douglas, suffered through the Financial Panic of 1857 and went to war with Utah. By the time his turn as President was up, the country was ready to go to Civil War.
It was also widely believed that Buchanan was gay, but that had nothing to do with his crappy executive skills.
Andrew Johnson (1865-1869)
We were finally blessed with a competent president after the Pierce/Buchanan fiascos with the election of Abraham Lincoln. Lincoln is widely considered as the best President in United States history. Sadly, he was assassinated by John Wilkes Booth and I am about 100% sure Booth did it because he knew Andrew Johnson would do his best to screw up anything good Lincoln did.
Why He Sucked
Andrew Johnson was all talk. He was once quoted as saying he would be in favor of hanging all Confederate traitors, but when he succeeded Lincoln he got all buddy buddy with them. He pardoned a ton of Confederate leaders, let them remain in control of the South and continue to fuck with black people. He passed the Black Codes, which made Freedmen second class citizens. He even welcomed back many prominent, ex-confederates into congress. His plan for Reconstruction was pretty much the exact opposite of Lincoln's.
Johnson was hated so much he was actually impeached twice, the second time he was only one vote shy of being the first President to ever be kicked out of office. His last act in office was to grant amnesty to all Confederates on Christmas Day in 1868, basically his way of flipping the bird to the North on his way out.
Warren G. Harding (1921-1923)
Warren G. Harding was a puppet. If you look closely at old pictures of him you can actually see the strings controlling his body. In all seriousness though, Harding was a puppet for big oil. He got into office behind the big pockets of Jake Hamon and Henry Sinclair. This was important for Harding because, like Franklin Pierce, no one had any idea who he was when he ran for President. He was kind of like Barack Obama, except nowhere near as cool or competent.
Why He Sucked
Well, I already mentioned he was in the pocket of Big Oil. Dubya used to get a lot of criticism about this, but he was nothing compared to Harding. Harding's right had man was Albert Fall, the Secretary of the Interior, but he basically ran the show. Fall was the Dick Cheney of his time, and used all his contacts to get fertile, federal owned oil fields into the hands of private oil, all while taking major kickbacks. Albert Fall ended up going to jail, and the mastermind of the entire project, Henry Sinclair, was found guilty was well.
Now Harding didn't do any of this, but like I said, he was a puppet and turned his head the other way as it was happening. So what was Harding doing in the White House? He was having a grand old time. He threw poker parties that lasted all night. The men at these parties drank a lot of alcohol even though Prohibition was currently in effect. This would be the equivalent of a modern day President hitting the bong while in office. He did everything short of turning the White House into one of those Old West brothels. If you are one of these people who are mortified over Bill Clinton's actions in the White House, your head would literally explode at some of the stuff Warren G Harding did.
Herbert Hoover (1929-1933)
Hoover was part of the Harding Administration, serving as Secretary of Commerce, so we should have known what we were in for. As Secretary of Commerce, he faced a major crisis when the Great Mississippi Flood struck. Hoover gained national acclaim for how he handled the situation. What was overlooked was that Hoover and his relief efforts treated African-Americans terribly. But back in the 20s there was no Kanye West to go on MTV and say "Herbert Hoover doesn't care about black people". Hoover was able to keep the incident involving black people out of the public eye by promising African Americans unprecedented access when he was elected President.
Why He Sucked
Upon being elected to office he broke his promise he made with African-Americans, which caused almost all of them to defect to the Democratic Party. While Republicans continue to strategize on how to get the "black vote" today, they can thank Herbert Hoover for putting them in this situation in the first place.
Of course we all know why Herbert Hoover really sucked; he led the country into the Great Depression. Hoover is often, inaccurately, accused of being in love with Laissez-faire economics and doing absolutely nothing to stop the Great Depression. This is untrue, he introduced lots of different legislation to try to prevent the Great Depression, they just all failed. That leads us to the question: would you rather your President didn't try or would you rather him fail every time he tried?
Hoover also sent the military to fight civilians in the Bonus Army incident. He will forever be remembered for "Hoovervilles", which is what all the unemployed, homeless people called the shacks that they lived in. Give Hoover some credit though, he decided to run for re-election even though he didn't want to. He figured he was the best suited Republican to deal with the economic crisis. He was soundly defeated by FDR.
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35 comments:
You left out the two truly worst presidents in U.S. history - FDR and Lincoln.
Both of these men were atrocious. They had no concept of proper Constitutional limits and no respect for any power but that of the federal government.
Furthermore, they both were responsible for policies that drastically assaulted freedom of the individual (suspension of habeas corpus for Lincoln, the Japanese internment for FDR).
And that's just scratching the surface on the two of them. Neither deserves the venerable place they hold in the minds of most Americans.
Well it is true that FDR and Lincoln made changes to the Constitution, can't it be argued they did it within the best interest of the country? Even the Patriot Act could be somewhat justified after 9/11. Lincoln and FDR are adored because they led the nation through crisis, George W Bush just led us into more crisis.
Interesting read.
The Waterman reminds me of conservatives here in Australia. Like a sibling whining "but Mum, he did that too". Ho hum.
Yep good read thanks.
Sorry, but I do not see anything here that makes any of them worse than Dictator Bush. Bush is the biggest War Criminal of ALL time. Period. He and his Regime turned their backs on the Sheeple.
Jess
www.privacy-center.be.tc
In addition to a desperate need for spell check, you have failed to list anyone who has done more damage to the U.S. than GWB.
1. GWB established TORTURE as an accepted tool of the U.S., thus denigrating the U.S. in the eyes of the entire world.
2. He put the entire country at risk by using up the main strength of the U.S. military in an entirely unnecessary war in Iraq.
3. He took Republican's mindless support for deregulation to the extreme, forbidding Federal regulators from doing their jobs at all, thus compounding the economic disaster now striking the entire world. This has also destroyed world trust in U.S. investments.
4. His administration gave free rein to ANY Republican hack to ignore the law, and abuse public office for personal gain.
GWB jr. damaged the U.S. on ALL major facets:the Economy, the Military, Foreign Relations, the Environment. As he leaves office, unlike the men you list, he leaves NOTHING in the U.S. that is better than he found it, unless you include the wealth of his theiving friends.
What about Reagan? Bush merely followed his template and the theories of his administration. No Reagan, No Bush.
I loved it. Excellent post. Everyone has their opinions. This post is so well written and thought out, kudos.
I am sorry, but I have to agree with Waterman in some ways. FDR and Lincoln did not 'change' the constitution (presidents do not have that power) They violated it. So did GWB. We are a nation with laws. Even if their intentions were noble, it is still breaking the law.
Also, the criticism of Jackson is overly simplistic. It was the contention of the US that the Southern states had no legal basis for leaving the union. So in effect, they were never gone. Placing all of the the rules to let them back in when they weren't gone to begin with was problematic if challenged in courts. The issue of succession was never decided in court. If, the south had challenged it, they might have won independence. So Jackson had to be a bit of an appeaser to keep things together. When virtually all of the South's leadership wanted independence, he had to work with them or there would have been a big mess.
@Eric:
People in spell-checking deprived houses shouldn't throw comments.
Ass.
Also, while Bush has been a disaster for this country, to call him the biggest war criminal of all time is ridiculous. It seems odd that in every present moment, people think the worst thing possible is happening to them.
Ever heard of World War 2? Lenin? Stalin? Hitler?
FDR would probably take the caske as the worst (IMHO), but Bush would be a close #2.
Under FDR, we saw HJR 192 which represents a second mortgage on all the homes in the US. He completed the removing of us from the constitutional gold standard. The internment camps were mentioned already. History has now acknowledged his foreknowledge of Pearl Harbor to get us into WWII.
Bush has a very similar record.
Feel free to go to www.restoreliberty.us to see HJR 192 and read it for yourself.
Lincoln didn't even free the slaves! The Emancipation Proclamation only declares slaves free in the seceding states. Nothing was done for the states that still existed in the union, and of course, since the states that seceded from the union were technically not under federal control, it was largely a PR stunt. The widespread acceptance of the Emancipation Proclamation as the document that "freed the slaves" shows not only ignorance of history, but a deep incomprehension of the U.S. Constitution.
Lincoln was absolutely THE WORST president and absolutely does NOT deserve the stature and reverence his memory enjoys today.
A bunch of uneducated dimwits should not be making comments on this article.
I can't stand bush but to call him a dictator? Do you even know what that word means? A war criminal? I'm sorry, but no. He established torture as an ACCEPTED TOOL in the U.S.A.? Give me a freaking break.
Every bad thing that happens in this country is not Bush's fault.
Bush is a complete moron who has done a lot of bad things for our country, but you guys aren't exactly brilliant your selves.
And by the way what about Nixon?
You're totally ripping off cracked style.
I'm one of those people who think GW Bush is one of the worst (if not the worst) presidents in US history. I would probably even be interested in a book on the same topic as your post.
On speaking style alone, and his malformed sentences, I think he seriously degraded the office of president. Add to that the horrible foreign policy and poor domestic economic policy of his administration, and he starts to look like a front runner for worst, more than the above.
Nice try, you Republicon apologist.
Fun fact - Pierce is related to Barbara Bush. So his genes went on to fuck up the U.S. country a second time. Ahh the circle of life.
w.(small w )isn't even the worst President from Texas.arch-villian,LBJ handed the reins of power over to military/industrial/intel complex,from which it was never recovered.
Where is Jimmy Carter?
Stagflation+Iran Hostage = Massive fail.
I have always thought George Washington set a standard that those who followed him couldn't live up to - even Lincoln, who had missteps all over the place, although he was certainly not one of the worst. W will look better in history's eyes, especially since there was no 2nd 9/11, but he'll always be in the bottom qtr.
See Washington's biography by Flexner for some truly impressive reading...
You are all fools...don't you realize that you have just been played for the last 8 years by a great con man. Bush is not an idiot...he only plays the idiot so you sympathize with him instead of removing him from the white house. He can actually speak and write very well and has a high IQ...but he was playing to his voting base.
Bush care about one thing...the neo-conservative agenda, which basically means
-Removing the role of government from aiding citizens lives and making them fend for themselves in a free-market economy.
-There are no more communities left only families and idividuals.
-Using private military forces to bring "civility" to the world "
-Basically a "New World Order" --its right on your dollar bill in latin.
-(while stealing their resources for the success of the global empire)
___________________
These are just 3 basic fundamental points of the Neo-Conservative agenda...the 'Wolfawitz doctrine became the Bush Doctrine'
Once again...you have all been played and now Bush's banking buddies are going to inflate and devalue your dollar over this next year and will probably come out with some big plan to save you all.(but be very careful of what comes with your new money supply)
Paultards need to stop talking shit about FDR and Lincoln. If you really think they are the worst presidents, you have a very poor understanding of political science.
I'd like to see how we would have gotten out of the Great Depression without bending the rules. As for the internment camps, there is obviously no excuse for it, and it is an ugly part of US History. However, FDR's guidance through the GD, as well as his masterful guidance through World War II more than make up for this.
Also, Lincoln never violated the constitution, as determined by the Senate as one of their first actions in the new session. The civil war was an insurrection, therefore allowing Lincoln to "repel an imminent threat" as the framers saw fit. The senate signed a formal declaration of war. End of story.
Can we stop talking about the constitution as some flawless, timeless document? The framers were alive in the 18th century, they had NO concept of the modern presidency, nor modern warfare. That's not to say that it is not an important guideline by which Presidents should adhere, but it is certainly not the perfect document that Paultards seem to think it is.
And another thing, if you think we should still be on the gold standard, you are a fucking retard.
While it is true that Congress did pass the Habeas Corpus Act of 1863, which purported to lawfully suspend the writ of habeas corpus pursuant to the Commerce Clause of the Constitution, Lincoln unilaterally suspended it a year before. Also, Lincoln oversaw the imprisonment of a lot of people, but he did it according to his rules and not that of the Congress (the habeas corpus act required the return of grand jury indictments, for example, a requirement which the lincoln administration ignored). The Supreme Court declared Lincoln's suspension of the writ as unconstitutional and illegal. Read Ex parte Milligan.
Lincoln wasn't perfect, but he is far from the WORST president. For better or for worse, he kept the country together in a trying time. I agree that he gets more props than he deserves. Any president in office at the end of the civil war would be remembered fondly, but let's not forget that his primary motivation for keeping the union together was MONEY, and he presided over the bloodiest war in American history, a war which effectively destroyed federalism in this country.
great post
ADD these:
12 of the first 18 presidents owned slaves (not Adams, Adams(2nd), Fillmore, Pierce Buchanan, Lincoln)
(Note: some later were proponents of freeing slaves)
Nixon-
credited with creating the modern imperial presidency, signed a bill before the 1st draft lottery in 27 years changing draft age range from 7 to 1 years (19/20yr olds)
Reagan-
signed a bill that budgeted $1.7 billion dollars to fund the War on Drugs including minimum sentencing for crack (seen as racist due to lower sentencing for powder)
A Few Major Slave Owners:
George Washington-
1786 owned ~216 slaves, elected 1789
Thomas Jefferson-
1789 owned ~141 slaves, elected 1801
Andrew Jackson-
1820 owned ~160 slaves, elected 1829
Zachary Taylor-
1847 owned more than 100 slaves, elected 1849
This article reads like it's written for a 10th grade class project.
Whats funny to me about this article is that George W. Bush is a direct descendant of Pierce. Barbra Bush's maiden name is Pierce, and yes it's the same family. Look it up.
Wow that Waterman dude with the first comment is a moron..based on his logic, if it was a rainy day, and he was being attacked in his home and i ran in a saved him, he would blame me for getting mud on his floor..hard to have a constitutional limits if there is no America.
@Jimi
Your comment is in need of dire correction. Sorry to say, but your naive view of the Emancipation Proclamation is historically ignorant. To call Lincoln the worst US President AND declare he did not free the slaves is going to demand much more supporting information from you. If we can't give Lincoln credit for freeing the slaves, then who can we? Lincoln's executive order aka the EP was the most momentous and controversial legislation of the war. The EP shifted the momentum of the war astoundingly. The Union Army gave Lincoln enough confidence to order this and what was the outcome? FREEING SLAVES. There was unfortunately no way to instantaneously "free the slaves." Logistics had to be accounted for and Lincoln did so heroically. So even though the EP was a wartime order, it still foreshadowed the eventual constitutionality of freeing the slaves. Though slaves were not officially "free" until the 13th amendment was ratified, it did encourage slaves to escape to the Union states from 1863 and on. He gave slaves the freedom to actually find freedom. You should read Lincoln's pre-presidential records along with Frederick Douglass' views of Lincoln and I think you'll severely reconsider your stance.
Hey man that was a great article, very well written. Although I think FDR should be on the list. BTW I went back and read your older posts, great stuff! Look forward to reading more of your stuff in the future.
First, Bush is an awful president, but not the worse (the U.S. has seen its fair share of awful presidents, and trying to crown any one president as THE worst is likely impossible).
Second, two commentors have mentioned Nixon as a possible worst. Nixon is an interesting case: he was completely and totally unethical, perhaps the most paranoid and misguided man ever to hold the title of President, yet this doesn't change that many of his policies were genius, with the obvious and glaring exception of Vietnam. His policy of detente with China and the USSR, his creation of the EPA, among others, were all very progressive and intelligent programs ever enacted by the government. It's that Nixon was, in many ways, actually a great President that makes him so interesting--the contrast of such brilliant policy (again, with the exception of his Vietnam policy) against his utterly corrupt conscience (or lack thereof) is fascinating and tragic.
Third, those of you that bash Lincoln and Roosevelt should stop hitting the bong.
"Upon being elected to office he broke his promise he made with African-Americans, which caused almost all of them to defect to the Democratic Party. While Republicans continue to strategize on how to get the "black vote" today, they can thank Herbert Hoover for putting them in this situation in the first place."
Wrong wrong wrong wrong. blatantly WRONG. SO WRONG. I almost thought it was a competent article until I read this. The election of 1964 turned the black vote to the democrats. Jesus christ... SO WRONG. Goldwater vs. LBJ. Look it up.
hey waterman. as for your lincoln rant, check article one section nine of the constitution. its also known as the suspension clause. the suspension of habeas corpus clause.
Wow, a lot of these people leaving comments enjoy making shit up. Lincoln didn't free the slaves in the Union states? FDR knew the Japanese were going to bomb Pearl Harbor? As for the post itself, Johnson's Reconstruction plans, which the post criticizes so much, were very similar to Lincoln's. Lincoln expressly wishes for the Union would grant immunity to the Confederates in his second inaugural address. It's as if all these people have taken history lessons from the internet. Brilliant!
Great article. Thanks for the information.
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I think most of you read to many books and articles that are written on subjects, most of which are opinions by the authors. I mean its good to be educated and read, but think for yourself.I think you all need to get out and experience life.Leave your house or school once in a while. You live in a pretty damn good country with some good Presidents that gave you the opportunities you've had. Instead of putting people down for some of their flaws, why not be thankful for the things they've done for us. I mean the American people did vote in all the people you've been talking about and some of them more than once. If you don't like something get out there and change it. All your doing is being whiners. Carpe Diem! Pura Vida!
Lincoln was a very good president and he knew how to help the country in its time of need and change.
your all wrong
we have a new worst president
Barack Obama
there goes 784 Billion dollars down the drain
that could have been 38,000$ to every man woman and child but no
we need to give back to the businesses that fucked up our economy in the first place
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