The Worst Presidents Of All-Time

[Calabrese]

Yeah he tried to take away the rights of companies to exploit child labor but the law that he had been successful passing was ruled unconstitutional by the supreme court in 1916.

Actually, he was one of the most powerful presidents in our history and even a war president who won the nobel peace prize. He was no Jimmie Carter.

While I agree with you that he had some positive policys and certaintly made an attempt to improve labor conditions, I dissagree with much more of what he did as president that I agree with. As with any politician he had his pros and cons in my opinion, however even though I consider myself an independant I lean libritarian and believe in the individuals rights in many cases. Wilson was the first president to make a serious effort to diminish individual rights and increase the size of the federal government and because of my beliefes that makes him the worst president.

 

[TripleAgent]

I despise Franklin D. Roosevelt. He committed one of the single most despicable acts any American has perpetrated since the turn of the century.

Japanese American internment - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[Burning Giraffe]

1. Franklin Roosevelt
2. Jimmy Carter
3. Woodrow Wilson
4. Herbert Hoover
5. Lydon B. Johnson

 

[PeteEU]

I despise Franklin D. Roosevelt. He committed one of the single most despicable acts any American has perpetrated since the turn of the century.

Japanese American internment - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

To be fair, he was pretty much forced to do so by the people.. Racial segregation was very much the norm then and it was easy to "punish" the Japanese-American part of the population because they look different. That is why pretty much the Italian and German-American population did not get interned.. they were white after all.

 

[Burning Giraffe]

To be fair, he was pretty much forced to do so by the people.. Racial segregation was very much the norm then and it was easy to "punish" the Japanese-American part of the population because they look different. That is why pretty much the Italian and German-American population did not get interned.. they were white after all.

That makes it conceivable, but it doesn't make it right, or OK, or forgivable.

 

[PeteEU]

My list

1) Bush Jr (Obvious one)
2) Carter (Weak president at a time when America needed a strong one)
3) Wilson (Pretty much screwed up the world at the time)
4) Hoover (made the great depression even worse with his policies)
5) Reagan (put the US in a debt spire and in a mentality of debt is good.. something the US still is not over)

 

[PeteEU]

That makes it conceivable, but it doesn't make it right, or OK, or forgivable.

Of course, but some times a leader has to do bad things to keep things together so to say. It dont make it right but only explainable.

 

[Burning Giraffe]

My matter of perspective is what was best for the country at the time. And I think the way he treated Native Americans, his handling of the economy, and his use of the spoils system wasn't best for America at the time.

While I liked his opposition of the national bank, his attitude and behavior toward the Natives was unforgivable. He did lots of good things, but sadly & RIGHTFULLY, when you do something as horrible as what Jackson did to the Natives, all your good deeds go relatively unnoticed. I'd say Jackson was probably sixth or seventh worst president for that reason.

 

[LiberalAvenger]

While I liked his opposition of the national bank, his attitude and behavior toward the Natives was unforgivable. He did lots of good things, but sadly & RIGHTFULLY, when you do something as horrible as what Jackson did to the Natives, all your good deeds go relatively unnoticed. I'd say Jackson was probably sixth or seventh worst president for that reason.

"Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears;
I come to bury Caesar, not to praise him;
The evil that men do lives after them,
The good is oft interred with their bones...." Shakespeare

That famous line could well apply to Jackson and to Jimmy Carter. One was evil, the other was good. I think some day that Carter will gain in popularity and become one of our most revered presidents.

Carter did a lot of stuff that was just to far ahead of his time.

 

[Helvidius]

In no particular order....

-FDR
-Woodrow Wilson
- George W. Bush

 

[Opteron]

Not sure if this was posted before but here is the Siena College's rankings of the best and worst presidents. I saw it somewhere, let me post it here: News Detail

Results of Siena College Research Institute Presidential Ranking Survey


Top Ten Presidents by Survey Year
Rank 2010

1. F. Roosevelt
2. T. Roosevelt
3. Lincoln
4. Washington
5. Jefferson
6. Madison
7. Monroe
8. Wilson
9. Truman
10. Eisenhower

and the five worst presidents are:

A. Johnson(43)
Buchanan(42)
Harding(41)
Pierce(40)
GW Bush(39)

I mostly agree with these rankings.

 

[masonkiller]

Well the worst three (in order) are:

1. Franklin D. Roosevelt

2. Lyndon B. Johnson

3. Abraham Lincoln

These guys are the whole reason America is nothing like what it used to be in terms of economics and freedom.

 

[pro-bipartisan]

Well the worst three (in order) are:

1. Franklin D. Roosevelt

2. Lyndon B. Johnson

3. Abraham Lincoln

These guys are the whole reason America is nothing like what it used to be in terms of economics and freedom.[/QUOTE]

So African Americans shouldn't be free?

 

[Burning Giraffe]

So African Americans shouldn't be free?

You do know that this is a ridiculous response right? That's like saying, "So It's a good thing for Islamists to murder Americans", when people comment that they think George W. Bush was a terrible President.

 

[Burning Giraffe]

Well the worst three (in order) are:

1. Franklin D. Roosevelt

2. Lyndon B. Johnson

3. Abraham Lincoln

These guys are the whole reason America is nothing like what it used to be in terms of economics and freedom.

I agree. However, you've got to look at the big picture. Unlike FDR and Johnson, Lincoln had many redeemable policies. Yes, Lincoln pissed all over the Constitution, bullied the press, and destroyed a great deal of Liberty, but he did end slavery and he did hold the union together. The way he went about it was awful. I don't think Lincoln was a great president. I'd put him in the middle, considering the balance between all the good and evil that he did.

 

[pro-bipartisan]

You do know that this is a ridiculous response right? That's like saying, "So It's a good thing for Islamists to murder Americans", when people comment that they think George W. Bush was a terrible President.

Try reading my statement in context. The poster above me stated that America is less free now than before. I simply don't understand that since African Americans were slaves before Abraham Lincoln and were freed after him.

 

[hallam]

Pierce was the only president not to get his own parties renomination. When your own party says "You are too bad, we're going in a different direction." that makes you the worst president. And considering that the nation still picked a Democrat for the next election makes it even worse.

 

[Johnny]

Abraham Lincoln is by far the worst president in US history. He was a racist and a tyrant.
Here are some things he did.

1. Over 600,000 Americans killed.
2. Suspended habeas corpus.
3. General Sherman's atrocities are to date the worst acts of terrorism on American soil by an American.
4. Took the US off of the gold standard to finance the war with fiat money.
5. Nationalized railroads, telegraphs and industry.
6. Would have allowed the south to keep their slaves if they would agree to remain in the union.
7. Allowed the border states with the union to keep their slaves.
8. Never freed a single slave as he allowed Union states to keep their slaves and his emancipation did nothing in th south as he had no authority. The south was a seperate nation with it's own government.
9. Lincoln was not for or against slavery but used it as an excuse to expand the role of federal government.
10. Lincoln proposed to deport both free and slave Black Americans to Africa.

 

[masonkiller]

So African Americans shouldn't be free?

He did free them, but as those above have written, he took so many actions that strengthened the central government as well. He took the first big steps that have brought America far away from it's small government roots. And he really didn't care one way or another about slavery:

"My paramount object in this struggle is to save the Union, and is not either to save or to destroy slavery. If I could save the Union without freeing any slave I would do it, and if I could save it by freeing all the slaves I would do it; and if I could save it by freeing some and leaving others alone I would also do that." - Abraham Lincoln

And by "Union" he means "nation with less states rights and more centralized government power."

 

[Johnny]

Let's not forget this from a speech of Lincoln's in 1858.

“I will say, then, that I am not, nor ever have been, in favor of bringing about in any way the social and political equality of the white and black races—that I am not, nor ever have been, in favor of making voters or jurors of Negroes, nor of qualifying them to hold office, nor to intermarry with white people; and I will say in addition to this, that there is a physical difference between the white and black races which I believe will forever forbid the two races living together on terms of social and political equality. And inasmuch as they cannot so live, while they do remain together there must be the position of superior and inferior, and I, as much as any other man, am in favor of having the superior position assigned to the white race.”
-Abraham Lincoln

 

[pro-bipartisan]

He did free them, but as those above have written, he took so many actions that strengthened the central government as well. He took the first big steps that have brought America far away from it's small government roots. And he really didn't care one way or another about slavery:

"My paramount object in this struggle is to save the Union, and is not either to save or to destroy slavery. If I could save the Union without freeing any slave I would do it, and if I could save it by freeing all the slaves I would do it; and if I could save it by freeing some and leaving others alone I would also do that." - Abraham Lincoln

And by "Union" he means "nation with less states rights and more centralized government power."

So you are saying that Lincoln did much more harm than good in terms of freedom?

 

[pro-bipartisan]

Abraham Lincoln is by far the worst president in US history. He was a racist and a tyrant.
Here are some things he did.

1. Over 600,000 Americans killed.
2. Suspended habeas corpus.
3. General Sherman's atrocities are to date the worst acts of terrorism on American soil by an American.
4. Took the US off of the gold standard to finance the war with fiat money.
5. Nationalized railroads, telegraphs and industry.
6. Would have allowed the south to keep their slaves if they would agree to remain in the union.
7. Allowed the border states with the union to keep their slaves.
8. Never freed a single slave as he allowed Union states to keep their slaves and his emancipation did nothing in th south as he had no authority. The south was a seperate nation with it's own government.
9. Lincoln was not for or against slavery but used it as an excuse to expand the role of federal government.
10. Lincoln proposed to deport both free and slave Black Americans to Africa.

You're right, he killed all those people unprovoked, I hope you aren't blaming the Civil War on him, he wasn't the one who succeeded from the union and started the war...

I also disagree with #3 and fail to see how #7, #8, and #9 explain how he was such an awful President. I also don't understand why you are "what iffing" such as #6.

 

[Johnny]

The states have a right to secede. That's what the united states is. It's a union of soverign states. If they joined willingly then they have every right to leave.

Lincoln's speeches and letters some of which are sampled above show that he didn't care about ending slavery.

 

[CaptainCourtesy]

The states have a right to secede. That's what the united states is. It's a union of soverign states. If they joined willingly then they have every right to leave.

The states have no right to secede. This was confirmed in Texas v. White.

Lincoln's speeches and letters some of which are sampled above show that he didn't care about ending slavery.

Slavery was an ancillary issue of the Civil War. States rights and economics were the key reasons.

 

[Johnny]

The 10th Amendement specifically reserves all rights not given to the Feds to the states and the people. Do you really believe the states would have joined the union to begin with of it meant giving up sovereignty? I highly doubt it.

Remember, the states created the federal government. Without the states the Feds wouldn't exists. Without the Feds the states would remain as they did before.

That's why Texas, Vermont and othe states are considering secession today.

Secession is how we gained our independance in the first place. We seceded from Great Britain.

Secession is an avenue to keep the Feds in their place.