Top 5 worst U.S. Presidents.

[traininthedistance]

https://uselectionatlas.org/FORUM/index.php?topic=150969.msg3239692#msg3239692

Any list that doesn't have James Buchanan, Andrew Johnson, and Warren G. Harding in the bottom 5 doesn't have the faintest idea of what it's talking about.  And I have to round out the bottom 5 with Millard Fillmore and Franklin Pierce- people forget just how bad basically every president was in the antebellum era.

Honorable mentions go to Tyler, Dubya, and Andrew Jackson.  The Jackson choice probably sounds crazy to many of you, but he was really a horrible person with horrible policies and horrible attitudes.

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The top 4 is easy- Washington, Lincoln, and the two Roosevelts.  There's definitely a gap after them, but Ike and Truman both make a strong case for the #5 slot.

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Wilson deserves some of the revisionist abuse he gets on the internet, but he did have quite a few genuinely good accomplishments to go along with the bad.  Putting him in the bottom 5 is hyperbole, to say the least.

[FEMA Camp Administrator]

Jerseyrules, I thought you hated the Adamses!

And yeah, JQA was a DR from about 1807 to his election as President. He basically kicked himself out of the Federalists by supporting TJ's nationalist policies.

[WillK]

https://uselectionatlas.org/FORUM/index.php?topic=150969.msg3239692#msg3239692

Any list that doesn't have James Buchanan, Andrew Johnson, and Warren G. Harding in the bottom 5 doesn't have the faintest idea of what it's talking about. 

On the contrary, anyone who thinks Harding should be in the bottom 5 isnt thinking clearly.

[© tweed]

I meant Adams I.  and I don't see why the Hell I have to leave my ideological disposition at the schoolhouse door when I make my silly little list.

[fezzyfestoon]

So you're saying he's the reason religious fundamentalists have been more porminant?

The most religious thing I saw Eisenhower do is say a prayer at his first inauguration.

But I do kind of agree about some of his negatives, especially in regard to foreign policy.  Sure, we can act all warm and fuzzy about his admittance of a "military industrial complex", but that doesn't make him an automatic hero.  If anything that just makes him more of an honest villain.

But the religious crap?  I must be deaf or something because I don't recall Eisenhower going on tv and saying "homosexuality is an evil plague and must be destroyed!" or ranting and raving about how women should be homemakers and shouldn't have promiscuous relations with the menfolk and how the Birth Control League is evil.

SO yeah, I must've missed something while reading up on his wikipedia page or the ten years or so of American History education.

I'm not saying he came into office and went on a religious rampage or anything, the emphasis in my previous post should have been on the future implications. He changed the pledge, added "In God We Trust" to currency, and insisted that religion be an integral factor in governing. He didn't create the religious link in government but exacerbated it in such culturally lasting mediums that his influence has lent great power to the link between government and religion.

I also don't see how his actions could be taken any other way than wasteful and directly contradictory to his military industrial proclamation upon leaving office. He accelerated the birth of our nation's damaging addiction to petroleum by means of the interstate system. He massively subsidized the automobile and the suburb. That set us up for the societal conundrum that has plagued us since.

To me, having your administrations (relatively tame) alterations to the American lifestyle last this long and create huge issues this far along is more than enough to rank him lower than almost any President. The same goes for McKinley and his absurdly juvenile, reactionary economic policy.

[dead0man]

I'm not saying he came into office and went on a religious rampage or anything, the emphasis in my previous post should have been on the future implications. He changed the pledge, added "In God We Trust" to currency,

He signed the bills into law, but he didn't write them (though he MAY have had a hand in pushing the for the pledge change).  Do we blame every President for every law passed and signed under their watch?

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Yeah, those next 4 guys to hold the office were totally known for how religious they were

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You think his intentions in creating the interstate system was wasteful and pro military?  Seriously?  Yes, the system had a military dynamic to it*, but it was certainly much much more than that.  Do you think it wouldn't be wasteful for to people to travel long distance via secondary roads or by flying?  Or do you just not want people to travel?

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did he?

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BRTD has really gotten to you hasn't he?



*the first person to say there is a straight section every X miles so the highways can be used as emergency runways is going to get punched in their Google.

[perdedor]

1. Franklin Pierce
2. Andrew Johnson
3. Millard Fillmore
4. John Tyler
5. Richard Nixon

I personally think the extent to which Buchanan was a bad President is over stated. There's something to be said about taking over an extremely hostile political environment and keeping it in check for as long as he did.

[Mechaman]

1. Franklin Pierce
2. Andrew Johnson
3. Millard Fillmore
4. John Tyler
5. Richard Nixon

I personally think the extent to which Buchanan was a bad President is over stated. There's something to be said about taking over an extremely hostile political environment and keeping it in check for as long as he did.

A similar argument could be said of Andrew Johnson, who is also on your list.

[OSR stands with Israel]

The Worst of the Worst
1. James Buchanan, who allowed the country to collapse all around him.
2. Warren Harding, a corrupt and ineffectual President that allowed his subordinates to run circles around him and sell public lands to the oil industry.
3. Richard Nixon, and I think this one speaks for itself.
4. Andrew Johnson, who wasn't really satisfied with the outcome of the Civil War and seemed dead-set on returning the South to the status quo ante bellum.
5. Franklin Pierce, who helped set the stage for the Civil War with his exceedingly weak and ineffectual Presidency.
6. Jimmy Carter, who twiddled his thumbs during the crises of the 1970s.
7. Calvin Coolidge, whose economic policies greatly contributed to the financial bubble that caused the Great Depression.
8. Herbert Hoover, another thumb-twiddler during a period of great crisis.
9. Millard Fillmore, another weak and ineffectual pre-Civil War President.
10. Ulysses Grant, who was really breathtakingly corrupt and in bed with the railroad interests.

The Best of the Best
1. Abraham Lincoln, for preserving the Union.
2. Franklin Roosevelt, whose policies established the social safety net and made the United States into a superpower.
3. George Washington, nuff said.
4. Lyndon Johnson, for finally delivering on that 'All Men are Created Equal' thing.
5. Theodore Roosevelt, for obvious reasons.
6. Harry Truman, for standing up to the Soviet Union, establishing NATO, and generally kicking ass.

Honorable mention(s): Barack Obama, Dwight Eisenhower, John Kennedy, Chester Arthur, Bill Clinton

WOW!!! TNF has changed

[The Dowager Mod]

Buchanan
A Johnson
Bush
Polk
Jackson

[RightBehind]

Bush 43
Reagan
Andrew Johnson
James Buchanan
Richard Nixon

[SWE]

No particular order:

Andrew Johnson, James Buchanan, Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan, George W. Bush

[Clark Kent]

John Tyler
James Buchanan
Andrew Johnson
Andrew Jackson
Millard Fillmore

And the best:

George Washington
Abraham Lincoln
Ronald Reagan
Ulysses S. Grant
Dwight D. Eisenhower

[ScottieF]

1) Andrew Johnson
2) Franklin Pierce
3) James Buchanan
4) John Tyler
5) George W. Bush

[catographer]

I'll break it down by century, since it's kinda hard to compare.

18th/19th:

1. Lincoln
2. McKinley
3. Fillmore
4. Grant
5. B. Harrison

20th/21st:

1. Wilson
2. F. Roosevelt
3. Johnson
4. Truman
5. Nixon

Lincoln and FDR are on your list for worst presidents? Can I please hear you reasoning for those choices?

[Kingpoleon]

Unskewed:
James Buchanan
Herbert Hoover
Andrew Jackson
Andrew Johnson
Millard Fillmore

Modern skew:
Herbert Hoover
James Carter
Lyndon Johnson
Richard Nixon
Harry Truman


Best:
Abraham Lincoln
James Madison
Dwight Eisenhower
Gerald Ford
John Kennedy
Ronald Reagan
Bill Clinton
Grover Cleveland
Theodore Roosevelt
Franklin Roosevelt

[Former Senator Haslam2020]

Johnson Johnson Buchanan Obama Bushy Jr. ig

[Sir Mohamed]

1. Buchanan
2. A. Johnson
3. W.
4. Pierce
5. Fillmore


the best:

1. FDR
2. Lincoln
3. Jefferson
4. Truman
5. tied between JFK, LBJ and Obama

[Classic Conservative]

1 Woodrow Wilson
2 Barack Obama
3 LBJ
4 FDR
5 Nixon

[Mr. Smith]

Best

1. FDR
2. Washington
3. Lincoln
4. Truman
5. JFK

Worst (Unskewed)

1. Buchanan
2. Pierce
3. Fillmore
4. W.
5. Harding

Worst (Post Gilded-Age)

1. W.
2. Harding
3. Reagan
4. Coolidge
5. Nixon

[RINO Tom]

Best

1. FDR
2. Washington
3. Lincoln
4. Truman
5. JFK

Worst (19th Century)

1. Buchanan
2. Pierce
3. Fillmore
4. W.
5. Harding

Worst (Post Gilded-Age)

1. W.
2. Reagan
3. Harding
4. Coolidge
5. Nixon

Reagan is both worse than and not as bad as Harding, huh?

[MASHED POTATOES. VOTE!]

Best

1. FDR
2. Washington
3. Lincoln
4. Truman
5. JFK

Putting JFK among likes of Lincoln and FDR is like putting Jeff Sessions with Lister Hill.

[Mr. Smith]

Best

1. FDR
2. Washington
3. Lincoln
4. Truman
5. JFK

Worst (Unskewed)

1. Buchanan
2. Pierce
3. Fillmore
4. W.
5. Harding

Worst (Post Gilded-Age)

1. W.
2. Harding
3. Reagan
4. Coolidge
5. Nixon

Reagan is both worse than and not as bad as Harding, huh?

Wow, that's some bad editing on my end, for other reasons

On the matter specifically, I'm rather conflicted since both were nobodies, given too much power. I think the edge goes to Reagan because he was in there longer and used more directly corrupt means to even get into office, whereas Harding was, at least, a dark horse shoved there by bosses.

Well, it's fixed now.

Best

1. FDR
2. Washington
3. Lincoln
4. Truman
5. JFK

Putting JFK among likes of Lincoln and FDR is like putting Jeff Sessions with Lister Hill.

Considering the political record of Alabama Senators, that's not an entirely unjustified list.

[White Trash]

Worst:
1. Buchanan (Normal)
2. George W. Bush
3. Andrew Johnson
4. Ulysses S. Grant
5. Warren G. Harding

Best:
1. Franklin D. Roosevelt
2. Abraham Lincoln
3. Theodore Roosevelt
4. James Madison
5. Dwight D. Eisenhower

[MyRescueKittehRocks]

1. Wilson
2. Obama
3. Carter
4. Buchanan
5. LBJ

Best

1. Washington
2. Jefferson
3. Madison
4. Coolidge
5. Reagan
6. IKE


Why all the Coolidge hate around here?