How racist were the following presidents?

[A18]

Rank them from 0 (not at all) to 4 (honorary KKK member).

Lincoln
Johnson
Grant
Hayes
Garfield
Arthur
Cleveland
Harrison
McKinley
Roosevelt
Taft
Wilson
Harding
Coolidge
Hoover
FDR

[Ebowed]

Lincoln - 3; he initially opposed black voting rights and inter-racial marriage
Johnson - unsure
Grant - unsure
Hayes - unsure
Garfield - unsure
Arthur - unsure
Cleveland - unsure, but he didn't like women ("Sensible and responsible women do not want to vote")
Harrison - unsure
McKinley - unsure
Roosevelt - 0 probably
Taft - unsure
Wilson - 1/2?
Harding - 0/1
Coolidge - 0
Hoover - 0
FDR - 2 (Japanese Internment camps...)

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

Wilson was much worse than 2. He praised the racist movie Birth of a Nation, was a staunch supporter of California's anti-Japanese and Chinese immigrant laws, and is quoted as saying the country would be much better off if blacks would just return to the plantations. In fact, he was probably the most racist president after the ending of slavery.

Harding on the other, despite his many many flaws, was probably the best president on racial issues up until that point.

[Ebowed]

Wilson was much worse than 2. He praised the racist movie Birth of a Nation, was a staunch supporter of California's anti-Japanese and Chinese immigrant laws, and is quoted as saying the country would be much better off if blacks would just return to the plantations. In fact, he was probably the most racist president after the ending of slavery.

Harding on the other, despite his many many flaws, was probably the best president on racial issues up until that point.

Ah; I wasn't sure about Wilson.  I put 0/1 for Harding because I didn't know much about him except that he was involved in the Tea Pot Dome Scandal or whatever, so I figured maybe his views were weird too.  A bad assumption.

[A18]

Johnson vetoed the Civil Rights Act of 1866, saying that it would "operate in favor of the colored and against the white race."

Obviously he was pretty much racist trash.

I was specifically wondering if anyone knows anything about Cleveland's views on racial matters, since he was a Democrat, but on the other hand a New Yorker.

[A18]

Also, I hate FDR, but the Japanese Internment Camps weren't racist, they were just an incredibly stupid and blatantly unconstitutional security move on his part.

Also, I think there were a bunch of riots breaking out anyway.

[PBrunsel]

Lincoln- 2, told guady racial jokes and was known for calling blacks "darkies." Most of this was exceptable by 19th Century standards though.

Johnson- 4, a terrible racist. Frederick Douglas met him a few days after he took office and stated, "He is no frind of the Negro."

Grant- 2, much like Lincoln's racism.

Hayes- 0

Garfield- 0

Arthur- 3, a New York Boss, exploited blacks for votes.

Cleveland- 2. a known anti-Chinese League Member in Buffallo, NY.

Harrison- 2, anti-Chinese

McKinley- 0

Roosevelt- 2, extremely anti-German and anti-Immigration

Taft- 0, he couldn't have disliked anyone even if he had wanted to.

Wilson- 4, "The Whitening of the Government"

Harding- 4, KKK Member and Free Mason

Coolidge- 3, anti-Immigrant and stated Anglo Saxons were the men who built America thus they deserved complete controll.

Hoover- 0, he was too great a man to be a racist.

FDR- 2, A New York eleitest, his wife was the hero of the minorities.

[David S]

Also, I hate FDR, but the Japanese Internment Camps weren't racist, they were just an incredibly stupid and blatantly unconstitutional security move on his part.

I'm not sure it wasn't racist. Afterall they did not put Germans in internment camps.

[Rob]

Lincoln-2
Johnson-3
Grant-0
Hayes-1
Garfield-1
Arthur-1
Cleveland-2
Harrison-0
McKinley-0
Roosevelt-2
Taft-0
Wilson-3
Harding-1
Coolidge-0
Hoover-2
FDR-1

[??????????]

Lincoln-1
Johnson-3
Grant-0
Hayes-1
Garfield-1
Arthur-1
Cleveland-2
Harrison-0
McKinley-0
Roosevelt-2
Taft-0
Wilson-3
Harding-1
Coolidge-0
Hoover-2
FDR-1

You do realize Lincoln hated blacks and wanted them sent to the country that was created for them (Liberia)? Harding was a KKK member as well and that was at a time of the 2nd KKK, the 2nd KKK was the strongest of all the different KKKs so far.

[Jake]

Lincoln-1
Johnson-3
Grant-0
Hayes-1
Garfield-1
Arthur-1
Cleveland-2
Harrison-0
McKinley-0
Roosevelt-2
Taft-0
Wilson-3
Harding-1
Coolidge-0
Hoover-2
FDR-1

You do realize Lincoln hated blacks and wanted them sent to the country that was created for them (Liberia)? Harding was a KKK member as well and that was at a time of the 2nd KKK, the 2nd KKK was the strongest of all the different KKKs so far.

But Lincoln freed the slaves[/sarcasm]

[Rob]

Lincoln-1
Johnson-3
Grant-0
Hayes-1
Garfield-1
Arthur-1
Cleveland-2
Harrison-0
McKinley-0
Roosevelt-2
Taft-0
Wilson-3
Harding-1
Coolidge-0
Hoover-2
FDR-1

You do realize Lincoln hated blacks and wanted them sent to the country that was created for them (Liberia)? Harding was a KKK member as well and that was at a time of the 2nd KKK, the 2nd KKK was the strongest of all the different KKKs so far.

I read somewhere that Harding was sworn into the KKK in the White House, but there were no sources given. Do you have any links? If so, raise Harding to a 4. And I judge Lincoln on actions, not words. He was definitely a racist, though. I'll give him a 2.

[dazzleman]

I have heard that Wilson was very racist.

I think that Lincoln was fairly advanced within the context of his times.  To forcefully condemn slavery was a radical position back then, and nobody back then really believed in intermarriage and the like, so I find it interesting that those who probably would have supported the continuation of slavery judge Lincoln by what are high standards even for today.

I think FDR was probably not terribly racist as a president, though he did little for black advancement.

Harding actually called for better treatment for blacks, though he also did little about it.

The fact is that the federal government, from the end of reconstruction in 1877 through the 1960s failed to guarantee that blacks received their basic constitutional rights.  All presidents have some guilt in this, as well as congress.  It was that failure of the executive and legislative branches that has led to the scourge of judicial activism that we see today, as many dubious causes have piggybacked off the black quest for their basic constitutional rights.

[Sarnstrom]

We shouldn't forget that at one time Harry Truman considered joining the KKK.

[AuH2O]

Ha, by today's definition (of a word that actually didn't exist until some time into the 20th century), every President listed was extremely racist... Lincoln opposed slavery in the territories in large part because he didn't want more of the country contaminated by negroes. lol Hayes and Garfield "0" lol

[PBrunsel]

Ha, by today's definition (of a word that actually didn't exist until some time into the 20th century), every President listed was extremely racist... Lincoln opposed slavery in the territories in large part because he didn't want more of the country contaminated by negroes. lol Hayes and Garfield "0" lol

Hayes and Garfeild opposed telling racial jokes. Hayes had a man punsihed by having to walk 13 miles because he called a negro soldier a "darky" durring the Civil War. Hayes was no racist.

[AuH2O]

Yeah, some fairy tales have been made up to make certain figures look like some kind of 20th century liberal. If you think Hayes thought blacks were "equal" to whites, you're crazy.

[PBrunsel]

Yeah, some fairy tales have been made up to make certain figures look like some kind of 20th century liberal. If you think Hayes thought blacks were "equal" to whites, you're crazy.

I'm kind of biased to Hayes though, he is a favorite of mine.

[Rob]

Yeah, some fairy tales have been made up to make certain figures look like some kind of 20th century liberal. If you think Hayes thought blacks were "equal" to whites, you're crazy.

I'm kind of biased to Hayes though, he is a favorite of mine.

No offense, but Hayes was an election stealing son of a bitch.

[PBrunsel]

Yeah, some fairy tales have been made up to make certain figures look like some kind of 20th century liberal. If you think Hayes thought blacks were "equal" to whites, you're crazy.

I'm kind of biased to Hayes though, he is a favorite of mine.

No offense, but Hayes was an election stealing son of a bitch.

Hayes knew he had lost, but the GOP Bosses were not ready to lose the White House, even after that failure Grant screwed it up. To say Hayes had the election stole for him is a better way of ezplaining the 1876 election.

[Rob]

Yeah, some fairy tales have been made up to make certain figures look like some kind of 20th century liberal. If you think Hayes thought blacks were "equal" to whites, you're crazy.

I'm kind of biased to Hayes though, he is a favorite of mine.

No offense, but Hayes was an election stealing son of a bitch.

Hayes knew he had lost, but the GOP Bosses were not ready to lose the White House, even after that failure Grant screwed it up. To say Hayes had the election stole for him is a better way of ezplaining the 1876 election.

At first that was true. But over time he became convinced that he had won the popular vote, and the Democrats had stolen it by suppressing southern blacks! That's why that "idealist" supported civil rights- to ensure Republican dominance.