THE WORST TEN
Here are the worst presidents ranked and why they are placed where they are:
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Here are the worst presidents ranked and why they are placed where they are:
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31. MARTIN VAN BUREN (8th President, 1837-1841)
In the 1836 election, Van Buren defeated William Henry Harrison, whom the Whigs had chosen over their longtime leader Clay, proving the popularity of Jackson’s Democrats. Soon after Van Buren took office in 1837, however, the nation was gripped by a financial panic, caused partially by the transfer of federal funds from the now-defunct Bank of the United States to state banks. The failure of hundreds of banks and businesses and the burst bubble of wild land speculation in the West dragged the country into the worst depression of its history, and Van Buren’s continuation of Jackson’s deflationary money policies did little to improve the situation. Van Buren's presidency is viewed by most as a failure and with lots of criticism sent towards him. However, Van Buren played an integral role in the development of our political systems. |
32. CHESTER AUTHUR (21st President, 1981-1985)
Chester Arthur took office after the death of James Garfield in 1881. He surprised the establishment politicians by moving past partisanship and doing his best to make federal jobs based more on merit. He is known for vetoing the Chinese-exclusion act, but eventually Congress decided to override it. He is also known for modernizing the US Navy and fighting fraud in the Postal Service. Chester Arthur is ranked below Van Buren because of his lack of impact, both positive and negative. Through good effort, his policies were often destroyed in Congress. |
33. CALVIN COOLIDGE (30th President,1923-1929)
Calvin Coolidge did not have an awful presidency. However, his approach to government can often be said to have played a major role America falling into the Great Depression of the 1930’s. He succeeded Warren Harding, who had a very corrupt presidency. As a result, he took a very no-nonsense approach to governing. He helped clean up the Teapot Dome oil-lease scandal and got rid of the tarnished U.S. Attorney General, Harry M. Daughtery. This helped to restore the public’s faith in the government. However, he refused to use federal economic power to check the growing boom or to ameliorate the depressed condition of agriculture and certain industries. He slashed income and corporate taxes and supported employers' campaigns to eliminate unions. His failure to aid the depressed agricultural sector seems short sighted, as nearly five thousand rural banks in the Midwest and South shut their doors in bankruptcy while many thousands of farmers lost their lands. His tax cuts contributed to an uneven distribution of wealth and the overproduction of goods. All of these were major factors leading to the Great Depression and why Coolidge is ranked where he is. |
34. HERBERT HOOVER (31st President, 1929-1933)
Herbert Hoover is considered one of the worst presidents in US history. Hoover was president during the stock market crash. He did his best to try and get America out of the dumps. For example, he tried to open up jobs for Americans by enforcing the Mexican Repatriation. This kicked thousands of immigrants out to create jobs for other Americans. This is still looked at today as somewhat of a failure though because he kicked people back to Mexico. He was a humanitarian so he was very concerned for people and their well being. For example, after World War I he brought thousands of soldiers back home and set up food stations across the nation for people who were affected by the war. But with some success comes failures, and some of his greatest ideas turned into failures. The Mexican Repatriation Act for example had a good idea to it but could have been executed better. While he was president, the stock market crashed causing the Great Depression which was just bad luck for him. But Hoover did not have the best response to this happening. Unemployment was around 30% while he was president. The value of international trade also dropped 1.5 billion dollars over 2 years while he was in office because some of Europe was starting to get affected by the Great Depression. Lastly, he cut off allowance to veterans when they returned home from war to help out in other places around the country. |
35. ANDREW JOHNSON (17th
President, 1865-1869) Andrew Johnson was the president after Lincoln and is considered to be one of the worst presidents of all time. During his time in office he did a lot of things wrong and many people did not like him. One of his downfalls is that he had was that he betrayed the Republicans and left the party. He also did a lot of things to obstruct the rights of black people. This included vetoing the Civil Rights Bill. Another thing he tried to do was get rid of Secretary of War, Stanton. He tried to replace him with Ulysses S. Grant. This was refused by the Supreme Court and Stanton was put back in office. After this incident the House of Representatives initiated formal impeachment proceedings against him and the case was sent to the Senate. The trial ended and the two thirds majority was not met. Overall, Andrew Johnson made a lot of questionable decisions during his term and upset a lot of people. |
36. JOHN TYLER (10th President, 1841-1845)
John Tyler was a controversial president who attempted to move the country in a new direction west. He annexed Texas allowing people to go out west and acquire 160 acres of land from the government. He wanted to expand the U.S. to the west. He also attempted to create a new national bank and pass several other bills to help America advance. He helped to stop the Seminole War with the Indians in Florida. He attempted to make more laws allowing further exploration of the west. He settled land disputes with England. Overall Tyler was a president for the people and for the idea of manifest destiny. He was a huge proponent in moving out west. Some people look at him with the eyes of a thief of land. Others believe he made a vital step in moving the U.S. out of its current place. Opinions are divided on Tyler, but without him progress of moving forward would have never been accomplished. |
37. WARREN G. HARDING (29th President, 1921-1923)
Warren G. Harding often seemed overwhelmed by the burdens of the office. He frequently confided to friends that he was not prepared for the presidency. He worked hard and tried to keep his campaign promise of "naming the best man for the job." Warren G. Harding's administration was determined to roll back the momentum of progressive legislation. He personally overturned or allowed Congress to reverse many policies of the Wilson Administration, and approved tax cuts on higher incomes and protective tariffs. His administration supported limiting immigration and ending spending controls. Harding also signed the Budget and Accounting Act of 1921, which allowed the president to submit a unified budget to Congress. The act also established the General Accounting Office to audit government expenditures. Additionally, Harding personally championed civil liberties for African Americans, and his administration supported liberalizing farm credit. In foreign affairs, as in domestic policy, Harding delegated much responsibility to several key cabinet members. Secretary of State Charles Evans Hughes worked with Treasury Secretary Andrew Mellon and Department of Commerce head Herbert Hoover to elevate American banking to a global position. The Harding Administration also played an important role in rebuilding Europe after WWI, and in establishing an "open door" trading policy in Asia. Warren G. Harding’s political administration was plagued with scandals and he also had poor distribution of power. |
38. FRANKLIN PIERCE (14th President, 1953-1957)
Franklin Pierce, the 14th President of the United States, was a Northern Democrat and anti-abolitionist. His personal issues reflected his policies, and his presidency was not very effective overall. He tried to create a more efficient government system and reinventing the justice department by appointing justices. He attempted to reform the treasury, but the process was managed poorly and without much care. One of Pierce’s successes was his decision to send James Gadsden to Mexico in an attempt to buy land. The deal was made to buy a large portion of Mexico’s territory for a reasonable price. Overall, his economic and foreign policies did not change the country for better. Instead, half-hearted attempts at reform did not give much return. Looking purely at Pierce’s social policies, the 14th President’s term should be considered a failure. The rising tensions of pro-slavery vs. anti-slavery states tested Pierce’s leadership. As an anti-abolitionist, Pierce’s poor leadership was proven with the Kansas-Nebraska Act. Pierce opened Kansas’ slavery law to popular sovereignty, which caused large groups of people to flood into Kansas, causing the “Bleeding Kansas” conflict. Thousands of people were killed in order to make Kansas a pro or anti-slavery state. Massacres and shootouts were not uncommon, and Pierce’s policy failed. This is why Piece lost reelection in the next cycle. There is not a whole lot to be said about Franklin Pierce’s Presidency, as it did not improve upon the system set before, nor did anything drastically change. Pierce is ranked better than Fillmore because of his reformation of the justice system, which had a larger impact than any of Fillmore’s policies. He is ranked towards the bottom of the list because of his mismanagement of the slavery issue, which resulted in a great amount of death and destruction. |
39. MILLARD FILLMORE (13th President, 1850-1853)
Millard Fillmore was a lowly ranked president simply because of his lack of impact. He only signed into action one bill of great importance: the Compromise of 1850. The Compromise of 1850 admitted California to the United States of America as a free state, but more importantly it created the Fugitive Slave Bill, which Fillmore supported. This piece of legislation allowed southerners to travel north to recapture runaway slaves, and to enlist the help of northerners to do so, even if they did not want to. This created tension that ranged to the onset of the Civil War, but it kept fighting nonexistent for 11 years after its production and certification. Besides for that, Fillmore did not do much else. His political party died with him, and he had no impact besides for the compromise he signed into being. He completed only one major act in his presidency, and that is why he earned the lowest comparison grade. |
40. JAMES BUCHANAN (15th President, 1857-1861)
James Buchanan is considered the worst president the United States has ever had because many of his decisions lead to major turmoil in America. Buchanan was a big supporter of anything slave related. He supported the Supreme Court’s Dred Scott case, which determined that slaves were not citizens of the United States. He is often blamed for causing the Civil War because of how he did not try to keep the country unified. He wanted to annex Cuba as a slave territory so that slavery could become more widespread. Under his supervision, the Kansas-Nebraska Act caused violence between slave states and free states. Because of his lack of sound leadership and the turmoil caused in America as a result of his Presidency he is ranked last. |