The WORST Presidents Oval Office Misfits 43 Presidents

The WORST Presidents Oval Office Misfits 43 Presidents – the worst 10 were?

The BEST Presidents? • What makes a great President? • Charisma • Accomplishments in office • Keeps the country and issues in focus • Communication skills • Selflesness / sacrifice

Then what makes a president “bad”? • What qualities or lack of them? – – – Favoritism Paranoia / Racism Selfishness Greed Lack of vision / plan for the country

HISTORIC NOTE of Caution! • SOMETIMES, we look back after a president has finished his term and years later, realize – “Hey, he wasn’t that bad of a prez!” – Harry Truman 1945 – 1952. • 23% approval when he left the White House. • Today he tends to be in the top 33% of presidents.

THE LIST: The Top 10 of the Bottom Dwellers • #1: James Buchanan (1857 – 1861) – Might have stopped the Civil War from happening. • Personally didn’t like slavery – but didn’t feel he had the power to stop it. • Didn’t stop the secession talk of the states.

Buchanan’s Blunder • 700, 000 dead because he failed to act.

James Buchanan • Felt that history would treat him favorably for having performed his “constitutional duty. ” – It didn’t. • ** Only bachelor president!

#2: Warren G. Harding • President 1921 -1923 • “Unrestrained womanizer noted for his affability, good looks and implacable desire to please. If Warren had born a female – he would’ve been a whore. ” – Warren G. Harding’s father

Warren G. Harding • “I am not fit for this office and should never have been here. ” • “A great speech in search of a message. ”

Warren G. Harding • Busied himself with poker, golf, drinking and his mistresses while cronies plundered the US government. • Teapot Dome Scandal

Murdered or Natural Causes? • On Harding from his former attorney general: – “Harding was a modern Abraham Lincoln whose name and fame will grow with time. ” • It hasn’t

#3 Andrew Johnson (1865 -1869) • Turned a blind eye to southerners who tried to undo what the Civil War had accomplished.

Andrew Johnson • The ONLY southern Democrat senator who had not joined the Confederacy. • Lincoln thought a southerner on his reelection ticket would maybe be an olive branch to the South.

Andrew Johnson • Was VP for only a month before becoming President. • Had been a Republican for only 3 weeks.

Andrew Johnson • Tried to stop Republican efforts to give African Americans civil rights. – Vetoed Freedman’s Bureau to help newly emancipated slaves.

Andrew Johnson • Ignored Republican Party and had “Welcome Home” parties for Southern Democrats returning after the Civil War. • First President to be impeached. – But survived his trial by 1 vote.

#4 Franklin Pierce (1853 – 1857) • 14 th President who was a Democrat from the North, but believed in Southern principles. – Allowed slavery to spread into new territories if it added to the country. • Kansas-Nebraska Act

Franklin Pierce • Tried to annex Cuba! – As a slave state. – Okayed the takeover of Nicaragua by a proslavery adventurer, William Walker.

Franklin Pierce • In his defense: Personal tragedies may have kept him from being a strong president! – His train derailed on the way to Washington, decapitating his 10 -year old son in front of his wife and him. – Naw. He was just a bad president.

Franklin Pierce • At the end of his term, when asked what a President should do after leaving office, he sighed: • "There's nothing left. . . but to get drunk"

#5: Millard Fillmore (1850 – 1853) • Another president that chose compromise over doing something about slavery and state rights over federalism.

Millard Fillmore • Helped create federal law that required fugitive slaves to be returned to their masters.

Millard Fillmore • “His misfortune was to see slavery as a political and not a moral question. ” – Teddy Roosevelt on Millard Fillmore. – “MISFORTUNE”? ?

#6: John Tyler (1841 -1845) • First VP to become President (Harrison died after 30 days in office). • Joined the Whig Party to be VP. • Opposed EVERYTHING the Whigs stood for.

John Tyler • Anti-Federalist and Pro-States Rights. • Joined the Confederacy when Civil War broke out in 1861.

John Tyler • His ENTIRE cabinet resigned because he didn’t follow Whig policies. – DESPISED by the Whig Party • Attempts to impeach him failed.

John Tyler’s TWO accomplishments • Established principle that VPs who succeed to the top office has no less authority than an elected president.

John Tyler • 2 nd Achievement? – Married a woman 30 years younger than himself while president. • Most descendents – 15 kids that lived to adulthood.

#7: Ulysses S. Grant (1869 – 1877) • “My failures have been errors of judgment, not intent. ” • Widespread graft and corruption of members of his government.

U. S. Grant • Did try to do some good – but it didn’t last beyond his presidency. – Tried to quash the KKK. – Promoted Civil Rights Act for African Americans. – Tried to work for the good of the American Indians by creating reservations.

Ulysses S. Grant • Wrote one of the best memoirs of an expresident. – Died 10 days after completing it.

#8: William Harrison (1841) • President for 30 days. • Longest Inauguration speech. • Nothing was done. – Maybe should’ve checked out his VP better than he did. • John Tyler.

#9 TIE Herbert Hoover Richard Nixon

Herbert Hoover (1929 – 1933) • Smart and a good technocrat BUT • A BAD communicator – Came across as uncaring and meanspirited.

Herbert Hoover • Greatest political blunder – didn’t rise to the greatest challenge of his time – THE GREAT DEPRESSION. – Too late or too little in relief, creating jobs and tariff policies that made matters worse.

Richard Nixon (1969 – 1974) • “Nixon’s failings were the stuff of dark tragedy: uneven judgment and a deeply suspicious character combined with great political gifts and considerable vision. ” – Carl Bernstein

Richard Nixon • “Only Nixon could go to China. ” – Opened up Communist China – Created most important arms-limitation agreement with the Soviet Union. – Got the US out of Vietnam

Richard Nixon • WATERGATE! – Nixon was never content to “beat” an opponent. They were an “enemy” that had to be “destroyed. ”

Richard Nixon • Watergate • Nixon obstructed the investigation of a petty crime.

Richard Nixon • First president who has resigned from office. • Most certainly would’ve been impeached and put in prison.

#10: Zachary Taylor (1849 – 1850) • Maybe not such a “bad” president as a “forgettable” one? • Ignorant to the point of innocence?

Zachary Taylor • A successful general in the Mexican American War – a war hero was an easy pick for the Whig Party. • A slave owner that opposed expansion of slavery into the territories.

Zachary Taylor • Also did not favor the secession talk. • If he had lived – he might have not hesitated to take on the would-be seceders. – His record for fighting might have made them think twice.

REMEMBER TWO THINGS! • Time, politics and historians tend to “rethink” presidential rankings. • In presidential assessments, it is a bias toward activism – – UNLESS it is seen as misplaced.

A Conservative’s Opinion on worst presidents? • Prof. Jonathan Mc. Donald of U of Alabama.

Professor Mc. Donald’s Conservative List • Worst President? • LBJ • Lyndon Baynes Johnson (1963 -1968) • “Pushed government beyond the limits of what it can do. ” – Federalism forcing Civil Rights on Southern states.

Professor Mc. Donald’s List • #2: Woodrow Wilson (1913 – 1920). • “Equated democracy with peacefulness, leading to WWII. ”

Jackson Lears, Prof. At Rutgers Opinions • Worst President? • #1 James Buchanan • #2 Richard Nixon

Professor Lears • #3 Ronald Reagan – Wrong decisions that increased the national debt and international situations – like later 911. #5: John F. Kennedy Put the world “under the shadow of nuclear war. ”

Interesting Idea • Are presidents the shapers of history – or are they more the “playthings” of historical conditions? – Joseph Ellis, Mount Holyoke Historian

Remember • What lessons can we learn about the “worst” of presidents?

What do you think? • How will history judge George W. Bush?