Poor:
#33 Andrew Johnson – Johnson was given the difficult task of taking over for the assassinated Abraham Lincoln. Johnson implemented the Reconstruction that Lincoln had planned for the South. Sort of. His implementation of Reconstruction was more lenient than intended. In essence, it allowed the inmates to run the asylum. Johnson was the first President to be impeached (though not convicted), and it was a Congressional hit job because they were angry with Johnson’s numerous vetoes on bills he deemed unconstitutional. Historians often put Johnson in the bottom five (like Pierce). And his presidency was certainly an overall failure and a dud following what Lincoln had planned. But like Pierce, Andrew Johnson did stick to his convictions for better or worse.
#32 Rutherford Hayes – Hayes began his term by removing all US troops from the South, thereby ending Reconstruction. As a result, black votes were targeted and the South became solid Democrat locally and nationally for the next 80 years. Reconstruction itself was not being handled well and was in need of reform. Hayes, however, simply ended it and left the South in the hands of the racist Democrats who were not inclined to enforce black voting rights. Hayes talked a big game about helping blacks, Indians, and other groups but never implemented any actual solutions. To his credit, he also tried to implement badly needed civil service reform. However, he lacked the support in Congress to ever get it done. By all accounts a well meaning man, Hayes was simply impotent as President.
#31 Gerald Ford – Ford did one good thing, pardoning Nixon. In truth, that pardon went far above Ford’s pay code. The Watergate “scandal” was a CIA hit job to politically assassinate perhaps the most popular sitting President ever. The pardon was going to happen to keep Nixon quiet for the rest of his days. As evidenced by his position on the Warren Commission, Ford was a government lackey. He was a neo con who did what he was told. During his term, the economy was stagnant and on the cusp of a recession. Overall, he didn’t do much terribly damaging. He didn’t do much at all. He was just there. His ineptitude and lack of charisma certainly brought us his successor—Carter. And that is alone enough to rate him low.
#30 Franklin Pierce – Historians love to place Pierce in the bottom five. And he was a mostly ineffectual President. Like Buchanan, he did nothing to halt the oncoming Civil War. Also like Buchanan, his weak decisions may have made the North/South animus worse. Pierce was a bit of an enigma. He was a northerner who supported the southern plight and remained good friends with Jefferson Davis until his death. In retirement, Pierce was a fierce critic of Lincoln, knowing he would become unpopular locally. And he faced a lot of protests at his home in Concord. But his criticism of Lincoln was not without merit. Pierce was a strict Constitutionalist. He argued correctly that Lincoln was trampling on the Constitution. As President, Franklin Pierce adhered to the Constitution almost without fail. He insisted on it. And that is a major credit to him despite the overall failure of his presidency.
Net Negative:
#29 Teddy Roosevelt – What? Teddy of Mt Rushmore near the bottom of the list? This is the one Republican historians like…because he was a Progressive. Teddy never met a war he didn’t want to wage, and he never met a government program he didn’t want to spend money on. He certainly had his good moments (addressing racial issues, the Panama Canal, and the badly needed Pure Food and Drug Act). However, America’s role as the world’s policeman was a Teddy creation. His presidency was a constant attempt to raise taxes (sometimes successfully) in order to grow the Federal government and pay for his whimsical ideas. As for his respect for the Constitution? When coming down on coal mine owners during a strike, he threatened Federal troops. When told that would be unconstitutional, his response was, “To hell with the Constitution when the people want coal.” He was not the unmitigated disaster that the other Roosevelt was, but he also was not the top 5 President historians like to claim he is.
#28 John Adams – It seems almost like heresy to put a Founding Father this low. I am a big fan of John Adams. In fact, I visit his tomb in Quincy, MA every few years. He was a great Founding Father! They all were. But as President? Meh. It wasn’t all bad. He successfully avoided war with France when our new nation was not ready for another war. This was not popular within his own Party though. And his presidency suffered due to subsequent lack of cooperation. Adams had thin skin and did not take well to criticism. He used the Sedition Act to punish critics, making a mockery of the First Amendment. This alone put a black mark on his presidency.
#27 Richard Nixon – Simple people simply think of Watergate as some vile crime and therefore determine Nixon was a horrible President. Idiots. Nixon was a below average President, but Watergate had nothing to do with it. Watergate was a CIA coup against an insanely popular President (not unlike the JFK assassination). To Nixon’s credit, he began the slow withdrawal from Vietnam. But many of the problems we face today land at Nixon’s feet. He took America off the gold standard. Disaster. He imposed wage and price controls to combat inflation. Disaster. Nixon emboldened Muslim Arab countries during the OPEC oil crisis. Disaster still. Nixon strengthened the communist control of China by normalizing relations with the CCP. Permanent control by CCP may have been inevitable, but the Republic of China had been a major ally of the U.S. since WWII. Nixon effectively turned America’s backs on its long time ally.
Incomplete:
#26 William Henry Harrison – The war hero Harrison died about one month after taking office. He did show signs of being a strong President despite the lack of political experience. When a couple of Senators from his own party tried to ram through their policies on the new President, he shut them down and reminded them that while he welcomed their input, “you forget that I am President.” This scolding had the desired affect as the Senators immediately backed off. Nothing more can be said about his presidency as nothing of note really had time to happen. Would he have been a good President? There really is no way to determine that.
#25 James Garfield – Garfield was heralded as a welcome change from the ineffective and weak Rutherford Hayes. By all accounts, he was a highly intelligent and morally strong man. He was the JFK of the late 1800’s—a young man elected with the hopes of reform and a new direction. Whereas JFK got 2.5 years as President, Garfield only got 4 months before he was killed by an assassin. Two issues were at the forefront of his campaign. In his inaugural address, he called for “the elevation of the Negro race from slavery to the full rights of citizenship.” In the prior twenty years since the slaves had been freed, conditions and rights for blacks in the South had only worsened. Garfield aimed to fix that. He also insisted upon civil service reform. He believed (correctly) that government corruption was running rampant. Money was being stolen. Jobs were being sold or given to family members. Garfield had the potential to be one of America’s greatest Presidents. Whether he would have lived up to the expectations we will never know.
#33 Andrew Johnson – Johnson was given the difficult task of taking over for the assassinated Abraham Lincoln. Johnson implemented the Reconstruction that Lincoln had planned for the South. Sort of. His implementation of Reconstruction was more lenient than intended. In essence, it allowed the inmates to run the asylum. Johnson was the first President to be impeached (though not convicted), and it was a Congressional hit job because they were angry with Johnson’s numerous vetoes on bills he deemed unconstitutional. Historians often put Johnson in the bottom five (like Pierce). And his presidency was certainly an overall failure and a dud following what Lincoln had planned. But like Pierce, Andrew Johnson did stick to his convictions for better or worse.
#32 Rutherford Hayes – Hayes began his term by removing all US troops from the South, thereby ending Reconstruction. As a result, black votes were targeted and the South became solid Democrat locally and nationally for the next 80 years. Reconstruction itself was not being handled well and was in need of reform. Hayes, however, simply ended it and left the South in the hands of the racist Democrats who were not inclined to enforce black voting rights. Hayes talked a big game about helping blacks, Indians, and other groups but never implemented any actual solutions. To his credit, he also tried to implement badly needed civil service reform. However, he lacked the support in Congress to ever get it done. By all accounts a well meaning man, Hayes was simply impotent as President.
#31 Gerald Ford – Ford did one good thing, pardoning Nixon. In truth, that pardon went far above Ford’s pay code. The Watergate “scandal” was a CIA hit job to politically assassinate perhaps the most popular sitting President ever. The pardon was going to happen to keep Nixon quiet for the rest of his days. As evidenced by his position on the Warren Commission, Ford was a government lackey. He was a neo con who did what he was told. During his term, the economy was stagnant and on the cusp of a recession. Overall, he didn’t do much terribly damaging. He didn’t do much at all. He was just there. His ineptitude and lack of charisma certainly brought us his successor—Carter. And that is alone enough to rate him low.
#30 Franklin Pierce – Historians love to place Pierce in the bottom five. And he was a mostly ineffectual President. Like Buchanan, he did nothing to halt the oncoming Civil War. Also like Buchanan, his weak decisions may have made the North/South animus worse. Pierce was a bit of an enigma. He was a northerner who supported the southern plight and remained good friends with Jefferson Davis until his death. In retirement, Pierce was a fierce critic of Lincoln, knowing he would become unpopular locally. And he faced a lot of protests at his home in Concord. But his criticism of Lincoln was not without merit. Pierce was a strict Constitutionalist. He argued correctly that Lincoln was trampling on the Constitution. As President, Franklin Pierce adhered to the Constitution almost without fail. He insisted on it. And that is a major credit to him despite the overall failure of his presidency.
Net Negative:
#29 Teddy Roosevelt – What? Teddy of Mt Rushmore near the bottom of the list? This is the one Republican historians like…because he was a Progressive. Teddy never met a war he didn’t want to wage, and he never met a government program he didn’t want to spend money on. He certainly had his good moments (addressing racial issues, the Panama Canal, and the badly needed Pure Food and Drug Act). However, America’s role as the world’s policeman was a Teddy creation. His presidency was a constant attempt to raise taxes (sometimes successfully) in order to grow the Federal government and pay for his whimsical ideas. As for his respect for the Constitution? When coming down on coal mine owners during a strike, he threatened Federal troops. When told that would be unconstitutional, his response was, “To hell with the Constitution when the people want coal.” He was not the unmitigated disaster that the other Roosevelt was, but he also was not the top 5 President historians like to claim he is.
#28 John Adams – It seems almost like heresy to put a Founding Father this low. I am a big fan of John Adams. In fact, I visit his tomb in Quincy, MA every few years. He was a great Founding Father! They all were. But as President? Meh. It wasn’t all bad. He successfully avoided war with France when our new nation was not ready for another war. This was not popular within his own Party though. And his presidency suffered due to subsequent lack of cooperation. Adams had thin skin and did not take well to criticism. He used the Sedition Act to punish critics, making a mockery of the First Amendment. This alone put a black mark on his presidency.
#27 Richard Nixon – Simple people simply think of Watergate as some vile crime and therefore determine Nixon was a horrible President. Idiots. Nixon was a below average President, but Watergate had nothing to do with it. Watergate was a CIA coup against an insanely popular President (not unlike the JFK assassination). To Nixon’s credit, he began the slow withdrawal from Vietnam. But many of the problems we face today land at Nixon’s feet. He took America off the gold standard. Disaster. He imposed wage and price controls to combat inflation. Disaster. Nixon emboldened Muslim Arab countries during the OPEC oil crisis. Disaster still. Nixon strengthened the communist control of China by normalizing relations with the CCP. Permanent control by CCP may have been inevitable, but the Republic of China had been a major ally of the U.S. since WWII. Nixon effectively turned America’s backs on its long time ally.
Incomplete:
#26 William Henry Harrison – The war hero Harrison died about one month after taking office. He did show signs of being a strong President despite the lack of political experience. When a couple of Senators from his own party tried to ram through their policies on the new President, he shut them down and reminded them that while he welcomed their input, “you forget that I am President.” This scolding had the desired affect as the Senators immediately backed off. Nothing more can be said about his presidency as nothing of note really had time to happen. Would he have been a good President? There really is no way to determine that.
#25 James Garfield – Garfield was heralded as a welcome change from the ineffective and weak Rutherford Hayes. By all accounts, he was a highly intelligent and morally strong man. He was the JFK of the late 1800’s—a young man elected with the hopes of reform and a new direction. Whereas JFK got 2.5 years as President, Garfield only got 4 months before he was killed by an assassin. Two issues were at the forefront of his campaign. In his inaugural address, he called for “the elevation of the Negro race from slavery to the full rights of citizenship.” In the prior twenty years since the slaves had been freed, conditions and rights for blacks in the South had only worsened. Garfield aimed to fix that. He also insisted upon civil service reform. He believed (correctly) that government corruption was running rampant. Money was being stolen. Jobs were being sold or given to family members. Garfield had the potential to be one of America’s greatest Presidents. Whether he would have lived up to the expectations we will never know.
