Who is the worst president in history?

But doing nothing let things only get worse to the point that Civil War was seen as inevitable by the end of his term. As someone said above, the seeds were planted before 1856, but I would argue that not dealing them and allowing the greatest crisis in our history to simply grow before his eyes is just as bad as actively making it worse.

Johnson is interesting because (if memory serves, please correct me if I'm wrong), he was following Lincoln's Reconstruction plan that Congress disagreed with feeling it was too lenient. It would have been interesting to see how Lincoln would have been treated by Congress (no way he gets impeached like Johnson) and if his legacy as possibly the answer to this thread's natural counterpart would be different today.

 

LBJ, Bush ... at least one good president came from Texas.

Sam Houston.

EDIT: Oh, yeah. He's really from Tennessee.

 

Not saying Clinton was in the right there. He's hardly my favorite president of all time (that'd be James K. Polk -- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_K._Polk), but in hindsight I've come to realize that most of the charges against Clinton were trumped-up bullshit. Clinton was slimy, and there was probably dirt there somewhere. But what they impeached him on, they shouldn't have done it. It's part of the reason our political climate is so contentious today.

 

1. Nixon
2. Buchanan
3. A. Johnson
4. Harding
5. Fillmore
6. LBJ
7. Hayes
8. Reagan
9. Grant
10. Daddy Bush

(W not rated. Yet.)

 

Another interesting legacy question here I think, Tomas. JFK had quietly begun stepping things up in Vietnam. If he had lived, would he have continued that policy? It obviously would have tarnished his legacy.

 

No doubt they will, and with good reason of course.

 

why in the heck did LBJ not make that list?
[/quote]

Because he rammed through the Civil Rights Act of 1964, THE most important piece of legislation to pass Congress in the 20th century. Had he not let himself get sucked into Vietnam, he'd have been reelected in '68 by another landslide and he'd be regarded as one of the 10 best presidents in history. But...

 

So going back to the dead presidents, Buchanan, Johnson, Pierce and Harding make everybody's list, when such lists are made.

Why hasn't anyone mentioned Nixon?? He's certainly up there.


OK. I didn't see Starman's post while I was typing. Good job. Nixon's No. 1!

 

Harding is another good choice. Obviously he presided over the Roaring 20's, but his administration was wracked with scandal and he sure didn't have the foresight to worry about the economy slowing down at all, leading to the Depression being such a surprise.

 

Yeah, the importance of the Civil Rights Act can't be overestimated.

 

Here's what never fails to crack me up on these threads: The same people who think history will "vindicate" Shrub are the ones who love to hammer Carter.

The passage of 20 years hasn't helped Carter much in a lot of folks eyes. It certainly won't in Shrub's, either.

All that said, A. Johnson, Buchanan, Nixon, Hoover were all freaking awful.

 

I think he's neck and neck with Johnson for the worst...I was just staying away from the second half of the 20th century.