Too bad it's in the singular. I'd say all of them except Jefferson, Madison, VanBuren and President Paul (2009-2017). The worsts: LBJ, Nixon, Carter, Bushes, Clinton, Reagan.
But even Jefferson caved in rather dramatically in supporting intervention and redistribution, despite his fine rhetoric.
Webster: But even Jefferson caved in rather dramatically in supporting intervention and redistribution, despite his fine rhetoric.
"I should not regret a fair and full trial of the entire abolition of capital punishment."----James Madison, 4th President of the USA
I don't think it is possible to answer this question, but I would say FDR, Lincoln and McKinley is the closest to be called the worst presidents. Bush Jr. is also in the club, but I don't think he is comparable with those three.
Lincoln and FDR are certainly right at the top, but I have to put in a plug for Wilson. He gave us the income tax, the Federal Reserve, the 17th Amendment (direct election of senators) and WWI and its aftermath. If Wilson hadn't set the stage in WWI, FDR might have been just another crackpot patrician.
Oh, yes I forget about him, I agree with you 100%
This is an easy one. Lincoln at the top spot for murdering 622,000 soldiers and for killing secession and nullification. He laid the foundation, and the size and scope could now grow exponentially since those two checks on federal power were removed. Wilson at #2 for killing 113,000 Americans plus his involvement in the income tax and other progressive crap. He also intervened in Russia - without that, the Bolsheviks probably wouldn't have come to power. FDR at 3 for his Raw Deal and by now establishing the govt. as the nanny; he also killed 404,000 soldiers by pushing us into WWII. LBJ at #4 for extending the raw deal with his Great Society and escalation of Vietnam. Billions poured down two ratholes that bankrupted America. #5 goes to the decider-in-chief, need I say why? #6 is the craziest of all time, "Teddy" the warmonger.
I personally believe that a stance against the death penalty for murder is an offense against natural law, but be that as it may be, his record on monetary affairs is not the best. I recommend A Financial History of the United States by Dewey, if you can still find a copy.
Worst president...jeez there are so many...
I am tied between three of them. Abraham Lincoln (the civil war, printing money, and being our all around first dictator), Woodrow Wilson (for making the Federal Reserve, Satan's bank of choice), and Harry Truman( for the mass murder of civilians with the use of two atomic bombs)
I pray that these men recieve mercy in their judgment from The Almighty.
Sure, one strips you of your money and right to private papers. Another your property, countries moral dignity and what's left of your Constitution?
The answer is easy, who has deprived you of more Liberties than any other?
The real question you want to ask yourself is who's controlling Pinocchio strings? It sure isn't the lovable Geppetto.
Without a doubt Wilson, he brought the Fed, was the first to want to make "The world safe for Democracy" which is Bush's model. This guy indirectly set the world up for WW2 as well. The USA had no business in WW1, they put the lucitania in the waters dispite the Germans warning them not to because it would be sunk and that was the reason Wilson used to get the US in the war. Bankers wanted that and Wilson obeyed.
MetalCanuck:Bankers wanted that and Wilson obeyed.
Some bankers certainly wanted it. But Wilson badly wanted it himself. He saw the war as a path to greatness, both for the US and for himself.
The worst was Nixon. He even had to gaul to select the collegiate national champion. He is just the president. He had all the workings of a tyrant. He kept an enemies list. He had the dirty tricks campaign. He bombed the poor folks in Cambodia. He kept the Vietnam War going that George Bush would have continued up to this day. He was basically a scumbag.
After Nixon comes starting with the worst: Rosevelt, Wilson, Lincoln, Rosevelt and Adams who signed into law the Alien and Sedition Acts.
Wilson was the worst president ever, he screwed America in ways that nobody proior could hope and everybody after took advantage of.
Lincoln, for ending the voluntary status of the federal republic and founding the draft, TR for ending the Gilded Age, attacking peaceful trusts, and popularizing the term "democracy", Wilson for entering WW1, FDR for sending troops to the Western Front and thus aiding the Soviets, Truman for entering Korea, LBJ for enter Vietnam, and Bush 43 for entering Iraq. All still support the existence of the draft for emergencies!!! The bulk of the rest of the other presidents exhibited wretched mediocrity with extreme exceptions: Coolidge, Jefferson, Cleveland and perhaps a few others.
The worst, in approximate order:
1. Abraham Lincoln for starting the War Against Southern Secession resulting in wholesale slaughter and the start of big federal government.
2. FDR for the New Deal, and causing untold misery by extending the Great Depression unnecessarily through idiotic economic policies.
3. Woodrow Wilson for allowing the creation of the Federal Reserve, income tax, and getting the U.S. into WW1.
4. Harry Truman for using nuclear weapons against hundreds of thousands of innocent civilians.
5. Theodore Roosevelt for his use of the Sherman Antitrust Act, and for being a complete nut-job.
6. George W. Bush for expanding the money supply and national debt more than any other president, for invading Iraq and for shredding the Bill of Rights. (Final position on this list unknown)
The best,
1. William Henry Harrison for being president for only 31 days (died in office), and thereby doing the least amount of damage.
The thief, of course, - FDR.
One must remember in their evaluation of politics that, like in law, precedent is paramount. Without the horrendous acts of those who have preceded them, our tyrants would not have been able to do as much damage as they did in real life. As such, here is my list of the worst presidents.
1.) Lincoln. "Union uber alles" sums it all up. His taxing, spending, regulating, war, and suppression of civil liberties set the stage for tyranny abroad and tyranny at home by way of empire and the surveillance state.
2.) Teddy Roosevelt. Advanced the cause of 'scientific progressivism', which gave the state more power to intervene at home and abroad for utopian fantasies.
3.) Woodrow Wilson. Set another stage for empire through intervening in Europe, as well as income taxes and inflation at home, and advanced the horrid religion of democracy and egalitarianism.
4.) FDR. The man who truly forced America into being a bastardized mixed-economy, and ensured that America would be bled out internationally ever since.
5.) LBJ. Great Society and Vietnam. (I wonder what pattern these presidents are forming?)
6.) Bill Clinton. Kosovo laid the groundworks of the Iraq invasion through the flouting of international law, the last piece of law outside the dominion of the state, his welfare 'reform' was a joke, the dot-com bubble he created was a catastrophe, and he helped advance the surveillance state through the ATF and certain legislation. Bush II has done nothing Clinton hadn't already done.
My votes and just a couple reasons why...
1. Wilson - Federal Reserve and income tax.
2. Truman - National Security Act of 1947 creating the CIA.
3. Bush, Jr. - Patriot Act, "Unitary Executive" theory run rampant, Military Commissions Act
Let's not forget Andrew Jackson people. Remember he voted against the nation bank. Thats pretty kick ass if you ask me. But as far as the worst, I would agree with basically all of the presidents listed earlier.
I think a list of worst presidents has to include Ronald Reagan somewhere. His war on drugs legislation gave the IRS the legal right to examine and monitor our bank accounts without a search warrant.
Very good point I forgot about this. I hate the right's glorification of Reagan like some republican christ child. Reagan was just like every other politican; a lot of talk charisma and policies that were almost completely different from what they say. The republicans have a huge problem with this. Any person who says that Republicans today are for small government need psychiatric care.
The answer is the villain, the scum, the scourge, the left's hero: Franklin Delano Roosevelt.
No one else has come close. I hope that Hell sprung into existance just for him.
Don't allow leftists to play games with definitions! Some of the libertarian-leaning leftists at this forum will try to redefine "left-wing" back to its original defition (Third Estate, limited government, free-markets, laissez-faire reforms, etc.). Fine! We non-leftists can't stop them from using their own personal definitions; they can use whatever labels they want to describe any concept they want.However, they have the audacity to then use their personal definition of "left-wing" (remember, the original definition, which is no longer valid) to prove that modern leftists are more libertarian than modern rightists! They will say that libertarianism is "inherently leftist" (again, using the original, no longer valid definition), and use that to insist that we should prefer and side with modern leftists over modern rightists.
Question their motives.
Ego: The answer is the villain, the scum, the scourge, the left's hero: Franklin Delano Roosevelt. No one else has come close.
No one else has come close.
I think Lincoln was worse.
My list:
Lincoln, FDR, Wilson, LBJ, Nixon, Clinton*
Clinton is asterisked because he's a bit different. I hate the others because of their policies and thier attacks on freedom. Clinton's policies weren't too bad, but he makes the list simply for being evil (as shown, in one of many examples, by his willingness to destroy the reputation of a young girl that he knew to be innocent just to save himself).
"He that struggles with us strengthens our nerves, and sharpens our skill. Our antagonist is our helper." Edmund Burke
I don't think Lincoln was intentionally trying to destroy liberty; FDR often gloated about it.
I realize that slavery was on its way out, but at least Lincoln ended it. FDR didn't do anything right.
I will repost what I posted in our local newspaper forum on this topic a few days ago. Needless to say, it got quite a different reaction there. :)
The disastrous Presidents:
1. Abraham Lincoln - The slaughter of 600,000 Americans in an unlawful war of conquest. The forcible overthrow and subjugation of the Confederate States. To many abuses of power to even list. Lincoln's tyranny set the pattern for the tyranny of the Federal Government and the subsequent Presidents, all the way to the current one. George Bush is merely raising the bar that was first established by Lincoln and his four thousand doesn't hold a candle to Lincoln's 600,000. To further add to his crimes is that he brought to fruition the centralization of economic power in Washington, D.C., that had long been pushed by the Federalists and later the Whigs, and long resisted by the Jeffersonian Republicans and Jacksonian Democrats.
2. Franklin Delano Roosevelt - He never did solve the depression, by the way. He took the bad situation he received from Hoover and totally f***ed it up beyond repair. He did demonstrate once and for all that Keynesian Economics does not work. Sadly, most modern citizens have never absorbed this lesson. His greatest crime was the ending of the gold standard and confiscation of gold from Americans. His brutal intimidation and overthrow of the once independent Judiciary Branch of government also stands to his disgrace. Maneuvering the United States into conflict with Japan again stands to his disgrace. FDR continues to screw this country from his grave, with the many millstones he tied around America's neck.
3. Woodrow Wilson - His greatest crime, for which America may never recover, was the establishment of the Federal Reserve. In one stroke of the pen, he forever sold America out to the tyranny of inflation. He also set in motion the events leading up to the Great Depression. His needless involvement of this country in World War I and his incompetent foreign policy would end up dooming the world to experience World War II.
The failures:
1. Theodore Roosevelt - Advocacy and advancement of central banking and his ultra progressive policies.
2. Herbert Hoover - Turning an ordinary "panic" into a true disastrous with his interventionist policies. In fact, Hoover's policies would very much foreshadow FDR's later policies. In both cases they failed, badly.
3. Lyndon Baines Johnson - The disastrous Great Society and Vietnam.
4. Tie. William McKinley - advocacy of central banking and centralization of economic planning. Also, imperialist foreign policy.
4. Tie. George W. Bush - No real need to explain this. :)
4. Tie. Harry Truman - Use of an atomic weapon on a civilian city.
5. Tie. Richard Nixon - Bad economic policy, particularly the ending of the gold exchange standard. He does get a reprieve for his foreign policy, which is why he is not tied for 4th with the others.
5. Tie. Jimmy Carter - Just general ineptness for the Presidency.
It should be noted that government expanded both absolutely AND as a percentage of the GDP during the administrations of the eleven Presidents listed. It should be noted that the partisan breakdown is six Republicans and five Democrats, lest it be thought that I considered either party worth a damn.
At least the Democrats WERE a damn good party, up until 1896, that is.
<below this line was originally posted as a separate post>
Good Presidents <defined as those Presidents who abided by Article II of the Constitution and did not fundamentally abuse their offices, disregarding minor scandals>
1. Grover Cleveland
2. Martin van Buren
3. Calvin Coolidge
4. Warren G. Harding <this President is noted for his excellent handling of the panic of 1921, caused by WWI inflation under Wilson, if Herbert Hoover had only taken heed of this man's excellent example.>
Adequate Presidents <generally as above, but had serious incidents during their presidency>
1. Thomas Jefferson - Failed to abolish the Bank of the United States established under the Federalists and failed to undo Federalist tariffs. Also foreign policy blunders.
2. James Madison - Same as Jefferson, plus War of 1812.
3. Andrew Jackson - Overall an excellent President, however his brutal treatment of Indians gives him a major black eye.
4. Dwight Eisenhower - Foreign policy problems.
5. George Washington - Washington suffers mainly from being under the influence of Alexander Hamilton. The Bank of the United States is his major failure, followed by suppression of the Whiskey Rebellion. To his credit, however, he kept the Presidency in deferment to the Congress.
Honorable mentions that I have not quite placed yet.
James Monroe and John Tyler.
The remaining pre-1896 Democratic Presidents, Franklin Pierce, James Buchanan deserve some positive mention for at least trying, although both were ineffective. Andrew Johnson merits a thumbs up for standing up to the radical Republicans.
As for the rest of them, they go into the mediocre category. In chronological order the mediocres would be:
John Adams
John Quincy Adams
William Henry Harrison
James Polk
Zachary Taylor
Milliard Fillmore
U.S. Grant <borderline for the failure range>
Rutherford Hayes
James Garfield
Chester Arthur
Benjamin Harrison
William Taft
John Kennedy
Gerald Ford
Ronald Reagan
George H.W. Bush
Bill Clinton
Mark B.:I will repost what I posted in our local newspaper forum on this topic a few days ago. Needless to say, it got quite a different reaction there. :)
Ego:FDR didn't do anything right.
Oh he did some things right. He ended the diliberate practice of keeping freight rates high in the south to discourage industries that might compete with the north. From the inception of the Interstate Commerce Commision up to the FDR administration it was cheaper to ship steel from Pittsburgh to Atlanta than from Birmingham to Atlanta.
The usual suspects: (starting with worst)
1. Franklin Delano Roosevelt.
2. Abraham Lincoln
3. Woodrow Wilson
4. Herbert Hoover
5. George W. Bush
...And nobody has ever taught you how to live out on the street, But now you're gonna have to get used to it...
Lincoln; no contest.
Pro Christo et Libertate integre!
On a related note, I noticed the "Libertarian/Classical Liberal" ranking has been removed from the Wikipedia article related to historical presidential rankings. In the discussion area the reason "inflammatory" was given. I guess only statist definitions are considered acceptable by that bunch.
I'm in no support of Truman or the nuclear bomb, but it is said that the nuclear bomb saved more lives then it destroyed. The Japanese, at the time, had a win at all cost mentality and would have fought tooth and nail until most of it's citizen were either dead or unable to fight.
Why would it have been necessary to invade mainland Japan to protect this country?
Like I was saying, it was as much protection for us as it was for them.
Why are those the only two options? Don't get me wrong; if the Japanese government had positioned itself so that the only reasonable way to defend American lives was to kill civilians, then any civilian deaths should be blamed on the Japanese government for creating the situation.
However, several people (including Dwight D. Eisenhower) have expressed that the bombings were unnecessary . In the case that the bombings were unnecessary, it amounts to little more than state-sponsored terrorism.
Absolutely Terrible
Abe Lincoln, Franklin Roosevelt, Woodrow Wilson, Teddy Roosevelt, Lyndon Johnson
Terrible
George W. Bush, John Adams, Bill Clinton, William McKinley, Herbert Hoover, Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan, Harry Truman, John Quincy Adams, James Polk
Mediocre
Jimmy Carter, Gerald Ford, George H.W. Bush, John Kennedy, Rutherford Hayes, Benjamin Harrison, William Taft, Ullyses Grant, James Madison, George Washington, Dwight Eisenhower, Andrew Jackson, Zachary Taylor, Millard Fillmore
Decent
Warren Harding, Calvin Coolidge, James Buchanan, Andrew Johnson, James Garfield, Chester Arthur
Good
Grover Cleveland, John Tyler, Franklin Pierce, Thomas Jefferson, James Monroe, Martin Van Buren
aperetti:it is said that the nuclear bomb saved more lives then it destroyed
Propaganda. There was every indication the Japanese were looking for a way to end the war. There was never going to be a need for an invasion.
aperetti: it is said that the nuclear bomb saved more lives then it destroyed.
it is said that the nuclear bomb saved more lives then it destroyed.
And why would killing 10 man be worst than killing 9 or 1 for that matter? Killing is killing a terrible crime, numbers has no meaning in it. The important thing is that you can kill someone in self defense (that is what soldiers does most of the time, or at least they kill someone who are a threat because caries a weapon and is ready to kill), and you can kill children, women, unarmed people, elderly people... now guess what was killed by the a-bomb? A soldier with a weapon, or thousands of infants, toddlers, children...P.S. It isn't important who was the worst president, that is history, instead the question is who will be the worst president? Because I think all of the current candidates (the 3 mayor one) are capable for being much worse than all the worse presidents in the history combined. Of course only the future can answer that question, and the future is the child of the present and the grandchild of the past, influenced by them but not neceserily is like them.
DBratton: aperetti:it is said that the nuclear bomb saved more lives then it destroyed Propaganda. There was every indication the Japanese were looking for a way to end the war. There was never going to be a need for an invasion.
Says the U.S government- the droppers of the bomb. Obviously they are going to try to make it sound like their actions were heroic and the only choice available. Dbratton got it right.