United Liberty
James Buchanan: The Worst President?
Mon, 02/16/2009 - 3:57pm | posted by Shana Kluck
In honor of Presidents Day, CSPAN released the results of their poll asking who is the best president in American history. Not surprisingly, Abraham Lincoln (once again) topped the chart, but the regular last place finisher, Andrew Johnson, was replaced today by the last president born in the 18th century, James Buchanan.
Why is he considered the worst president? Reading through several sources, it appears that President Buchanan is seen as the man who could have stopped the War Between the States (or Mr. Lincoln’s War, as it’s known here in the South). His “lack of action” is what earns him last place.
I find this interesting. The President who did his best to avoid invading the South, leading to the death of hundreds of thousands of Union and Confederate soldiers, is viewed as the worst in history, because he did not stop the war from happening. And yet the President, under whose watch the war started and who authorized the invasion of the Confederate sovereign states is seen as the best.
I’ll assume that Lincoln’s popularity is mostly based on his legacy of outlawing slavery, but I still find the results of the poll a bit of a paradox.
Who would you pick as your favorite and least favorite American President?
My picks- Thomas Jefferson for best, FDR as the worst.
My vote for least bad president would be for either Grover Cleveland or Martin van Buren, with an honorable mention to the one-month term of William Henry Harrison. Jefferson was far better before he gained power, but was still relatively “good” as president.
For worst president, Lincoln and FDR are definitely contenders, with Wilson not far behind. Dubya is not too far behind Wilson, and Obama already looks to be fighting for the spot.
Difficult to say. I don’t consider myself a true Presidential historian. I do think your choice of FDR as worst is… questionable. To say the least. Of course I understand that this is a “free market at all costs” sort of place… So have at it.
Buchanan was drunk more than he was sober during his time in office— and I’m not exaggerating. He created a scenario the made things WORSE between the North and South. Lincon (much like our current president) inherited a mess. He didn’t even want the job and told Lincoln, “I hope your as pleased to take this post as I am to leave it.” He hated his job and it showed.
Also, you’re not basing your “FDR is the worst” choice on what some ignorant republican legislator said last week, are you? Remember, he blamed FDR for the Great Depression even though it started BEFORE he took office? All FDR did was create a zillion jobs to get America back on its feet and set it up for success over then next 30 years. I’m not even going to mention that he helped create the most powerful military in the world— oops!
I got a feeling you’re going to blame Obama for the economic crisis we’re in now, aren’t you?
And besides financing the most overrated camping trip in American history (Lewis and Clark) and fathering some illegitimate kids with one of his slaves before shipping them off to France, what did Jefferson do?
Nah, I don’t like FDR because he did more to run-over the Constitution and push us towards socialism than anyone else I can think of. Not to mention, he tried to hijack the Supreme Court.
And it’s hard to blame Obama for the current crisis- he hasn’t done much yet that has actually affected it. Though by the time the recently passed spending bill fully takes affect, Obama will certainly have to share the blame in making it worse.
Oh, Jefferson. I’m kinda partial to the role he played in choosing the words used in those docs we don’t pay any attention to any more- the DOI and the Constitution. In fact, his whole philosophy of government is pretty cool.
“To compel a man to furnish funds for the propagation of ideas he disbelieves and abhors is sinful and tyrannical.”
One of my favorite Jefferson quotes.
I agree
FDR was one of the greatest presidents we have ever had
The New Deal programs turned around the depression
Also, WWII created many new jobs in the war industry
I have to go with G.W. Bush for part 1 and G.W. Bush for part 2.
Hey all… Shana, Austin. I ‘stumbled’ onto another article. Stumbleupon has really pinpointed my interests I guess.
In honor of Pres Day, I figure I’d throw out this link: http://www.bibliotecapleyades.net/sociopolitica/sociopol_globalbanking26…
Mentions a lot of presidents. It’s the history of moneychangers. It actually goes against a few opinions of people I know (wink wink) that the gold standard is almost as bad as our current debacle. Regardless of the medium, money changers want to control it. This article is DEFINITELY worth the read.
My favorite presidents: George Washington, Andrew Jackson,
Worst Presidents: W Bush, Woodrow Wilson…
Oh yeah, FDR was pretty lame too.
It’s amazing because the top 5 are probably the worse 5 (replace Teddy with Wilson)
That would put Washington in the bottom five; I don’t agree with that. He did some bad things as president (possibly the worst was calling massive numbers of federal troops to crush the Whiskey Rebellion), but I don’t know if he deserves a bottom five rating!
FDR best. Harding worst.
I know. If Lincoln had allowed the sovereign Southern states (stifles chuckle) to go their seperate ways. They could be in the land of the free market (Mexico) where labour is worth pennies and capital is held by the richest cadre of families. And the North could have an egalitarian, Western European style socialism, with adequate medical coverage and amnesty for all those illegal immigrants from Alabama who come seeking a better life washing dishes in Philadelphia.
oops didn’t see ol’ washington in the top 5 when i said that :p
Teddy Roosevelt best, Andrew Johnson worst.
FDR-
Lincoln-
Jackson-
Jefferson-
Teddy-
Polk-
Washington-
Truman-
Clinton-
Cleveland-
Eisenhower-
LBJ-
Monroe-
Kennedy-
Adams-
McKinley-
Q. Adams-
Van Buren-
Arthur-
George Bush Sr.-
Hayes-
Taft-
Wilson-
Madison-
Reagan-
Carter-
Ford-
Coolidge-
Tyler-
Grant-
Harrison-
Taylor-
Fillmore-
Pierce-
Johnson-
Nixon-
Hoover-
Buchanan-
Harding-
Bush-
Unranked
Harrison and Garfield
Top 5
1) Thomas Jefferson- I mean, he’s responsible for a large part of what’s considered “American Values” Which really are derived from alot of what was in Adam Smith’s “Wealth of Nations”
2) JFK- Signed an executive order to take monetary power out of the hands of the Federal Reserve.
3) Grover Cleveland- The best i can gather, is that he opposed allocating federal money to “aid” states and individuals (basically anti-welfare)
4) Ronald Reagan- He helped reel back in the out of control spending of his predecessors, even though he is responsible for our “war on drugs” which has wasted an exorbitant amount of taxpayer’s money over the years, and driving the drug trade underground. Increasing street gang violence and turf wars.
5) Andrew Jackson- Won a huge victory over the Second Bank of the US. Securing America’s financial security, and ALSO, HE PAID OFF THE FEDERAL DEBT. I rank him 5th instead of first because of his involvement in the “Trail of Tears” debacle.
Worst-
1) Woodrow Wilson- Thanks Mr. Wilson, for allowing the creation of the Federal Reserve System, you single-handedly set the stage for us to fail.
2) FDR- Sure, he created alot of jobs, but the New Deal is one of the worst things in our history. He created programs that set America up for failure, not success. Social Security is bankrupt last time I checked.
3) Teddy- I can’t stand by and watch as people hold a person in as high a regard as they do Teddy Roosevelt. His ideals alone turn my stomach, he’s someone who supported class warfare, federal involvement in peoples lives, and redistribution of wealth…wait…maybe i’m confusing him with Obama…oh wait…They’re both repugnant excuses for politicians that have no interest but to make anyone not in the government poor and to systematically strip us of our constitution and free market. I guess Obama will place 3rd or higher on this list…but that depends on whether or not he ruins the country.
4) GWB- Let’s face it, he’s an idiot progressive hiding under the cloak of the Republican Party. But he’s not number 1 because he did have a decent strategy for Iraq. Except that we never should have been there in the first place.
5) Jimmy Carter- Maybe he should have stuck to peanut farming, or maybe he lost his brain in a pile of peanuts, i’m sure it blended in well enough even a crew acting under Bush’s Patriot Act couldn’t find it. Can you say massive inflation? Under Carter, the Fed printed 13% more money, which resulted in a sharp increase of interest rates up to 20% to reel back in the out of control dollar.
Honest Abe gets the honorable mention on both lists, on the best, for ending slavery and shutting down the central banks…again. He gets the honorable mention on the worst list for the unintended consequence that came out of “preserving the union” and that’s the federal government’s habit of undermining things like, say, states rights. While it was acceptable for the reason at the time, our government has decided in our modern society to continuously undermine states rights consistently.
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