5 Worst U.S. Presidents of All Time

http://nationalinterest.org ^ | November 5, 2014 | Robert W. Merry

[NKP_Vet]

In the spring of 2006, midway through George W. Bush’s second presidential term, Princeton historian Sean Wilentz published a piece in Rolling Stone that posed a provocative question: Was Bush the worst president ever? He said the best-case scenario for Bush was "colossal historical disgrace’’ and added: "Many historians are now wondering whether Bush, in fact, will be remembered as the very worst president in all of American history."

The Wilentz assessment was probably a bit premature. It is difficult to judge any president’s historical standing while he still sits in the Oval Office, when political passions of the day are swirling around him with such intensity. And yet the Founding Fathers, in creating our system of government, invited all of us to assess our elected leaders on an ongoing basis, and so interim judgments are fair game, however harsh or favorable.

Which raises a question for today: How will Barack Obama be viewed in history? Will he be among the greats? Or will he fall into the category of faltering failures?

[Robert DeLong]

Here is a pretty good account of what went down regarding the Shah's admittance to the U.S.

[Robert DeLong]

Although Buchanan sitting on his hands caused more American bloodshed than any other....

I guess one can look at it that way. However, the truth is Buchanan argued that while the states had no legal right to seceded, the federal government had no right to prevent them from doing so. I think we are still grappling with that to this very day. Do states have the legal right to secede?

So my question is, did he sit on his hands or try to honor the Constitution as written? In my opinion he was literally between a rock & hard place, as the two sides were destined to clash sooner or later over the issue of slavery.

[Robert DeLong]

From the horse’s mouth he stated he was asleep for most of the disputed 1 day of his Presidency. As a matter of fact he rejected that claim to fame.

[Roman_War_Criminal]

“Do states have the legal right to secede?”

My answer is Absolutely!

The whole premise of our “civil war” can be argued forever and we would still not come to a good conclusion. Maybe I’m harsh on him because of the emotion involved in losing over half a MILLION of our best (both sides) from that generation. It was such a waste of life!

Up until about that time in history, no other nation (well maybe Britain) had thought of slavery as morally wrong. Folks are quick to point the finger at the US, but fail to mention Muslim nations, Portugal, Spain, China, Japan, Turkey and almost all of the other Empires in history who had us beat by a long shot in this department.

[Robert DeLong]

I concur with everything you said, which is why I hesitate blaming him for the Civil War. What I can be harsh on him for was the fact that he was in favor of allowing slavery to expand into the new territories. But even if his position on slavery had been reversed, the Civil War would have proceeded along. The divide on the issue was not going to be resolved without the conflict. Thus he was screwed no matter what he did or believed in. Truly a good example of the incredibly burdensome responsibilities that a President often times faces. Which is why electing a President should not be taken lightly.