Posted on 02/18/2006 12:20:02 PM PST by ncountylee
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) - From engaging in sexual relations with an intern to letting the Vietnam War escalate, U.S. presidents have been blamed for some egregious errors. So who had the worst blunder? President James Buchanan, for failing to avert the Civil War, according to a survey of presidential historians organized by the University of Louisville's McConnell Center.
The survey's top 10 presidential blunders were announced Saturday during a President's Day weekend conference called "Presidential Moments."
"We can probably learn just as much - or maybe even more - by looking at the mistakes rather than looking at why they were great," said political scientist and McConnell Center Director Gary Gregg.
Scholars who participated said Buchanan didn't do enough to oppose efforts by Southern states to secede from the Union before the Civil War.
The second worst mistake, the survey found, was Andrew Johnson's decision just after the Civil War to side with Southern whites and oppose improvements in justice for Southern blacks beyond abolishing slavery.
"We continue to pay" for Johnson's errors, wrote Michael Les Benedict, an Ohio State University history professor emeritus.
Lyndon Johnson earned the No. 3 spot by allowing the Vietnam War to intensify, Gregg said.
Where does Bill Clinton's Monica Lewinsky scandal rank? Many scholars said it belonged at No. 10, saying that it probably affected Clinton's presidency more than it did American history and the public.
The rest of the top 10 blunders:
-4: Woodrow Wilson's refusal to compromise on the Treaty of Versailles after World War I.
-5: Richard Nixon's involvement in the Watergate cover-up.
-6: James Madison's failure to keep the United States out of the War of 1812 with Britain.
-7: Thomas Jefferson's Embargo Act of 1807, a self-imposed prohibition on trade with Europe during the Napoleonic Wars.
-8: John F. Kennedy allowing the Bay of Pigs Invasion that led to the Cuban Missile Crisis.
-9: Ronald Reagan and the Iran-Contra Affair, the effort to sell arms to Iran and use the money to finance an armed anti-communist group in Nicaragua.
Carter didn't the mistake it was the people who elected him. What a friggin disaster.
Wilson's intervention at Vera Cruz was stupid, but may have contributed to the downfall of Gen. Huerta, which was a positive development. His sending Gen. Pershing to try to capture Pancho Villa, on the other hand, was a complete fiasco...but without it there may never have been "The Ballad of Pancho and Lefty."
Lyndon Johnson, the Great Society.
Indeed. The horrible spawn of alphabet agencies that this monstrosity created will haunt the U.S. for generation to come.
Richard Nixon, Department of Education.
The DOE was created by Carter, not Nixon, I believe.
Johnson made lots of mistakes in handling Reconstruction, but to blame him for everything is too simplistic. Nobody had a clear idea of what needed to be done.
Let me guess (without reading the article) -- Clinton and Carter didn't commit any of them.
If Ford had not pardoned Nixon so quickly, or if he had not made the gaffe about Poland in one of the debates, or if Dole had not made the crack about "Democrat wars" in his debate in 1976, maybe the Carter presidency would have been one of those historical might-have-beens (like the Henry Clay presidency or the Alton Parker presidency)...and we all would have been better off.
Where are Jimmy Carter's blunders? Soup to nuts, everything from the sell out of the Panama Canal to Iran. (And anything else he did or said in between -- and continues to do or say.)
Maybe if the border was secure back then, the Pancho Villa incident would not have occurred..
[I'm not surprised that what I consider the worst presidential decision of the last 30 years isn't there:
Jimmy Carter decides to let the Shah of Iran fall.]
Let the Shah fall? My education says he worked to aid the the Shah's fall through rebellion.
I agree with you but the truth be told, Eisenhower got the U.S. involved in Vietnam.
It also ended up being a success, as the Sandinistas were defeated in Nicaragua -- which was the objective of the exercise. Iran-Contra's presence on this list clearly reveals the agenda of these "historians".
I'd be happy to read any references you have on that. Not that my loathing of Carter to grow much, but I'm always willing to try.
I was thinking more about his social welfare programs, Attempting to pack the Supreme Court, giving away eastern Europe after the war..That sort of thing but take your pick, there's plenty to choose from.
I'm surprised that nobody has mentioned Truman's loss of China>>
That's because Truman didn't lose China; Cash Mychek did. Duh.
There are historical fallacies of many kinds all up and down the list. Some of them are in the questions of the 'historians', others are in the historical facts they choose. If Andy Jackson's 1833 threat isn't to be counted, then perhaps the decision to not do something about alternatives to oil after 1973, which was a continuing decision of every admin since then, will prove to be the biggest mistake of all.
"Reagan allowing US troops to be under control of UN in Beruit"
I agree with that one. A couple friends from high school died in the Marine barracks attack. U.S. Marines performing guard duty at their base not allowed to have loaded weapons... SHEER GENIUS!
I would love to see all the research that went into this. Let's name a few memorable oopsies:
No on taking one Osama BinLaden!
Affairs in the Oval Office with interns!
Not getting involved in the Rowanden genocide!
Pulling troops after Mogadishu!
Selling secrets to China!
Hand shake nuclear power deals with North Korea!
Aid and friendship to Aerofat terrorists and corruption!
Panama Canal!
....and so on!
My Gosh. This group of brilliant intellects got together to discuss politics and this is the best they came up with. I only took 4 minutes to jot down these for discussion.
Richard Nixon - EPA
Yalta agreement, anyone?
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