Worst 10: 1. Buchanan
2. Pierce
3. Van Buren
4. William Henry Harrison
5. (tie) Nixon
5. (tie) George W. Bush
7. Hoover
8. Harding
9. (tie) Garfield
10. (tie) Filmore
Of interesting note: Wilson established the Federal Reserve in his first term and led America into World War I in his second term. I would have put him in the worse 10 for those very same reasons.
Gee whiz. What would we have done if all those antiquated monarchist regimes had continued to beat each other bloody ‘til 1920? That War To End All Wars thing sure worked out great.
It’s even worse. The U.S. military was poorly funded and poorly equipped due to Wilson’s policies, prior to asking for a Declaration of war. The solders didn’t even have helmets!
Wasn't Harrison only in office 30 days? And for those 30 days, wasn't he in bed with pneumonia because he gave a 2 hour inaugural speech in the freezing rain and then finally croaked? I mean... not particularly brilliant, but how can they even gauge that he is the 4th worst president? He didn't do anything! Jeez, going by those standards, O-Drama should also be in the Top 5 all time worst.
But give him time. I'm sure he'll move to the number 1 spot before 6 months are up.
Consider the Top 10. FDR is our most overrated president. He was flailing about trying to fix the Depression but managed only to extend it and make it worse. It took Hitler and Tojo to rescue his reputation.
Then there's Woody Wilson, the Professor, allegedly our highest IQ president. What did he do? He gave us the income tax and screwed up the aftermath of WW I, leading to Hitler. I agree, he belongs in the ten worst.
Now consider the Bottom 10. Both Johnsons are missing, not to mention the peanut farmin' nuclear physicist with big teeth! Be serious!
Milhous probably belongs on that list, but I predict GWB is going to end up ranking about where HST is.
In my list, FDR was by far the worst President.
Yup. Wilson belongs in the bottom 10. I would put LBJ there as the only US President ever to abdicate during time of war. Then there’s Carter the fool who has done more than any living person to undermine peace in the ME. I think it could be argued that Reagan was the last truly ‘American’ President. We’ve had nothing but plutocratic internationalists since.
In my opinion:
BEST
1. Abraham Lincoln, 1861-1865
2. George Washington, 1789-1797
3. Theodore Roosevelt, 1901-1909
4. Thomas Jefferson, 1801-1809
5. Ronald Reagan, 1981-1989
6. Andrew Jackson, 1829-1837
7. James Madison, 1809-1817
8. James Knox Polk, 1845-1849
9. Harry S. Truman, 1945-1953
10. Grover Cleveland, 1885-1889
WORST
1 James Buchanan, 1857-1861
2. Franklin Pierce, 1853-1857
3 Jimmy Carter, 1977-1981
4. Warren G Harding, 1921-1923
5. Ulysses S Grant, 1869-1877
6 Andrew Johnson, 1865-1869
7. Lyndon Baines Johnson, 1963-1969
8. Woodrow Wilson, 1913-1921
9. Chester A. Arthur, 1881-1885
10. John Tyler, 1841-1845
RATINGS PENDING, BUT AT LEAST BELOW AVERAGE:
William Jefferson Clinton, 1993-2001
Barack Hussein Obama, 2009-
Thus far, I would rank GWB as average, but we’ll have to see what effects his policies have after a decade or so has passed. Clinton is below average but not failure because he got a clue the 1994 Gingrinch revolution and took credit for some things the Republicans wanted like welfare reform. The jury is out on Obama, but if the rest of his term is like his first month in office, he’ll be a dismal failure.
After campaigning specifically that he would keep us out of WWI. And it was stupid to W.H. Harrison in the worst ten. We have no idea how he would have done because he didn't get to do anything except get sick and die. He should be unranked with asterisk next to his name.
Worst:
Buchanan- let his secretary of war ship federal weapons to the south to prepare for the rebellion.
Wilson, in addition to resegregating the federal government, taking 100,000 combat deaths in WWI, also took 800,000 deaths from influenza due to concentration camp approach to training soldiers.
FDR who kept the US in depression for 8 years, and permitted Hitler to arm, occupy the Rhineland, and then mismanaged the war. Iwo Jima alone cost more than all Iraq. Sicily alone cost more than all Iraq, and ended up as a race to Messina which we lost to the Germans. North Africa alone cost more than all Iraq. Italy was invaded to tie up German units, and ended up tying up twice as many US and allied units. Not counting the year of bombing empty but heavily armored submarine pens, and taking casualities doing it. 300,000 US casualties, and had Wallace, a communist agent as his vice president.
I pretty much knew Truman was rated in the top ten, here it’s confirmed at #7.
Of course, Truman had approval ratings near 20% when he left office, but through the wonder of time and historical revisionism he’s made top ten.
The placing of Harding shows the meaninglessness of these ratings.
Harding was not a great man, but policywise, he ranks near the top. If Harding (or Coolidge) had been elected in 1928, the “great” depression would have been a recession, and would have been over by late 1930.
Besides being THE first Fascist dictator of the 20th Century. Jailed nearly 200,000 people for criticizing or opposing WWI.
FDR—another Fascist.
Obama—our first Communist-Fascist President.
Wilson was going insane and his wife started running the affiars of state.
Where is Jimmy Carter? That man was a total disgrace. The president that gave us Iran, Inflation, Gas Shortage, Unemployment, declining Military, misery index.
The only good thing he gave us was Reagan.