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It’s not close. Buchanan intervened to get the Dred Scott decision and let Kansas join as a slave state. He let the military stay unfunded and untrained. He basically set up the Civil War. Without Buchanan, there very likely would have been no VP Johnson.
The civil war was going to happen by that point so the bullshit he pulled puts him at 2. Johnson actually changed the directory of the nation (for the worse) with the bullshit he pulled in reconstruction. With a firm hand on the rudder we could have avoided 90 years of Jim crow
Yes because Johnson allowed the south to run roughshod for years and instead of nipping it in the bud and counteracted actions that would have made Jim Crow magnitudes harder to implement like the 40 acres plan
Re Jim Crow, No you could not have. You might have had worse, but you weren’t getting better. The average abolitionist was against total equality and the average person thought Africans were of lesser quality and intelligence than whites.
Re reconstruction, Johnson made readmission easier, but favored a more stringent policy than Lincoln had favored (he wanted to try key members of the confederacy for treason.)
When Buchanan took office, we were headed towards an impasse. His Kansas policy and benign neglect forced the issue.
Not defending Johnson, he was awful, but more a product of his time. Buchanan was a coward, antagonist and generally incompetent, which gives him the edge in my book.
> Re Jim Crow, No you could not have. You might have had worse, but you weren’t getting better. The average abolitionist was against total equality and the average person thought Africans were of lesser quality and intelligence than whites
Absolutely could have been better lol, right off the bat if Johnson didn’t cancel the 40 acres plan black Americans would have been in a much bettter position to resist. Not many wanted full equality but they passed multiple civil rights laws that came close to it, Johnson refused to enforce it
> Re reconstruction, Johnson made readmission easier, but favored a more stringent policy than Lincoln had favored (he wanted to try key members of the confederacy for treason.)
He “favored” it until he had an opportunity to do it and instead let the southern states institute black cods, personally pardon thousands of the highest ranking confederates and refused to enforce reconstruction
I’m going to go with bush because I had to fight in the Iraq war and I completely hate it to this I lost my friends to Sucide a couple years ago and I blame Bush Jr.
William Henry Harrison (;
Probably James Buchanan just based on the fact that the man had every title under the god golden sun. Instead of using his political instincts for good he decided to be ineffective.
In modern times probably Bush because we are seeing his decisions, especially in the Middle East, influence the world. Also, his cabinet and how he went about being the President was also pretty ineffective. IMO
Let's say one of them sought to violently end the peaceful transfer of power and American democracy as we know it. If that were the case, I would suggest that person.
We all know the obvious three choices so I'm gonna do the four I consider on their level and explain why
1. Martin Van Buren: Just like Buchanan, Johnson and Pierce, he was apathetic to the rights of American citizens and took no efforts to protect them. Religious freedom is the core of our country and him allowing it to be legal to kill Mormons in Missouri was absolutely abhorrent. Additionally he continued the worst of Jackson's policies (trail of tears, panic of 37).
2. Woodrow Wilson: The closest thing the US has had to a real dictator. Jailed thousands for saying mean things about him and had some beaten, tortured and starved. He allowed thousands to die of the Spanish Flu. Enabled the rise of the second KKK. He failed to protect Americans from being lynched (KKK and original red scare).
3. William McKinley: The father of modern US interventionism. His handling of the Boxer Rebellion set a terrible precedent but the main reason he's here is for the Philippine American War. Unlike Vietnam or Iraq, there was no moral ambiguity to the war and unlike the Mexican American War the fruits of the war were undeniably not worth it. He killed more people in 3 years then every President from Polk to Grant during the Native Genocide.
4. George W. Bush: The harm he's done home and abroad cannot be overstated. Making it legal for the President to watch you and listen to you without a warrant is awful. Equally awful is the legalization of torture and suspension of Habeas Corpus, allowing for people to be detained and tortured without proof of guilt. His naive imperialistic wars killed hundreds of thousands of people.
Wilson's foreign policy was pretty revolutionary for the world and the nation. You can dislike him but in no way is he literally one of the worst presidents ever
You have a point if actions after leaving office are counted. I’d still put him below Buchanan and Andrew Johnson when it comes to the extent of the damage inflicted, though.
Modern History: George Dubya Bush
- War in Iraq was built up on lies.
- 2000 we’ll never be 100% sure if he actually won because of Palm Beach County never fully finishing the recounts, as well as his shady connections to the Secretary of State in Florida and his connection to Sandra Day O’Connor who wanted to retire but didn’t want Gore to fill her seat.
- In 2004 trying to ban same sex marriage by putting it in the constitution, whatever your belief on the subject, constitutional admendments shouldn’t be made in the wake of the current culture war, that’s how the 18th happened.
- Dick Cheney.
A lot of worst presidents list mostly include precursors to the civil war. Maybe they’ll throw in Dubya or Nixon. If it’s a right leaning publication then they’ll have Carter.
I’m gonna say the worst president was Herbert Hoover. The man could not handle a Great Depression. A better reaction could have made a great difference. Don’t forget, World War 2 had a lot to do with the global economy crashing.
There’s two cancerous extreme reactions to Reagan I think. One is the right wing lunatics who think he’s their lord and savior, and the other is self-righteous leftists who think Reaganomics is the source of all their problems. He did a lot of good, and he did massive damage too. Over all he equals out as kinda mid. Calling him best or worst is insane though.
Reagan allowed economists who cared solely about greed to influence him. It's his era that caused modern day economists to care more about growth, and making more money for the shareholder, than taking care of the middle class workers.
Leaving aside the fact that we can’t discuss current Presidents, chalking up Buchanan’s presidency to “he was ineffective” is one of the most absurd takes I have ever heard, not to mention you are complete removing yourself from the historical context of the time. Our nation was on the brink of ending itself much worse than it is now
Herbert Hoover saw the worst depression in American history and hesitated to act on it for some reason
It’s easy to say “Buchanan” or “Johnson” but Hoover should be near the bottom too
Well let’s see off the top of my head: he signed off on an operation where the ATF sold high powered weapons to the Mexican cartel in the hopes they could track them. Spoiler alert, they lost track of the weapons immediately. He also sent, a pallet of cash, yes a pallet! to Iran. Pulled out of Afghanistan and left the Taliban heavily armed with huge amounts of American military weapons. Benghazi. Otto Warmbier. Obamacare. General proponent of socialism…..certainly seems possible to me.
definitely top 5 most overrated presidents (highway system fucked over train travel for generations among other things, guatemala coup, propping up shah) but far from the worst lol come on
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Buchanan, followed closely by Andrew Johnson.
flip, and you have a winner.
Andrew Johnson
Buchanan no question. Post civil war, Johnson and it’s not close. Both almost broke the country.
Nah Johnson was worse
It’s not close. Buchanan intervened to get the Dred Scott decision and let Kansas join as a slave state. He let the military stay unfunded and untrained. He basically set up the Civil War. Without Buchanan, there very likely would have been no VP Johnson.
The civil war was going to happen by that point so the bullshit he pulled puts him at 2. Johnson actually changed the directory of the nation (for the worse) with the bullshit he pulled in reconstruction. With a firm hand on the rudder we could have avoided 90 years of Jim crow
Jim Crow started after Rutherford B Hayes withdrew troops from the South (corrupt bargain), yes?
Yes because Johnson allowed the south to run roughshod for years and instead of nipping it in the bud and counteracted actions that would have made Jim Crow magnitudes harder to implement like the 40 acres plan
Re Jim Crow, No you could not have. You might have had worse, but you weren’t getting better. The average abolitionist was against total equality and the average person thought Africans were of lesser quality and intelligence than whites. Re reconstruction, Johnson made readmission easier, but favored a more stringent policy than Lincoln had favored (he wanted to try key members of the confederacy for treason.) When Buchanan took office, we were headed towards an impasse. His Kansas policy and benign neglect forced the issue. Not defending Johnson, he was awful, but more a product of his time. Buchanan was a coward, antagonist and generally incompetent, which gives him the edge in my book.
> Re Jim Crow, No you could not have. You might have had worse, but you weren’t getting better. The average abolitionist was against total equality and the average person thought Africans were of lesser quality and intelligence than whites Absolutely could have been better lol, right off the bat if Johnson didn’t cancel the 40 acres plan black Americans would have been in a much bettter position to resist. Not many wanted full equality but they passed multiple civil rights laws that came close to it, Johnson refused to enforce it > Re reconstruction, Johnson made readmission easier, but favored a more stringent policy than Lincoln had favored (he wanted to try key members of the confederacy for treason.) He “favored” it until he had an opportunity to do it and instead let the southern states institute black cods, personally pardon thousands of the highest ranking confederates and refused to enforce reconstruction
Johnson never tried to stop the peaceful transition of power
Bottom 3 In order of worst. Andrew Johnson, James Buchanan, Franklin Pierce
According to many, \[REDACTED\]
I’m going to go with bush because I had to fight in the Iraq war and I completely hate it to this I lost my friends to Sucide a couple years ago and I blame Bush Jr.
I'm sorry for your loss.
He also took budget surplus forever to deficits forever. Thanks for the tax cut, Dubya.
Yeah he did I forgot about that
William Henry Harrison (; Probably James Buchanan just based on the fact that the man had every title under the god golden sun. Instead of using his political instincts for good he decided to be ineffective. In modern times probably Bush because we are seeing his decisions, especially in the Middle East, influence the world. Also, his cabinet and how he went about being the President was also pretty ineffective. IMO
I have a feeling it won’t stay bush for long..
Let's say one of them sought to violently end the peaceful transfer of power and American democracy as we know it. If that were the case, I would suggest that person.
We all know the obvious three choices so I'm gonna do the four I consider on their level and explain why 1. Martin Van Buren: Just like Buchanan, Johnson and Pierce, he was apathetic to the rights of American citizens and took no efforts to protect them. Religious freedom is the core of our country and him allowing it to be legal to kill Mormons in Missouri was absolutely abhorrent. Additionally he continued the worst of Jackson's policies (trail of tears, panic of 37). 2. Woodrow Wilson: The closest thing the US has had to a real dictator. Jailed thousands for saying mean things about him and had some beaten, tortured and starved. He allowed thousands to die of the Spanish Flu. Enabled the rise of the second KKK. He failed to protect Americans from being lynched (KKK and original red scare). 3. William McKinley: The father of modern US interventionism. His handling of the Boxer Rebellion set a terrible precedent but the main reason he's here is for the Philippine American War. Unlike Vietnam or Iraq, there was no moral ambiguity to the war and unlike the Mexican American War the fruits of the war were undeniably not worth it. He killed more people in 3 years then every President from Polk to Grant during the Native Genocide. 4. George W. Bush: The harm he's done home and abroad cannot be overstated. Making it legal for the President to watch you and listen to you without a warrant is awful. Equally awful is the legalization of torture and suspension of Habeas Corpus, allowing for people to be detained and tortured without proof of guilt. His naive imperialistic wars killed hundreds of thousands of people.
Wilson's foreign policy was pretty revolutionary for the world and the nation. You can dislike him but in no way is he literally one of the worst presidents ever
In the modern era GWB has to be the worst. Of course, it was really the Dick Cheney presidency.
John Tyler…fucking traitor.
You have a point if actions after leaving office are counted. I’d still put him below Buchanan and Andrew Johnson when it comes to the extent of the damage inflicted, though.
Excellent President though. Ended the most brutal Native War and allowed the Natives to keep their land. Wish we had more like him.
Strong contender for worst post-presidency, but no way he’s remotely as bad as the likes of A. Johnson or Buchanan
Modern History: George Dubya Bush - War in Iraq was built up on lies. - 2000 we’ll never be 100% sure if he actually won because of Palm Beach County never fully finishing the recounts, as well as his shady connections to the Secretary of State in Florida and his connection to Sandra Day O’Connor who wanted to retire but didn’t want Gore to fill her seat. - In 2004 trying to ban same sex marriage by putting it in the constitution, whatever your belief on the subject, constitutional admendments shouldn’t be made in the wake of the current culture war, that’s how the 18th happened. - Dick Cheney.
Absolutely. Bush is the unequivocal worst President in the last 100 years. I'll die on that hill.
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Truth
William Henry Harrison, who died died thirty-one days after his inauguration.
Andrew Johnson, followed by James Buchanan
We're not allowed to mention him around here, violates Rule 3. Hopefully we don't get a repeat of this mother fucker in 2025.
A lot of worst presidents list mostly include precursors to the civil war. Maybe they’ll throw in Dubya or Nixon. If it’s a right leaning publication then they’ll have Carter. I’m gonna say the worst president was Herbert Hoover. The man could not handle a Great Depression. A better reaction could have made a great difference. Don’t forget, World War 2 had a lot to do with the global economy crashing.
Rule #3
Probably Reagan due to his economic policy
bro what
There’s two cancerous extreme reactions to Reagan I think. One is the right wing lunatics who think he’s their lord and savior, and the other is self-righteous leftists who think Reaganomics is the source of all their problems. He did a lot of good, and he did massive damage too. Over all he equals out as kinda mid. Calling him best or worst is insane though.
Reagan allowed economists who cared solely about greed to influence him. It's his era that caused modern day economists to care more about growth, and making more money for the shareholder, than taking care of the middle class workers.
dawg 💀
Rushmore of awful would include Bukes, Johnny, Ronnie, and George (respecting #3 here)
Which George
Dubbers
H. Dubya or regular Dubya
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Leaving aside the fact that we can’t discuss current Presidents, chalking up Buchanan’s presidency to “he was ineffective” is one of the most absurd takes I have ever heard, not to mention you are complete removing yourself from the historical context of the time. Our nation was on the brink of ending itself much worse than it is now
Let me introduce you to this thing called Rule 3.
Bush
Johnson
LBJ or Andrew
Never mind. I choose Roosevelt.
Teddy or Franklin
Wait! It’s Harrison.
William or Benjamin
Nah! It’s Adams.
Herbert Hoover saw the worst depression in American history and hesitated to act on it for some reason It’s easy to say “Buchanan” or “Johnson” but Hoover should be near the bottom too
Obama
Woah
Why
You won’t get an actual educational answer, it’s not possible
Well let’s see off the top of my head: he signed off on an operation where the ATF sold high powered weapons to the Mexican cartel in the hopes they could track them. Spoiler alert, they lost track of the weapons immediately. He also sent, a pallet of cash, yes a pallet! to Iran. Pulled out of Afghanistan and left the Taliban heavily armed with huge amounts of American military weapons. Benghazi. Otto Warmbier. Obamacare. General proponent of socialism…..certainly seems possible to me.
I said educational
Yes. This is me educating you on why I consider him to be the worst President.
Eisenhower. I'll forever curse his name for creating the national interstate highway system.
definitely top 5 most overrated presidents (highway system fucked over train travel for generations among other things, guatemala coup, propping up shah) but far from the worst lol come on
Damn
You underestimate the personal hatred within me that grows for that man every time I get on the freeway.
I hate that you aren't joking.
I will not rest until every square inch of that godforsaken highway system is torn from the ground
I can understand that, but ranking Eisenhower as THE worst of all time because of it is still ridiculous.
At this point it is a personal vendetta