The Worst President in US History? 「Yes or No?」

[Chan Island]

There's a list, for sure.

But Buchanan, Wilson, Trump, Bush II, Hoover and Harding are 100% on it.

[San Lumen]

There's a list, for sure.

But Buchanan, Wilson, Trump, Bush II, Hoover and Harding are 100% on it.

Pierce was one the worst presidents as well but he was deeply depressed by the death of his son in train crash shortly before becoming president.

[Chan Island]

There's a list, for sure.

But Buchanan, Wilson, Trump, Bush II, Hoover and Harding are 100% on it.

Pierce was one the worst presidents as well but he was deeply depressed by the death of his son in train crash shortly before becoming president.

TRUE, he was also an incredibly bad president. Pierce is also on the list.

[Sanghyeok]

Pierce was one the worst presidents as well but he was deeply depressed by the death of his son in train crash shortly before becoming president.

TRUE, he was also an incredibly bad president. Pierce is also on the list.

I'm surprised with how few names have been mentioned so far. People are bringing up less names than I thought.

[San Lumen]

Pierce was one the worst presidents as well but he was deeply depressed by the death of his son in train crash shortly before becoming president.

TRUE, he was also an incredibly bad president. Pierce is also on the list.

Having your only child die just weeks before the election is going to affect your ability to govern

[Duvniask]

I have read that Wilson sent soldiers to Russia to fight against the revolution, yes.

He's also the cause of literally everything related to the US and Europe that happened after Versailles, and this is not hyperbole. If he lost in 1912 by let's say Taft not running again, then WW1 would be shorter because of Teddy Roosevelt. There'd be no Russian Revolution, which (likely) means no Nazis, which means no Holocaust, which means no Arab/Israeli conflict, which means a significant lack of rise in Arab nationalism and Ba'athism, which means no Nasser, Saddam, or al-Assad, which means no Gulf War, which means no Iraq War, which means no ISIL. Without the Russian Revolution, the USSR never forms, so the Cuban Missile Crisis never happens, China remains nationalist, North Korea never exists, the Eastern Bloc is never formed, Afghanistan is never invaded, the Taliban doesn't take the country over, and 9/11 doesn't happen.

This is certainly a hyperbole. You're practically reeking of Great Man theory, or perhaps its mirror image: the Terrible Man theory. The connection between all these events are loose, and you would need to demonstrate plausible reasons why they would not occur in the absence of one person being POTUS instead of another; your line of reasoning, baffling as it is, rests on the crude assumption that the entire 20th century could have been changed by the influence of a single man.

[Chan Island]

TRUE, he was also an incredibly bad president. Pierce is also on the list.

I'm surprised with how few names have been mentioned so far. People are bringing up less names than I thought.

Those few names are names that proceeded or caused major turmoil or difficulty in the nation, directly linkable to their management of the presidency. So it's not that surprising.

TRUE, he was also an incredibly bad president. Pierce is also on the list.

Having your only child die just weeks before the election is going to affect your ability to govern

Still doesn't excuse being a terrible leader. If you're too depressed to be president and it's stopping you from governing, you ought to resign.

[Aureumterra III]

Buchanan was the worst. Trump beat him when he said "let's just do herd immunity."

So your argument is that someone who's, while not being the best president ever and failing utterly and completely on COVID-19, is a worse president than a genocidal maniac, a do-nothing pawn, and a KKK member?

Ever heard of Trump Derangement Syndrome?

[San Lumen]

I'm surprised with how few names have been mentioned so far. People are bringing up less names than I thought.

Those few names are names that proceeded or caused major turmoil or difficulty in the nation, directly linkable to their management of the presidency. So it's not that surprising.

Having your only child die just weeks before the election is going to affect your ability to govern

Still doesn't excuse being a terrible leader. If you're too depressed to be president and it's stopping you from governing, you ought to resign.

His Vice President William King died only 45 days after being inaugurated and there was no provision for filling it at the time. Had Pierce resigned and President King sill died of tuberculosis the throughly debunked President for a day David Rice Atchison would have become President. He was President Pro tempore of the senate.

[New haven america]

So your argument is that someone who's, while not being the best president ever and failing utterly and completely on COVID-19, is a worse president than a genocidal maniac, a do-nothing pawn, and a KKK member?

Ever heard of Trump Derangement Syndrome?

So says the one who sings his praises while not having to live in country he's running.

[US-SSR]

Deaths in the US Civil War: 218,222

Deaths from COVID-19: 216,531 and counting as of 10/15/20.

Pretty clear who's a worse President than Buchanan.

[Aureumterra III]

Deaths in the US Civil War: 218,222

Deaths from COVID-19: 216,531 and counting as of 10/15/20.

Pretty clear who's a worse President than Buchanan.

675,000 deaths from the Spanish Flu

Woodrow Wilson was the worst president by that metric, then again, that’s a stupid metric for saying who was the worst president in US history

[Chan Island]

Deaths in the US Civil War: 218,222

Deaths from COVID-19: 216,531 and counting as of 10/15/20.

Pretty clear who's a worse President than Buchanan.

675,000 deaths from the Spanish Flu

Woodrow Wilson was the worst president by that metric, then again, that’s a stupid metric for saying who was the worst president in US history

Well not really, considering the consensus here that Wilson was an abysmal president too.

Also, it should be pointed out that Trump had a post office that was willing to give away millions of masks to protect the nation and Trump vetoed it. Pretty unforgivable.

[Arlenton]

Depends on what you mean by "worst". If you're rating Presidents by their effectiveness, then yeah, Buchanan is arguably one of the worst, if not the worst.

If you want to know just how effective he was, here's a quote from Buchanan in a victory speech after the 1856 election "the object of my administration will be to destroy sectional party, North or South, and to restore harmony to the Union under a national and conservative government.". And we all know how that turned out.

As for his ideology, he seemed committed to the Constitution. And his attempts at US expansion reminds me of Polk. He'd of had my vote in 1856.

[Nobel Hobos 2]

Deaths in the US Civil War: 218,222

Deaths from COVID-19: 216,531 and counting as of 10/15/20.

Pretty clear who's a worse President than Buchanan.

675,000 deaths from the Spanish Flu

Woodrow Wilson was the worst president by that metric, then again, that’s a stupid metric for saying who was the worst president in US history

It's a stupid metric even though it leads to a conclusion you should agree with?

Maybe you're covering your ass against Trump being re-elected and the covid toll going up even beyond Wilson's tally

(Actually it is a stupid metric: Wilson didn't have modern medicine and there was a war ...)

[Nobel Hobos 2]

675,000 deaths from the Spanish Flu

Woodrow Wilson was the worst president by that metric, then again, that’s a stupid metric for saying who was the worst president in US history

Well not really, considering the consensus here that Wilson was an abysmal president too.

Also, it should be pointed out that Trump had a post office that was willing to give away millions of masks to protect the nation and Trump vetoed it. Pretty unforgivable.

Were they Chinese masks, perhaps?

[Chan Island]

Well not really, considering the consensus here that Wilson was an abysmal president too.

Also, it should be pointed out that Trump had a post office that was willing to give away millions of masks to protect the nation and Trump vetoed it. Pretty unforgivable.

Were they Chinese masks, perhaps?

He didn't bring up Chinese masks in his reasoning for doing so, so unlikely. His reasoning was that he didn't want to panic people.

[Sanghyeok]

Deaths in the US Civil War: 218,222

Deaths from COVID-19: 216,531 and counting as of 10/15/20.

Pretty clear who's a worse President than Buchanan.

I do not believe that all those deaths are due to Trump's terrible handling, however. Perhaps 70%-80%.

[Kowani]

Deaths in the US Civil War: 218,222

Deaths from COVID-19: 216,531 and counting as of 10/15/20.

Pretty clear who's a worse President than Buchanan.

I do not believe that all those deaths are due to Trump's terrible handling, however. Perhaps 70%-80%.

Difference: Buchanan's great fault was in not doing anything.
Trump's great fault was in doing everything wrong.

[Rusozak]

Deaths in the US Civil War: 218,222

Deaths from COVID-19: 216,531 and counting as of 10/15/20.

Pretty clear who's a worse President than Buchanan.

I do not believe that all those deaths are due to Trump's terrible handling, however. Perhaps 70%-80%.

Whatever the average death count per population worldwide is could be dismissed as unavoidable, but anything past that is a uniquely American problem. Now, Trump certainly has made things worse and there are deaths on his hand, but the American public isn't blameless. I would imagine at least a majority of the Covid deniers would have been killing people with negligence with or without Trump. Just imagine if Hillary was president. Any action at the Federal level would have been attacked as "fascist Nazi communism" by those idiots.

[San Lumen]

I do not believe that all those deaths are due to Trump's terrible handling, however. Perhaps 70%-80%.

Whatever the average death count per population worldwide is could be dismissed as unavoidable, but anything past that is a uniquely American problem. Now, Trump certainly has made things worse and there are deaths on his hand, but the American public isn't blameless. I would imagine at least a majority of the Covid deniers would have been killing people with negligence with or without Trump. Just imagine if Hillary was president. Any action at the Federal level would have been attacked as "fascist Nazi communism" by those idiots.

How is this related to the topic?

[Aeritai]

I'll go with Buchanan since he indirectly caused the American Civil War, from what I remember from the old President thread.

[Aureumterra III]

675,000 deaths from the Spanish Flu

Woodrow Wilson was the worst president by that metric, then again, that’s a stupid metric for saying who was the worst president in US history

It's a stupid metric even though it leads to a conclusion you should agree with?

?

[Sanghyeok]

Whatever the average death count per population worldwide is could be dismissed as unavoidable, but anything past that is a uniquely American problem. Now, Trump certainly has made things worse and there are deaths on his hand, but the American public isn't blameless. I would imagine at least a majority of the Covid deniers would have been killing people with negligence with or without Trump. Just imagine if Hillary was president. Any action at the Federal level would have been attacked as "fascist Nazi communism" by those idiots.

How is this related to the topic?

Their argument is "Trump is not a disease, but a symptom. Covid-19 deaths are from stupidity, and not just Trump." I can agree with their argument to some extent.

[The Black Forrest]

I do not believe that all those deaths are due to Trump's terrible handling, however. Perhaps 70%-80%.

Whatever the average death count per population worldwide is could be dismissed as unavoidable, but anything past that is a uniquely American problem. Now, Trump certainly has made things worse and there are deaths on his hand, but the American public isn't blameless. I would imagine at least a majority of the Covid deniers would have been killing people with negligence with or without Trump. Just imagine if Hillary was president. Any action at the Federal level would have been attacked as "fascist Nazi communism" by those idiots.

Hmmm? I am not sure anybody says the public is blameless. This is where leadership and a plan comes into play. Even then it’s harder for the public to handle it when you have a moron spouting off everything which pops into his head and makes precaution measures a political issue.