Worst American President

[Hessingen]

This is the evil twin of the Worst British PM thread

[Eireann Fae]

Wtf Carter :o Carter was awesome, and still is!

[Hessingen]

I just felt the poll was a little unfair to the republicans.

[Dyakovo]

Napoléon Bonaparte...
*nods*
He did a lousy job of being an American president.

[Supreme Marshal Petan]

If Dan Qualye's son can say it, so can I. "Barack Hussein Obama is the worst president...ever (obviously ignoring the fact that it has only been two years into his administration)."

No, I would probably have to say Nixon for Watergate which really shook up the trust one could have for government. Though aside from that, he was kind of a funny and awesome guy. And I think he really regretted what he did and what it did to the US presidency, which he greatly respected.

[Seperate Vermont]

Johnson was just outsed because he mainly was unpopular, Grant won't get worst due to his civil war leadership, as all military leaders are commendable (As Jackson would concur.) And I'm not so idealistic as to say "GEORGE BUSH LOL !!!11!!"

I'd say Hoover, of those above.

[The Nuclear Fist]

Franklin Pierce and Ronald Reagan. Both terrible, terrible presidents. And terrible people (atleast for Pierce. Not sure for Regan.)

[Monte Mare]

Bush

[Supreme Marshal Petan]

Johnson was just outsed because he mainly was unpopular, Grant won't get worst due to his civil war leadership, as all military leaders are commendable (As Jackson would concur.) And I'm not so idealistic as to say "GEORGE BUSH LOL !!!11!!"

I'd say Hoover, of those above.

Johnson wasn't ousted (that is removed from office), he was impeached. And primarily because he stood in the way of radical Republicans in Congress. Grant was an honest guy, but he trusted his "friends" far too much, and they took advantage of that. Jackson was not a bad guy, but his Indian removal policy was pretty horrid.

Hoover is often viewed as this guy who was free-market, he actually was part of the progressive wing of the Republican party. He rose taxes, tariffs, and had the government become involved in the markets. Though he didn't go far enough, people thought he was doing too little and as a result he is viewed as one of history's worst presidents.

[Pesda]

Why not put Obama as an option? I'm sure many would have voted for that.

[Hessingen]

Yes but then that would start flame wars between anti-bush loony left liberal tree huggers and anti-obama radical right tea party sarah palin worshippers.

[Miklesia]

Woodrow Wilson. He resegregated government, was a vicious racist, instituted laws in which you could be arrested for complaining about WWI, and laid the foundations for the Vietnam war by refusing Vietnam the right to self-determination at Versailles (a principal he supposedly loved).

[Chrobalta]

Reagan

[Supreme Marshal Petan]

Yes but then that would start flame wars between anti-bush loony left liberal tree huggers and anti-obama radical right tea party sarah palin worshippers.

Not to mention he's still president? Only two years into it and it might, just might be too early to determine if he is the worst president in American history....

[Arkinesia]

All of the people who voted Bush II need to read a goddamn history book.

I picked Buchanan. I was tempted to click other and say FDR, then I was tempted to pick Hoover since all of FDR's bad decisions were just extrapolations of Hoover's bad decisions, and then I wanted to click LBJ because of his Great Society horseshit. All of this has had a strongly negative impact on America today (for instance, the slow erosion of people below the poverty line in the 1950s and 1960s froze when Great Society passed), but it will slowly be beaten back by intelligent leaders, I feel.

Buchanan led to the Civil War for fuck's sake. His dunderheaded compromises led to the Civil War. So I say he was the worst. Though Lincoln was a consideration, with his flagrant ignorance of states' rights. I dismissed him because he was a product of his time, he didn't have a hate affair with the Constitution.

[Seperate Vermont]

Johnson was just outsed because he mainly was unpopular, Grant won't get worst due to his civil war leadership, as all military leaders are commendable (As Jackson would concur.) And I'm not so idealistic as to say "GEORGE BUSH LOL !!!11!!"

I'd say Hoover, of those above.

Johnson wasn't ousted (that is removed from office), he was impeached. And primarily because he stood in the way of radical Republicans in Congress. Grant was an honest guy, but he trusted his "friends" far too much, and they took advantage of that. Jackson was not a bad guy, but his Indian removal policy was pretty horrid.

Hoover is often viewed as this guy who was free-market, he actually was part of the progressive wing of the Republican party. He rose taxes, tariffs, and had the government become involved in the markets. Though he didn't go far enough, people thought he was doing too little and as a result he is viewed as one of history's worst presidents.

Yes,Yes, and Yes.

[Supreme Marshal Petan]

Woodrow Wilson. He resegregated government, was a vicious racist, instituted laws in which you could be arrested for complaining about WWI, and laid the foundations for the Vietnam war by refusing Vietnam the right to self-determination at Versailles (a principal he supposedly loved).

I wouldn't say he laid the foundations for the Vietnam war....Ho Chi Minh made several attempts after WW2 to have the US remain neutral, though the anti-communist fervor pushed us towards it. So I would blame Eisenhower for that. FDR, though he received the black vote, did nothing for blacks.

[Arkinesia]

Woodrow Wilson. He resegregated government, was a vicious racist, instituted laws in which you could be arrested for complaining about WWI, and laid the foundations for the Vietnam war by refusing Vietnam the right to self-determination at Versailles (a principal he supposedly loved).

I wouldn't say he laid the foundations for the Vietnam war....Ho Chi Minh made several attempts after WW2 to have the US remain neutral, though the anti-communist fervor pushed us towards it. So I would blame Eisenhower for that. FDR, though he received the black vote, did nothing for blacks.

He probably also caused the Great Depression and followed that brilliant move with extending it.

Fun fact: the Great Depression wasn't bad until 1934.

[Miklesia]

Woodrow Wilson. He resegregated government, was a vicious racist, instituted laws in which you could be arrested for complaining about WWI, and laid the foundations for the Vietnam war by refusing Vietnam the right to self-determination at Versailles (a principal he supposedly loved).

I wouldn't say he laid the foundations for the Vietnam war....Ho Chi Minh made several attempts after WW2 to have the US remain neutral, though the anti-communist fervor pushed us towards it. So I would blame Eisenhower for that. FDR, though he received the black vote, did nothing for blacks.

That said, the whole affair could have been easily avoided if Vietnam had been granted independence then and there. And while FDR may have done nothing for blacks, Wilson actively harmed them.

[Supreme Marshal Petan]

I wouldn't say he laid the foundations for the Vietnam war....Ho Chi Minh made several attempts after WW2 to have the US remain neutral, though the anti-communist fervor pushed us towards it. So I would blame Eisenhower for that. FDR, though he received the black vote, did nothing for blacks.

He probably also caused the Great Depression and followed that brilliant move with extending it.

Fun fact: the Great Depression wasn't bad until 1934.

It was pretty bad before, but it certainly didn't get back. And I agree that the New Deal policies did little to fix the economy, but FDR, in his journals, felt that if he didn't appear to be doing something, the same thing that happened in Russia only a decade and a half earlier, could happen here. Which is what most conservatives forget, it's largely about perspective, it is largely about trying to appear like your doing something, anything. Hoover appeared to do little, and he was rejected by a landslide. Clearly, Americans wanted a president who seemed like he was trying to do anything to get people back to work, even if it didn't make anything better. I think that's what we forget when we look back at that era, it's easy to criticize, but if you had been president and done nothing, how long do you think you would have lasted? If your successor did the same, how long do you think the country would have lasted?

[The Nuclear Fist]

Oh, Macarthy too. He's was a complete asshole. What with his anti-Socialist stance (to be frank, I dn't right care about that. But the fact you'd get seriously in trouble for being Socialist at the time is... not good). Then there was the Guatemalan coup he helped build up because he suspected the Guatemalan government of being 'Communist sympathisers'. Or the fact he helped out establish Banana Republics in Central and South America.

[Supreme Marshal Petan]

I wouldn't say he laid the foundations for the Vietnam war....Ho Chi Minh made several attempts after WW2 to have the US remain neutral, though the anti-communist fervor pushed us towards it. So I would blame Eisenhower for that. FDR, though he received the black vote, did nothing for blacks.

That said, the whole affair could have been easily avoided if Vietnam had been granted independence then and there. And while FDR may have done nothing for blacks, Wilson actively harmed them.

I disagree. I don't think the French would have given Indochina up. Wilson could have pressed the matter, but they would have probably just ignored him.

[Supreme Marshal Petan]

Oh, Macarthy too. He's was a complete asshole. What with his anti-Socialist stance (to be frank, I dn't right care about that. But the fact you'd get seriously in trouble for being Socialist at the time is... not good). Then there was the Guatemalan coup he helped build up because he suspected the Guatemalan government of being 'Communist sympathisers'. Or the fact he helped out establish Banana Republics in Central and South America.

worst presidents...

[Seperate Vermont]

I wouldn't say he laid the foundations for the Vietnam war....Ho Chi Minh made several attempts after WW2 to have the US remain neutral, though the anti-communist fervor pushed us towards it. So I would blame Eisenhower for that. FDR, though he received the black vote, did nothing for blacks.

He probably also caused the Great Depression and followed that brilliant move with extending it.

Fun fact: the Great Depression wasn't bad until 1934.

In 1929-1933 it was more about the bank runs and subsequent bank failures.

[Mivango]

Obama, of course. Followed by FDR, Woodrow Wilson, TR, LBJ, and Carter. Kennedy would have been worse had he lived to carry out the bulk of his program. Yep, I hate the welfare state and have a low opinion of the "progressive movement".