GEORGE W. BUSH THE WORST PRESIDENT? FAR FROM IT!
George W. Bush has now left the White House and is now enjoying his retirement. The American far political left has lost their punching bag. Many in that crowd have labeled Bush 'the worst president ever.' This is another of a series of their knee-jerk reactions. If these hard core liberals could get past their public school educations and read a little history they would find
there have been far worse presidents who have left the country in worse shape than when they started. Here is my alphabetical list of the ten presidents who left a legacy far worse than our forty-third chief executive George W. Bush:
James Buchanan supported the states rights for slavery. With his flawed interpretation of the Constitution, he thought the states had a right to secede from the nation, and going to war to stop it was illegal - but did not do a darn thing to prevent it! With a lack of leadership in trying to compromise the differences between the North and South, the southern states began to secede, one by one. The Civil War was unavoidable after his four years in office.
Jimmy Carter's administration is rightly associated with the mismanagement of Iran, the hostage crisis, the "Desert One" debacle, and the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, not to mention recession, inflation, "malaise" (his own word), disco, rampant promiscuity on Main Street, and drugs in his own tee-totaling White House. Perceived by the world as weak, he thankfully paved the way for Ronald Reagan. By some of his silly statements and showboat actions after his forgettable four year term, Carter is probably the worst former president we have ever had.
Ulysses Grant's administration is remembered by several scandals that he managed badly. There was an attempt to corner the gold market, missing money and bribes. Although Grant never profited from any of the crimes, he hardly acted against the criminals, and went as far as criticizing those who spoke against them. He hired friends and political contributors rather than looking out for the country's needs. Overshadowed by his popularity as a General, in reality, his presidency was mostly ineffective and achieved little in eight lackluster years.
Warren Harding endured several scandals during his administration, involving bribery, kickbacks and fraud, and they were mainly due to the fact that Harding appointed many of his friends, as well as some political opponents to prominent positions. No evidence exists that the president benefited from these scandals, but Harding was slow to respond, and should have used better judgment, as the public saw a weak and ineffective leader. Harding died two and a half years into his term, and one wonders if he would have finished it if he had lived due to the rumblings of impeachment.
Herbert Hoover had the unfortunate circumstance of becoming president six months before The Wall Street Crash of 1929. He then made a fatal economic error by supporting and signing into law a tariff act that fueled international trade wars and made the Great Depression even worse. You don't raise taxes in a depression! That one decision lengthened the Great Depression and sealed his fate as one of our worst presidents.
Andrew Johnson was elected with the Republican President on the Union ticket in 1964, Johnson, a democrat, became commander in chief upon Lincoln's assassination. He got in trouble with republicans right from the start when he vetoed Civil Rights legislation. He has the distinction of the first president to be impeached. Twice it was attempted, and both times it failed. Impeachment was more political, initiated by a republican controlled house, rather than based on any serious crimes. Johnson had some good intentions, and historians have graded him better recently, but with impeachment and his inept reconstruction in the South, he makes my this list just barely.
Lyndon Johnson's Great Society was wasteful and counterproductive. Big government in all of it's glory. It taught the poor and the minorities to rely on the big brother in Washington instead of learning to be self-reliant. The ripples of his programs would be long lasting and still crash on the shores of our society today. Johnson's escalated the Vietnam War, after saying he would not while campaigning for re-election in 1964. His mismanagement of Vietnam was legendary.
Franklin Pierce advocated the states right to decide slavery issues, Pierce made the mistake of supporting the
Kansas-Nebraska Act, which repealed the Missouri Compromise, which guaranteed free territories north and west of Missouri. Ignorant of the local anti-slavery feelings in the region, his actions would result in bloody rebellions in Kansas and sewed the seeds for Civil War.
John Tyler became president upon the death of William Henry Harrison, and was expected to carry out his policies. But he didn't. His non-support for Harrison and the Whig party policies lead to all but one of the Harrison/Tyler cabinet to resign. A life long slave owner, he supported the states right to choose slavery and defended South Carolina's choice to secede if it wished.
Woodrow Wilson was elected with only 40% of the popular vote in a three way race in 1912, Wilson had a vision of spreading democracy everywhere. His administration would seek out pro-US factions all over the world and sometimes intervene in the name of democracy. Instead of making friends, that diplomacy would make enemies. His vision would take America into World War I, and allow the allies to defeat Germany, which would leave a bitter country. That environment would help lead to the rise of Hitler and the Nazis. A strong case can be made that Wilson's actions made World War II unavoidable. At home, he set up the Federal Reserve System and imposed the income tax. Wilson took the federal budget from less than 3% of GDP to over 20%. He was said to be a racist and a mad man. He suffered a stroke in 1919, and ignored most of his presidential responsibilities for the last two years of his term. Woodrow Wilson, more than any other president, did far more harm to America than good. Quite possibly out worst president.
Note:
William Henry Harrison and James Garfield could easily be number one and two, however, both cannot be fairly judged, based on their short time as president. Surely any the above ten would rank higher in accomplishments, but the one month spent by Harrison before death and the five and a half months spent by Garfield before his assassination pales in comparison to the years spent wrecking America by each of the men on my list.