Presidents make or break the country. American History is full of great leaders and Presidents but here we will be spilling the beans over the worst presidents of American history.
Counting down the top 10 worst American Presidents;
10. Benjamin Harrison
Benjamin Harrison was all about really high tariffs. He was the 23rd President of the United States. A wounded knee massacre occurred under his watch. Not that Benjamin approved but the army gave out medals of honor like they were candies for the massacre.
9. Andrew Johnson
A lot of historians talk a lot of trash about him unfairly. But character is everything. This guy was driven by his ego. He carried all about his legacy and his desires.
He refused to make compromises and dig his heals when he faced opposition. Johnson opposed the fourteen amendment and led to conflict with the Republican just made him look like he only cared about his own desires.
8. George W. Bush
The opinion might be a little biased but his response to the 9/11 attack was disagreeable in several ways. The Authorisation to Use Military Force Against Terrorists gave him a blank cheque for president to fight against terrorism in the World.
One of the worst laws called The US Patriot Act was passed in American history which ripped many civil liberties that Americans use to take for granted and also led to conflict with the Republicans.
7. Woodrow Wilson
Woodrow Wilson was the 28th President of the United States. Wilson was all about spreading Democracy around the world – a very egocentric foreign policy. Surely he said self-determination but soon Americans knew what was best for the entire world.
One reason why he got elected in 1916 because he said he got the country out of WW1. But after he gets reelected, he gets the country involved in WW1, asking congress to declare war and they do. During the war, The Espionage Act, The Sedition Act were the two worst laws in American history. A lot of politicians were racists but Wilson was the most racist of all. They ignored women’s rights and what not.
6. William McKinley
This may surprise you when you hear it because McKinley is consistently ranked in half of the presidents. Usually, because McKinley was good when he was a president and the US was becoming a world’s superpower due to a more aggressive foreign policy. But guess what? This policy sucked.
McKinley’s foreign policy was based on Christian/ American exceptionalism mentality that meant the US is going to be spreading its influence across the world. Spanish-American War, Phillippine-American War happened in his period. He was assassinated in 1901
5. Richard Nixon
He was a pathological lawyer who only carried about himself and his legacy not the general welfare of the country. The War on Drug is probably be the biggest mistake of Nixon. He started the War on Drug and the citizens are still seeing the horrible effects of it.
Nixon got elected promising to end the Vietnam War but the war get dragged on during his presidency. Even though he had made a lot of mistakes, he was still intelligent. Opening up relations with China, his policy of detente with the Soviet Union, and the creation of the EPA was a few of his admiral accomplishments.
4. Herbert Hoover
Herbert Hoover makes into this list because of the Great Depression. It is a myth that Hoover did nothing in response to the early stages of what would be known as the Great Depression. The smooth-Hawley Tariff Act for example in 1929, raising import taxes, increasing income tax to balance the budget, the reconstruction finance corporation to bail out business make things worse for him. Under his watch, a regression became the Great Depression.
3. Franklin Pierce
Franklin was the 14th President of the US. The Kansas- Nebraska Act was signed by him, which is considered as the worst act in the history of America and thus alienated anti-slavery groups.
2. James Buchanan
James took over the presidency after Pierce and instead of learning from his mistakes, he just let the country become more divided. He was the president who did nothing. He didn’t want to make anyone mad but he also didn’t want to make anyone happy.
He was against salary and said it was morally wrong and yet said in favor of Dred Scott Decision. In fact, he was so pro south that he just let the south do whatever they wanted. By the time he was out of the office, The US was at the brim of civil war and the union had fallen apart and he did absolutely nothing to stop it.
1. Warren Harding
He once said,” I am not fit for this office and should never have been here.”
He appointed many of his corrupt buddies to be in the cabinet and some of them famously got into trouble for bribery and what become known as “The Teapot Dome Scandal.” He was probably the dumbest president of all time. He was not a great thinker and just let his corrupt buddies make all the decisions. He didn’t stand for anything. All he did was partying and gambling.
The only time is spend doing something and signed such a crappy law ” The Emergency Quota Act” which favors westerns and northern European immigrants and limits immigrants from eastern and southern Europe as well as most of the world. He surrounded himself with shady persons and did nothing valuable in the office.
