who's the worst president in history and why?

Answer 1

All of them had their failings, those it's clear that some are worse than others. For me it's Bush. Dubya. Illegal wars, constant stream of lies to the people, The Patriot Act, worst deficit in history, unwillingness to listen to what the people want, no stem cell research, won't pay attention to global warming, No Child Left Behind, cutting funding to clean up Superfund sites, intolerant because of his religious beliefs, Faith-Based Initiatives, oh goodness I could go on all day. How about cutting funding to GI Hospitals? Or that fact that wounded soldiers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan have to pay for their own meals while in hospital? Or the fact that the troops have to pay for their own armor? There's more, but I think you get the idea.

Answer 2

I think it is Warren Harding for all the excesses that occured in his term. A prelude to the Great Depression. Herbert Hoover would also rank dismally for that.

Andrew Johnson isn't rated well because he was impeached. Nixon was forced to resign and he brought much pain to the Presidency but he managed to redeem himself later by assuming an avuncular stance. Moreover, his term saw remedies for the damage that Vietnam brought, and some important foreign missions.

LBJ coveted the Presidency, won the biggest landslide (partly due to Kennedy's assassination) and yet, he had to give up seeking a 2nd term, such was his unpopularity.

It will surprise you to learn that both Bushes are ranked in the mid20s out of the 43 Presidents.

Harding is the winner (or loser here). His womanising would make Bill Clinton and John Kennedy, look like Boy Scouts.

Answer 3

Much as I want to say "W" also, I think that Roman gave you the only good answer here. These "best President" and "worst President" surveys almost always wind up biased towards (/against) the more recent Presidents, and don't accurately reflect the historical record.

I do think that Bush may wind up being among the worst, largely for having so seriously weakened the US on the world stage, but it's obviously FAR too early to make that judgment accurately. In the long run, he may well wind up remembered as somewhere in the middle of the pack despite our current situation, particularly if one of the upcoming Presidents manages to repair the damage.

Answer 4

Ford - it really wasn't his fault. He inherited a corrupt presidency from Nixon's resignation. That basically left him uable to accomplish anything.

I classify a bad president by degrees of not being to accomplish goals. Bush has been the worst president for America but he has been able to achieve his goals... even though that have almost destroyed everything we stand for.

PS Always amazes me when ppl say Carter. Those ppl obviously know nothing about political history.... ie, Carter was backstabbed by Reagan's act of treason when Reagon made a deal with Iran Contra in exchange for hostages. This was a tool used to make Carter look weak and keep in mind Reagan was not even president yet = treason and he should have went to prison. This is all public knowledge and came out in 1988 at the end of a long independent counsel investigation.

Answer 5

Bush is the worst in history. No other president has ever broken the law to the extent that Bush has. Also, no other president has ever so selfishly, and callously, made so many Americans lives expendable. Due to Bush's reign, thousands of American soldiers, and even more Iraqi innocents, have been killed needlessly.
I am all for fighting terrorism and bringing down Osam Bin Laden and Al Qaeda, yet he has failed in both of these missions. In my honest opinion, he never went after either. He lied, implied, and led us to believe that was his ultimate goal. Yet here we are 5 years after the fact, and nothing has been done to thwart another terrorist attack.
All he has accomplished (other than killing innocent people) is making himself, the oil industry CEO's, and Halliburtons CEO's millions of dollars richer.

Answer 6

Bill Clinton. I floors me how you people on here blame Bush, Give me a break. Here you have Clinton getting his BJ from Monica and too busy to run the country. He was warned about 911 yet did NOTHING!!! The Saudis would have given us Bin Ladden, but Clinton said No!!because he had Monica attached to his ####. Bush just needs to clean up the crap he left.

Answer 7

The Chimp...because he's a failure on every level. Separate panels of historians in the USA and Europe have already rated Bush the worst president ever.

Answer 8

Jimmy Carter. George Bush is cleaning up his mess. If Carter had taken a stand during the Iranian hostage situation in 1979, none of this would be going on today.

Answer 9

Obviously a lot of people are going to pick the current Bush!!! Honestly, though it would depend on your political perspective, no?

Answer 10

The peanut farmer Jimmy Carter, his non action paved the way for the recent Middle East problems.