Was James Buchanan our worst President? Yes or no? Explain?

Answer 1

George W. Bush has eviscerated the Constitution (e.g., he ignores the writ of habeas corpus; issues hundreds of signing statements declaring that he can ignore Congressional laws---see www.boston.com and search there for "Charlie Savage" articles); denied in practice the doctrine of checks and balances (i.e., that there are 3 co-equal branches of the federal government); and has committed war crimes, such as unprovoked war, (the latter is something for which the Nazis were called to account at the Nuremberg Trials). Bush is not only the worst U.S. President in history, but he's also the only one that's dangerous to our nation's survival.

Answer 2

That's a tough question -- certainly ONE of the worst two or three, though you have to factor in that he served at an unbelievably difficult time, and it's very difficult to even suggest how he could have overcome the crisis the nation faced at the time.

In any case, Buchanan's response was extremely poor. He repeatedly sought to placate the Southern wing of his party. His handling of the fiasco in KANSAS was particularly appalling --willingly supporting pro-slavery governments and constitutions there even when they clearly were NOT the will of the residents.... all of which, led to a huge split among Northern Democrats (most siding with Stephen Douglas), a split which made a Republican victory and so, unfortunately, secession a near certainty.

And, of course, he did virtually NOTHING while Southern states were seceding (partly because, though he thought they had no right to secede, he also thought the federal government had no authority to do anything about it!)... while even members of his cabinet seem to have been acting to assist the South.

The hardest thing here may be to decide whether Buchanan or his immediate predecessor, Franklin Pierce, handled all this more poorly.

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Sad to see so many have to take this opportunity simply to vent theiir own political views of the current president. Especially, since they appear to know so little about earlier American history (in which case, they are hardly qualified to speak on 'best' or 'worst'). In any case, it's usually not a good idea EVER to try to include current or very recent presidents in such assessments. Partly because partisanship can blind us all, partly because there is much we won't be able to assess about the success or failure of their efforts for many years.

(I personally think it's been long enough to conclude that Carter may have been the biggest failure as President in the 20th century... leaving a mess of an economy, and foreign policy disasters in the Middle East [Afghanistan, Iran!] and Central America... where Communism gained a new foothold. And he hardly had the sort of crisis situation that Pierce and Buchanan faced. But again, maybe this ought all to wait. . . )

Answer 3

Our worst president is Bush. He caused more damage to our well-being and security than any foreign spy could hope to do.

Answer 4

Truman ordered the bombing of Japan with atomic bombs. Its difficult to beat killing 50,000 people in 9 seconds as one of the worst actions of an American president.

Answer 5

Some people say it was Warren G. Harding but Republicans will tell you otherwise. I think it is bush right now.

Answer 6

No. Bush has far surpassed him.

Answer 7

No, Bush is

Answer 8

No. F.D.R. was with Clinton next.